McGuffey's Eclectic Readers: PDF Online

McGuffey's Eclectic Readers and McGuffey's Eclectic Primer


McGuffey Readers and Primers were a series of graded primers (introductory reading instruction books) that were widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, and are still used today in some private schools and in homeschooling.

It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person's name has come close to that mark.

McGuffey Readers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

McGuffey's Eclectic Speller

McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader

 McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader

Free Children's Books Online

Free Children's Downloadable Books Online: pdf. ebooks kindle and iPad

Free Kids Books . Org is a great place to find free PDF books for children, parents, and teachers. Free Kids Books connects readers with great authors and illustrates that you may never find at your local big box store. The website carries 30-40 free ebooks, pfd. kindle, and iPad books at all times with new books being added all the time. Free Kids Books is unique in they link all free books directly to the authors website, giving the reader a more personal experience. The free books are superbly written with rich fun stories and beautifully rendered illustrations.

Royal Raven Hans Wilhelm 

A raven longs to be different, but when his wish is granted, he discovers what he wished for may not be what he wanted after all. Another beautifully illustrated previously published but out of print book, made available for download by the author. 

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Download Free PDFPurchase - $0.00

The Witches Daughter

Janaki Sooriyarachchi
While trying everything she can think of to make herself beautiful, the witches daughter discovers the secret of beauty is really about how you act. Write a review

Download Free PDFPurchase - $4.00

About http://freekidsbooks.org/

This site is dedicated to providing free children’s resources, in usable format, for the purpose of literary awareness.

Books are separated in to categories for toddlers, children, and young adults, we felt this easiest since reading levels vary significantly between countries, especially those who English is not a home language. Toddlers books contain very few words, children’s books are picture books of short length, and books for young adults are chapter books with an occasional picture.

If you like the books, all we ask in return is that you please share them and your feedback with others, leave a comment about the book under the review tab, and share the site with your friends. And if you really really like the books, all are available as hard copies to purchase for your own child or as a gift.

All the other books provided are here because the author has made them available in pdf format for free on the internet, and our reviewers considered them suitable quality to share with others. They are subject to the individual authors copyright and any restrictions applied.

We find the best way to use the pdf picture books is to print the pages and keep them in a slip file or folder, or staple together for easy reading. Chapter books may be printed and put in a file to read, or read on an electronic device. But if you like the book, the easiest way to get a convenient hard copy, is to buy a copy!

This is a very cost effective way to ensure children can have many great books to read over and over. Books can also be easily changed depending on your child’s interest, and pages can even be drawn on, as replacing pages is so easy to do.

Children often are not very careful with books when they are young, and a printed copy can easily be used for every day play, and if you like the books, again, you can buy the hard copy and keep it aside for later (when your child hopefully has learnt to look after their favourite things a little better).

Another great advantage of printable pdf books is for colouring books. Electronic format colouring books need not be thrown away when the pages are used! And you can print many copies of the same page for fun trial and error colouring, allowing your child to keep the best ones for use in the flip file or scrapbook.

Alphabet and learning to read interactive series are now available in both pdf and in an editable open document form under the files tab. There are no restrictions on the use of these files, however we appreciate if you put a reference in to our site as the source.

The Best Children's Illustrated Books

Manuela Pentangelo

The Best Picture Books for Children: Illustrated Books Ebooks and iPad Books

Manuela Pentangelo illustrations are vibrant, energetic whimsical, and beautifully rendered. She has a playful style that will make even adults smile and feel like a child again.

Manuela Pentangelo currently lives outside of Milan, Italy. Originally trained in architectural design, she found that her real passion was in illustrating children’s books. Illustrating has become far more than a hobby and has lead to a wonderful career. She has more than 20 published children and animated books. Her books are available in many countries around the world. Making digital books is one of her most recent endeavors.

"Do Pirates Go To School?" is a fun story about a young boy who finds a pair of boots that turn out to be a little out of the ordinary. Come join Pete as he learns if Pirates really do go to school.

Search Amazon.com for Manuela Pentangelo
 

Barnyard Buddies: Perry Parrot Finds a Purpose

Manuela Pentangelo Illustrated/Animated IPad ebook

An adventurous day at the beach becomes a lesson in friendship and caring, as young Chico must use both his head and his heart to help his new friend, a lovely little mermaid. Interact with Chico as he explores a beautiful beach and makes friends with a mermaid who needs his help. Swim with Chico under the sea, play with crabs, and discover humorous animations by tapping Chico, fish and other objects throughout the pages. A wonderful story about acceptance and kindness, Chico to the Rescue is rich with fun interactivity that engages young readers and can be read and enjoyed over and over again.

