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Hand That Rocks the Cradle

If you're not into lists, don't buy this book. Hand That Rocks the Cradle is one of the longest lists you'll encounter, but it's also one of the most helpful and (if you're a list lover) most fun. What's in the list? 400 classic books to read aloud with your children. It might not be a comprehensive list, and not every title will appeal to every reader, but this is a great place to start if you're looking for great books to read and discuss as a family.

There are many reasons to read out loud. Many of the reasons author Nathaniel Bluedorn offers simply relate to literature in general, whether read aloud or not—good books teach good writing, good character, and comprehension skills. But he also suggests that reading aloud as a family is a great way to build familial bonds and memories. We'd like to add that reading aloud is a great way to teach children how to be attentive.

The books in Hand That Rocks the Cradle appeal to a variety of ages (pre-K to teens) and interests (adventure novels, historical fiction, family dramas, fantasy, etc.). There is only one list, arranged alphabetically by author, with brief synopses of the selected works as well as symbols representing suggested age-range, time and geographic setting of the story, and the book's publication date.

Titles range from classics like Charlotte's Web and Ben-Hur to lesser-knowns like Beau Geste and the true-life adventure Kon-Tiki. Each book is selected for the quality of its writing and the moral character of its content; that's not to say, however, that there aren't moral dilemmas and difficult concepts in these stories to provide fodder for excellent and wide-ranging family discussions.

Every title we carry is listed below. While we'd like to carry all of them (Hand That Rocks the Cradle is an excellent list), some of them simply aren't available or are very difficult to get. If you find one you particularly want and we don't have it, let us know and we'll do our best to bring it in. The author identifies this list as one his parents compiled during years of reading aloud; we're sure it will lead to many hours of enjoyment for your family as well, and maybe you'll find your own favorites to add.

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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Animal Farm
by George Orwell
from Plume Books
Utopian/Dystopian Literature for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.95
Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Borrowers
Borrowers Series #1
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1952 Carnegie Medal
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Borrowers Afield
Borrowers Series #2
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Borrowers Aloft
Borrowers Series #4
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Borrowers Avenged
Borrowers Series #5
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1962 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Calico Captive
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
by Ian Fleming
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Dark Frigate
by Charles Boardman Hawes
Dover 2018 from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1924 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens
Revised from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00
Downright Dency
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #1
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Freckles
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Dover Publications
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Ginger Pye
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Animal Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
1952 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Girl of the Limberlost
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Dover Publications
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Golden Key
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Sunburst Book
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
$9.99
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.00
Hawk That Dare Not Hunt By Day
by Scott O'Dell
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
Laddie
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.95
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
Reprint from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.00
Letters to Children
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Autobiographical Letters for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.00
Little Britches
Little Britches Series #1
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Little Dorrit
by Charles Dickens
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.00
Lorna Doone
by R. D. Blackmore
from Oxford University
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.95
Madeleine Takes Command
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Ethel Brill
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Men of Iron
by Howard Pyle
2nd edition from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Middle Moffat
Moffats #2
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
1943 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
from Penguin Putnam
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
My Friend Flicka
by Mary O'Hara
from HarperCollins
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$16.99
Nicholas Nickleby
by Charles Dickens
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00
North and South
Oxford World's Classics
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Oxford University
Realistic fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.95
North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Dover Publications
Realistic fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.95
Old Mother West Wind
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #1
by Thornton W. Burgess
Revised Edition from Dover Publications
Animal Fantasy for 1st-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.00
Oregon Trail
Penguin Classics
by Francis Parkman Jr.
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Otto of the Silver Hand
by Howard Pyle
from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.95
Our Mutual Friend
Penguin Classics
by Charles Dickens
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.00
Return of the King
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #3
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00
Scottish Chiefs
by Jane Porter
from CreateSpace
Historical Epic for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Screwtape Letters
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegory/Religion for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Smoky the Cowhorse
by Will James
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-8th grade
1927 Newbery Medal winner
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.99
Star of Light
by Patricia St. John
from Moody Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
Bethlehem Books Adventure Library
by Allen French
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95
Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur
Howard Pyle's King Arthur series book 4
by Howard Pyle
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.50
Swallows and Amazons
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
Family stories/boating for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.95
Thee, Hannah!
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Herald Press
Realistic Fiction for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Theras and His Town
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
Action/Adventure for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Time Machine
by H. G. Wells
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.00 $6.00 (1 in stock)
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
from Harper Perennial
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Treasures of the Snow (adapted)
by Patricia St. John, adapted by Mary Mills
2nd edition from Moody Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Two Towers
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #2
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Vicar of Wakefield
Penguin Classics
by Oliver Goldsmith
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$12.00
Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
by Hugh Lofting
from Yearling
for 3rd-7th grade
1923 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Waverley
Penguin Classics
by Sir Walter Scott
from Penguin Classics
Historical Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
White Company
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.36
Wives and Daughters
Penguin Classics
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Yearling
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Animal Stories for 6th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
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