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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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490 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 1st grade (Ages 6-7), Trade Paperback
A is for Africa
by Ifeoma Onyefulu
Reprint from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
ABC of Canada
by Kim Bellefontaine
Reprint from Kids Can Press
for Preschool-1st grade
in Canada (Location: HISMC-CAN)
Absent Author (A to Z Mysteries)
A to Z Mysteries #01
by Ron Roy
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in A to Z Mysteries (Location: SER-AZ)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Abuela's Weave
by Omar S. Castaneda
Revised ed. from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Africa Is Not A Country
by Margy Burns Knight
unknown from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
Akiak: A Tale From the Iditarod
by Robert J. Blake
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Albert
by Donna Jo Napoli
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.99
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
by Leo Lionni
Reissue from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1970 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
All the Colors of the Earth
by Sheila Hamanaka
Reprint from HarperCollins
for Nursery-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
All Those Secrets of the World
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Always Room for One More
by Sorche Nic Leodhas
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
1966 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower
by Peggy Parish
Revised from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Amos and Boris
by William Steig
from Square Fish Publishing
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock
by Eric A. Kimmel
Reprint from Holiday House
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Anansi the Spider Man
by Philip M. Sherlock, illustrated by Marcia Brown
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Anatole
by Eve Titus
Reprint from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1957 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Angelo
by David Macaulay
1st edition from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Angus and the Cat
by Marjorie Flack
from Sunburst Book
Animal Realistic for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Angus and the Ducks
by Marjorie Flack
from Sunburst Book
Animal Realistic for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Animalia
by Graeme Base
from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$8.99
Anna Hibiscus
by Atinuke
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 1st-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Annie and the Wild Animals
by Jan Brett
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Ant and the Elephant
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Antarctic Antics
by Judy Sierra
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Arctic Son
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor
from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Around the Year
by Tasha Tudor
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Arroz Con Leche
by Lulu Delacre
Bilingual from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Ask Mr. Bear
by Marjorie Flack
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
At the Crossroads
by Rachel Isadora
1st Mulberry ed from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Audrey of the Outback
by Christine Harris
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Aurora Means Dawn
by Scott Russell Sanders
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Australia ABCs
Country ABCs
by Sarah Heiman
from Picture Window Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
Babu's Song
by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Babushka Baba Yaga
by Patricia Polacco
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Baby Brains
by Simon James
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Baby Sister for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Badger's Parting Gifts
by Susan Varley
from Mulberry Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Balto and the Great Race
Totally True Adventures
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99
Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.95
Bear That Heard Crying
by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock & Helen Kinsey
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Beatrice's Goat
by Page McBrier
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Beauty and the Beast
by Jan Brett
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Bee-Bim Bop!
by Linda Sue Park
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Before Austen Comes Aesop
by Cheri Blomquist
from Ignatius Press
for Preschool-Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$16.16
Berlioz the Bear
by Jan Brett
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Best Friends for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook
by Shirley Hughes
from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.99
Big Book of Questions & Answers
by Sinclair B. Ferguson
from Christian Focus Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
in Family Worship (Location: BIB-FAWO)
$9.00 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Big-Enough Anna
by Pam Flowers
No Edition Stated from Alaska Northwest Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Biggest Frog in Australia
by Susan L. Roth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.99
Biggest House in the World
by Leo Lionni
from Dragonfly Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Billy and Blaze
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Birthday for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Blaze and the Forest Fire
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Blaze and the Gray Spotted Pony
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Blaze and the Lost Quarry
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Blaze and the Mountain Lion
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Blaze and Thunderbolt
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Blaze Finds the Trail
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Blaze Shows the Way
by C. W. Anderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Book Tree
by Elizabeth McCallum & Jane Scott
2nd edition from Canon Press
for Preschool-12th grade
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$17.10
Books Children Love
by Elizabeth Wilson
2nd edition from Crossway Books
for Kindergarten-8th grade
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$17.99 $4.90 (2 in stock)
Borreguita and the Coyote
by Verna Aardema
Reprint from Dragonfly Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bossy Gallito / El gallo de bodas: (Bilingual) (Spanish Edition)
by Lucia M. Gonzalez
Blg Rep from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-2nd grade
in Spanish Curriculum (Location: FL-SPACU)
Boy Who Held Back the Sea
by Thomas Locker
from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Bracelet, The
by Yoshika Uchida
from PaperStar Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Brave Irene
by William Steig
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Bread and Jam for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Bread and Jam for Frances
I Can Read! Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Bread, Bread, Bread
by Ann Morris
Reprint from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD)
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
by Verna Aardema & Beatriz Vidal
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Buford the Little Bighorn
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Building an Igloo
by Ulli Steltzer
from Square Fish Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Caboose Who Got Loose
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Personification Stories for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Can You Say Peace?
by Karen Katz
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Carrot Seed
by Ruth Krauss & Crockett Johnson
from HarperCollins
Humorous Book on Botany for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (5 in stock)
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Patricia Polacco
from Putnam Juvenile
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Patricia Polacco
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Cassio's Day
A Child's Day
by Maria de Fatima Campos
Reprint from Frances Lincoln
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
by Samantha R. Vamos
Reprint from Charlesbridge
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Chair For My Mother
by Vera B. Williams
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1983 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Chanticleer and the Fox
by Barbara Cooney
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
1959 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Chester's Way
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Chicken Soup With Rice
by Maurice Sendak
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.95
Chicken Sunday
by Patricia Polacco
from PaperStar Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Children Around the World
by Donata Montanari
from Kids Can Press
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Cinderella
by Marcia Brown (translator)
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1955 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Classical Reader
by Dr. Christopher Perrin & Leslie Rayner
1.4st edition from Classical Academic Press
for Kindergarten-12th
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$8.96
Clown of God
by Tomie dePaola
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Cody and the Fountain of Happiness
Cody series #1
by Tricia Springstubb, Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Colors of Us
by Karen Katz
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
Comet in Moominland
Moomintrolls Book #1
by Tove Jansson
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 1st-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
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