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Book Tree

Unlike many books of its kind, The Book Tree doesn't waste time trying to tell you why reading is important, what makes a good story, or how the authors came to be interested in making a list of their favorite books—all that's relegated to the brief, straightforward preface. Instead, mother Elizabeth McCallum and daughter Jane Scott simply provide lists of titles accompanied by short synopses to whet your appetite.

The authors are Christian, and often they'll point out ethical or spiritual elements of the books they've chosen to include, but this isn't a "build-a-Christian-worldview-through-literature" kind of book. It's simply a guide to great literature for preschoolers, elementary and middle school students, and high school kids, divided into age-appropriate chapters for easy reference.

Six chapters are divided (very broadly) by grade-level and genre:

  1. Preschool Literature
  2. Elementary School Fiction
  3. Middle School Fiction
  4. Elementary & Middle School Biography
  5. High School Fiction
  6. High School Biography

Some parents will no doubt be surprised by the age-groups to which some titles are assigned. For instance, Anne of Green Gables is included in "Elementary School Fiction," and in middle school kids are supposedly reading Dickens and H.G. Wells. No doubt some students will be advanced enough for this timeline, but others will not; use your judgement, and don't adhere to the recommendations slavishly.

By high school, students should be reading almost exclusively "great books," and this list reflects that: recommended titles in the last two chapters include everything from Quo Vadis and David Copperfield to Foxe's Book of Martyrs and The Screwtape Letters. Many may balk at this level of reading, but if kids are taught a love of reading from an early age, they'll be ready for (and wanting) a challenge when they get older.

Three indexes covering titles, authors, and subjects help parents navigate quickly, finding similar books or works by one author. Older students can probably use The Book Tree on their own, finding books that sound interesting to them. This isn't school-related, and there aren't discussion topics or anything to help guide study; the point is to get kids reading, and to get kids to enjoy reading.

Most of the books you'll find in The Book Tree are titles we carry at Exodus Books; many of them are among our staff favorites. We've listed what we have below, though if you find one we don't have we'd love for you to suggest it, and we'll do our best to bring it in. If you want kid who love literature but don't know where to start, this is a fantastic and easy-to-use resource you can use for many years to come.

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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42 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Hardcover
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)
All the Places to Love
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Anak, the Eskimo Boy
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$8.95
Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
50th Anniversary Edition from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Birds' Christmas Carol
by Kate Douglas Wiggin
from Houghton Mifflin
Christmas/Advent for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1949 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
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)
$19.99
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)
$17.50 (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)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Simon and Schuster
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99 $14.50 (1 in stock)
Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1961 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hailstones and Halibut Bones
by Mary O'Neill
from Doubleday & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Happy Little Family
Fairchild Family Series #1
by Rebecca Caudill
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and Other Stories
by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Octopus Books Limited
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-6th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
House at Pooh Corner
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99
Lad of Sunnybank
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lad of Sunnybank
by Albert Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Light Princess
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Light Princess
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
from Barefoot Books
Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
Light Princess
by George MacDonald, illustrated by William Pene du Bois
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
Light Princess
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maud Humphrey
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
Little Engine That Could - Original Edition
by Watty Piper
from Platt and Munk Publishers
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Make Way for Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1942 Caldecott Medal winner
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
Medieval Feast
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #1
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett and Helena Perez Garcia
from Bushel & Peck
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #1
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
from Dover Publications
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
One Morning in Maine
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1953 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$18.99
Owls in the Family
by Farley Mowat, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Little, Brown & Company
Realistic Animal Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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
$16.95
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
by Rudyard Kipling
from William Morrow & Company
Realistic Animal Stories for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
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)
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
1961 Redesigned from E.P. Dutton & Co.
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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