five little peppers and how they grew by margaret sidney

Some will be very familiar, some will be new to you. (1889) This is a 19th century classic collection of old-fashioned fairy tales. Most of the chapters read like discreet stories and will provide a nice chuckle for you and your kids before bedtime. (1880) The amusing adventures and foibles of the rather foolish, but lovable New England family. It is completely responsible for my life-long romanticization of melted cheese for dinner. (1880) Five-year-old Heidi is sent to live with her hermit grandfather in the Swiss Alps. (Note: book titles and covers are affiliate links.) A great article that addresses this is How to Really Read Racist Books to Your Kid. I recommend using the book as a springboard for discussion. Several of the books I've listed have this problem. The sad truth is that many books we consider 'Classics' contain racist elements.

Address problematic ethnic representations head on.

I do think that it's better to read the book first, but if your child has already seen the movie and liked it, it's a great segue into the book! I am not a person who thinks the book is always better than the movie, they're just different forms, that's all. Most of these should be fine as read alouds for ages 7 and up.

Several of the books have chapters which can function as discreet stories so you can 'test' the book out to see if it is age appropriate. All of these books are wonderful to read aloud together.

Normally I am not pro-abridged books, but I also think abridged versions can whet the appetite of younger children, who will then be eager to pick up the full length book when they are older.

Don't be afraid to start out with an abridged edition.

The language, vocabulary and sentence structure may be unfamiliar to children used to contemporary children's literature, but an exciting, suspenseful plot can help to overcome that hurdle. That is because I think these books are especially suited to appeal to today's children. You might notice that my list is heavy on adventure and fairy tales: Verne, Stevenson, Kipling, for example. Here are a few tips to help you get over that hurdle: It's likely that most children ( and parents, too) will find the syntax and vocabulary of older books a little more challenging than their contemporary counterparts. So, I've created a list of 10 books from the 1800s which go beyond well-known names like Alice, Jo March or Tom Sawyer and Huck. After all, there are only so many 100+ year old books that are still worth reading to your children! That said, I have left off the major contenders. Many parents want to read what they consider to be ' Classic Children's Books.' These 19th century children's books are certainly classic! It is rather difficult to make a list of 19th century books that you haven't heard of.

Five little peppers and how they grew by margaret sidney