Sylvan Learning Releases Valentine’s Day Reading List
Baltimore, MD, February 1, 2011 – This year, Valentine's Day could be an ideal time to encourage children of all ages to read. A love of reading is the most important gift you can give your child or student – it'll never wear out, never become outdated, provide hours of fun and last a life-time!The Amelia Bedelia books. Children love the irrepressible Amelia, who takes everything literally.
Books by Beverly Cleary. Whether it's the Ralph books (that's Ralph S. Mouse), or Socks the Cat, elementary-age kids enjoy Cleary's books. They're fun to read, appeal to kids' imaginations, allow kids to see themselves and their friends in the plots, and make for great free-reading experiences. The Ramona Quimby – age eight – books are particularly popular.
A Wrinkle in Time. Madeleine L'Engle's book isn't exactly science fiction, but it's not exactly realistic either. It's a bit of an adventure, a comedy, a growing-up story, and a great study of child and adolescent characters. It appeals to late elementary, middle school and even high school ages.
The books of Judy Blume. She's a classic, and kids still love reading her stories. Parents like to read with their kids, especially the books that deal with self-esteem and other growing-up issues. A particularly popular one with kids is Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing.
The books of Jerdine Nolen. A favorite children's author, Ms. Nolen writes about imaginative kids in imaginative settings. Her trilogy of tall tales – Thunder Rose, Big Jabe, and Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life – is special, not only for the compelling stories, but for the artwork of Kadir Nelson. Her newest book, her first novel for kids ages 8-12, is Eliza's Freedom Road.
To Kill a Mockingbird. This wonderful book is always on the top of any book list for older kids. It's about heroism, tolerance, good parenting, friendship, family, and the values to which good people aspire. There's also a great story that involves a courtroom drama, mischievous kids, scary scenes, and a Halloween ham costume.
The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield's experiences, thoughts, anxieties, sarcasm, and wry humor are equally relevant today as they were when this book was first published. Some of the scenes are laugh-out-loud funny.
Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain captures the spirit of boyhood, friendship, good versus evil, and, yes, America.
The Harry Potter books. Kudos to Harry for making reading okay again for youngsters.
Shakespeare. Because every reading list should include at least one item that stretches you, we suggest Shakespeare. Great stories of love, murder, slapstick comedy, history, revenge, witchcraft, ambition, jealousy, mistaken identity, and outsized personalities. The language alone will awe you. Don't forget the sonnets.
Poems of Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost. The spare language of poetry cuts to the heart of our thoughts and emotions, our fears and dreams, our public lives and our private ones. Poetry can be difficult, but you'll know your favorite poet when you read him or her.
Myths and legends. From Beowulf to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, set in Greece, Italy, Africa, or Scandinavia, these stories form the foundations of societies and cultures. They're always exciting and insightful, letting us recognize the roots of behavior, attitudes and identity.
Children's fairy tales. These stories have fascinated, frightened, and entertained us for generations. They are as close to an oral tradition we have, and children love to have them read aloud.
Night and The Diary of Anne Frank. Because we should never forget.
Religious readings. Whether it's the Old Testament or New, the Koran, Buddhist, Shinto, or Hindu readings, these are part of our universal culture. For example, the Bible's Old Testament is full of amazing stories (the creation, the flood) and poems (psalms) that form the basis of beliefs and cultural references.
Biographies and autobiographies. You can't go wrong reading about cultural, social, athletic, or popular heroes and heroines. What accomplishments did they achieve? What challenges did they face? What can you learn from their experiences? John Hope Franklin's autobiography, Mirror to America, is riveting and a testament to perseverance, integrity and hard work.
Great American plays. Read, see, or perform in some timeless American plays like Death of a Salesman, Our Town, The Matchmaker, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Glass Menagerie. Think about and discuss how play-reading is different from book-reading.
Books that teach us about people in other lands. There are so many, but the one that immediately comes to mind for older teens is The Kite Runner. It portrays Afghanistan as you don't see it on the nightly news.
Your favorite books. Talk to your kids about the books you found appealing when you were their age. Share these with them, tell why you liked them, and talk about the pleasant memories. Let them see that reading is for everyone.
There are so many others. Jane Austen, the romantic poets, Zora Neale Hurston, Beatrix Potter, Bram Stoker, and Aesop's Fables. Happy Valentine's Day, readers!
Sylvan Learning offers a free reading incentive program for children in grades K-8 at www.bookadventure.com. It's fun and it's free. Tell Book Adventure what your favorite kinds of books are (science fiction, comedy, mystery, Westerns), whether you like easy or challenging books, and – you can create personalized book lists from more than 7,500 recommended titles, take quizzes on the books and earn prizes!
Want to know more? Contact your local Sylvan center at 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit us on the web at www.sylvanlearning.com.
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