What are the Most Influential Books that Shaped America?

Here is what the Library of Congress has to say on the subject...Post your comments...do you agree or disagree with the list?  What books would you add?  What books would you delete?  

Excerpt from Library of Congress site...

Books That Shaped America

The Library of Congress, the world’s largest repository of knowledge and information, began a multiyear “Celebration of the Book” with an exhibition on “Books That Shaped America.” The initial books in the exhibition are displayed below.

“This list is a starting point,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “It is not a register of the ‘best’ American books – although many of them fit that description. Rather, the list is intended to spark a national conversation on books written by Americans that have influenced our lives, whether they appear on this initial list or not.”

We hope you will view the list, nominate other titles, and most importantly, choose to read and discuss some of the books on this list, reflecting America’s unique and extraordinary literary heritage, which the Library of Congress makes available to the world.

More information: Read the news release
Visit the online exhibition
Give your input by completing the online survey.

Title	Author	Date
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain	1884
Alcoholics Anonymous	anonymous	1939
American Cookery	Amelia Simmons	1796
The American Woman's Home	Catharine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe	1869
And the Band Played On	Randy Shilts	1987
Atlas Shrugged	Ayn Rand	1957
The Autobiography of Malcolm X	Malcolm X and Alex Haley	1965
Beloved	Toni Morrison	1987
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Dee Brown	1970
The Call of the Wild	Jack London	1903
The Cat in the Hat	Dr. Seuss	1957
Catch-22	Joseph Heller	1961
The Catcher in the Rye	J.D. Salinger	1951
Charlotte's Web	E.B. White	1952
Common Sense	Thomas Paine	1776
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care	Benjamin Spock	1946
Cosmos	Carl Sagan	1980
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible	anonymous	1788
The Double Helix	James D. Watson	1968
The Education of Henry Adams	Henry Adams	1907
Experiments and Observations on Electricity	Benjamin Franklin	1751
Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury	1953
Family Limitation	Margaret Sanger	1914
The Federalist	anonymous	1787
The Feminine Mystique	Betty Friedan	1963
The Fire Next Time	James Baldwin	1963
For Whom the Bell Tolls	Ernest Hemingway	1940
Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	1936
Goodnight Moon	Margaret Wise Brown	1947
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language	Noah Webster	1783
The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck	1939
The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald	1925
Harriet, the Moses of Her People	Sarah H. Bradford	1901
The History of Standard Oil	Ida Tarbell	1904
History of the Expedition Under the Command of the Captains Lewis and Clark	Meriwether Lewis	1814
How the Other Half Lives	Jacob Riis	1890
How to Win Friends and Influence People	Dale Carnegie	1936
Howl	Allen Ginsberg	1956
The Iceman Cometh	Eugene O'Neill	1946
Idaho: A Guide in Word and Pictures	Federal Writers' Project	1937
In Cold Blood	Truman Capote	1966
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison	1952
Joy of Cooking	Irma Rombauer	1931
The Jungle	Upton Sinclair	1906
Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman	1855
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow	Washington Irving	1820
Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy	Louisa May Alcott	1868
Mark, the Match Boy	Horatio Alger Jr.	1869
McGuffey's Newly Revised Eclectic Primer	William Holmes McGuffey	1836
Moby-Dick; or The Whale	Herman Melville	1851
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass	Frederick Douglass	1845
Native Son	Richard Wright	1940
New England Primer	anonymous	1803
New Hampshire	Robert Frost	1923
On the Road	Jack Kerouac	1957
Our Bodies, Ourselves	Boston Women's Health Book Collective	1971
Our Town: A Play	Thornton Wilder	1938
Peter Parley's Universal History	Samuel Goodrich	1837
Poems	Emily Dickinson	1890
Poor Richard Improved and The Way to Wealth	Benjamin Franklin	1758
Pragmatism	William James	1907
The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D.	Benjamin Franklin	1793
The Red Badge of Courage	Stephen Crane	1895
Red Harvest	Dashiell Hammett	1929
Riders of the Purple Sage	Zane Grey	1912
The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne	1850
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male	Alfred C. Kinsey	1948
Silent Spring	Rachel Carson	1962
The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats	1962
The Souls of Black Folk	W.E.B. Du Bois	1903
The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner	1929
Spring and All	William Carlos Williams	1923
Stranger in a Strange Land	Robert A. Heinlein	1961
A Street in Bronzeville	Gwendolyn Brooks	1945
A Streetcar Named Desire	Tennessee Williams	1947
A Survey of the Roads of the United States of America	Christopher Colles	1789
Tarzan of the Apes	Edgar Rice Burroughs	1914
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston	1937
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	1960
A Treasury of American Folklore	Benjamin A. Botkin	1944
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Betty Smith	1943
Uncle Tom's Cabin	Harriet Beecher Stowe	1852
Unsafe at Any Speed	Ralph Nader	1965
Walden; or Life in the Woods	Henry David Thoreau	1854
The Weary Blues	Langston Hughes	1925
Where the Wild Things Are	Maurice Sendak	1963
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	L. Frank Baum	1900
The Words of Cesar Chavez	Cesar Chavez	2002

