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The House of Sixty Fathers

Children's book - house of sixty fathers

Published: 1956 Theme: Survival, War Best for: ages 9 and up "The family pig, the three ducklings, and the little stone mill to grind the rice for the baby sister– these they have saved from the mud house of the family of Tien...Besides these they had saved absolutely nothing, except Beauty-of-the-Republic, Tien Pao's baby sister." It's never easy to read a story about war, even if it's packaged in a children's book. Yet there's no denying that it is important to help children understand just how difficult war can be.

Posted on by Laura

Twig

Twig - Children's book

Published: 1942 Theme: Imagination Best for: 5 to 8 "Why not use what you already have: your own i-ma-gi-na-tion? It can do any kind of magic - anywhere-at any time. All you have to do is use it." From the very opening, where the author kindly addresses the reader, I knew I was in the hands of a master writer...

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Magic or Not?

Children's Book - Magic or Not

Published: 1959 Theme: Magic of Goodness Best for: ages 9 and up "Just 'cause magic never happened to you, it doesn't meant it isn't lurking around still, waiting to turn up when you least expect it!" With an unusual turn from Eager's other magic books, like Half Magic, this children's book puts magic squarely in the realm of human activity...

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The Wheel on the School

Children's Book - Wheel on the School

Published: 1954 Theme: Wonder and Hope Best for: 8 to 12 "We can't think much when we don't know much. But we can wonder!..For sometimes, when we wonder, we can make things begin to happen." With a wise teacher at their helm, five young children in the Netherlands begin to wonder, and act. And through that, the town changes, all for the better.

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My Father’s Dragon – Three Tales

My Father's Dragon - Children's Book

Published: 1948, republished 1998 Theme: Imagination, Kindness Best for: 5 to 8 "He's got a long tail and yellow and blue stripes. His horn and eyes and the bottoms of his feet are bright red, and he has gold-colored wings." This children's book is all about imagination, with a capital I. Just trying to picture the vividly-colored dragon takes all of my imaginative skills! There's nothing scary about this book...

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Farmer Giles of Ham

Farmer Giles - Children's book

Published: 1949 Theme: Dragons Best for: ages 9 and up "The next day the dragon moved to the neighboring village of Quercetum... He ate not only sheep and cows and one or two persons of tender age, but he ate the parson too. Rather rashly the parson had sought to dissuade him from his evil ways." I was delighted to come across a 50th anniversary edition of this short and funny children's book by Tolkien. It's a terrific and funny dragon tale...

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No Fighting, No Biting

Children's Book - No Fighting No Biting

Published: 1958 Theme: Early Reader Best for: 5 to 8 "If you can count," said the big, hungry alligator, "maybe you will count my teeth. I have always wanted someone to count my teeth. I will open my mouth wide. Then you two can get in and count all my teeth. All the way to the back of my mouth." In this easy reader, a young girl has the ideal way to deal with her two young cousins who are pinching, and fighting, and biting. Tell a tale about crocodiles...

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Little Bear’s Visit

Little Bear's Visit - Children's book

Published: 1961 Theme: Early Reader Book Best for: 5 to 8 "One spring day, when Mother Bear was little, she found a baby robin in the garden. A baby robin, too little to fly. "Oh how sweet you are," she said, "Where did you come from?" "From my nest," said the robin..." When a child can pick up a children's book and read it on their own, it's as big as learning to ride a bike. The "I Can Read" series is perfect for new readers...

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Mother West Wind’s Children

Mother West Wind Children's Book

Published: 1911 Theme: Animal Myths Best for: 3 to 5 "Danny Meadow Mouse sat in his doorway and looked down the Lone Little Path across the Green Meadows. Way, way over near the Smiling Pool he could see Old Mother West Wind's Children, the Merry Little Breezes, at play." Here's a must-have children's book for Waldorf parents of young children (3 to 5). Perfect short bed-time stories, this classic collection unfolds little stories about why the mouse has a short tale, or why the chipmunk has pockets in his cheeks...

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The Pushcart War

Pushcart War - Children's book

Published: 1964 Theme: Overcoming Bullies Best for: 8 and up The Pushcart War started on the afternoon of March 15, 1998, when a truck ran down a pushcart belonging to a flower peddler. Daffodils were scattered all over the street. The pushcart was flattened, and the owner of the pushcart was pitched headfirst into a pickle barrel. The theme of standing up to bullies comes in a NYC setting of pushcarts versus trucks, with humor all the way through.