Come dive into the pages in this adventure and help Chico free the little mermaid.

Features
- Interact and explore the pages, rich with animations and mini-games.
- Personalize the story by recording your own voice or the voice of your child.
- Choose to listen to the story narrated by a professional adult narrator or a child narrator.
- Turn pages manually and move back and forth through the story at your own pace.
- Turn off all sounds and narration for quiet reading experience.

Three ways to read this e-book:
- Read the story aloud with your child, enjoying the story at your own pace.
- Listen to the story professional narrated, turning the pages manually.
- Select Autoplay for a movie like experience. Pages are turned and read automatically. Perfect for pre-readers.
 2.99 @ itunes
 
Please share your favorite authors

and illustrators with Reading Sage!

The Blue Back Speller

The Original American Spelling Book: The Blue-Backed Speller

The Blue Back Speller was the foundation of American Literacy

for over a century. Today every classroom, school district, and municipality use a multitude of reading, spelling, and language arts curriculum, that can be costly and seldom aligned. The benefit of The Blue Back Speller is it is a complete speller, not parsed into a multiple of watered down books. A student had all the vocabulary they would ever need to learn in a single source. Today we would call The Blue-Backed Speller, differentiated instruction, common core state vocabulary standards, aligned curriculum, research-based, best practice, and or common sense. 200,000,000 million Americans learned to read and write using The Blue-Backed Speller and The McGuffey Eclectic Spelling Book. Today we spend billions and billions on language arts curriculum and endless testing and a simple speller taught America to read for almost 200 years! Sean Taylor M.Ed

NOAH WEBSTER’S SPELLING BOOK METHOD FOR TEACHING READING AND SPELLING 

[PDF] McGUFFEY'S ECLECTIC SPELLING-BOOK: and the chief changes that have been ......blue, a color. ...... of repetition or return; as, recall, to call back. re build ...... This file should be named 

From Captivity to Fame or The Life of George Washington Carver

"As a boy, Carver spends most of his free time "roving the woods, and acquainting himself with every queer flower and peculiar weed" he finds, filling his pockets with insects and other interesting natural artifacts. At night, after his work is completed, Carver teaches himself to read and write by memorizing "an old blue-back speller by the dim light of the burning logs in the fire place". When he finishes with the speller at age ten, Carver leaves his home and walks eight miles to the nearest town with a school in order to satisfy his "continuous desire of acquiring knowledge," spending "the first few nights in an old horse barn" until he makes "friends with a Mr. and Mrs. Watkins, who adopted him into their family"

Noah Webster's Blue Backed SpellerAs a teacher, he had come to dislike American elementary schools. They could be overcrowded, with up to seventy children of all ages crammed into one-room schoolhouses. They had poor underpaid staff, no desks, and unsatisfactory textbooks that came from England. Webster thought that Americans should learn from American books, so he began writing a three volume compendium, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language. The work consisted of a speller (published in 1783), a grammar (published in 1784), and a reader (published in 1785). His goal was to provide a uniquely American approach to training children. His most important improvement, he claimed, was to rescue "our native tongue" from "the clamour^[12] of pedantry" that surrounded English grammar and pronunciation. He complained that the English language had been corrupted by the British aristocracy, which set its own standard for proper spelling and pronunciation. Webster rejected the notion that the study of Greek and Latin must precede the study of English grammar. The appropriate standard for the American language, argued Webster, was "the same republican principles as American civil and ecclesiastical constitutions." This meant that the people-at-large must control the language; popular sovereignty in government must be accompanied by popular usage in language.Wiki
The Speller was arranged so that it could be easily taught to students, and it progressed by age. From his own experiences as a teacher, Webster thought the Speller should be simple and gave an orderly presentation of words and the rules of spelling and pronunciation. He believed students learned most readily when he broke a complex problem into its component parts and had each pupil master one part before moving to the next. Ellis argues that Webster anticipated some of the insights currently associated with Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Webster said that children pass through distinctive learning phases in which they master increasingly complex or abstract tasks. Therefore, teachers must not try to teach a three-year-old how to read; they could not do it until age five. He organized his speller accordingly, beginning with the alphabet and moving systematically through the different sounds of vowels and consonants, then syllables, then simple words, then more complex words, then sentences.^[13] WikiThe speller was originally titled The First Part of the Grammatical Institute of the English Language. Over the course of 385 editions in his lifetime, the title was changed in 1786 to The American Spelling Book, and again in 1829 to The Elementary Spelling Book. Most people called it the "Blue-Backed Speller" because of its blue cover, and for the next one hundred years, Webster's book taught children how to read, spell, and pronounce words. It was the most popular American book of its time; by 1837 it had sold 15 million copies, and some 60 million by 1890—reaching the majority of young students in the nation's first century. Its royalty of a half-cent per copy was enough to sustain Webster in his other endeavors. It also helped create the popular contests known as spelling bees.Wiki