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Goodreads Poll for the Library of Congress List

LA Times Article: 88 books that shaped America, at the Library of Congress

Visit Paris with Madeline

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I guess I'm not a Madeline fan, nor is my daughter. She lost interest in this book long before it was finished, and it is very short on words. However, my daughter loved the illustrations. From the adult perspective, I loved the Parisian landmarks that were sprinkled throughout the book, but again, the story did not match the quality of the illustrations. Another thing that I did like about Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans is the fact that a short history of each landmark is included on the last page of the picture book, just in case the reader is not familiar with them. I also need to mention that the story is told using a simple rhyme scheme, which is very nice for introducing your child to this concept.  Each of these points are why the book received three out of five stars.

Madeline is the story of the littlest girl at a Catholic boarding school in Paris, France. Madeline is her name, and Madeline is not afraid of anything, not even tigers at the zoo. Madeline, along with all her classmates, travels throughout Paris on her daily walks, and enjoys the sights and sounds of Paris. Unfortunately, one day Madeline is stricken with appendicitis and has to be rushed to the hospital, but not to worry, all is well in the end.

I know that Madeline is beloved by many children and adults, but for my little munchkin it is not a favorite.  As to the Why?  Why is this book not a favorite?  Well, I'd have to say that substance of story is one reason, and then there is the subjectivity factor, which can not be discounted.  For our two member reading group this book did not have the five star qualities others we have read possess.  Again, reviews are very subjective, and based on all the good points this book has to offer I would most definitely share it with children.  The introduction to Paris is priceless, and I will enjoy taking Irene to Paris one day to see all the Parisian landmarks we visited with Madeline in person.

Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine

Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine is a wonderful story set in a small fishing village.  Evaline Ness, the author and illustrator, won the prestigious Caldecott Medal back in 1967 for her intriguing illustrations. Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine is a marvelous story in its own right, but it also is an excellent book to help your child understand the concept of reality versus imagination.

In the book the main character's father, a widowed fisherman, calls not being truthful moonshine. He tries to teach his motherless daughter, Sam, that there is good moonshine and bad moonshine. However, Sam is full of both types of moonshine. She tells folks her dead mother is a mermaid. She tells folks her cat, Bangs, speaks to her. She tells folks she rides in a chariot pulled by dragons. She tells her best friend, Thomas, she has a pet kangaroo, and sends him on a wild goose chase to find it each day. It is this last bit of moonshine that leads to some serious life lessons for Sam, and will also illustrate to children that actions have consequences.

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness. It was one of the books I received from the Weekly Reader Summer Reading Program back in the day, and as a child, I was full of both types of moonshine. I read this book to my daughter tonight using my very own original copy. Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine is a story that has held up well over time. I hope my daughter will enjoy reading it to her children one day.

Painting With Vincent van Gogh

Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tonight's read with my daughter was Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt. Again, I read this when it was published back in early 1999, but this was the first time for her. I guess that is one of the things I love about being a mother, I get the joy of watching my daughter experience some of my favorite books for the first time. This was one of Anholt's less wordy picture books, and it was perfect for my two-year-old. She loved the illustrations and the story. The vivid illustrations jumped off the page and I had to pause numerous times as my two-year-old touched the sunflowers on the page.

We see the painter Vincent van Gogh through the eyes of one of his subjects, Camille.  His family befriends the painter on his arrival in their small village. Camille's family shows up at Vincent's yellow cottage with furniture and all the needed extras to make his stay comfortable in his new home. In return, the painter paints Camille's whole family: the postmaster, his wife, Camille's older brother, Camille, and even the baby.  Camille loves to watch Vincent paint, and he especially loves the colors that Vincent uses in his paintings, but the town folk are not as taken with the painter. Ultimately, Vincent is forced to move on, and Camille gives his friend a tearful good-bye.

The book ends with Camille's father comforting his son about the loss of their friend, Vincent van Gogh, and he tells Camille that one day the odd little painter will be much appreciated. Truer words were never spoken.

Both my daughter and I hated to leave the colorful world of Vincent van Gogh. A great read for young and old alike.

Having Fun with Olivia

Olivia by Ian Falconer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How do you know a classic? Well, you just know, and from the first time I picked up Olivia by Ian Falconer back in October 2000 in Creatures and Crooks Bookstore, I knew instantly that this book was destined for great things. And in fact it was...it has spawned the Olivia franchise: books, tins, magnets, calendars, etc. But I digress.

