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The Treasury of Read-Alouds
by Jim Trelease © 2006
NOVELS (full) page 2 of 4
These
books represent a brief portion of the hundreds
cited
in the print edition of The-Read-Aloud Handbook.
The Great Brain (series)
by John D. Fitzgerald Gr.
5 and up 175 pages Dial, 1967
This is the
first book in a series dealing with the hilarious—and
often touching—adventures of an Irish-Catholic family surrounded
by Utah Mormons in 1896, told through the eyes of a younger
brother. Tom Fitzgerald is part boy-genius and part con man, but in
command of every situation. The series reads well on many levels, including
a perspective of daily life at the turn of the century. For experienced
listeners. Sequels (in order): More Adventures
of the Great Brain; Me and My Little Brain; The Return of the Great
Brain; and The Great Brain Is Back.
The Great Turkey Walk
by Kathleen Karr Gr.
4-8 199 pages Scholastic, 1998
Set in the time of
cattle drives and the Kansas territory, this comic-novel
tall tale follows 15-year-old Simon Green as he journeys
900 miles from Missouri to Denver. But it’s no ordinary journey.
First, muscular but soft-headed Simon has just “graduated” from
third grade after four years there. Second, he’s herding 1,000
turkeys. Third, he’s accompanied and assisted by a recovering
alcoholic and a runaway slave. En route, they encounter
rustlers, Indians whose territory they’ve accidentally violated,
Simon’s no-account
long-lost father who is bent on stealing the turkeys,
target-hungry U.S. cavalry, and a deranged woman. And
one last ingredient to make it an even tastier tale of
redemption: the venture is being bankrolled by Simon’s fourth-grade
teacher with her life’s
savings. Related books: Sid Fleischman’s By
the Great Hornspoon;
Humbug Mountain; and Chauncy and the
Grand Rascal.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (series)
by J. K. Rowling Gr.
2–8 309 pages Scholastic, 1998
 Harry is the
best thing to happen to children’s books since the
invention of the paperback! While the series’ plot is surely original,
it follows in the path of C. S. Lewis’s dual “Narnia” world,
George Lucas’s "Star Wars" struggles with the “dark
side,” and
Dorothy’s search for the Wizard of Oz. It is also blessed with
an abundance of Roald Dahl’s cheeky childhood humor.
Harry is the
orphan child of two famous wizards who died mysteriously
as he was very young. Rescued at age eleven from abusive
relatives, he is sent to Hogwarts School (sorcery’s equivalent
of an elite boarding school), where he experiences high
adventure as he and his friends (boy and girl) struggle
with classes in potions, charms, and broom-flying, all the while battling
a furtive faculty member working for the dark side.
This is not an easy
read-aloud and the reader-aloud should be aware the first
two chapters of the first book are a bit complicated
as they set the scene for Harry’s
dual world. Definitely for experienced listeners. Actor
Jim Dale has done a masterful job of recording (unabridged)
all of the Potter books for Listening Library/Random House and an excellent
NPR interview with him can be heard online via the free RealAudio plugin
at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4792545.
Other books to date in the seven-volume series (in
order): Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets;
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; and Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Younger fans of Harry will also
enjoy: Deltora Quest by
Emily Rodda; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis; Brian
Jacques' Redwall series,
beginning with Martin the Warrior ; older fans
may be ready for The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Hatchet (series)
by Gary Paulsen Gr.
6 and up 195 pages Bradbury, 1987
The
lone survivor of a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness,
this thirteen-year-old boy carries three things away
from the crash: a fierce spirit, the hatchet his mother
gave him as a gift, and the secret knowledge that his
mother was unfaithful to his father. All play an integral
part in this Newbery Honor survival story for experienced
listeners. Sequels: The
River; Brian’s
Winter; Brian’s
Return; and Brian's
Hunt. Having received abut 400 letters a
week with Hatchet-related queries, Paulsen's answered
them in one book: Guts!, the true-life events that inspired
the series.
For the 20th anniversary of the book, Paulsen's publisher
issued a special edition containing fascinating background
notes by the author on both the subject matter and
how he wrote it. To my knowledge, this is a first
in children's literature.
Related
survival books: The
Cay and Ice
Drift, both by Theodore Taylor; The Island (series)
by Gordon Korman; Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo;
A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements; and Winter
Camp by Kirkpatrick Hill. Before there was Paulsen,
there was William O. Steele who wrote outstanding
outdoor historical novels, four of which have recently
been reprinted (with handsome new covers): Buffalo
Knife; Flaming Arrows; Perilous Road; and Winter
Danger. Other books by Paulsen include: The Foxman (a
precursor to his later Harris and Me); Mr.
