Children's Book Recommendations from IDL Programmers

A number of IDL programmers have children and spend a lot of time reading children's books rather than something else. Here is the list of the books that have been recommended so far. If you would like to add a book to the list, please contact me.

Children's Book Recommendations

The Little Captain (De Kleine Kapitein) by Paul Biegel
Good luck getting an English version of this classic.
The Phantom Toobooth by Norton Juster
Now, I'll be off to jump to (the Island of) Conclusions followed by a dinner of some nice hot Subtraction Stew.
The Freddy Stories by Walter R. Brooks
I realized while contemplating my list that I have become quite an authority on children's literature. At least I have read a lot in that realm over the last decade. One stand out is a series by Walter Brooks (creator of Mr. Ed the talking horse). Brooks published a series of 25 stories about the adventures of the Bean Farm animals in upstate New York. He published these annual starting in 1925. His work makes for superior read-aloud and is filled with wit, warm and belly-laughs. Without a doubt, it is the one series of books that have become part of our family history. Ten thumbs up (I am all thumbs after all!)
The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky
There is something of the Coyote in these series of wild and wacky poems that will delight both young and old in your household. Here is an example:
We heard Wally wail though the whole neighborhood,
as his mother whaled Wally as hard as she could,
she made Wally holler, she made Wally whoop,
for what he had spelled in the alphabet soup.
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Ok, ok, this uproarious tale of magic, mayhem, and a marauding dragon is as much fun for adults as it is for kids. But doled out 10 or 15 pages at a time in the evenings, it is an outragiously fun way to spend some family time together. Even the wife stops what she is doing to listen!
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Do you have a family full of boys? Here is a way to quiet them down. This is the best of Gary Paulsen's wonderful books about a 13 year-old boy whose plane crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness. A heart-stopping story of his adventure and survival with only a hatchet for support.
But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton
If you have little, little ones, you are going to read these books a LOT. I've read this book 10,000 times if I've read it once. I never ever gotten tired of it! All of Boynton's books are great, but this is my favorite.
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
How many of us have an Eoyore in the family? Here is a book that even those of us who are “bears of little brain” can use to cope with the situation. Funny, compassionate, and the best bedtime stories of all!
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
A companion book to The House at Pooh Corner, this ranks right at the top of any discussion of children's literature. Careful, however, or your children will start to talk in Rat and Toad voices after a while.
Die Unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story) by Michael Ende
I didn't even realize this was a children's book until I went to a lecture by the author and found the place full of children!
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake by Hazel Edwards
I have very vivid recollections of the books with which my mother taught me to read -- some of my earliest memories are of our local public library. These three come immediately to mind.
Complete Tales and Poems by A.A. Milne
I particularly enjoyed the poems of A.A. Milne when I was a child -- they use quite sophisticated language (i.e. they don't treat kids like idiots), have fun and evocative imagery, and do survive the have-to-repeat-this-a-thousand-times test.