Reddit reviews Where the Wild Things Are

I don't know a lot of titles for the youngest ages, though the Junie B. Jones and Magic Treehouse books are favorites of my mother's elementary-aged students. Speaking of magic, you can't go wrong with The Magic Schoolbus. Oh! And Where the Wild Things Are.

As suggested by /u/jpop23mn, the Berenstein Bears are great books for young readers (I loved them so much as a kid), and Dr. Seuss is classic.

For middle-schoolers, I recall enjoying Maniac Magee (though I don't recall much about it), lots of Bruce Coville's monster books, the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series, and one of my favorites, The Phantom Tollbooth. My sister enjoyed the Warriors series (and still reads them now as a college student). Then there's classics like Where the Red Fern Grows and Bridge to Terabithia, though those books cover some difficult subject matter (death).

Ghost stories are much beloved, and if you can find folklore and fable specific to various cultures, you can learn about other cultures while enjoying a good story!

Some other fantastic books to have around are The Daring Book for Girls and The Dangerous Book for Boys, both of which teach all kinds of fantastic information and skills while also being entertaining. I especially urge you to get the Daring Book for Girls if you have a daughter, because it not only teaches useful skills like changing tires and woodworking, but it also teaches about strong, independent, successful women through history. It promotes independence, self-esteem and self-confidence, which (in my opinion) are vital to any young person's upbringing, but especially women, since so much of the media and society seems bent on making women insecure, dependent and subservient. (Please excuse my politics.)

The Chronicles of Narnia are fantastic, if you don't mind that they're a religious allegory. When I was a kid, I read them for fun, and didn't give a damn about the religious aspect. (I'm agnostic.) Another good series is the Dark Materials series, though some parents avoid it because of Pullman's anti-religious sentiments. Again, I didn't care about that, I just enjoyed a good story.

Hopefully, with a big enough selection of books, your kids will be able to choose their own books by high school. But it's still nice to keep around some young adult and adult novels for the kids to explore. The Dragonlance novels are fantasy novels set in a D&D-inspired world, but this setting has more of a chivalric, idealistic mood, which is good for young adult readers as well as adults. You've also got the Harry Potter series, which is kind of a given...

The challenge is finding adult novels that are appropriate for your kids. If you are trying to avoid exposing your children to certain ideas before a certain age, then you'll have to personally read and consider each book before you put it on their shelf. If you're the kind of parent who allows their kid to read what they want to read, doing your best to answer their questions and put the stories into context, then it's a little easier. If your kid reads Jurassic Park, they're going to be exposed to an awful lot of violence, but they're also going to learn some fascinating scientific information as well. Crichton's books are science-fiction with a strong scientific background, so they're educational as well as thrilling, but they've got adult themes that might be better for more mature readers. (That being said, I was reading them at a young age.)

I hope this is a decent start. There are lots of good lists online, too. I'd suggest checking out GoodReads and various Amazon lists. Just remember that it's up to you to choose what you want your kids to be exposed to.

Edit: As a male, I have a distinct lack of experience with books aimed at young females. I would like to think that a good book can be enjoyed by boys and girls alike, but some books have more of a gender-focus than others.

[my personal favorite](Where the Wild Things Are https://www.amazon.com/dp/0064431789/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dbK0BbYYTBNFR)

Green eggs and ham...Daughter. my grandkids I help take care of my 5 grandkids and I need ideas to keep them busy and creative Thanks for contest :-) edit : link

Roll Tide baby, and while she won't love it for a few years, Where The Wild Things Are was my favourite book growing up and it still holds a very special place in my heart.

I guess she was born at 7:56 pm

My favorite as a child was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

For little kids/board books:

I'm as Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood. It's one of those nice simple books that is still enjoyable for older ages. I remember thinking a lot about it when I was younger because I liked the idea that one person could contain so many opposing qualities.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

But No Elephants by Jerry Smath - Funny and cute, a good story about finding the good in things that initially seem bad

Picture books for older kids:

Henry's Quest - Postapocalyptic neo-medieval period picture book. Yesssss. Yes.

Anything by Graeme Base, but I have fond memories of The Eleventh Hour and The Sign of the Seahorse. Super-duper-detailed illustrations you can pour over for hours in addition to the story. Lots of hidden stuff in the illustrations, too

Wild Yeast comes from Where the Wild Things Are.

All joking aside, Wild Yeast occurs naturally where ever there are sugars showing up in nature. So yeast appears naturally on the surface of fruits and in nectar trying to get at the sugars locked inside and sometimes getting trapped and concentrated in the form of honey. The Secret Life of Brewers Yeast goes into this at some detail and because it was offered here earlier from /u/homebrewfinds for the low low price of $0 I was able to read up on how older civilizations grew in tandem with bread making and brewing. Definitely worth the read if you have the time.

OMFG Candroth! Congratulations! Seriously, though! Living on your own is a big step and owning your own home is a leap!

I'm sorry for your father, my deepest sympathies. <3

I wish you all the best and lots of luck in your negotiations/house search! :)

New is preferred (for daycare) but used is ok too

Thanks for the contest! :)

Is this more inline with your maximum word count?