Booklists

As an American who grew up overseas but then returned to the US for the end of my high-shool years and for college, I am very conscious of the role books can play in helping to maintain and reinforce a sense of one's home country while living elsewhere. The mirror of this situation is true as well, these same books can help introduce children to a country in which they are living which is not their "home" country. This list is therefore targeted towards American parents overseas wanting their children to be well grounded in American reading culture as well as to immigrant families to America with young children, wanting their children to be exposed to quintessentially American children's books.

When I returned to America at sixteen, I found that I was somewhat disconnected from my peers when it came to allusions as it related to TV - I just had never seen many of the shows to which they alluded and therefore did not have much of a frame of reference. Fortunately however, when it came to books, I found that there were many iconic books which I had read and therefore was able to share in and comprehend those allusions.

What follows are a series of books by reading level that I think are reasonably iconic for the young reading American. If you are overseas, these are probably books that it would be worthwhile making sure that your children have the opportunity to read and know.

The list has been compiled, not based on which books sell the most, or are most discussed currently, or are even the best examples of American children's literature or of that particular author but rather, from those books that are most broadly read and recommended across several generations and that have become embedded in some way in the national consciousness. I have included in the list books that are not strictly American but which are broadly read here. These would include Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Anne Frank's Diary, etc.

I have collated these candidates from lists of favorite books by writers, responses from the public to surveys about the books that had the most impact on them as children, from lists of what American librarians recommend, as well as from my own experience of growing up overseas and raising my own children abroad.

Not all the books are necessarily about America per se. Anne of Green Gables for example takes place in Canada, Pippi Longstocking is Swedish, Heidi is Swiss. However, they are all books that are part of the fabric of America's reading children and where you come across reading people, these are the books to which you will find allusions. So here they are as part of this list.

What are the books you think meet these criteria?

This book list has its genesis in the August 12, 2007 Pigeon Post "You See, But You Do Not Observe"

The attempt is to create a list of books that help children learn to observe carefully, both illustrations as well as narrative flow. We are trying to steer clear of books that are teaching facts, or focusing on how to interpret information: those are different lists. Sometimes it is hard to separate the steps but here we are trying to get at the essence of observing data and spotting some sort of pattern or trend. It is a skill that is undervalued and yet does come naturally to children whose innate ability to absorb massive amounts of new informaiton far out-strips that of adults.

Click below to see the updated book list Teaching Children to Observe.