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Got these books at library sale….advice, please.
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Our library had a huge book sale over the weekend, and I scored a ton of books for a great price. About 30 books for $7.25! I was hurrying to choose books and tried my best to remember books I’d seen recommended on here in the past, on the Bookfinder, and Curriculum Guide. I also identified authors we’ve read and enjoyed in the past and some classics I didn’t own. I know I got some great living books, but I’m unsure which books to read when. So, I’m going to list the ones I’m unsure about here, and if you have read or your kids have read them, please tell me what ages you used them and if they were enjoyed. Or, if I list a book that you wouldn’t recommend, please make note of that too!
The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare)
Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare)
The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
Missing May (Cynthia Rylant)
Secret of the Andes (Ann Nolan Clark)
The Sea-Wolf (Jack London)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Banner in the Sky (James Ramsey Ullman)
The Aeneid for Boys and Girls (Rev. Alfred Church)
Kidnapped (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
Thanks!
Lindsey
I started pre-reading Missing May a few years back. About halfway through I put in it the giveaway box. The main characters were going to go to some sort of spiritualist to try to channel the ghost/spirit of May, who had died before the book began.
I think Sign of the Beaver is recommended for around grade 5.
The Brontes would be late jr. high or high school, IMO. Probably Count of Monte Cristo, too.
Karen
Oooo…library book sales! I just love ’em! I’ve sworn them off until after Christmas, because I found a town near us does them once a month and well, ahem, I came home with multiple brown gerocery bags last time (it was a bag sale – what else could I do?!) I read the Sign of the Beaver within this last year myself and LOVED it! We are using it this year, as a read aloud specifically for my oldest son (age 8), because we are studying that period for history; and I was looking for something that wasn’t extremely one-sided in the relationship between Native Americans and white settlers. I thought the book did a good job in that regard. In the curriculum guide it’s in Module 5 for grades 4-6, Kidnapped is in the same module for grades 7-9. Kidnapped is also listed in literature for grades 5-8. The Jungle Book is Literature grades 1-4, we’re reading Just So Stories first as a family and The Jungle Book next year. And that’s about as much help as I’ll be since my kids are young.
The Aeneid for Boys and Girls is about the survivors of Troy who travel around until they settle in Italy. They are ancestors of the twins who started Rome. The Aeneid, The Illiad, and The Odyssey are generally aimed for ages 8-12. I personally enjoyed them. 😉
Kidnapped is a great adventure story set in 1750’s. It is set in Scotland six years after the Jacobean Rebellion (think Bonnie Prince Charlie) of 1746-47. While the story is fictional, the things the Scots suffered for many, many years after were real, as is the fact that many escaped to France and became part of the French Court and military. I enjoyed it more because I had read about the rebellion before. There is a bit of dialect in the conversations. I’d say that is good for a solid fifth/sixth grade reader and above, especially if there is interest in adventure.
I’d think that the Kipling books would be good about 4-6 grade as well…haven’t read them yet, they are on the list for this year. I imagine that Chirstie, Michelle, or Robin would know off the top of their heads. 😉
The Sign of the Beaver is also a good book – I’d say about 4-5th grades on it.
Agree with Karen that the Brontes and the Count are more high school aged.
In case this helps….
The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare) – AO Year 4 Free Read
Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare) – AO Year 4+
The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling) – AO Year 3
The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) – AO Year 9
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) – Ao Year 10 Free Read
Kidnapped (Robert Louis Stevenson) – AO Year 04
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) – AO Year 10 Free Read
Also, if we’ve already finished the Ancient Greece module, and my kids will be older than 12 when we repeat it, should I let them go ahead and read The Aeneid as a free read, or ?? I also picked up The Illiad at the library sale, so all I’m missing is The Odyssey. I just want to make sure I give these books out at the proper time.
I haven’t read The Aeneid for Boys and Girls, but I have seen it recommended alongside studies of Ancient Rome.
It’s been a couple years since I’ve read Banner in the Sky but I remember enjoying the story very much, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type of book. I think it would be best as a read aloud especially for younger children. The main character, in order to fulfill a dream, defies his mother’s wishes. Something that might lead to a great discussion.
Lindsey, The Aeneid is for Ancient Rome history, although I read a book on it when we were doing the Trojan War and the fall of Troy. I decided to wait to let them read it with Roman History and let them make the tie-in then.
You could let them be free reads if you wanted. My dd is reading The Odyssey and keeps telling me “I remember this when we read _____.” It is fun to see them making those connections. =)
i dont remember too much else about Banner in the Sky except it was a read aloud in my sixth grade public school class and i *loved* it! something about climbing a mountain…. hth
agree with nerakr about missing may…i started it, barely, and was super turned off by the content and stopped. too creepy for my tastes.
count of monte cristo was a 10th grade summer read in ps and jane eyre too. at that age, i loved monte cristo and *hated* jane eyre. but i just reread jane eyre at age 30 and *LOVED* it! i think at age 15 i just could not get past Rochester being 20 years older than Jane.
I’ll toss Missing May, then.
For some reason it slipped my mind that The Aeneid was for Rome! Oops! We won’t repeat the Roman module for another 4 years, and by then my kids will be too old for it, right? So just give it to them as a free read now? As well as Illiad and Odyssey? We don’t repeat the Greek module for another 3 years. By then my kids will be almost 13 and 11.5. (Oh gosh, I don’t like thinking about that!)
Those are such *HUGE* reads, it seems. I was hoping to incorporate them with our studies somehow!
I need to clarify the fact that my dd is reading the The Odyssey for Boys and Girls by Church. She is surprising me with it. I thought she would protest more about it, but several times when her time is up, she’ll say “But it’s so good right now” or “I just got to another really interesting part – I don’t want to be done!” =) I have been talking about Alfred Church’s books in this thread. So, if the books you are referring to in your above post are the children’s versions by Rev. Alfred Church you can let them read them now or later.
I am waiting until mine are high school age for the regular epic poems by Homer (Illiad and Odyssey) and The Aeneid by Virgil. That’s when I read them (so it has been a long while). I think that they will enjoy the original poems better in high school with more familiarity from the Church stories -similiar to reading Nesbit’s or Lamb’s version of Shakespeare story before reading the play. You get more out of it. Even if you can’t make it fit the History period, you can make it with a literature label, too. 😉
At any rate – the Church versions are great adventure stories.
I would hold Wuthering Heights and The Count of Monte Cristo for high school based on the writing level and some of the moral content.
Wuthering Heights deals with 2 main characters who have an all consuming passion for each other despite being married to other people. The Count of Monte Cristo is a beautifully written book but is largely about a man plotting revenge and murder.
There are redemptive elements in both that can be talked through with teenagers, but I would not give them to children (pre-teens or younger). Just my 2 cents ;0).
Oh – and I would hold Jane Eyre for high school, too, because of the adultery involved in the plot.
The other books are all good! The only ones we haven’t read or enjoyed are The Sea Wolf and Banner in the Sky. I like to look them up on amazon and read the reviews people submit. You can generally get a good idea of the plot and anything objectionable this way.
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