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Literature & Adult Fiction

The value of a book lies in the author's ability to convey meaning. This is the most basic—and in recent years most overlooked—fact about writing. Words on the page must tell us something or they're worthless. Experimenters are free to try new methods, but if the result is empty drivel their creation will end up just another misguided novelty.

Almost equally important is the value of the author's message. Anyone can understand a cheap romance novel or mystery thriller, but if there's a message it's typically trite. Paradise Lost takes more work, but the beauty of Milton's style and the depth of his perception and observations on human (and divine, and demonic) nature have steeled readers to make the effort for centuries.

Which implies—reading is not merely for entertainment. The art of reading to empty the mind is not brand-new (as any perusal of titles in the Rare Old Books room of your local mega-bookstore will reveal), though with the increasing ease of publication it has grown. People have always looked to get the same experience from books that comes from watching a TV show. But there is a still better way.

Reading-to-Broaden-the-Soul is even older than reading-to-induce-a-comatose-state. Each person that comes by it makes the discovery in a different way, whether by hearing a line from a Keats poem, or finding a derelict copy of All Quiet on the Western Front on a discount shelf and reading the whole thing in an afternoon, or realizing that Aristophanes is still funny 2400 years later.

Reading the right books is good for us, but it's also enjoyment of the highest and best kind, and both for the same reason: reading great literature is dangerous. You don't get to leave the last page of Crime and Punishment unchanged. After hundreds of pages with David Copperfield it's a different You that peers back from the mirror. King Arthur will pull apart your insides and rearrange them with the violence of a medieval warlord.

You won't find a lot of rainbows and sunshine here. At least, you won't find them alone, certainly not without the lightning storms that always come first. You'll find humanity, with all the bloodshed and terror and sorrow and weakness and confusion of the race. But you'll also find joy and beauty and goodness and comfort, as much as any of those things are part of life.

These are some of the best poems, novels, plays and philosophical treatises ever written. Hopefully you'll find some enjoyment, though if it's not all as "fun" as you expected, try adjusting your expectations before starting a burn pile. Hopefully, you'll grow a little with each Boo Radley, Romeo Montague, Esther Summerson, Starbuck, and Rose of Sharon Joad you encounter.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and 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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Editoreric.com's list of great literature.
48 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Kindergarten (Ages 5-6), New Books & Materials
Aesop's Fables
Puffin Classics
by Aesop
Reprint from Puffin Books
Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
All the Small Poems and Fourteen More
by Valerie Worth
from Sunburst Book
Lyrical Poetry for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.99 $5.00 (5 in stock)
Atarax the Wolf Tells: Greek Myths
by Adam De Gree
from Classical Historian
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$7.50
Bremen Town Musicians
by Ilse Plume retelling Brothers Grimm
Tra from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
1981 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Child's Book of Poems
by Gyo Fujikawa
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.99
Children of the Northlights
by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire
Reprint from University of Minnesota
for Preschool-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$16.95
Favorite Poems of Childhood
by Christina Rossetti, Edward Lear, Emily Dickinson, Eugene Field, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sarah Josepha Hale
from Dover Publications
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 $2.50 (2 in stock)
Finding Narnia
by Caroline McAlister, Illustrated by Jessica Lanan
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Firefly July
by Selected by Paul B. Janeczko, Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.99
First Caldecott Collection
by Randolph Caldecott
from Living Book Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
Fourth Caldecott Collection
by Randolph Caldecott
from Living Book Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
God's Servant, Job
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Bible Stories for Kids (Location: BIBR-STO)
$9.99
I, Too, Am America
by Langston Hughes and Brian Collier
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
John Ronald’s Dragons
by Caroline McAlister, Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$21.99
Johnny Appleseed
by Reeve Lindbergh
from Little, Brown & Company
Poetry for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Little Red Riding Hood
by Trina Schart Hyman, retelling Grimm
from Holiday House
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1984 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Little Red Riding Hood
by Paul Galdone, Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
First Edition Thus from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Marshmallow Clouds
by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek, illustrated by Richard Jones
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
My Daddy Rules the World
by Hope Anita Smith
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$17.99
My Uncle Emily
by Jane Yolen
from Philomel Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Now We Are Six
by A. A. Milne
from Puffin Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Now We Are Six
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99
On the Wing
by David Elliott, Illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.99
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Jan Brett
from PaperStar Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Peter and the Wolf
by Sergei Prokofiev, translated by Maria Carlson and illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak
from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Poems Every Child Should Know
by Mary E. Burt, ed.
from Yesterday's Classics
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.95
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
from Candlewick Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.99 $5.50 (2 in stock)
Princess and the Pea
by Hans Christian Andersen & Dorothee Duntze
from North-South Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$7.95
Real Mother Goose
by Blanche Fisher Wright, illustrator
from Scholastic Inc.
Rhyming Books for Preschool-Kindergarten
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$9.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever
by Richard Scarry
50th Anniversary Edition from Golden Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$16.99
Rooster Crows
by Maud & Miska Petersham
Fir from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-4th grade
1946 Caldecott Medal winner
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.99
Second Caldecott Collection
by Randolph Caldecott
from Living Book Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
Sing a Song of Seasons
by Fiona Waters (selections), illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon
from Nosy Crow
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$40.00
Snow Queen
by Hans Christian Andersen, Retold by Allison Grace MacDonald and Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Snow White
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Charles Santore
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$16.95
Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm
by Brothers Grimm, translated by Randall Jarrell and illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert
Sunburst Edition, 1987 from Square Fish Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1973 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.99
Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats
from Puffin Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1963 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Spider and the Fly
by Tony DiTerlizzi; based on the story by Mary Howitt
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
2003 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Steadfast Tin Soldier
by Hans Christian Anderson, translated by M.R. James, illustrated by Marcia Brown
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1954 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost
from Dutton Children's Books
for Kindergarten-2nd
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$17.99
Tale of Custard the Dragon
by Ogden Nash, Lynn Munsinger,
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Third Caldecott Collection
by Randolph Caldecott
from Living Book Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
Through the Wardrobe
by Lina Maslo
from Balzer & Bray
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Trombone Shorty
by Troy Andrews, illustrated by Bryan Collier
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
2016 Caldecott Honor Book, 2016 Coretta Scott King Award Winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.95
Ugly Duckling
by Hans Christian Andersen, Jerry Pinkney
First edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
2000 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne
from Puffin Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Juvenile
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99
Wings for Per
by Ingri & Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$17.95
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