Amanda @ Simpler Pastimes is hosting the 5th Annual Classic Children’s Literature Event and I am all in!  I love this event and will have participated in four of the five years. It has encouraged me to read such books as Emil and the Detectives, The Forgotten Daughter (an unbelievably good story), The Cabin Faced West, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Wizard of Oz.

Event Basics

• During the month of April, read as many Children’s Classics as you wish and post about them on your blog and/or leave a comment on the event page on this blog. I will have a link page starting the first of April to gather posts so that we may share as we go.
• The optional RAL title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. (Optional: also read Through the Looking-Glass. I’m guessing I won’t get through both.) I plan on discussion the weekend of April 21-23.
• I’m not going to be the “children’s classics” police. Use your own judgement for what fits the category but if you want some guidelines, these are what I’m going by:
• I think many of us have read more recent children’s books that we may already deem “classics” (for example, many people feel that way about the Harry Potter books), but for this event, I’d prefer if we read books that were written prior to 1967. This will still allow a lot of options, and will hopefully avoid the “but what is a classic” dilemma! (And yes, 1967 is rather arbitrary. Rebel if you wish, but 50 years old seems a good age).
• Defining “children’s,” especially prior to 1900 or so can be a challenge as some books we think of as “children’s” today may not have been intended that way at the time. Personally, I’d say books appropriate for approximately an elementary-school aged child or preteen (to read or to have read to them) should be fine. I’d personally also count the various fairy tales, even though some of the earliest versions were not exactly family friendly.
• Feel free to include books from any country, in translation or not. I have limited exposure to non-American children’s lit, so I’d love to learn about books from other countries myself.
• Feel free to double up with other events or challenges if you wish.
• And if you need ideas I posted
• A suggestion list in 2013
• Some more ideas in 2014
•  There is no deadline for joining or participating (other than, of course, the end of April).

Most important: Have fun!

This year’s read-along will be Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, one of my favourites. As for other books I might choose, I’m still mulling over the possibilities.  Some titles might include:

• My Father’s Dragon – Ruth Stiles Gannett
• Finn Family Moomintroll – Tove Jansson
• A Triumph for Flavius – Caroline Dale Snedeker
• Red Sails to Capri – Ann Weil
• Roman Ransom – Henry Winterfeld
• The Princess and Curdie – George MacDonald

Please join us for the month of April if you feel so inclined!