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Erin
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I love books about books. I love reading all those lists and lists of books I glean ideas true, but I also enjoy looking at all the exciting places and people we have yet to meet.
I write notes on mine (only in pencil of course) ticking which ones I have, initialing which ones my friends have (they give me borrowing privileges ) and which books my library has. No I haven't memorised my library's catalogue only my friends.
I thought I'd introduce you to my books, giving you a brief peek inside
1)For the Love of Literature – Maureen Wittman
- An empowering introduction, Maureen really speaks my kind of book language.
-It is divided into Literary Guides; art/music, math, history, science.
-Then each has sub-sections ie. African history and time period, Asia etc
-Age Recommedations.
-Also included a small blurb about each book. Really vital for me.
-Pages are a crisp white.
-I like all the recommended books.
Can you tell this is my favourite?
2) Worth a Thousand Words, - Bette D Ammon, Gale W Sherman
An Annotated Guide To Picture Books for Older Readers
– This book has authors listed alphabetically but is incredibly cross- referenced.
-References are; subject index, title index and author/illustrator index
-A blurb for each book
-Also included are curriculum ideas for each book to enhance further.
Disappointing was that each author had only one book listed for a him/her. I'm greedy I know.
3) Books Children Love – Elizabeth Wilson
Chapters divided into topics, ie, Geography, Literature etc
-Literature has sub sections
- Has Age recommendations
- Includes book blurbs.
4)Honey for a Child’s Heart – Gladys Hunt
-Age listed
-Then author grouped
-Book blurbs
-Only half is books rest info.
-Paper quality, in today’s media world the duller pages aren’t as attractive as white.
Do you have others to share? Can we have a peek into your books about books?
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
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MaryM
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I really like the extensive book list in Michael O'Brien's A Landscape with Dragons.
-It is divided into sections by level of reading ability. Within those sections is it listed by author, sometimes with additional age suggestions.
-It doesn't have much in the way of summary information though for many it does briefly state the topic or subject. That is helpful for ones that are for a historic time period. I wish it did that for all.
-It also indicates if currently in print (or OOP).
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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JodieLyn
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I haven't had a lot of use of it yet.. but I have All Through the Ages by Christine Miller.. which lists a variety of books by historical era and grade level.
I believe it's a protestant book.. but there's a lot of overlap.. and I love the help it provides because I can look up books I have to help me place them in history or level.. but it also gives me some books to check into (not blindly use) if I'm looking for something in a particular era and grade level.
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G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Erin
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MaryM wrote:
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I've often thought this a good idea but what about the fact that books can go in and out of print easily?
I've heard that picture books in particular have this issue.
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Erin
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Helen
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I really like Cay Gibson's A Picture Pefect Childhood for the way she broke down her lists. For example the book has a food related book list, country book list, and holiday list.
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Ave Maria!
Mom to 5 girls and 3 boys
Mary Vitamin & Castle of the Immaculate
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MaryM
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Erin wrote:
MaryM wrote:
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I've often thought this a good idea but what about the fact that books can go in and out of print easily?
I've heard that picture books in particular have this issue. |
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Yes, it probably only really deals with books that are generally considered classics and in print on a regular basis. That is what I found to be the case.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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JodieLyn
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There found my copy and updated my above post with correct info. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Mackfam
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ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE TOPICS!!!!!
 BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS
In addition to those already listed, I have and really like:
1) Who Reads What When: Literature Selections for Children Ages Three Through Thirteen - by Jane A. Williams
- This is a good listing of basics - the classics. I think of them as "the Good books".
- Lists are sorted three ways - one by age, one by author, one by title. I appreciate the age sorting.
- Great for just starting to build your home library. Not intimidating if you're just starting out.
2) Books that Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories - by William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe
- Chapters 1 - 5 offer a really good guide. It's not as good as Landscape with Dragons in this respect, but it is good! - Imagination: The Heart's Best Guide
- Example and Empathy
- Transport: Seeing with Myriad Eyes
- Worlds of Meaning
- Selecting and Sharing Good Books: Some Guidelines
- Booklists are arranged by genre and further subdivided by age appropriateness.
- There is a nice summary of plot for consideration which I really appreciate.
3) Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers - edited by John Holdren and E.D. Hirsch
- This book is organized by subject area: Language Arts, History and Geography, Visual Arts, Music, Science, Mathematics. From there, grade appropriate recommendations are made.
- Great short summaries of the books are offered.
- K - 6th grade recommendations
- This book offers non-fiction recommendations which I like!
4) Reading the Saints: Lists of Catholic Books for Children plus Book Collecting Tips for the Home and School Library - by Janet McKenzie
- AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!!! My favorite book for building a liturgical book library.
- Love that it includes OOP books! The author further indicates if an OOP book is relatively easy to find, which many are, or if the book is difficult to find.
- In print books are listed as well.
- The meat of the book are the booklists which are extensive!!!! They are arranged in two EXTREMELY HELPFUL WAYS:- Geographical Setting
- Chronological Order
- If using these books to weave into a historical period of study, it is so helpful to be able to just flip to the a particular century. The lists are cross referenced! So, if I'm focusing on 3rd century Egypt, I can find a book easily.
5) A Picture Perfect Childhood: Enhancing Your Child's Imagination and Education in 15 Minutes a Day - by Cay Gibson
- A GREAT source for current picture books.
- The author offers some beautiful chapters on why picture books.
- Lists are arranged by theme (of which there are many), which is nice.
And, if it doesn't seem too self-promotional (I'll try to be unbiased and honest). I have and use all the time my mom's book:
6) Let the Author's Speak: A Guide to Worthy Books Based on Historical Setting - by Carolyn Hatcher
- The beginning is a brief and easy-to-read introduction to the study of History with children along with ideas. Written by a Catholic home educating mom, so the ideas offered are very accessible.
- Excellent for designing a study of history using living history books.
- The booklist guides sorted by:
- The book is extensively cross referenced, so each guide offers the following while sorting by either Setting, Author, or Title:- Title
- Author
- Reading Level
- Type of Literature - Realistic Historical, Science, Journal-Essay, Biography, Autobiography, Economics/History, Treatise, Allegory, Fable, Folk Tale, Myth-legend, Fantasy
- Century
- Location
- Short comments
- This book is Out of Print.  Say a prayer for Mom and I - a revision with updated and expanded booklists is in the works.
So.... can't wait to see what else you guys have!!! I don't have book 2) that Erin lists - Worth a Thousand Words - but it sounds great! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
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MaryM
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Mackfam wrote:
4) Reading the Saints: Lists of Catholic Books for Children plus Book Collecting Tips for the Home and School Library - by Janet McKenzie
- AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!!! My favorite book for building a liturgical book library. |
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I have been wanting to get this one for awhile. And I would love to get your mom's - hope the reprint possibility becomes a reality.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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SuzanneG
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Here's my little collection, which I guard with MY LIFE! LOVE "books about books!"
::Honey for a Child's Heart...this is the book that got me started thinking about home education right before I met my dh.
I had just met a family who home educated, and the next DAY I was at the library and happened upon this book. I read it that night and was IN LOVE with the concept of days of blissful reading with my future children for the next 20+ years.  There WERE a couple problems, however ....oh, just LITTLE things like I didn't even have a husband  , let alone CHILDREN to educate! Details, details....  Well, THAT was remedied VERY quickly, wasn't it? Beyond my wildest imagination!
Here are my others which don't all have a "story" attached to them...
::Landscape with Dragons
::Books That Build Character
::The Read Aloud Handbook
::Books Children Love
::Picture Perfect Childhood
On My Wishlist:
::For the Love of Literature
::Reading the Saints
And, there are a couple others above that I don't know about....off to "look" at them!
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Suzanne in ID
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Helen
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Mackfam wrote:
And, if it doesn't seem too self-promotional (I'll try to be unbiased and honest). I have and use all the time my mom's book:
6) Let the Author's Speak: A Guide to Worthy Books Based on Historical Setting - by Carolyn Hatcher |
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Definitely one of my favorite books and in use each year!!
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Ave Maria!
