How to build a strong literary-classics library (esp for children)

How to build a strong literary-classics library (esp for children)

I have a friend who asked me what books she should begin acquiring in order to build a good children's library. She wanted to start collecting "classics", but didn't know which books were really considered "classics".

In the past, I've felt the same way. Especially when we decided to homeschool, this became a top priority. Who wants to waste their time reading substandard literature?--especially in today's Children's Literature market, when everyone seems to be writing a kid's book! I had heard the best books are the tried and true children's books that have stood the test of time. I wanted to get the books that have captured the hearts of generations. The Classics.

The best resource, I've found, for classics booklist especially for schooling is at amblesideonline.org. There may be other places, but that is the literature-based curriculum that I use. It's pretty straight forward for each grade level. So, then you know what to start collecting for the preschool-preK years. And so on and so forth.

Also, you can look on amazon.com and do a search on their "listmania!" on children's classics. I like amblesideonline.org because they lists books that are classics specifically rich with literary language and learning--not just any "old" book (e.g. "Tom Sawyer" isn't necessarily a classic in an education sense because the reader isn't left with impression of a great "ideal" or worth, whereas "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain has the most literary merit (if you were to read his best work). Even then you'd have to decide if the content is appropriate when there's so many other great books to choose from).

Amblesideonline.org (which uses Charlotte Mason's philosophies of education) is more about " living books" than literary classics per se.

You can also find booklists just by googling "classical homeschool books". You will probably get overwhelmed...but the idea is to just become familiar with book titles and authors.

Amazon searches are good because you usually get literary criticism and feedback and you see what other people "recognize" in a good book...and usually there's some age or grade level appropriated for many books.

There are books you can buy or check out from the library that contain booklists. One good one is "Honey for a Child's Heart" by Gladys Hunt and "Books Children Love" by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson. I know on amazon.com they have listmania! for specific booklists (i.e. AmblesideOnline year 1, Honey for..., and Books Children...). You can look around there, too.

I wish I would have worked on my children's library earlier on--mainly it helps to know what books to look for and which ones to avoid, in the first place.