Mark Twain called her “the dearest, and most lovable child in fiction since the immortal Alice.”
| 1. “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe. Based on a true story about shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island. Published in 1719.
2. “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift. Published seven years after Defoe’s book, this one takes readers along on the adventures of surgeon and sea captain Lemuel Gulliver, who lands on several islands all inhabited by interesting “people.” 3. “Around the World in Eighty Days” by Jules Verne. Phileas Fogg bets his friends he can travel the world in a mere 80 days. Can he live up to it? Published in 1872. 4. “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. A spoiled girl who is suddenly orphaned must make new friends when she moves to her uncle’s estate. 1911. 5. “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. Follow the March sisters as they get lost in their own world of creativity during the Civil War era. 1868. 6. “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. Published in 1952 this might not meet some people’s definition of a “classic” in terms of longevity. But who can resist Wilbur the pig, Templeton the rat and, of course, Charlotte? 7. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” both by Mark Twain, who created some pretty dear and loveable characters of his own in the world of fiction – even if Huck Finn has generated its share of controversy and criticism in more recent years. Clip and save this bookmark for your next trip to the library or bookstore. |
She simply called herself Anne. Anne with an “e,” that is. Or Cordelia, if she thought she could get away with it.
Whatever it is that makes a classic a classic, I would argue “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery has plenty of it. Perhaps it’s the ability to get so lost in the tales, trials and triumphs of the main character that you almost believe you are Anne – or at least you want to live in her world. When you can imagine yourself in a character’s skin, roaming the same pathways he or she trod, wearing the same clothes, living in the same house and talking to the same people, you know you’re caught up in a book. Hopelessly, wonderfully caught up.
Classic children’s literature, whether it is defined by its literary merit, longevity, social significance or all of the above, has a way of doing that to its readers, generation after generation. Girls around the globe are still slipping into the world of Canada’s Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, nearly 100 years after Montgomery’s work finally made it to print.
If you’re a boy and you’re still reading this, points for you! While you probably aren’t an Anne fan, certainly you have books on your shelf or stored in your brain that grabbed your interest and wouldn’t let go. Perhaps the Harry Potter mania of the past several years is proof that young readers still want to lose themselves in a different world than their own (adults apparently do, too!), with permission to return again and again every time they open the book. Whether the wildly popular series becomes a classic remains to be seen, though many young fans would argue it has already earned a spot in that category.
In order to find out which books will capture your fancy for a lifetime, you have to wade through scores of them. Old, new and in between. Don’t wait until your middle school or high school English teacher starts assigning the classics to you or winces when you admit you haven’t read them. Add a classic to your repertoire now and again. Compare the language writers used long ago to the language writers use today. Do the same with cultural differences and mannerisms. Ask yourself if boys and girls really were that different from young people today.
Give it time and you just might stumble upon your own “dearest, and most lovable child in fiction.”
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