# It's just a kid's book!! Well, so are these. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031 "2005-07-18T20:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/21 "2005-07-18T21:49:41Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > _Island of the Blue Dolphins_ by Scott O’Dell > > _Hatchet_ by Gary Paulsen Incidentally, I also recommend the sequels to _Hatchet_, _Brian’s Winter_ and _The River_. Neither are as good as the original, but both are good in their own rights. There was also a sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins that I think I read, called _Zia_ , but I don’t remember if it was any good or not (I read a lot of books as a kid, it seems) Another couple of books that come to mind for me are _The Cay_ by Theodore Taylor, and _The Sign of the Beaver_ by Elizabeth George Speare, both of which I read in the 6th grade. Oh, and speaking of the 6th grade (a time in my life when I didn’t read books, but rather consumed them as quickly as I could get my hands on them) there is also _Caddie Woodlawn_ by Carol Ryrie Brink. ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/22 "2005-07-18T21:50:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > All Roald Dahl’s books Maybe not [all](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140041796/qid=1121722651/sr=8-15/ref=pd_bbs_15/102-2488489-4224104?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). 🙂 Most of my picks have been named already, but I would add the Heinlein juveniles like _Have Space Suit-Will Travel_ and _Starship Troopers_. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/23 "2005-07-18T21:53:08Z")
[The Thirteen Clocks](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556111886/qid=1121723031/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-9029472-4817667?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by James Thurber [The Last Unicorn](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451450523/qid=1121722969/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9029472-4817667) by Peter Beagle [Where the Red Fern Grows](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440412676/qid=1121723220/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9029472-4817667?v=glance&s=books) by Wilson Rawls (I still get choked up when I read it…) [Books by Edward Eager](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0152025464/qid=1121722655/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9029472-4817667?v=glance&s=books) [Books by E. Nesbit](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140367357/ref=pd_sim_b_4/002-9029472-4817667?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) [Books by Elizabeth Enright](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Elizabeth%20Enright/002-9029472-4817667) A hearty second to The Chronicles of Narnia, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Lewis Carroll. [And of course, by Karle Wilson Baker…](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0006AIFQK/qid=1121723379/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9029472-4817667?v=glance&s=books) plynck ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/24 "2005-07-18T21:54:42Z")
Treasure Island ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/25 "2005-07-18T21:55:29Z")
> [@Arhat](#): > > Maybe not [all](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140041796/qid=1121722651/sr=8-15/ref=pd_bbs_15/102-2488489-4224104?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). 🙂 Beat me to it 🙂 The Uncle Oswald stories aren’t for children, either. plynck ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/26 "2005-07-18T22:17:11Z")
You are all now exclusive members of a club– You are all friends of mine! (hope you don’t mind being friends–you have no choice in the matter! heh) I am surrounded (or so it seems) by people who only like to read the latest best seller or critically acclaimed book. I say, there’s alot to be found in “kid lit” (I read the other stuff too, but get funny looks when I say that I do read and reread kid lit. I still read aloud to my kids, too, when they’ll let me). Hatchet, Red Fern, Phoenix and the Carpet (Nesbit), Pullam—ooh, I feel like I have come home. Don’t forget _The Wizard of Oz_ or _Half Magic_ and the rest… _The Chosen_ by Chaim Potok ooh, gonna go look at my shelves now. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/27 "2005-07-18T22:29:18Z")
> [@Arhat](#): > > Maybe not [all](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140041796/qid=1121722651/sr=8-15/ref=pd_bbs_15/102-2488489-4224104?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). 🙂 > > Most of my picks have been named already, but I would add the Heinlein juveniles like _Have Space Suit-Will Travel_ and _Starship Troopers_. If Starship Troopers is a juvenile I’ll eat my p-suit. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/28 "2005-07-18T22:32:17Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > You are all now exclusive members of a club– > > You are all friends of mine! (hope you don’t mind being friends–you have no choice in the matter! heh) Oh, Yay!!! I’m in a club! 🙂 > [@](#): > > Don’t forget _The Wizard of Oz_ I loved all the Oz books by **Frank L. Baum**. I read most of them during one blazing hot summer in El Dorado, Kansas. My dad was working on the pipeline, and mom moved us all up there to spend a month with him. We rented a tiny house with no air conditioning, but the very cool, quite library was two blocks down the street. This whole town took the Wizard of Oz very seriously. There were life size mannequins of the characters in the library, statues in the town square, and some of the streets were even painted yellow brick! The library had a whole section set aside for the Oz books. I think I was at the library from the time it opened until they locked up for most of that month. I will now take this opportunity to add all the books by **Laura Ingalls Wilder** to our little list, and in addition to **Alcott’s** \*Little Women \*and _An Old-Fashioned Girl_, _Little Men_ and _Jo’s Boys_ were excellent reads, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/29 "2005-07-18T22:57:49Z")
