The Girl on the Floor Will Help You

A collection of humorous memoirs and essays:Chapter 12: “Watch It! We’re Listing!” (pp. 110-117)But a lifelong habit still holds me in thrall, and a grandmotherly desire not to have children--mine or anybody else’s--miss anything makes me whip up one more list--one more book list, a very personal one. It’s for young readers, up to ten. If they don’t choose their own books after that, they’re in trouble--and so are you. (The “etc.” after a title means you’ll love everything this artist or writer has created. Omitted are the established classes--the Treasure Islands, and the rest--probably you probably already have them on your shelf of favorite books. Omitted, too, are some titles you can get in paperbacks--the E. Nesbits, Eagers, Spykmans, etc.) The books I have included are the ones about people, ideas, and things that I couldn’t bear to have anybody grow up without knowing. For their own pleasure. And for a practical reason--so that when someone says, “It was the best butter,” a child will know it’s the March Hare talking, not a TV announcer. Abraham Lincoln, etc., written and illus. by Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire. Aesop’s Fables, adapted by Louis Untermeyer. Illus. by Martin and Alice Provensen. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll. Illus. by John Tenniel. Andersen’s Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Anderson. Illus. by Lawrence Beall Smith.And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street, written and illus. by Dr. Seuss. The Animal Family, by Randall Jarrell. Illus. by Maurice Sendak. The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, written and illus. by Hilaire Belloc. {transcriber's note: Terrifying and bizarre and inappropriate. Not recommended by me!}A Bear Called Paddington, etc., by Michael Bond. Illus. by Peggy Fortnum. Bedtime for Frances, by Russell Hoban. Illus. by Garth Williams. Ben and Me, etc., written and illus. by Robert Lawson. The Borrowers, etc., by Mary Norton. Illus. by Beth and Joe Krush. Brian Wildsmith’s ABC, etc., written and illus. by Brian Wildsmith.Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink. Illus. by Kate Seredy. The Cat Who Went to Heaven, by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Illus. by Lynd Ward. Celestino Piatti's Animal ABC, etc., written and illus. by Celestino Piatti. Chanticleer and the Fox, etc., by Chaucer. Illus. by Barbara Cooney. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl. Illus. by Joseph Schindelman. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Illus. by Garth Williams. A Child’s Garden of Verse, by R.L. Stevenson. Illus. by Jessie Willcox Smith. Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, by Ian Fleming. Illus. by John Burningham. The Complete Nonsense Book, written and illus. by Edward Lear. Curious George, etc., written and illus. by H.A. Rey. The Doll's House, etc., by Rumer Godden. Illus. by Tasha Tudor. Ella, etc., written and illus. by Bill Peet. The Enormous Egg, by Oliver Butterworth. Illus. by Louis Darling. Fairy Tales, by the Grimm Brothers. Illus. by Elenore Abbott. Five Chinese Brothers, by Claire Bishop. Illus. by Kurt Wiese. The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night, etc., written and illus. by Peter Spier. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, etc., written and illus. by Elaine Konigsburg. The Ghost in the Noonday Sun, etc., by Sid Fleischman. Illus. by Warren Chappell. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. Illus. by Clement Hurd. Harriet the Spy, written and illus. by Louise Fitzhugh. The Hey Diddle Diddle Picture Book, etc., by Randolph Caldecott. Higglety Pigglety Pop!: Or There Must Be More to Life, etc., written and illus. by Maurice Sendak. Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field. Illus. by Dorothy Lothrop. The Hole Book, etc., written and illus. by Peter Newell. A Hole Is to Dig, by Ruth Krauss. Illus. by Maurice Sendak. Homer Price, written and illus. by Robert McCloskey. It's Wings That Make Birds Fly: The Story of a Boy, written and illus. (with photographs) by Sandra Weiner. Johnny Crow’s Garden, etc., written and illus. by Leslie Brooke. Kate Greenaway’s Birthday Book for Children, by Sale Barker. Illus. by Kate Greenaway. The Legend of the Willow Plate, by Alvin Tresselt and Nancy Cleaver. Illus. by Joseph Low.Lion, etc., written and illus. by William Pene du Bois. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc., by C.S. Lewis. Illus. by Pauline Baynes. Little Bear, etc., by Else Holmemund Minarik. Illus. by Maurice Sendak. The Little House, written and illus. by Virginia Burton. Little House in the Big Woods, etc., by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illus. by Garth Williams. The Little Island, by Golden MacDonald. Illus. by Leonard Weisgard. The Little Match Girl, etc., by Hans Christian Andersen. Illus. by Blair Lent. The Little Prince, written and illus. by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The Little Princess, by Frances Burnett. Illus. by Ethel Betts. Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain, etc., written and illus. by Edward Ardizzone. Little T...