I teach fourth grade and have elementary school aged children, so I have a legitimate reason for reading children’s books. The truth is– I just like them. They are (usually) fabulous stories; they are fast reads, and it is an activity I can share with my children.
Many of the stories my children and I have been reading lately have a familiar ring to them. Authors are recycling the same plot details and character types from the best books I read growing up. I was so struck by the similarities between Phantom Tollbooth and Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes that I wrote the Peter Nimble author to ask about it. He responded! The Just Deserts section of the book is a small tribute to Jester and his play on words. Jody Feldman credits Dahl as a source of inspiration for her book, The Gollywhopper Games (See the Author Letters post about contacting authors).
Below is a list of some new and old favorites. Is there something on the list that brings back memories of your favorite childhood book? Is there a recent version that is almost as good?
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The Classic |
The Re-Make |
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Reblogged this on Book Smart – A Parents' Guide to What Kids are Reading and commented:
Here’s a great post about “re-makes” of some old favorites!
Great post. I hope you don’t mind that I reblogged it.
I am thrilled that you reblogged! Thank you so much for reading and liking. Happy Holidays!
What a great post! Your chart made some really fabulous connections. I just wrote a post about similar connections between two of my favorites, so I was really struck by the connected books you chose. The Phantom Tollbooth is one of my favorite books, but I’ve never read Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes – I’ll have to check it out. Thanks!
I would be interested to know if you get the Tollbooth vibe from Peter Nimble. Not all of my matches are an exact re-do of the plot. Sometimes there is a feeling from the characters that makes me think the author is re-using a classic. The Sherlock Files books have a brother/sister team who are really considerate of each other and rely on the others’ strengths. That is the part that reminds me of the Boxcar children. I wrote the Sherlock Files author too, and she agreed!
The Clementine series remind me a lot do the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. A curious little girl who means well, but always finds herself in trouble. The parents have that Quimby sensibility when dealing with her crazy antics. There’s even a Henry Huggins-type. One of my favorite new(ish) series for middle grades.
Loved “Charlotte’s Web” as a child. It was read to my class when I was in the third grade. I read it to my children and they are reading it to their children. My grandsons and I have read “The One and Only Ivan”. Like Charlotte and Wilber, I won’t soon forget Ivan, Stella and Ruby. Thanks for this list. The boys and I will have fun checking out some of the pairings. I too will be reposting this on my grade school reading blog.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and reposting!
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My daughter will be in 4th grade next year. It’s wonderful to have this list of books for her age.
I think the Fairy Tale book list is a great one for 4th grade girls too! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.