MR.TAYLOR'S MODERN ECLECTIC PROGRESSIVE SPELLERS

MR.TAYLOR'S MODERN ECLECTIC PRIMARY SPELLER 

K-3 SPELLER

1. Basic Phonics Primer 
2. 30 FLUENCY DRILLS
3. ANTHOLOGY OF CLASSIC PRIMARY POETRY
4. PRINT AND CURSIVE PRACTICE TEMPLATE
5. 3,500 HIGH-FREQUENCY ENGLISH WORD LIST
6. 180 DAILY GRADE LEVEL VOCABULARY LESSONS
7. 180 DAILY MATH VOCABULARY LESSONS
8. 180 DAILY LANGUAGE ARTS VOCABULARY LESSONS
9. 180 DAILY SCIENCE VOCABULARY LESSONS
10. ACADEMIC MATH GLOSSARY
11. ACADEMIC SCIENCE GLOSSARY
12. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE ARTS GLOSSARY 
13. PLUS FUN EXTRAS

 $17.25 + shipping         FREE pdf. ONLINE

MR.TAYLOR'S MODERN ECLECTIC INTERMEDIATE SPELLER 

4-6 SPELLER 

1. 40 FLUENCY DRILLS
2. ANTHOLOGY OF CLASSIC INTERMEDIATE POETRY
3. PRINT AND SPENCERIAN CURSIVE PRACTICE TEMPLATE
4. 5,500 HIGH FREQUENCY ENGLISH WORD LIST
5. 180 DAILY GRADE LEVEL VOCABULARY LESSONS
6. 180 DAILY MATH VOCABULARY LESSONS
7. 180 DAILY LANGUAGE ARTS VOCABULARY LESSONS
8. 180 DAILY SCIENCE VOCABULARY LESSONS
9. ACADEMIC MATH GLOSSARY
10. ACADEMIC SCIENCE GLOSSARY
11. ACADEMIC READING GLOSSARY
12. ACADEMIC GRAMMAR GLOSSARY
13. ACADEMIC LATIN & GREEK GLOSSARY
14. PLUS FUN EXTRAS

$19.75 + shipping      FREE pdf. ONLINE

MR.TAYLOR'S MODERN  ECLECTIC ADVANCED SPELLER 

7-9 SPELLER

1. ANTHOLOGY OF CLASSIC INTERMEDIATE POETRY
2. PRINT AND CURSIVE PRACTICE TEMPLATE
3. 7,500 HIGH FREQUENCY ENGLISH WORD LIST
4. 180 DAILY GRADE LEVEL VOCABULARY LESSONS
5. 180 DAILY MATH VOCABULARY LESSONS
6. 180 DAILY LANGUAGE ARTS VOCABULARY LESSONS
7. 180 DAILY SCIENCE VOCABULARY LESSONS
8. ACADEMIC MATH GLOSSARY
9. ACADEMIC SCIENCE GLOSSARY
10. ACADEMIC READING GLOSSARY
11. ACADEMIC GRAMMAR GLOSSARY
12. ACADEMIC SOCIAL STUDIES GLOSSARY
13. ACADEMIC LATIN & GREEK GLOSSARY
14. SAT VOCABULARY GLOSSARY
15. POETRY GLOSSARY
16. PLUS FUN EXTRAS

$22.25 + shipping

MR.TAYLOR'S MODERN ECLECTIC SPELLER TEACHERS GUIDE 

Text to Speech: Free online text E-Readers

Free online text to speech E-Reader for all web based text, pdf, or jpg files is now available free from OpenLirary.org


Why settle for a static picture and description of your book when you can display your content with this amazing interactive app.

