# Which Kid's Books Kick Ass? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2001, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368 "2001-09-02T02:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Cafe\_Society](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Cafe\_Society](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cafe_Society)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/101 "2001-09-10T23:23:06Z")
My favorites- I reread them every year or so, are: The Annotated Alice in Wonderland. This version explains the period references. The Phantom Tollbooth. Which is a modern story with the same feel. Milo talks to the leaders of the lands of numbers and letters the doldrums. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/102 "2001-09-10T23:48:21Z")
A great and witty book that hasn’t been mentioned yet is “Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back” by Shel Silverstein. And I’m delighted to know that “The Monster At The End Of This Book” is still currently available in grocery stores. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/103 "2001-09-11T04:09:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bean\_shadow \* > > Nope. But I have read that one and liked it (the movie was pretty dorky). Besides the description I’ve provided, I’ll try and remember some more: > > The book begins with him leaving these little action figures all over the house and his mom gets angry with him about it. The action figures are pretty small. Umm…hmm…that’s all I can really remember. The action figures are pretty modern, like space men or something; not indians or cowboys. \*\* Is it just me, or does this sound a bit like **ToyStory**? ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/104 "2001-09-13T00:51:48Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Yankee Blue:** _ > > I know this book. I read it when I was about 13 too. IIRC it was called The Wicked Wicked Ladies and [in?] the Haunted House but it’s title had been changed from the original which was something like The Wicked Pigeon Sisters. Gad, where did I pull that from? > > The girl in the story was actually transported to the time of the wicked sisters where she met their really nice mother…were there 7 sisters? Yeah, there were seven sisters. For some reason, I’m remembering the title as Pigeons on the Roof, but can’t find anything about it online. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Super Gnat:** _ > > Uhh. . . a series, of which the middle one is called Greenwitch. Don’t remember the author’s name. That would be [The Dark is Rising](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0020425651/qid=1000342172/sr=2-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_1/103-2418826-2807868) series by Susan Cooper. Very cool, freaky books. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/105 "2001-09-13T03:31:59Z")
**Chris van Allsburg** was mentioned a ways back in this thread and was recommended for very young readers. I was surprised by this. My brother gave me _Jumanji_ and _The Polar Express_ a few years back. I don’t have any kids and neither does he, so it’s not like they were intended for anyone else. _Jumanji_, (don’t even think of the movie), is undoubtedly the finest illustrated book I have ever seen. I wonder how long it took the author to create those unbelievably lush, velvety graphite renderings. The story is just a kid’s afternoon adventure, but those drawings, those drawings… And _The Polar Express_? I’ll just say that I only read it twice a year, both times in December, just to make sure that I can still hear the bell ring. [sub]Sniff.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/106 "2001-09-13T18:51:04Z")
I really like **Are You My Mommy?** The one about the baby bird who falls out of the nest and keeps mistaking different animals and machine for his mother. It is a pretty cutesy story, but I still like it. I don’t think anyone has mentioned books by Bill Peet. **Fly Homer Fly!** , **Big Bad Pete** , **Buford the Bighorn Sheep** , **No Such Things** , and last but very certainly not least, **The Wump World**. I _ **loved** _ **The Wump World**. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/107 "2001-09-14T20:39:54Z")
**Rosie’s Walk** , about the chicken being followed by a fox, is a good kids book. For pretty young readers, but I remember it fondly ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/108 "2001-09-15T23:54:51Z")
[**My Side of the Mountain**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140348107/qid=1000597857/sr=2-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_1/103-2935220-0520655) by Jean Craighead George. A kid leaves city life and goes off by himself to live in the wilderness like a junior Grizzley Adams. _Man_, did I want to do that. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/109 "2001-09-17T02:51:20Z")
I’ll come up with my list after I’ve had more time to think about it (having worked with toddlers thru 3rd graders on early literacy gives me a lot to think about) but… \ Tell me about the **Golden Compass** series. Are they good books for adults to read, too? I’m tempted to buy the first book in paperback, but besides kids raves over them, I haven’t heard much. Have any of you read and liked them? \ ---
**Author:** ![deepbluesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@deepbluesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepbluesea)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/110 "2001-09-17T09:51:07Z")
So many of my favorite children’s books and authors have been mentioned (Nesbit, Eager, Cooper, Phantom Tollbooth, etc.). Here’s a few I didn’t see: Picture Books[ul][_] **Tuesday** by David Wiesner. This is a Caldecott winner that has only three words, but tells a wonderful story nonetheless.[_] **Black and White** by David Macaulay. Another wordless Caldecott, the impressive thing here is that each page contains four drawings - in four distinct artistic schools or styles - that tell four different (but interconnecting) stories. Amazing, and probably better for adults than kids, even.[_] **Tibet** and **Starry Messenger** by Peter Sis. Actually, most of Sis’ stuff is great. Tibet is really much better for adults, though.