Tucket;
The Rifle; Soldier’s
Heart; The Tent; and a survival-at-sea novel, The
Voyage of the Frog .
Paulsen also has written a memoir for children
of his relationships with dogs, My Life in Dog Years. A Paulsen
profile is also available at www.trelease-on-reading.com/paulsen.html.
Holes
by Louis Sachar Gr.
4–8 233 pages SG, 1998
Too often, when a
children’s book captures a large number of prizes
from adult committees (this book won the 1999 Newbery
Medal, National Book Award, and The Horn Book Award),
it turns out to be inaccessible to most children. Not
so here! Holes is an adventure tale, a mystery, fantasy,
and quest book. An important ingredient is Sachar’s wit.
Set in a juvenile detention station on the Texas desert,
it traces the sad life of fourteen-year-old Stanley Yelnats,
who has just been sentenced (mistakenly) for stealing
a pair of sneakers. Not only has the friendless, hopeless
Stanley been haunted all his life by a dark cloud of
events, so has his family. Indeed, there is a family
legend that his grandfather’s
long-ago selfishness in Latvia has rusted every golden
opportunity for the family since then. Forced by the
abusive camp police to dig holes all day long in the
baking desert, he experiences an epiphany, makes his
first friend, and gradually discovers courage he never
knew he had. In so doing, he slowly and painfully unwinds
the century-old family curse. The movie based on the
book was exceptionally well received by critics and families,
perhaps because the author himself wrote the screenplay.
Book sequel: Small Steps.
Sachar’s acceptance speech for the Newbery
(July-August 1999 issue, The Horn Book) offers an excellent
view of how the book was created, and is reprinted in
The Horn Book with a personal profile of the author by
his wife and daughter. Also by the author: Sideways
Stories From Wayside School. Related book: Maniac
Magee by Jerry Spinelli.
Homer Price
by Robert McCloskey Gr.
2–5 160 pages Viking, 1943
A modern children’s
classic, this is a collection of humorous tales about
a small-town boy’s
neighborhood dilemmas. Whether telling how Homer foiled
the bank robbers with his pet skunk or of his uncle’s out-of-control
doughnut maker, these six tales will long be remembered.
Sequel: Centerburg
Tales. Related
books: Good Old Boy by Willie Morris; The Great
Brain by John D. Fitzgerald; and Soup by Robert Newton Peck.
The Indian in the Cupboard (series)
by Lynne Reid Banks Gr.
2–6 182 pages Doubleday, 1981
A witty,
exciting, and poignant fantasy tale of a nine-year-old
English boy who accidentally brings to life his three-inch plastic American
Indian. Once the shock of the trick wears off, the boy begins to realize
the immense responsibility involved in feeding, protecting, and hiding
a three-inch human being from another time (1870s) and culture. Anyone
concerned about the political correctness of the series
will feel relieved by reading the review by Native American author Michael
Dorris in The New York Times Book Review (May 16, 1993). Sequels: Return
of the Indian; The Secret of the Indian; The Mystery
of the Cupboard; and The Key to the Indian.
Inventing Elliot
by Graham Gardner Gr.
9 and up 181 pages Dial, 2004
 Whenever national
or corporate scandals occur, the question invariably
arises, “What
took so long for someone to blow the whistle?” As investigators
dig deeper, they often find the corruption began not
in adulthood but in adolescence. This rich and disturbing
first novel describes the web that entangles a 14-year-old
boy at an English high school. He’s
new, having come from another school where he’d been singled out
for physical abuse by the reigning clique. At this new
school, he’s
determined to be anonymous among the hundreds of other
students. But soon he’s spotted by a secret
society of boys who rule the school with a reign of terror,
right under the noses of a dedicated faculty. When the
boys invite Elliot to join their society, he realizes
this time it’s “inclusion” instead
of “exclusion.” Joining would certainly secure his safety
but it would also destroy whatever self-worth he has.
This is the chasm faced every day by “whistle-blowers” in
all walks of life. Without revealing the ending, I must
report it concludes on a very hopeful but suspenseful
note. Caution: Readers aloud should be aware there is
brief sexual innuendo along with graphic violence, though
not gratuitous. Related books: Killing Mr. Griffin by
Lois Duncan; Plague Year by Stephanie S. Tolan; and Scorpions by Walter
Dean Myers.
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