Openlibray has developed a free open source reading "BookReader" app designed to run on any website. The app lets your visitors instantly read and view any text on your website with a high quality e-reader/viewer with a realistic voice. You can embed your own PDF books, English lessons, podcast, pictures and have them narrated with a realistic voice. 


Turn All Text, Blogs, Websites, and any Online Content Into a Powerful Learning Tool with the Addition of Text to Speech!

CLICK AND EXPAND PDF BOOK TO LISTEN TO TEXT TO SPEECH 

CLICK AND EXPAND PDF BOOK TO LISTEN TO TEXT TO SPEECH

CLICK AND EXPAND PDF BOOK TO LISTEN TO TEXT TO SPEECH

CLICK AND EXPAND PDF BOOK TO LISTEN TO TEXT TO SPEECH




All the "BookReader" features for users and developers!


http://blog.openlibrary.org/2010/12/09/new-bookreader/

Download source code

The BookReader source code is available in the openlibrary.org github repository. Click here to access the source code using git.. You can also just download the latest release.

How to Teach Vocabulary

Methods for Teaching Academic Vocabulary 

Academic or Tier 3 vocabulary is a neglected academic focus in most classrooms today. Students with limited background knowledge or deficits in academic vocabulary will find little academic success on assessments. Teachers need to teach academic vocabulary in the early grades and daily. 50-100 academic words should be introduced as early as kindergarten and directly taught, spiraled throughout the year with rigorous fun methods. Each content specific or academic domain has 10-25 words that need to be taught to mastery each school year. The best method I have found teaching academic vocabulary, that has true student appeal and real staying power is using games in many forms. Sean Taylor M.Ed.

The game my students love the best is Vocabulary Sparkle

Have your children stand or sit on their desk so they are facing the teacher. Start by reading the tier 3 academic term, denotation, connotation and or a student friendly example. Ask your students to buddy buzz with their shoulder partner what they think the answer is. Draw a students name from your popsicle sticks and give the child drawn a chance to explain the vocabulary word or definition. The student must give a quick definition or kid friendly sentence or they must sit down. The child that cannot give an answer can get a hint or clue when new terms or definitions are being introduced. If two students in a row are not able to answer the question the teachers gives a denotation, connotation and kid friendly example. The students must share, retell and discuss what the teacher just revealed. Continue the game until you are down to one child! Use the same 10-25 terms to check and ensure students are really discussing and learning new terms and word meanings. The last child that has answered the most vocabulary gets a small bag of popcorn. Every child that answers a hard vocabulary question correctly gets a pretzel, stamp or a sticker. They love this and it is great review for challenging academic vocabulary! Start with a mix of easy and hard words to get the kids excited and ready to study the challenging academic words.

Free PDF Vocabulary List

Links to PDF Academic Word List                                                                                                     The Tennessee Academic Vocabulary Project NWEA MAP Test VOCABULARY for the Web-based MAP® system
Oklahoma Academic Vocabulary Suggested Words and Terms  Marzano based list
The Tennessee Academic Vocabulary Project Prepared for the State of Tennessee Department of Education by Marzano & Associates

• NWEA Academic Vocabularyhttp://www.hasd.org/cms_files/resources/MAPs%20Vocabulary.pdf
• NWEA Academic Vocabulary 
• NWEA Reading Test Questions  

CST and CAHSEE Academic Vocabulary
Academic Vocabulary At a Glance – New Vocabulary Words by RIT Bands for Reading
ISAT Reading Vocabulary List (Word) doc

• ISAT Language Usage Vocabulary List (Word)
• ISAT Math Vocabulary List (Word)

Andrew Biemiller’s Word List

Jim Burke Academic Vocabulary

CST and CAHSEE Academic Vocabulary

Top Ways to Improve Test Scores

Top Ways to Improve Student Test Scores

TOP interventions that will improve student test scores.

1. Build academic oracy, poor language and vocabulary skills are a direct impedance to student success
2. Teach students to be proactive, ask questions, seek understanding and develop a growth mindset
3. SET SMART Goals Early and Raise your Expectations!
4. "Advertising" SELL, SELL, SELL the benefits of hard work, planning, and success derived through perseverance!
5. Study the test your students are going to take, analyze the test and look for frequency of academic vocabulary, the levels of DOK/BLOOMS test questions, and look for distractors that will trip up your students. 
6. Students need to take practice tests preferably released test to avoid test anxiety and build endurance
7. Build strong relationships with students, help them to understand their strengths and weakness using corrective feedback.

