The Trumpet of The Swan by EB White. Mrs Frisby and the rats of NIHM, I've heard are great. Watership Down is a classic too. I also read Jane Eyre, though maybe I was too much of a reader, lol.
Hi Harrison. This is a wonderful list, and in my opinion the argument you make matters more than any of the titles. Here in the UK, I stood in front of two hundred and twenty children on World Book Day this year, and asked them what magic is. Every single one of them leaned in. The hunger is not gone. But it has to be met with something real, and with effort. I would argue that reading is the only medium that requires the child to do heavy lifting with their imaginations. A screen hands them someone else's dragon. A book makes them build their own, inside their own head. That is where the imagination strengthens, and I think that is what you mean by tilling the mind.
What strikes me about the list is that Tolkien and Lewis are doing something fundamentally different from most of the other titles, and it is exactly the thing your introduction describes. The magic in Middle-earth is not really magic at all, it is grace. Power is never seized, only received. The Elves make no distinction between magic and craft. The Ring cannot be wielded for good because domination as a method is itself the corruption. Tolkien created a world founded on faith, hope, and grace, and called it magic so that readers could feel the truth without the theology. I think that is what tilling the mind for the Gospel really looks like. Not instruction, but soil preparation – through story, through wonder, through a world so deeply true that the reader's imagination is already shaped before they know what shaped it.
I like a separate peace by John Knowles for the 12 plus category. Teaches a story of two boarding school friends in New England about how to be a good friend and how we fall short of that. Some versions have an absolutely crass afterword where modern publishers insinuate modern things so buyer beware.
So many wonderful recommendations (Barsoom, LOTR and Redwall being some of my all time favorites)
I would love to see The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Little Prince and By the Great Horn Spoon! among someone’s “must read” for anyone, whether a child in age, or in spirit!
The “Little House on the Prarie” series. I read them multiple times in middle school.
Charlotte’s Web and Island of the Blue Dolphins.
The Trumpet of The Swan by EB White. Mrs Frisby and the rats of NIHM, I've heard are great. Watership Down is a classic too. I also read Jane Eyre, though maybe I was too much of a reader, lol.
“The Call of the Wild” changed my life at the age of 13. How many times I read it, can’t remember.
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (if Narnia captivates, these have a good chance of appealling too.)
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess both by Frances Hodgeson Burnett
The Enchanted Castle, The Magic City, The Treasure Seekers, Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet - all by E Nesbit.
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
My Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George
Smoky the Cowhorse by Will James
Wulf the Saxon by G.A. Henty
I also have fond memories of reading the Sugar Creek Gang series
Great list, especially the middle-grade 50. Thanks!
Hi Harrison. This is a wonderful list, and in my opinion the argument you make matters more than any of the titles. Here in the UK, I stood in front of two hundred and twenty children on World Book Day this year, and asked them what magic is. Every single one of them leaned in. The hunger is not gone. But it has to be met with something real, and with effort. I would argue that reading is the only medium that requires the child to do heavy lifting with their imaginations. A screen hands them someone else's dragon. A book makes them build their own, inside their own head. That is where the imagination strengthens, and I think that is what you mean by tilling the mind.
What strikes me about the list is that Tolkien and Lewis are doing something fundamentally different from most of the other titles, and it is exactly the thing your introduction describes. The magic in Middle-earth is not really magic at all, it is grace. Power is never seized, only received. The Elves make no distinction between magic and craft. The Ring cannot be wielded for good because domination as a method is itself the corruption. Tolkien created a world founded on faith, hope, and grace, and called it magic so that readers could feel the truth without the theology. I think that is what tilling the mind for the Gospel really looks like. Not instruction, but soil preparation – through story, through wonder, through a world so deeply true that the reader's imagination is already shaped before they know what shaped it.
The tale of Despereaux! My girls (5, 7) loved it!
I like a separate peace by John Knowles for the 12 plus category. Teaches a story of two boarding school friends in New England about how to be a good friend and how we fall short of that. Some versions have an absolutely crass afterword where modern publishers insinuate modern things so buyer beware.
Little House on the Prairie, Sir Night and the Splendid Way, Little Britches, I Am David.
So many wonderful recommendations (Barsoom, LOTR and Redwall being some of my all time favorites)
I would love to see The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Little Prince and By the Great Horn Spoon! among someone’s “must read” for anyone, whether a child in age, or in spirit!
The Lloyd Alexander pentology, starting with "The Book Of Three". Memorable characters, great writing, really good life-lessons. Award-winning.
If you're doing young Heinlein novels you'd be remiss to not include: Space Cadet, The Rolling Stones, and Red Planet.
Although be careful, Heinlein’s atheism may start to leak through. I never noticed it when I was young, but now that I’m older I can’t say for sure.