Rod informed me that book lists are no fun without reasons. I hate it when he's right. Thus, here's why I loved these books when I was a kid....
5.) Bread and Jam for Frances (series) - Lillian and Russell Hoban... This is an illustrated series for kids perhaps 4-6 or thereabouts. Frances was a little badger who would only eat one thing: bread and jam. (In the course of the series, I seem to remember she also got a baby sister, had a birthday, found a best friend, and occasionally went to bed without fear of evil monsters in the form of a pile of laundry.) Frances was headstrong and forthright and had a wonderful imagination and strong opinions. And I can still remember my mom reading me the Frances books, making the stubborn Frances voice. It's memories like THAT which have inspired me to do the blogathon for this charity.
4.) From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.Frankweiler - EL Konigsburg... A brother and sister run away from home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I loved the pictures of them washing their socks in the fountain and digging pennies out of the wishing well there in order to buy lunches. And I loved that that their running away led them to a mystery that they could solve, and was not just an escape from thir parents.
3.) The All-of-a-Kind Family (series) - Sydney Taylor... This was a five-book series about a family of young Jewish girls in New York during the first world war. Simply put, I loved every character in those books. The dad was big and gruff and patient, the mother was warm and inviting, and each of the girls - Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, Gert (and finally, little brother Charlie) had distinct and wonderful personalities. These books took me to another time, taught me a lot, and touched me deeply.
2.) The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin... I loved loved loved this book. It was a mystery of sorts for early teenagers. A bunch of families were brought together to live in this new apartment complex, then brought to the reading of a will for a man that most of them had little to no connection to. They were all paired off in a special game that was meant to reveal the murderer of the dead man, Mr. Westing. The reader got to see all the clues, got to see how everyone interpreted them, and got to try to fugre out the mystery for themselves. I remember reading it back to back when I first took it out of the library - once just to read it, then again to see whow all the cluesfit in, now that I knew who the murderer was.
And last but not least, Danny, The Champion of the World... in the next entry!
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