Be Proactive! Developing Intrinsic Inquiry -- Intrinsic Scholar/Dynamic Learner  Enlightened nature a learner under own direction and assisted by directions of a teacher. Always asking for deeper understanding and meaning. Intrinsically motivated to learn and curious! Loves literature, loves knowledge, loves inquiry!

Grades kill intrinsic inquiry and creativity?

We as teachers and parents need to seek an education Renaissance that creates erudite scholars not good test takers. We have lost sight of creating, exploring, developing quality educational environments that examine student outcomes and ensure all students acquire real skills not earning grades. We have students that can't read nor write, getting A's! Why? We have become too preoccupied with the perception of success without the needed hard-work and skills. What is the Real cost of this constant Extrinsic Educations Model? 50% dropout rates, 40-75% illiteracy in Title I schools, simplified curriculum, hyper inflated grading, unmotivated languid students, and student outcomes that will destroy a prosperous future.

     Test happy reforms like NCLB have created the opposite of real success. What made the US a leader in education in the past was, curiosity, creativity, and less testing ! Teachers and students are now pawns bending to the whims of the educational reformers that have no business dictating pedagogical best practices. Have we lost imagination, creativity, real teaching innovations, curiosity, "thought experiments," "travels on the ship of imagination," and the reasoning tools of the creative intrinsic mind with modern test driven school reforms? Art, creativity, theater, and music play a key role in building intrinsic desire. The arts are the foundation of the visual spatial mathematical logical intelligence that is the essential 21st century skill. We over analyze and formulate grades and rubrics for all human activity and call this research and progress, yet we lose our creativity. The dawn of humanity is the intrinsic desire to better oneself; this coincides with that dawn of geometry, math, agriculture, science, astronomy, architecture, sculpture, painting, theater, math, agriculture, and humanity. The artist, mathematician, playwright, and architect are one in the same. Leonardo da Vinci an Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. What is the future....

Developing 21st Century Communication Skills Oracy --Articulate Scholar/Dynamic Communicator Superlative written and spoken communication skills at the center of learning. Digital native seeking to develop e-learning experiences and adapting to multiple learning environments, learner under own direction and assisted, augmented, and enhanced by technology.

Read Aloud Books For Children

Top 10 Classic Read Aloud Books For Young Readers

The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr

A voracious guest makes a surprise visit in this ferociously popular tale, first published more than forty years ago.

ONCE THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL CALLED SOPHIE, AND SHE WAS HAVING TEA WITH HER MUMMY IN THE KITCHEN. SUDDENLY, THERE WAS A RING AT THE DOOR.

When the doorbell rings unexpectedly one afternoon, Sophie and her mummy can’t imagine who might be there. Much to their surprise, a tiger with a very large appetite has come to tea! What will they tell Daddy when he returns home and finds all the cupboards bare? First published in 1968, this classic and whimsical picture book from beloved children’s author and illustrator Judith Kerr is a delightful (and delicious!) story about the best way to entertain an unexpected houseguest, even when that guest just so happens to be a tiger.

About the Author

Judith Kerr was born in Berlin in 1923, but escaped from Hitler’s Germany with her family and eventually settled in England. She worked as an artist and BBC television scriptwriter before becoming a full-time author and illustrator of children’s books, including WHEN WILLY WENT TO THE WEDDING, WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT, and the best-selling THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA. She lives in England.

 Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
Amazon.com Review
Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it's been too long since you've attended a wild rumpus. Max dons his wolf suit in pursuit of some mischief and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired. Sendak's color illustrations (perhaps his finest) are beautiful, and each turn of the page brings the discovery of a new wonder. The wild things--with their mismatched parts and giant eyes--manage somehow to be scary-looking without ever really being scary; at times they're downright hilarious. Sendak's defiantly run-on sentences--one of his trademarks--lend the perfect touch of stream of consciousness to the tale, which floats between the land of dreams and a child's imagination.
This Sendak classic is more fun than you've ever had in a wolf suit, and it manages to reaffirm the notion that there's no place like home. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
 

