lenore_r6's review against another edition
4.0
Really having fun with this book....and because I have kids that fit into the ranges of the book's catagories,this is going to be a fun summer exploration!
ashleylm's review against another edition
4.0
Its a 4 for ambition and scope, with a caution that "must read" is putting it too strongly, and "might consider reading" would be closer to the truth. For every sensible inclusion (I feel terribly sad some nights that there are people in the world who will die not having read Charlotte's Web, which is not only perhaps the best-written book out there (yes, better than Middlemarch, but has the power to transform how we think about our behaviour to others), there is occasionally a Twilight, which though once popular is widely regarded as badly-written (if you haven't read it, check it out, it's horrible).
You'll never get everyone to agree on 1000 books, though, and while I was tempted to knock it down to 1 star because of that, instead it stays at 4 but I'm cautious that not every book on the list is likely to be a literary masterpiece. In other words, I'm going to borrow them from the library before I commit to a purchase.
But already it's paying dividends. Because of this massive list, I've now read Maya the Bee (delightful!) The Dutch Twins (so good!) Ballet Shoes (right up my alley, who knew?) as well as Captain Pugwash (meh) and The Worst Witch (meh+).
The authors are apparently British but might be secretly Australian (an outrageous number of Australian books on the list, but few Canadian books (I'd tuck in Alice I Think, and only one Diana Wynne Jones?).
It reminded how much I love middle school fiction and how disappointing it is when the teenage years arrive. In middle school one can read about middle-aged people doing exciting things (they might be mice, or moles, but still) but in high school one can only read about persons one's own age, generally historical, or in depressing circumstances which they may or may not overcome. It's bleak. As I went through the books, making lists of what to read, the lists essentially came out to something close to "all the middle school books, none of the 12+ books").
Luckily once you hit adulthood you get to read all kinds of things again!
Final quibble: quite a lot of books that, while probably terrific, seem nigh impossible to find in English. I think these would work better as an appendix--one paragraph per non-translated work--for those of us who can read in that language, or to check whether an English version has come out since publication--but there's no sense in taking up valuable list space (again, only 1 Diana Wynne Jones?) with books that their target audience can't read.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
You'll never get everyone to agree on 1000 books, though, and while I was tempted to knock it down to 1 star because of that, instead it stays at 4 but I'm cautious that not every book on the list is likely to be a literary masterpiece. In other words, I'm going to borrow them from the library before I commit to a purchase.
But already it's paying dividends. Because of this massive list, I've now read Maya the Bee (delightful!) The Dutch Twins (so good!) Ballet Shoes (right up my alley, who knew?) as well as Captain Pugwash (meh) and The Worst Witch (meh+).
The authors are apparently British but might be secretly Australian (an outrageous number of Australian books on the list, but few Canadian books (I'd tuck in Alice I Think, and only one Diana Wynne Jones?).
It reminded how much I love middle school fiction and how disappointing it is when the teenage years arrive. In middle school one can read about middle-aged people doing exciting things (they might be mice, or moles, but still) but in high school one can only read about persons one's own age, generally historical, or in depressing circumstances which they may or may not overcome. It's bleak. As I went through the books, making lists of what to read, the lists essentially came out to something close to "all the middle school books, none of the 12+ books").
Luckily once you hit adulthood you get to read all kinds of things again!
Final quibble: quite a lot of books that, while probably terrific, seem nigh impossible to find in English. I think these would work better as an appendix--one paragraph per non-translated work--for those of us who can read in that language, or to check whether an English version has come out since publication--but there's no sense in taking up valuable list space (again, only 1 Diana Wynne Jones?) with books that their target audience can't read.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
lauralynnwalsh's review against another edition
5.0
This isn't a book you actually read cover to cover; it is a reference book. That said, I have enjoyed looking through it and I am pleased that I have actually read a good portion of the books listed. Yes, there are some books that I would have love to have had included that aren't and some books I wouldn't have listed that are, but it is a good resource. I especially enjoy reading the books for the older children, so now I have an even longer To Be Read list.
thatokiebird's review against another edition
4.0
As a way to start a new hobby together, I picked up this book in order to choose a list of books for my little sister and I to read together. We started when she was 6 years old, and we're slowly trucking on through the massive list.
We also are keeping reading journals to write down what we thought of each book as we finish them. It's so amazing to watch my sister's improvement over the years in how she reviews the books.
I doubt we'll finish reading the full 1,001 books before we're both old and grey, but we'll sure continue to try I hope.
The editors of this book chose books written in all languages all over the world, so not all of the books I have found available or still in publication. We check out these books from our local library, so our ability to read the books is also dependent on if they have them currently in the catalog.
Kind of a bummer that the full 1,001 books are not all available or even still in print, but we'll just continue through the list for the books that are available to us.
We also are keeping reading journals to write down what we thought of each book as we finish them. It's so amazing to watch my sister's improvement over the years in how she reviews the books.
I doubt we'll finish reading the full 1,001 books before we're both old and grey, but we'll sure continue to try I hope.
