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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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87 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 5th grade (Ages 10-11), Hardcover
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, translated by Lewis Page Mercier and illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
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)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Sterling Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Children's Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel and Bessie Pease Gutman
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Anne of Green Gables
Sterling Classics
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Back to School with Betsy
by Carolyn Haywood
from Harcourt Children's Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Banner in the Sky
by James Ramsey Ullman
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1955 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Big Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.99
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)
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)
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)
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)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Eight Cousins
The Louisa May Alcott Library
by Louisa May Alcott
1974 printing from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Golden Key
by George MacDonald, illustrasted by Ruth Sanderson
from Eerdmans
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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)
Heidi
Sterling Classics
by Johanna Spyri, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Jungle Book
Sterling Classics
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Jungle Book
Books of Wonder
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Earl Mayan
from Grosset & Dunlap
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Jungle Book
Calla Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Maurice and Edward Detmold
from Dover Publications
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Nicola Bayley
from Candlewick Press
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
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)
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)
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
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 Lord Fauntleroy
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Illustrated by C. E. Brock
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
$17.00
Little Women
Sterling Classics
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Judith Cheng
Special from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Dinah Dryhurst
Reprint from Breslich & Foss
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by M.E. Gray
Unabridged from Everyman's Library
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
$16.95
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Clara M. Burd
from John C. Winston
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
Penguin Clothbound Classics
by Louisa May Alcott, edited and introduced by Elaine Showalter, with notes by Siobhan Kilfeather and Vinca Showalter
Unabridged from Penguin Classics
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Louisa May Alcott
by Louisa May Alcott
from Octopus Books Limited
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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)
Medieval Feast
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
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)
My Friend Flicka
by Mary O'Hara
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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)
Pearls of Lutra
Redwall #9
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Peter Pan
Sterling Classics
by J. M. Barrie, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie
from Barnes & Noble
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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
Princess and the Goblin
Everyman Library
by George MacDonald
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
$18.00
Railway Children
Puffin Classics
by E. Nesbit, illustrated by C. E. Brock
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Family Stories for 4th-8th grade
Rip Van Winkle
Calla Editions
by Washington Irving
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
Rip Van Winkle
Books of Wonder
by Washington Irving (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth)
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-9th grade
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)
Secret Garden
Everyman Children's Classics
by Frances Burnett, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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)
Sword and the Circle
Arthurian Trilogy #1
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
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
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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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