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, by Beatrix Potter

Amazon  Kid's Review

This is one of my favorite stories when I was younger, and still is today. This story is so funny, and cute, and charming. In it you follow Tom Kitten along his adventure, more like a MISadventure. His mother is Ms. Tabitha Twitchit, a very fussy, over protective mother of her three kittens. Moppet, Mittens, and our hero of the story are silly kittens who are always mischeivious in any situation. They are always running away from their mother in their huge house, sneaking around, trying to cause trouble. Follow Tom Kitten as he goes on an adventure that is more dangerous than fun. When he gets lost and Tabitha tries to find him, her sister Mrs. Ribby, who is very fussy and angry with Tom, doesn't help the situation. See what happens to Tom when he gets trapped with two HUGE HUNGRY rates with no way to escape! This, in my opinion, is one of her best stories and the characters in it are unforgettable. 

Yertle the Turtle, by Dr Seuss

In his Retrospective, Cohen tells us that 'when the top-selling children's books of all time were compiled in 2001, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories had sold more copies than either Curious George or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' ...I was fascinated to learn that Yertle was 'actually a caricature of Adolf Hitler - 'a little domineering guy who pushes people around.'' Cohen also includes two lost stories - The Ruckus and The Kindly Snather - which both teach a lesson and both made me smile. If you're a Dr. Seuss fan (and who isn't?) then you really should have this anniversary edition...in your collection - to read and chortle over with young children, or simply to enjoy, and think about, on your own. [Rated with 3 books, highest rating] --BookLoons.com, Hilary Williamson (founder), 11/17/2008 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of the most popular children’s books ever created, this pop-up edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the perfect new platform for the classic caterpillar, who literally pops off the pages of the book—crawling along branches, munching through food, and in one of the most memorable climaxes ever, emerging vibrantly as a three-dimensional beautiful butterfly.This is a stunning, tour-de-force pop-up that no fan of Mr. Carle’s work will want to miss.

The Cat in the Hat, by Dr Seuss

Amazon.com Review  

He may be an old standby, but he never lets us down. When in doubt, turn to the story of the cat that transformed a dull, rainy afternoon into a magical and just-messy-enough adventure. There's another, hidden adventure, too: this book really will help children learn to read. With his simple and often single-vowel vocabulary, the good Doctor knew what he was doing: hear it, learn it, read it--laughing all the way. The Cat in the Hat is a must for any child's library.

Charlotte's Web, by EB White


Amazon.com Review
An affectionate, sometimes bashful pig named Wilbur befriends a spider named Charlotte, who lives in the rafters above his pen. A prancing, playful bloke, Wilbur is devastated when he learns of the destiny that befalls all those of porcine persuasion. Determined to save her friend, Charlotte spins a web that reads "Some Pig," convincing the farmer and surrounding community that Wilbur is no ordinary animal and should be saved. In this story of friendship, hardship, and the passing on into time, E.B. White reminds us to open our eyes to the wonder and miracle often found in the simplest of things. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Story of Babar, by Jean de Brunhoff

Babar is one of the most endearing characters in children's literature. This volume is a classic that belongs on any child's bookshelf. The story of Babar and Celeste's hot air balloon ride and subsequent adventures in interesting locales fascinates kids, while broadening their cultural horizons. Some mature themes that may disturb kids (war, cruel treatment by a circus ringmaster), but provide a change from the pastel bunny and kitty story genre. Thought provoking for kids mature enough to handle it.







Winnie-the-Pooh, by AA Milne, illustrated by EH Shepard

Amazon.com Review

When Christopher Robin asks Pooh what he likes doing best in the world, Pooh says, after much thought, "What I like best in the whole world is Me and Piglet going to see You, and You saying 'What about a little something?' and Me saying, 'Well, I shouldn't mind a little something, should you, Piglet,' and it being a hummy sort of day outside, and birds singing." Happy readers for over 70 years couldn't agree more. Pooh's status as a "Bear of Very Little Brain" belies his profoundly eternal wisdom in the ways of the world. To many, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and the others are as familiar and important as their own family members. A.A. Milne's classics, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, are brought together in this beautiful edition, complete and unabridged, with recolored illustrations by Milne's creative counterpart, Ernest H. Shepard. Join Pooh and the gang as they meet a Heffalump, help get Pooh unstuck from Rabbit's doorway, (re)build a house for Eeyore, and try to unbounce Tigger. A childhood is simply not complete without full participation in all of Pooh's adventures. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

Presents a comprehensive, unabridged collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, accompanied by Shepard's original full-color illustrations, as well as headbands and ribbon markers, colorful bookplate, and biographies of the author and illustrator.

