required reading

I have been keeping a running log of books that I would like Jake to read between now and the summer before entering high school. The paper was becoming kind of dogeared and sloppy, so I thought I'd get them all down here, where they will be permanently logged for all time.

As a grandchild of a librarian, I know that lists such as this are a very important thing to have around, you have to keep track of what you are reading and have read, and because if you aren't reading at a level that is well above your grade and if you cannot have an intelligent discussion with your teacher about a book that you really have no business reading or understanding when she makes you stay after to clap erasers because you seemed like you weren't paying attention during her boring babyish English class you will never be able to make it in the world.

After Jake gets through these, I can introduce him to the really good stuff, with sex and drugs and rock and roll and murder and deceit and bloodshed and violence.

Reading is awesome.

We're starting out with all the fun books by Dr Seuss and the Little Golden Books that look so pretty on the shelf, but we'll move on in due time. I tried to put these in some sort of sequential order, but it was becoming too difficult, so here you go:

Petunia by Roger Duvorsin
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
Make Way for Ducklings and
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Cordouroy by Don Freeman
There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard
The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Goodnight, Moon by Margaret W. Brown
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Curious George by H.A. Rey
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo and
The Pain and the Great One and
Freckle Juice and
Then Again, Maybe I Won't and
Deenie and
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and
Superfudge and
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and
Katy and the Big Storm by Virginia Lee Burton
Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
The Ramona Books and
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry
Nate the Great by Marjorie Sharmat
Mrs Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J Sobol
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
A Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery William
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
The Pinballs by Betsy Byars
Nothing's Fair in the Fifth Grade by Barthe DeClements
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and
James and the Giant Peach and
The BFG and
Matilda and
The Witches and
The Twits by Roald Dahl
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Island of the Blue Dolphins and
The Black Pearl and
Stream to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
The Diary of Anne Frank
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
Call of the Wild and
White Fang by Jack London
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

The list would be much longer and way more comprehensive had Jake been born a girl. But, I'll go easy on him since boys aren't always keen on reading.

What were your favorites when you were younger? Can you think of anything monumental that I missed?