The editors of this book chose books written in all languages all over the world, so not all of the books I have found available or still in publication. We check out these books from our local library, so our ability to read the books is also dependent on if they have them currently in the catalog.
Kind of a bummer that the full 1,001 books are not all available or even still in print, but we'll just continue through the list for the books that are available to us.
kslhersam's review against another edition
3.0
This is a good book to peruse for reference, but I wasn't about to sit down and read all of it. I thought it had a lot of good suggestions, but there were a few problems I found.
1. The ordering of the books seems off to me, so perhaps she should have done away with the age ranges. Some of the picture books listed for 5+ could easily be read to 2 or 3 year olds; they were some of my toddlers' favorite books. Also, the 12+ category had some chapter books that I read to my kids around age 8 and they were totally appropriate.
2. There are a lot of older books mentioned, and books written in other languages that I can't even find at the library, let alone online. If I can't even find the book, or am unwilling to pay an extravagant price because it's out of print...perhaps they shouldn't be listed.
Other than that I enjoyed looking through this 900 page list.
1. The ordering of the books seems off to me, so perhaps she should have done away with the age ranges. Some of the picture books listed for 5+ could easily be read to 2 or 3 year olds; they were some of my toddlers' favorite books. Also, the 12+ category had some chapter books that I read to my kids around age 8 and they were totally appropriate.
2. There are a lot of older books mentioned, and books written in other languages that I can't even find at the library, let alone online. If I can't even find the book, or am unwilling to pay an extravagant price because it's out of print...perhaps they shouldn't be listed.
Other than that I enjoyed looking through this 900 page list.
jlconnery's review against another edition
Out of fairness, I am not rating this book until I have read more books from it. At this point I have only skimmed the book itself and have focused on the 0-3 year section. I will update when I have read more.
I've started working through this book with my 2 year old daughter. I saw this as a way to find age appropriate books to read together. As this book highlights children's stories from all over the world, I thought this would be a good way to find books we might not have otherwise discovered.
So far, I have mixed feelings. As I mentioned, we are currently working through the 0-3 year books, which is a much shorter list than the book list for the older ages. Some of the books have been real gems that we definitely would not have found on our own. Others have been somewhat disappointing. With so many children's books out there, it's hard to tell what it took to make this list.
One issue I have is that I don't think the books are always age appropriate. There are a few books on the 3+ and 5+ lists that my two-year-old already loves, and others on the 0-3 year list that seem to me to be intended for an older audience. We are mostly reading in order by age, but may skip around a bit.
I've also been surprised by the number of books that are not available from my local library. I live in one of the largest cities in the US with many branches of our library, and so far, about half of the books for ages 0-3 and 3+ are not easily available. I've requested these books through inter-library loan and had a little success with that. I think part of the problem is that I am searching for these books in their English translation.
UPDATE: So far my library has identified 2 titles that are not found in any public or academic library in the U.S.: Little Spook's Baby Sister and Fly, Little Bird!
You can find my ratings and reviews of books on this list in my bookshelves.
I've started working through this book with my 2 year old daughter. I saw this as a way to find age appropriate books to read together. As this book highlights children's stories from all over the world, I thought this would be a good way to find books we might not have otherwise discovered.
So far, I have mixed feelings. As I mentioned, we are currently working through the 0-3 year books, which is a much shorter list than the book list for the older ages. Some of the books have been real gems that we definitely would not have found on our own. Others have been somewhat disappointing. With so many children's books out there, it's hard to tell what it took to make this list.
One issue I have is that I don't think the books are always age appropriate. There are a few books on the 3+ and 5+ lists that my two-year-old already loves, and others on the 0-3 year list that seem to me to be intended for an older audience. We are mostly reading in order by age, but may skip around a bit.
I've also been surprised by the number of books that are not available from my local library. I live in one of the largest cities in the US with many branches of our library, and so far, about half of the books for ages 0-3 and 3+ are not easily available. I've requested these books through inter-library loan and had a little success with that. I think part of the problem is that I am searching for these books in their English translation.
UPDATE: So far my library has identified 2 titles that are not found in any public or academic library in the U.S.: Little Spook's Baby Sister and Fly, Little Bird!
You can find my ratings and reviews of books on this list in my bookshelves.
arrrgh_schooling's review against another edition
4.0
Ok, so technically this isn't a book that one "reads" cover to cover. I had a lot of fun pouring over all the wonderful books mentioned, many of which I'd never heard of. I now have a much longer to-read list though, which is always good. :)
hweezbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I am marginally grateful to this book because this is where I found The Tashi Collection and also where I rediscovered E Nesbit. I disagree with some of the reviews here that this has a strong European/ Anglo slant because I think that's the only way it can be. It tries to include important books from other cultures but I think if you can't do it well, don't do it. Perhaps just stick to mainstream English and influential children's books. This book is worth a flip through if you are looking for some ideas on which book to get for an under-12.
gliebherr's review against another edition
4.0
I've read about 170 of these and have another maybe 30 on TBR list. Would be a good resource to find more books.