Great Children's Literary Blogs and Websites

BeautifulBooksforChildren.com 
Readalouddad.com 
freekidsbook.org 
susannahill.com 
woodlilypublishers.com  
smashwords.com 
hootenannybooks.com 
humanbodydetectives.com 
villagelifebooks.com 
songsfromtheword.com 

Creating a Great Home School Library

Creating a Complete Home School Library. 

The Royal Society of Literature Top 100 Books Every Child Should Read.

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."Mortimer J. Adler

The complete home school library will be up to readers personal interest. This is the best collection of classic and modern literature for children and teachers that I have found. Building a classroom library with this concise list is a good place to begin. I would also consider adding the greatest collection of Fairy Tales and Fables from around the world Compiled by Andrew Lang. If we would like our students to be well read we must set an example with great literature.

1 Blue Fairy Book (1889)

2 Red Fairy Book (1890)

3 Green Fairy Book (1892)

4 Yellow Fairy Book (1894)

5 Pink Fairy Book (1897)

6 Grey Fairy Book (1900)

7 Violet Fairy Book (1901)

8 Crimson Fairy Book (1903)

9 Brown Fairy Book (1904)

10 Orange Fairy Book (1906)

11 Olive Fairy Book (1907)

12 Lilac Fairy Book (1910)

Free Andrew Lang E-Books from Feedbooks

The Blue Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books constitute a twelve-book series of fairy tale collections. Although Andrew Lang did not collect the stories himself from the oral tradition,...

Free Download

The Red Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books constitute a twelve-book series of fairy tale collections. Although Andrew Lang did not collect the stories himself from the oral tradition,...

Free Download

The Grey Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from many countries—Lithuania, various parts of Africa, Germany, France, Greece, and other regions of the world.

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The Violet Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

This is a new collection of Fairy stories in continuation of the series which "The Blue Fairy Book" was the initial volume.

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The Crimson Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

A collection of fairy tales.

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The Yellow Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang

The Editor thinks that children will readily forgive him for publishing another Fairy Book. We have had the Blue, the Red, the Green, and here is the Yellow. If children are pleased, and they are so kind as...

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Complete List of 100 Must Read Books! 

• 100 books every child should read - Part 1: Early years
• 100 books every child should read - Part 2: Middle years
• 100 books every child should read - Part 3: Early teens

The Top Ten Books!

1. The Twits, by Roald Dahl

Mr and Mrs Twit pass the time playing nasty tricks on one another. They're both horrid. In his hairy beard, Mr Twit "was always able to find a tasty

morsel to nibble on".

2. Burglar Bill, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

"I'll 'ave that," is the catchphrase of the rogue who stars in this engaging and beautifully illustrated tale. When Bill accidentally burglarises a baby, it turns out

to be a blessing in a stolen basket. "Runfrit, Boglaboll!"

3. The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr

A tiger that eats its hosts out of house and home.

4. Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

When Max engages in mischief, he is sent to bed without his supper. That's just the start. Sendak's paintings sing, and the text is a joy.

5. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, by Beatrix Potter

Tom Kitten learnt nothing from his parents about the consequences of curiosity. Abducted by a psychotic rat, he comes within a whisker of being turned into a
pudding. Nightmares guaranteed.

6. Yertle the Turtle, by Dr Seuss

Yertle, king of the pond, commands all the turtles to stack themselves up so he can be top of the heap. Someone's riding for a fall.

7. Fungus the Bogeyman, by Raymond Briggs

What boy won't thrill to the world of the Bogeymen, all snot, armpits and boils? This gave Raymond Briggs's green crayon the workout of its life.

8. The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business, by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch

Someone's dropping lands on poor mole's head. Who's the culprit? A farmyard investigation is conducted with Germanic seriousness. Mole's revenge is sweet.
Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson Punchier than The Gruffalo, this has children chanting along as a witch and her animal friends see off a dragon in search of "witch and chips".

9. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

"In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf…" so begins this classic board book, its pages drilled with holes as the caterpillar eats his way through the week.

10. The Cat in the Hat, by Dr Seuss

"Look at me! Look at me! Look at me now!" The cat's a big show-off, but he knows how to have fun, and his chaotic antics delight.