Another year and another Classic Children’s Literature Event for the month of January, hosted by Amanda at Simpler Pastimes! I’m going to pledge to read two classic children’s books for this event, probably Carry On, Mr. Bowditch and My Father’s Dragon or The Trumpet of the Swan.  Amanda’s chosen read-along is Pinocchio, so I will try to fit that one in too.

• During the month of January, 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 the year to gather posts so that we may share as we go.
• The optional RAL title: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. I plan on discussion the weekend of January 23-25.
• 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 preferif we read books that were written prior to 1964. This will still allow a lot of options, and will hopefully avoid the “but what is a classic” dilemma! (And yes, 1964 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 January).

Last year I was able to complete The Wizard of Oz, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Once and Future King and Prince Caspian.  Wow!  I’m not so ambitious this year so we’ll see how many I can complete.  And please join us if you feel in a children’s books mood!

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