[_] **Olivia** by Ian Falconer. Just the quotes on the back are worth the price of the book. If you loved Eloise, you’ll love Olivia, too.[_] **The Eleventh Hour** by Graeme Base. This is the picture book for puzzle lovers of all ages.[/ul]Children’s and YA books[ul][_] **Ordinary Jack** , **Absolute Zero** , etc. - the first four books of the Bagthorpe Saga by Helen Cresswell. These are fanastic and some of the funniest books I’ve ever read, as an adult or as a child.[_] **The Golden Compass** and sequels, by Phillip Pullman. These are just incredible books; kids love them on one level, adults love them on another, and everyone should read them. (Yes, this means you, **Elfkin**!)[_] **A Very Bad Beginning** , by Lemony Snicket, and the rest of the novels in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Very tongue in cheek, quite funny, amusing for adults or children.[_] **The Thief** by Megan Whalen Turner. A great fantasy novel that just happens to be written for YAs. The sequel, The Queen of Attolia, is even better.[_] **From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler** by E. L. Konigsburg. I can’t believe this one hasn’t been mentioned yet! Two kids run away, hide in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and solve a mystery. Konigsburg’s latest, **Silent to the Bone** is also a great book about a mystery, though for YAs rather than kids.[_] **Seaward** by Susan Cooper. Those who loved her **Dark Is Rising** sequence would probably really like this one - it’s a standalone, less-well-known book, but is nearly as good as the best of DIR.[_] **The Diamond in the Window** , **The Swing in the Summerhouse** , and **The Astonishing Stereoscope** by Jane Langton. These are marvelous books about magic in Concord. **The Best Christmas Pageant Ever** by Barbara Robinson. We read this every year at Christmastime in my house, even though we don’t celebrate Christmas - it is a wonderfully funny story.[/ul]Well, that doesn’t come close to exhausting my list, but I imagine it more than exhausts everyone else’s patience. Needless to say, I love children’s literature - and I live with a children’s librarian, too. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/111 "2001-09-17T19:47:07Z")
The **Rabbit Ears** series of videos that narrates various kid’s books is great. They have famous actors and actresses narrate stories and famous musicians provide the music. They don’t actually animate the stories, but instead pan around the page and occasionally have the pictures move primitively. They tend to have some humor that can be appreciated by adults as well. When my little sister brought home their version of **The Fool and the Airship** , I was spellbound. Robin Williams provides the narration with clever little asides. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/112 "2001-09-17T21:25:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > \*\ ***Chris van Allsburg** was mentioned a ways back in this thread and was recommended for very young readers. I was surprised by this. My brother gave me _Jumanji_ and _The Polar Express_ a few years back. I don’t have any kids and neither does he, so it’s not like they were intended for anyone else. > … > And _The Polar Express_? I’ll just say that I only read it twice a year, both times in December, just to make sure that I can still hear the bell ring. [sub]Sniff.[/sub] \*\* Actually, Anything by Chris Van Allsburg. _The Z was Zapped_ is the best alphabet book ever. And every child should have \*The Mysteries of Harris Burdick \*. We (brother sister and I) each got a gift set of _The Polar Express_ that came with a sleigh bell, but as we were no longer actually small children - mom gave them away to people who were. Even she regrets that now. Also want to mention everything by Ezra Jack Keats and Jon Scieszka/Lane Smith in the picture book categories. The only older children’s book that hasn’t been mentioned already is _Go to the Room of the Eyes_. I live just next to the neighborhood where it takes place and I still drive around trying to figure out where the house is _exactly_ (Already have identified all the major landmarks). But even without that kind of connection, it’s a wonderful story. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/113 "2001-09-17T23:01:56Z")
I’m really fuzzy on the details but if anyone remembers it… There were a group of children, maybe brothers and sisters. They were in a house or castle, and outside was a gigantic tree that might have been named something biblical like Noah. There were ghosts of other children in the house or maybe in the tree. It was a very dark book but I remember really liking it, and I wish I could remember more. I do remember it was a “chapter book” but had some illustrations and was probably written between the 1930s - 1950s. I was really happy to see **Gone Away Lake** in this list. Was trying to remember it, having loved it as a child. My suggestion: **All of a Kind Family** by Sydney Taylor. A bunch of Jewish little girls growing up in NYC around the turn of the century. Oh and **A Tree Grows in Brooklyn** , of course. Twiddle ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/114 "2001-09-18T01:18:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Finagle \* > > \*\* > > There was a great book from my youth called “Sinbad and Me” by Kin Platt. Boy hero and his dog – he solves mysteries by his knowledge of architecture. This book has everything, pirate treasure, bad guys, people with secrets, smart kids, more treasure, and even a smattering of actual information about architecture and nuismatics. I still remember one of the chapter headings, “One dark, one light, one future not bright.” > > This one seems to be far out of print. On the Amazon auction board, some guy wants $245.00 for a first edition library book. Eek! \*\* > > I am now very interested in this book. If I find it (new or used) I will let you know. \*\* My library found this book for me. If I really really like it, [sub]whisper [/sub] I just may not return it since it seems impossible to locate in the real world. [sub] Is that bad? [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![deepbluesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@deepbluesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepbluesea)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/115 "2001-09-18T03:10:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Twiddle \* > \*\*I’m really fuzzy on the details but if anyone remembers it… > > There were a group of children, maybe brothers and sisters. They were in a house or castle, and outside was a gigantic tree that might have been named something biblical like Noah. There were ghosts of other children in the house or maybe in the tree. It was a very dark book but I remember really liking it, and I wish I could remember more. I do remember it was a “chapter book” but had some illustrations and was probably written between the 1930s - 1950s. > \*\* **Twiddle** , sounds to me like you might be talking about the Green Knowe books by Lucy M. Boston - I think the one that features the tree called Noah is The Children of Green Knowe. **Shirley** , yes, it is a bad thing if you don’t return that book to the library. There’s no way they can replace it if it is out of print. So, by stealing it from the library, you’re taking away the chance for kids to find that book and love it, which after all is a main point of the children’s collection in a library - showing kids why they should love to read. (And if enough kids love it, there will be sufficient demand that it might just come back into print.) If you really are going to steal this book from the library, this is the only way that remotely approaches honorable: First, make sure that this is not the last or second-to-last copy in the system. (You can find out by checking their computer catalog.) If it is, DO NOT STEAL IT. If the book goes out of the collection entirely, it will be much, much harder to replace it should it ever return to print. Also, most large library systems hold last copies in special collections; it is particularly important that these special collections stay complete, so that scholars and others can have access to hard-to-find books. Second, borrow the book. Third, report that you lost it. Fourth, pay the fine in full. Fifth, if you know the book is worth more than the fine you just paid, you can be extra nice (and extra honorable) by donating books or money to make up that value - apparently this one runs into the hundreds of dollars, which means the lost-book fee will not cover it. Just not returning it, by the way, and not reporting that you lost it will create a host of additional problems - people will try to check out a book that isn’t there, someone will have to devote many hours to a manual shelf-check, the catalog will have to be changed several times as opposed to just once. If you lose a book or steal one, please do report it as lost. (And be aware that if you don’t report it, or if you don’t pay your fines, some libraries are now selling their bad debts to collection agencies - it’s just like not paying any other bill, y’know.) ---
**Author:** ![Limerick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Limerick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limerick)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/116 "2001-09-18T05:16:42Z")
Trixie Belden, Ohhh YEAH!! Loved em. Has anybody read the last of the Green Gables series-- Rilla of Ingleside? Even now it can ake me cry like a baby. Wrinkle In Time freaked me out. I think I read it too young. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/117 "2001-09-18T15:40:23Z")
Great gods, the memories… Madeline L’Engle - any and all. Where The Wild Things Are I’d forgotten _The Great Brain_ series, and _Bridge To Terebinthia_ - thanks guys. _Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh_ - very cool **Sparklies!** (Yes, I know that’s from the movie, which deviated significantly from the book, but it’s a line which comes to me frequently, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/118 "2001-09-18T16:30:36Z")
Having recently re-read _Where the Wild Things Are_, I find no credence to the earlier claim that Max increases in size until the Rumpus than decreases in size until he returns home for warm dinner. Oh well. Better stick with Fungus the Bogeyman. ---
**Author:** ![bourbonstew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@bourbonstew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bourbonstew)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/119 "2001-09-18T17:41:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\*\ > Tell me about the **Golden Compass** series. Are they good books for adults to read, too? I’m tempted to buy the first book in paperback, but besides kids raves over them, I haven’t heard much. Have any of you read and liked them? > \ \*\* I LOVED the **Golden Compass** and its sequels, **The Subtle Knife** and **The Amber Spyglass** by Philip Pullman. The books have that sense of wonder and originality you rarely experience today. They are also mildly subversive, with subtext of choice and self-determination over rigid societal and religious constraint. Reading them took me back to that sense of discovery over a new world that really fostered my love of reading as a 10-12 year old. I’d recommend the books to an advanced 11 year old or higher, or anyone 13-14 and up. These are the kind of books that may be shelved in the YA section but are great for adults as well, with more realistic and grown-up situations than, say the Narnia books. They’re better than the Harry Potter books, and I enjoy those as well. I’m also slightly amazed at only one mention of Shel Silverstein so far. **A Light in the Attic** and **Where the Sidewalk Ends** were two favorites as an elementary school-aged kid. They were funny, sympathetic to a child’s viewpoint, and had some good ‘gross’ humor that never gets old to a kid. **To Kill a Mockingbird** is a great book for a YA, and slightly over-rated but still good are the SE Hinton books ( **Outsiders** , **Rumble Fish** ) also. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368/120 "2001-09-18T18:01:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Twiddle \* > …Oh and **A Tree Grows in Brooklyn** , of course. **A Tree Grows in Brooklyn** , is a great read. It’s a coming of age story about a young girl, but I respectfully disagree that it’s a “kid’s book”, especially not for young kids as discussed in the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-kids-books-kick-ass/79368.md?page=7)