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Doorways to Great Reading

If there's a one-world government, it's television. King of the Technological Age, he sits enthroned in homes around the world, a little box of images and sound emitting edicts to his unified followers from his electrical shrine. That description may be a bit overwrought, but the fact remains: more people these days would prefer to watch TV than read a good book.

Many parents are desperate to expose their kids to quality literature, whether it's a classic like Anne of Green Gables, a more recent novel like Mimus, or simply something other than the TV Guide. In response, a number of literature-based curricula have been developed, and in turn have become increasingly popular among both homeschool families and school educators.

As great and noble as this effort has been, there are a couple problems we see with the literature-curriculum approach: 1) literature is treated as curriculum, and 2) children aren't exposed to the depth and variety available because reading is limited to the curriculum suggestions. Consequently, a lot of children grow to dislike reading, associating it as they do with schoolwork and not having a good time.

We've accumulated many of the titles used by the major literature-based curriculum lines, and those products are among our best sellers. We're also not entirely opposed to the literature approach, but we also want to offer a much broader selection of literature, titles that don't find their way into the program guides but are nevertheless worth reading.

Numerous book lists, catalogues, and publishers (including many dedicated to reprinting the more obscure classic titles) have guided us in the construction of our fiction and literature sections. (Employees have also been an important factor in this process, and you can read about their favorites here.) Doorways to Great Reading collects the best of these lists in one place.

Discovering classic literature is more than just checking off titles from a master list, however. Though books like Honey for a Child's Heart, The Well-Educated Mind, and The Book Tree are great places to start and offer excellent guidelines, they are still jumping-off places. Developing the skills to find good books on your own (and imparting those skills to your children) is the end these books are supposed to help you achieve.

When Lucy Pevensie opened the wardrobe and found Narnia, her first experience with a snowbound landscape gave her little indication of the adventure and wonder she'd find there. Great books are the same way: the more you read, the more you realize how many are really out there, and the better you get at finding them.

If your adventure in the realms of literature hasn't started, or is still in its beginning stages, use the booklists you'll find here as maps of sorts, there to help you navigate but not to make the journey on your behalf. The travel is up to you, and whether you decide to explore Ben-Hur or The Wind in the Willows, it's travel that will take you far from your front door and back many times over.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
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Doorways to Great Reading
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68 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Hardcover, For Reading Aloud
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by ??
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Charles Folkard
from David McKay Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Applewhites Coast to Coast OSI
by Stephanie S. Tolan
Fir from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
2003 Newbery Honor book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Franklin Watts
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Black Beauty
Sterling Classics
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Black Beauty
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Dinah Dryhurst
from Breslich & Foss
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
First Ed from HarperCollins
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
1978 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $6.40 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Kate Seredy
from Macmillan
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Canterbury Tales
by Barbara Cohen & Trina Schart Hyman
from William Morrow & Company
Medieval Literature for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
1st edition 1st printing from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dangerous Journey
by Oliver Hunkin (abridger)
from Eerdmans
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$21.25
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $6.40 (1 in stock)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E. L. Konigsburg
35th Anniversary Edition from Atheneum
Mystery/Suspense for 4th-7th grade
1968 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Good Queen Bess
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Grimms' Fairy Tales
Sterling Classics
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 4th-8th grade
Indian in the Cupboard
Indian in the Cupboard #1
by Lynne Banks
from Weekly Reader
Fantasy for 4th-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Little Britches
Little Britches Series #1
by Ralph Moody
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Little Britches
Little Britches Series #1
by Ralph Moody
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$24.99
Little House - Hardcover Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$139.11
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.29
Little House on the Prairie (pictorial hardcover)
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Pilgrim's Progress
by Helen Taylor, illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Moody Press
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$29.74
Little Princess
Puffin Classics
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Little Town on the Prairie (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $7.60 (1 in stock)
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins Series #1
by P. L. Travers, illustrated by Julia Sarda
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert O'Brien, illustrated by Edward S. Gazi
from Atheneum
Animal Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
1972 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert O'Brien, illustrated by Zena Bernstein
from Atheneum
Animal Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
1972 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House Series #4
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
Pearls of Lutra
Redwall #9
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jule Feiffer
from Random House
Satirical Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pinocchio
Sterling Classics
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pinocchio
Children's Classics
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Charles Folkard
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Alice Carsey
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
$14.41
Pippi Goes on Board
Pippi Longstocking #2
by Astrid Lindgren
from Viking Press
Humor for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slant Book
by Peter Newell
from Tuttle Publishing
Humorous Rhyming Books for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Book-of-the-Month Club
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 4th-8th grade
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Library edition from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Wind in the Willows
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Dick Cuffari
from Grosset & Dunlap
Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Collins
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$21.21
Wind in the Willows
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Dick Cuffari
from Grosset & Dunlap
Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Anna Leplar
from Parragon Publishing
Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, abridged and illustrated by John Worsley
from Lemon Tree Press
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Helen Ward
from Borders Press
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by John Burningham
from Viking Kestrel Books
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Nancy Barnhart
from Barnes & Noble
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by James Lynch
from The Folio Society
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Charles van Sandwyck
from The Folio Society
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Joanne Moss
from Breslich & Foss
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Michael Foreman
from Harcourt
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Helen Ward
from Templar Books
Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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