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Treasury · Merit

The lists themselves

Fifteen lists, made by different people for different reasons, none of them trying to agree with the others. This door shows them as they are, and then the small overlap where two or more of them name the same book.

15
lists
2,828
books on them
334
on two or more
490
with no age given

Don't miss these

The books on at least two of these lists, the ones on the most lists first. This is the only place the page lets the lists outvote each other — and it is agreement, not a ranking of quality.

114 books are on that many lists; these are the 12 on the most.

The lists, one by one

Fifteen different ideas about what is worth reading, in alphabetical order because putting a favourite first would be a judgement of a different kind. Each one is folded shut; open it to see the books the catalog holds from it.

The Association for Library Service to Children's notable children's books, chosen and annotated by librarians every year since 1940. The list itself ↗

  • 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye, 2002 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 910L · AR 5.8 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  • 7 X 9 = Trouble! by Claudia Mills, 2002 · ages 6–11 · Lexile 670L · AR 4.3 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  • 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis, 2010 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 790L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  • A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano, 2012 · ages 8–13 · Lexile 900L · AR 6.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  • A Book of Coupons by Susie Morgenstern, 2001 · ages 8–13 · Lexile 790L · AR 5.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  • Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff, 2014 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)

See the first 100 of 1,101

A history curriculum taught entirely through literature — this is the reading it assigns, book by book. The list itself ↗

See all 71

The Davidson Institute's reading list for profoundly gifted young readers; the hardest list here for its ages. The list itself ↗

See all 41

A grade-by-grade book list, with the grade each book is filed under kept alongside it.

See all 30

The reading recommended at the back of Judith Wynn Halsted's award-winning guide for gifted readers, Some of My Best Friends Are Books — her own bibliography, marked by age.

See all 31

The fifty volumes Charles W. Eliot chose in 1909 as a liberal education on a five-foot shelf. Old, Western, and unapologetically canonical. The list itself ↗

See all 2

Reading lists from Mensa for Kids, graded by age band; the band each book is filed under is kept alongside it. The list itself ↗

See all 73

The American Library Association's annual medal for the most distinguished contribution to American children's literature, awarded since 1922. The list itself ↗

See all 74

The New York Public Library's staff picks for children — a large library system's answer to what a child should read next. The list itself ↗

See all 25

The Great Books list of St. John's College in Annapolis and Santa Fe — the same books read by every student through all four years of its undergraduate program. The list itself ↗

See all 1

A homeschool curriculum publisher's book list, filed by grade. The list itself ↗

See the first 100 of 154

TIME's all-time hundred novels: the best English-language novels published between TIME's first year, 1923, and 2005, when the list was made. The list itself ↗

A Thomas Jefferson Education is Oliver and Rachel DeMille's home-education method. It recommends three reading lists by the age of the reader — Early, Youth and Adult — and these are the adult ones. The list itself ↗

See all 1

A Thomas Jefferson Education is Oliver and Rachel DeMille's home-education method. It recommends three reading lists by the age of the reader — Early, Youth and Adult — and these are the earliest. The list itself ↗

See all 11

A Thomas Jefferson Education is Oliver and Rachel DeMille's home-education method. It recommends three reading lists by the age of the reader — Early, Youth and Adult — and these are the ones for young readers. The list itself ↗

See all 26