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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.
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500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.95
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tintin Volume 1 (3-in-1)
Adventures of Tintin
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
Comic Book for 2nd-6th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$27.99
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
from International Collectors Library
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Barry Moser
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Ted Lewin
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Kamil Lohták
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Worth Brehm
from Harper & Brothers
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer / Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective
by Mark Twain
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Books of Wonder
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Barry Moser
from William Morrow & Company
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Bartholomew and the Oobleck
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for 2nd-4th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Big Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.99
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
Revise Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Book of Three
Prydain Chronicles #1
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 printing from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Call of the Wild
Children's Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Paul Bransom
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Jack London
Unknown from Reader's Digest
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Sterling Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
1981 Printing from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Captains Courageous
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
from Reader's Digest
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Castle of Llyr
Prydain Chronicles #3
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Children of Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 3
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 1
by Frank Herbert, introduction by Brian Herbert
Second Ace hardcover, 2019 from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$40.00
Dune Messiah
Dune Chronicles Book 2
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
$20.00
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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)
$19.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Helen Sewell
from Harper & Brothers
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Farmer Boy (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Fly Went By
by Mike McClintock
from Random House
Rhyming Books for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Fly Went By
by Mike McClintock, illustrated by Fritz Siebel
from Random House
Rhyming Books for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Frankenstein
Sterling Classics
by Mary Shelley, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Horror for 7th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
High King
Prydain Chronicles #5
by Lloyd Alexander
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1969 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
High King
Prydain Chronicles #5
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1969 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
In Freedom's Cause
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
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)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Science Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Great Illustrated Classics
by Jules Verne
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
Science Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Kidnapped
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
Action/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Kidnapped
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
Action/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Lantern Bearers
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1959 Carnegie Medal
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Last of the Mohicans
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Legend of King Arthur
by Retold by Robin Lister, Illustrated by Alan Baker
from Kingfisher
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Washington Irving
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
Light Beyond the Forest
Arthurian Trilogy #2
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Shirley Felts
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Light in the Forest
by Conrad Richter, illustrated by Warren Chappell
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
$15.95
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
Littlest Matryoshka
by Corinne Demas Bliss
1st edition from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
from People's Book Club
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$23.00
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Mary Emma and Company
Little Britches Series #4
by Ralph Moody
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Sterling Classics
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Thrushwood Book
by Howard Pyle
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
A Golden Illustrated Classic
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Benvenuti
from Golden Press
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Jo Polseno
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Moby-Dick
Everyman's Library
by Herman Melville
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$35.00
Moby-Dick
Calla Editions
by Herman Melville
from Dover Publications
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
Modern Library
by Herman Melville
from Modern Library
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Restaurant At the End of the Universe
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #2
by Douglas Adams
Book Club Edition from Harmony
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
by Rudyard Kipling
from William Morrow & Company
Realistic Animal Stories for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Macmillan Classics
by Washington Irving, illustrated by David Levine
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Snow Dog
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Snow Dog
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #4
by Douglas Adams
from Crown Publishers
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sounder
by William H. Armstrong
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1970 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Story of King Arthur and His Knights
Sterling Classics
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Scott McKowen
3rd Print from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Story of King Arthur and His Knights & The Story of the Champions of the Round Table
by Howard Pyle
3rd Print from Fall River Press
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Swallows' Flight
by Hilary McKay
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
Sword Song
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Taran Wanderer
Prydain Chronicles #4
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
by Jules Verne
from SAPE
Science Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Warrior Scarlet
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
25th Anniversary from HarperCollins
Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1964 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
White Fang
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Ed Young
Unabridged from Atheneum
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
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