Olivia by Ian Falconer has become a children's classic, since its release back in 2000. To answer my original question...I guess one way to know a children's classic is that both children and adults like the book. The story is just right for a two-year-old, but the illustrations leave room for older children to use their imagination and add to the story. Olivia is everso likable. Children easily identify with her antics, and adults see their little munchkins in the overactive Olivia.

Olivia is a very busy little pig who lives with her family: Mommy, Daddy, Ian (her little brother), and her two pets, Edwin the cat and Perry the dog. Her day is filled with dressing, brushing her teeth, going to the beach, laying in the sun, building sandcastles, visiting museums...as you can see she is a very busy little pig. My favorite part of the book is when Olivia visits her favorite painting in the museum and also her least favorite painting. No, I take that back my most favorite part is when she goes home and tries to recreate her least favorite painting. Well, read the book and you'll see what I mean.

Of all the books we have in our library this is my daughter's favorite. She always wants me to read this one at night, and I have to bargain with her. It goes something like this, "I will read Olivia if you pick another book for us to try." So far, we are slowly adding to her lists of favorites, but this one still remains number one.

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Calling All Artists Young and Old Alike!

Degas and the Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you or your child is an art lover Degas and the Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt is for you. I purchased this to use in my classroom years ago back in 1999. Never in my wildest dreams did I allow myself to believe I would one day read this to my son or daughter, but I just did. And the most amazing thing is that my daughter picked this out of a stack of books for me to read to her. My daughter is only two, so the story is a bit wordy for her, but again the amazing thing is that she loved it.  Professionally, I would recommend this book for children between the ages of  two and five.

The story moves back and forth from present day to the time of Degas.  A museum guard tells the story of the real Little Dancer.  Her story is one of a poor girl, Marie, who dreams of being the most famous ballerina in all of Paris. She reaches for her dreams and, in so doing, she meets the famous painter, Degas. Their interactions are poignant and feel authentic even though his temper is another thing he is famous for sharing. Marie does not reach the heights she hoped for on the stage, but rather in museums all over the world.

The illustrations are gorgeous, but what I love the most are the reproductions of the real art work of Degas that also liter the pages. I have always admired the artist of this era, and in particular Degas.  I am lucky enough to have seen the real Little Dancer many, many times on my visits to the Virginia Museum, and I look forward to reading this many more times with my daughter, and when she is old enough we will make the drive to the "big city" to see the statue together. I know just where to look. I love this book...and more importantly, so does my daughter.

Happy Reading!

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

 

Read and Give All Summer with Read for My Summer

I know we are well into the summer break, but I wanted to share a resource I found this week for children ages 5 to 8.  "Reading begets Reading"...reading with or to your child is the best thing you can do over the summer.  Check this out...

We Give Books’ Read for My Summer is your chance to share books – and share giving – with young readers in your life. Designed specifically for children ages 5 through 8, Read for My Summer highlights a special book for you and your child to read online from the We Give Bookslibrary every week, along with fun activities and reading tips to make each book come to life. This free 10-week program helps parents, schools and libraries offer children an exciting online reading experience, filled with classic children’s books.

Reading online with your child this summer at We Give Books will help you to prepare forJumpstart’s Read for the Record event on October 4! Each year, millions of adults and children gather on a single day to set a new reading record and to show their support for early literacy by joining Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. By reading Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad by Jacky Davis and David Soman on October 4, you’ll help to set a new world record for the greatest number of people reading the same book on the same day. Learn more!

Read and Give All Summer with Read for My Summer

Are You Re-energizing Over the Summer?

As I ticked off all the items on my closing list for the 2011-2012 school year, I could not help, but be as happy as my students to see the arrival of our summer break.  Another successful year behind me, I was especially proud of the ninety-nine percent pass rate on our state's Standards of Learning test my students achieved this year, and I knew, as I frantically graded the last of the research projects, that the slower paced days of summer awaited me; I easily sailed through closing out the year.  But does summer mean forgetting about school all together?  Well, for me the answer is no.  The first two or three weeks I do, but then I begin to reflect on the past school year.  How could I have done it better?  How could I have taught my objectives in a more engaging manner?  This practice has served me well over my twenty plus years of teaching; I am especially grateful for the reflecting I have done over those summer days when the new school year begins.  

As I re-energize, over the dog days of summer, I look for new resources to add to my teaching arsenal to make learning and teaching more enjoyable because if the lesson is boring to my students they won't learn, and if it is boring to me, I have to suffer through teaching it four times.  I am always happy to find a new gem, and I was elated when I somehow found myself on the The English Teachers Friend website.  I'm very impressed with the information that is available for free-however there is a Premium Option for those who want to join for a fee.  Check them out...here is a sample of what they offer to teachers free of charge: Archetypes & Symbols Link

Drop by their site and see if their resources might energize your teaching for the 2012-2013 school year.  At a minimum sign-up for their free newsletter.

I'm going back to recharging my teaching battery, but don't forget to leave some time for reflecting on how you can be the best teacher you can be.

Happy Dog Days of Summer!