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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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136 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8), Used Books & Materials
"Let's Hear It For The Queen"
by Alice Childress, illustrated by Loring Eutemey
from Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
104 Poems of Whimsy and Wisdom
by Amy Lykosh (editor), illustrated by Summer Wilhour
from Avyx, Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.80 (1 in stock)
26 Fairmont Avenue
by Tomie De Paola
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.94 $3.20 (2 in stock)
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)
$8.49 $4.00 (6 in stock)
All the World's a Stage
by Rebecca Piatt Davidson, illustrated by Anita Lobel
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful
by Katharine Lee Bates
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Another Book of Verses for Children
by E.V. Lucas (editor), illustrated by F.D. Bedford
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$20.80 (1 in stock)
Apple Blossoms and Other Stories
by Edmund Stanley and A. R. Taylor
from Scott, Foresman & Co.
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose
by Arnold Lobel
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$9.60 (2 in stock)
Babar the King / Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Rose Dobbs (reteller, Grimm), Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott Espensheid
from Random House
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Barefoot Book of Buddhist Tales
by Sherab Chodzin & Alexandra Kohn (retellers), illustrated by Marie Cameron
from Barefoot Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Best Loved Fairy Tales / Selections from a Child's Garden of Verses
by Walter Crane & Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith
from Grolier Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Big Ball of String
by Marion Holland
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$3.60 (2 in stock)
Bokuden and the Bully
by Stephen Krensky (adapter), illustrated by Cheryl Kirk Noll
from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Buckwheat
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Christopher Bing
1st edition from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's First Steps to Virtues
by Emily Hunter
from Harvest House
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (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)
$16.99 $11.60 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Dover Publications
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.40 $1.20 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Cooper Edens
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
Arcadia
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Princess House Books
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Weathervane Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
Popular Edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to Poetry
Books for Young Explorers
by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Chinese Mythology: The Four Dragons
from PowerKids Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Classic Poetry
by Michael Rosen & Paul Howard
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.80 (1 in stock)
Clod Hans
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Crane Maiden
by Miyoko Matsutani, illustrated by Chihiro Iwasaki
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Donkey Trouble
by Ed Young
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Drat These Brats!
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Early Settler Storybook
from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
by László Gál
from Firefly Books
for 1st-4th grade
$6.40 (1 in stock)
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Macmillan Classics
by P. C. Asbjornsen & Jorgen E. Moe, illustrated by Tom Vroman
from Macmillan
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.80 (1 in stock)
Enchanted Book
by Janina Porazinska, translated by Bozena Smith, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for 2nd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales: The Brothers Grimm
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 2nd-6th grade
$16.96 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Family of Poems
by Caroline Kennedy
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Favorite Poems for Children
by Holly Pell McConnaughy, editor
from Barnes & Noble
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$3.40 $2.00 (2 in stock)
First Poems of Childhood
by Tasha Tudor
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Flower Fairies of the Spring
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Flower Fairies of the Spring—A Celebration
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Funny Little Woman
by Arlene Mosel & Blair Lent
Reissue from Puffin Books
1973 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.09 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Grain of Rice
by Helena Clare Pittman
from Yearling
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 2nd-4th grade
$6.79 $3.20 (2 in stock)
Hans in Luck
by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hansel and Gretel
by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader
from Weiser & Weiser
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Hansel and Gretel
by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
I Saw Esau
by Iona & Peter Opie
First U.S. Edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
I'm In Charge of Celebrations
by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Johnny Crow's Garden / Andersen's Fairy Tales
by L. Leslie Brooke & Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Rose Dobbs and illustrated by Gustav Hjortlund
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Joyful Noise
by Paul Fleischman
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1989 Newbery Medal winner
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.94 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Kaleidoscope of Fairies & Fables
by Hans Andersen, Aesop, Kipling & the Brothers Grimm, retold by Robert Mathias
from Hamlyn
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
King and the Green Angelica
by Isabel Wyatt and Joan Rudel
from Lanthorn Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Knight's Map
by R.C. Sproul
from Reformation Trust Publishing
for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Legend of El Dorado
by Written & Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, Adapted by Nancy Van Laan
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Les Miserables (adapted)
Stepping Stones: A Chapter Book
by Victor Hugo, Adapted by Monica Kulling
from Random House
Historical Fiction for 1st-4th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Lion and Blue
by Robert Vavra, illustrated by Fleur Cowles, preface by the Prince of the Netherlands
from Reynal and Co.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Little Claus and Big Claus
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
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)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Llama Who Had No Pajama
by Betty Fraser, Mary Ann Hoberman
from Harcourt
for Ages 5-10
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.64 $4.40 (2 in stock)
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from PaperStar Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade
1990 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.94 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
Caldecott Medal Winner 1990
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lullabies & Good Night
by Stephen Elkins (editor), illustrated with paintings by Mary Cassatt
from Ideals Children's Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Magic Brush
by Robert B. Goodman & Robert A. Spicer (adapters), illustrated by Y. T. Mui, edited by Ruth Tabrah
from Island Heritage Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
by Henry W. Longfellow, illustrated by Jeffrey Thompson
Reprint from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
Mirror, Mirror
by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josee Masse
from Dutton Children's Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Monkey and the Crab
by Seishi Horio (reteller), illustrated by Tsutomu Murakami
from Heian International, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Much Ado About Nothing for Kids
Shakespeare Can Be Fun
by Lois Burdett
from Firefly Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
My First Oxford Book of Poems
by John Foster (compiler)
from Oxford University
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World / I Saw the Sea Come In
by Becky Reyher, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett; Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
1946 Caldecott Honor Book
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Ted Rand
First Impression from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Scholastic Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen; retold by Stephen Mitchell and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Alison Claire Darke
from Doubleday & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Now We Are Six
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Nursery Friends from France
from Book House for Children
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$15.20 (1 in stock)
On My Way
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Once Upon a Poem
by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Peter Bailey, Sian Bailey, Carol Lawson, Chris McEwan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Colin West
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Katherine Tegen Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America
by Donald Hall, ed.
from Oxford University
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems
by Donald Hall
from Oxford University
for 2nd-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.74 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Paul Revere's Ride
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand
from Dutton Children's Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts About Peace
by Anna Grossnickle Hines
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Pigkeeper
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Piper, Pipe That Song Again
by Nancy Larrick
from Random House
for Preschool-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Pippi Goes on Board
Pippi Longstocking #2
by Astrid Lindgren
from Viking Press
Humor for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking #1
by Astrid Lindgren
from Puffin Books
Humor for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Poem Stew
by William Cole
from HarperCollins
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Kids: Walt Whitman
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
by Carl Sandburg
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
from Candlewick Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.79 $4.40 (3 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Prayer for a Child
by Rachel Field
1957 Printing from Macmillan
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Puss in Boots & Rumpelstiltskin
by Jane Resnick (reteller), illustrated by Anastassija Archipowa
from Derrydale Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rainbow in the Sky
by Louis Untermeyer, illustrated by Reginald Birch
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Random House Book of Poetry for Children
by Jack Prelutsky
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
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