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Angel
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Mackfam wrote:
And, if it doesn't seem too self-promotional (I'll try to be unbiased and honest). I have and use all the time my mom's book:
6) Let the Author's Speak: A Guide to Worthy Books Based on Historical Setting - by Carolyn Hatcher
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Ok, so *now* I understand why you always seem to come up with so many interesting resources... it's genetic!
You know, I used to use my bibliographies a lot more when my kids were younger. Now I seem to mostly look for books for my older kids in curriculum sorts of books, like Well-Trained Mind, etc.
Reading the Saints sounds like a book I ought to have... any suggestions for bibliographies for teenagers? I used to use Books Children Love and The Read-Aloud Handbook quite a lot, but I don't know why I haven't picked them up in a while... could be that they're just in the wrong bookcase, which is usually blocked from view by my mobile Montessori cart...
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Angela
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Erin
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I'm making lists, they all sound so good.
I wish I could see them.
Can I ask, which one is your favourite?
Angel wrote:
| Any suggestions for bibliographies for teenagers? |
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Angela
Years ago I bought Honey for a Teen's Heart by Gladys Hunt. I sold it again because I wasn't entirely happy with some of her recommendations, but them I was pretty conservative. Now, having older children and not being quite as conservative as I was it might look different. Wish I'd kept it. 
Oh Gladys Hunt has also written another book list book, Honey for a Woman's Heart
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KC in TX
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Helen wrote:
| I really like Cay Gibson's A Picture Pefect Childhood for the way she broke down her lists. For example the book has a food related book list, country book list, and holiday list. |
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I second Cay's book. I LOVE it.
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Angel
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Thanks, Erin! That is what I'm looking for.
This discussion has spurred me on to go through that bookcase that is "out of sight, out of mind". I'm trying to purge, but am finding some interesting stuff in there!
As I was going through it all, I remembered that over the years I have also used Some of My Best Friends are Books. For some reason I never bought myself a copy, although I have several pages copied from the book... given to me by an educational psychologist/counselor several years ago, I think.
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Paula in MN
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I have most of the ones already listed, and they are all wonderful. Oh, and the one that started it all for me? Real Learning...
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Paula
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Mackfam
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Erin wrote:
| Can I ask, which one is your favourite? |
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I can't pick one. I've been sitting here trying to narrow it down...and I can't even get my list below 4. Really, I use all of these books. They are at my side when I'm planning booklists during the spring and early summer for the next year.
I personally wish MacBeth would write a book compilation of her favorite living books for high school science coordinated by subject and broken down by scope of study. Do you think that's too much to ask? I love her site - I really do - but in the end, I love the feel and security of a book on my shelf to help me plan.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Angel
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Mackfam wrote:
I personally wish MacBeth would write a book compilation of her favorite living books for high school science coordinated by subject and broken down by scope of study. Do you think that's too much to ask? I love her site - I really do - but in the end, I love the feel and security of a book on my shelf to help me plan. |
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Gee, that would be nice...
But you know, y'all are getting to be a little tough on my pocket book. The UPS guy is earning his pay!
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Angela
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Paula in MN
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Angel wrote:
| But you know, y'all are getting to be a little tough on my pocket book. The UPS guy is earning his pay! |
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Ditto!
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Paula
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SuzanneG
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I found a couple more at the library that weren't mentioned here:
The Children's Literature Lover's Book of Lists. This is a REALLY GOOD compilation of children's lit from Preschool - Grade 6. I LOVE how it is organized. The Table of Contents is worth looking at on the Search Feature.
If the INTERNET didn't exist, and I didn't have a GREAT library system, this would be a great reference to own! It's geared toward school-teachers, so there are a few lists that are politically-correct.
- A wide variety of genres covered
- Organized by Grade Level, Theme, and Reading-Level
- Easy to use
- Simplify the "search process"
- Section 4 has "Awards" and Recommended Literature
- Section 5 has Websites and Teacher Resources
A Literary Education, by Catherine Levison. ".....shares her favorite resources for many areas of homeschooling, including math, poetry, art, science, literature and more. A smaller, simple resource. This would be a GREAT book to recommend to a mom who is new to home education with living books. It's not overwhelming at all, and has a great selection of living books of all different types.
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Suzanne in ID
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: What Books About Books Do You Have/Want?