_The Westing Game_ by Ellen Raskin ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/30 "2005-07-18T23:03:10Z")
What about **To Kill a Mockingbird**? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/31 "2005-07-18T23:09:08Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > If Starship Troopers is a juvenile I’ll eat my p-suit. It was written as a “boy’s book” (as the genre was called at the time), but the publisher determined it was an adult book. Joan Vinge’s **Psion** , OTOH, was written as a book for adults, but was marketed as a YA book. Neil Gaiman’s **Coraline** also was marketed as a children’s book. I’d also say that Lemony Snickett’s **A Series of Unfortunate Events** is better appreciated by adults. Same with **Winnie the Pooh** (the original, not the Disnified version). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/32 "2005-07-18T23:10:02Z")
> [@Plynck](#): > > Beat me to it 🙂 The Uncle Oswald stories aren’t for children, either. > > plynck I don’t think _Tales Of The Unexpected_ was intended for children either, though I did read them as a child, after watching them on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/33 "2005-07-18T23:20:55Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > If Starship Troopers is a juvenile I’ll eat my p-suit. Well, [this](http://members.iglou.com/jtmajor/HeinJuvs.htm) guy listed it that way. But then [this](http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue43/classic.html) guy says, “_Starship Troopers_ was originally to have been one of Heinlein’s juvenile books, but the violence made it unfit for that duty.” So, I suppose I’ll accept his and your view on the matter. I guess it was a bit violent. I don’t remember it being over the top like the movie, though. I just remember people jumping around in armored suits throwing nuclear grenades, but it’s been a while since I read it. I also thought about including _Ender’s Game_, but I looked around, and it didn’t seem like anyone thought it was a kid’s book to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/34 "2005-07-18T23:30:22Z")
I’m not talking about the violence. I’m talking about the lectures that nearly rival 1984 for sheer length. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/35 "2005-07-19T00:22:27Z")
Ah, I found quite a few goodies in this thread – in fifth grade our readings were based around a theme, one of which being survivalism. **Island of the Blue Dolphins** (Trivia: the real-life Karana is buried at the Santa Barbara Mission Cathedral) and **Hatchet** were two on the list already mentioned, and I’ll add one of my favorites, **My Side of the Mountain**. Themes of persecution: the only one I remember was **Witch of Blackbird Pond** also already mentioned. I also remember reading **Summer of my German Soldier** in class which was a pretty good one as I recall. Oh and **Bridge to Terabithia**! Wow, I’m going to have to break back into these again! Thanks for this thread, **Zyada**! ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/36 "2005-07-19T00:36:14Z")
::Flounders around in dim memories:: Two books that I used to check out of the library together were **Black and Blue Magic** , and another one that sat right next to it on the shelf. I cannot remember the title, (maybe **The Secret Room** ), but it was about a girl whose parents were migrant farm workers who end up on a place with apricot trees and an abandoned house. I’ve been thinking about these books quite a bit lately. I may have to search for them. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/37 "2005-07-19T01:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > The Chosen by Chaim Potok I absolutely adore Chaim Potok, but I don’t think The Chosen is a kid’s book. It’s a coming-of-age-novel, certainly, but not for kids. _Lilith_, by George MacDonald. Also _The Princess And The Goblin_. _Calico Captive_, also by Elizabeth George Speare. _The Egypt Game_. I see your _The Hero And The Crown_, and raise you _The Blue Sword, Spindle’s End, Rose Daughter_, and _The Outlaws of Sherwood_. Winnie the Pooh is incredibly funny and cynical, if you read it as an adult. John Bellairs is a great writer, although I spent a lot of time hiding under a pile of pillows, waiting for the mummy (or ghoul, or ghost) to eat me. Has anyone mentioned L. M. Montgomery? The _Anne_ series, the _Emily_ series. _Dicey’s Song_ and the rest of the Tillerman books, by Cynthia Voigt. Also her fantasy novels. Yay! **All Hail Garth Nix, Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, C. S. Lewis!** For anyone who doesn’t know, Garth Nix’s latest book is called _Across The Wall_, it’s a collection of short stories, and the first one is about what happens to Nicholas after the end of Lirael. If you haven’t read the Old Kingdom trilogy, _go buy it now!_ ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/38 "2005-07-19T01:32:03Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Gene Stratton-Porter’s “Freckles” Ewwww. Make sure to get an insulin shot first. Mr S tracked this one down (along with its sequel, “The Girl of the Limberlost”) because his mother had always talked about what a wonderful book it was. “Sappy” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I have never read so much treacle in my life. This orphan kid who lost a hand as a baby grows up and gets a job in a logging camp. He sees a girl in the woods and falls in love with her from afar, then spends the entire book mooning over her, among other things (1) referring to her only as his “swamp angel” and (2) kissing her footprint in the dirt and then putting a board over it so nothing would defile the mark that she had made. Barf city. I wouldn’t inflict these books on a child OR an adult, and I still reread “Little Women” every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/39 "2005-07-19T01:32:07Z")
How 'bout The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier? ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031/40 "2005-07-19T01:46:36Z")
_Little Women_ overloads my glurge reflex now. I still reread it, but boy, is it heavily moralistic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-kids-book-well-so-are-these/313031.md?page=3)