I Am Too Absolutely Small for School

Author: Lauren Child

First line: I have this little sister, Lola.

Why you should read this book: Modern siblings Charlie and Lola are headed to school, but little sister Lola feels that she may be “too extremely busy doing important things at home” to venture into the unknown. Charlie persuades her that reading, writing, and counting above ten are useful skills, but Lola still worries about leaving her invisible friend, Soren Lorensen, who is cleverly rendered in semi-invisible ink and can only be seen clearly when the light hits the illustration just so. Of course, in the end, chatty and personal Lola finds that school is pretty interesting after all.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You usually go to school dressed as an alligator.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Author: Judi Barrett

First line: We were all sitting around the big kitchen table.

Why you should read this book: Let’s set the record straight--Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was originally published in 1978, back when it was understood that healthy children should exercise their imaginations, rather than having their fantasies computer-generated and spoon fed to them while they sat motionless, with their jaws hanging slack. This book is a story-within-a-story, in which a funny breakfast mishap inspires a loving grandfather to create his own fantastic bedtime-story world for his grandkids. The delicious and dangerous world of Chewandswallow, where food falls from the sky, is both magical and prosaic, a story that, hopefully, will never lose its timelessness, or be overshadowed by flashy adaptations.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: Flat, motionless, two-dimensional drawings are too old-school for you.

Sarah and the Dragon

Author: Bruce Coville

First line: Sarah was friends with a unicorn.

Why you should read this book: Oakhorn the unicorn and Mrs. Bunjy the ladybug are great friends to Sarah, but she can’t help but wishing for a little adventure now and then, especially when Oakhorn gets grumpy. What she doesn’t count on is being kidnapped by a lonely, enchanted dragon and hidden in a castle in the sky. The dragon is not a bad companion, but Sarah misses her Aunt Mag and Oakhorn, and they all must plot her escape.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: If you had a unicorn companion, you’d be content to do nothing more than frolic in the meadow and brush the unicorn’s tangled white mane.

I Remember Miss Perry

Author: Pat Brisson

First line: When my dad got a new job, we had to move.

Why you should read this book: Stevie’s nervousness about attending a new school evaporates when the delightful Miss Perry tells him of her fondest wish. In fact, Miss Perry has a new fondest wish every day, and her attitude makes her classroom a most magical one for her charges, until the sad day that Miss Perry does not come to school and the principal must explain that the wonderful Miss Perry has died in a car accident. This sad but loving book helps children learn that it’s all right to grieve, but that life goes on, even in the face of loss.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You don’t think your children would be too upset if their less-than-magical teacher stopped showing up for school.

Marianthe’s Story: Painted Works/Spoken Memories

First line: Marianthe knew this day would come.

Why you should read this book: Told in two parts, with half the pages printed upside down, this is the tale of a little girl who is born in one country, and then finds herself transplanted into a strange new country. In “Painted Works,” Marianthe begins school in America, and while she cannot speak or understand English, she can express herself through painting until she picks up the language. In “Spoken Memories,” Marianthe has learned enough English to tell her classmates about life in her home country, the family in her small village, and being sent to school in a time and place where educating girls was considered unnecessary.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You harbor a fierce anti-immigration stance.

My Uncle Emily

Author: Jane Yolen

First line: One day when we were in the garden, choosing flowers for the table, my Uncle Emily gave me a dead bee and a poem for my teacher.

Why you should read this book: Delightfully written historical fiction uses the poetic voice to focus on the relationship between the poet Emily Dickinson and her beloved nephew, Gilbert, who shared secret messages in the passing of dead bees. When the famously reclusive Dickinson gives Gilbert a poem to bring to his schoolteacher, the young boy finds that not everyone understands poetry, but decides that he must uphold his Uncle Emily’s honor. When violence ensues, Gilbert learns a lesson about poetry’s place in the world, and truth’s place in storytelling.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: Never been inspired by the ineffable glory, spiritual splendor, and raw, universal power of the natural world.

Fire and Wings: Dragon Tales from East and West

Editor: Marianne Carus

First line: Oh, how I wish dragons roamed the Earth today, fire-belching monsters a hundred and fifty feet long with hard green scales and long serpentine tails.

Why you should read this book: With an introduction by Jane Yolen, this fifteen dragon stories cover the tradition, east and west, ancient and modern. There are good dragons, evil dragons, misunderstood dragons, and there are brave boys and girls who face them. The theme of faithful love for ones family runs through the collection of delightful and appropriate tales, all illustrated with charming black and white drawings.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're more of a realist.

The Guide to Self-Sufficiency

Author: John Seymour

First line: In the lives we lead today, we take much for granted, and few of us indeed remember why so many so-called advanced civilizations of the past simply disappeared.

Why you should read this book: If you've ever seriously considered living off the fat of the land, generating the necessary provisions for your family by the sweat of your brow through the earth's natural bounty while forsaking the materialistic trappings of the modern world, this is your guide. Every page brims with step-by-step instructions for those essential arts that are often forgotten in our society: farming, animal husbandry, brewing, baking, canning, building fences, weaving baskets, even plans for simple, effective natural energy from sun, water, and air. Reprinted many times since its first run in 1976, some version of this book is invaluable for anyone who senses that toiling for ones own survival and creating even the smallest sense of self-sufficiency in a world run by corporations can be joyful, liberating, and perhaps the greatest adventure upon which one can embark.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'd rather spend your life in a cubicle and buy things wrapped in plastic when you feel sad.

Old Yeller

Author: Fred Gipson

First line: We called him Old Yeller.

Why you should read this book: With Papa and the other men off on a cattle drive to Kansas, it's up to 14-year-old Travis to take care of Mama, Little Arliss, and their Texas homestead, and even though he never did like that funny-looking, yellow-haired, supper-stealing dog, Old Yeller is a smart one, and soon enough he makes himself indispensably useful. A good dog is just the thing for chasing hogs, keeping milk cows in line, rescuing Little Arliss from angry bears, and saving the corn crop, and Travis will do anything to protect his faithful dog along with the rest of the family. The true meaning of love shines through in this classic story of devotion and sacrifice.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'd never kill another living thing. You'd let it kill you first.

Freak the Mighty

Author: Rodman Philbrick

First line: I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and that's the truth, the whole truth.

Why you should read this book: Max is the giant, and still growing, son of convicted felon Killer Kane, content to sit quietly in his L.D. classes, and Kevin is the frail, stunted genius in leg braces who waits for medical science to perfect his robot body, but together, they are Freak the Mighty, nine feet tall and more than equal to the task of slaying any dragons that come along. As Kevin draws Max out of his shell, onward into a life of glory and adventure and the occasional gang of thugs, Max begins to find the voice he lost so many years ago, while his friend grows bolder, more brazen, and more colorful in his scheming. This excellent, unusual, and moving story draws the reader in with surprise after surprise, delivering a fresh wallop of power and heart with every page.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You have decided to testify against your own parent.