The year was 1988. Ronald Reagan was retiring after eight years as president, Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet Union, and Nelson Mandela was spending his twenty-fifth year in prison. Rain Main was a popular movie, and a third of Yellowstone National Park was burned when 250 fires spread wildly under drought conditions.
Here at NEH, a twenty-year, multimillion dollar effort to save endangered brittle books was just getting started. The agency was leading efforts to develop standard guidelines for Internet texts and supporting innovative state reading initiatives for parents and children. Toward the end of the school year, NEH published its first Summertime Favorites reading list. Selections were based on an informal survey of sixty public and private schools around the country. Every book had been published before 1960 and so had stood the test of at least one generation. Kept in circulation through reprinting and republication on the NEH website, Summertime Favorites for K-8 readers proved enormously popular.
From then on, the list was updated occasionally, but after more than two decades a great many new and beloved books have been published. NEH enlisted the help of the American Library Association to reconsider all the selections. Building on the 1988 list, our goal was to recommend children's books that met the standard of "lasting value." NEH staff members read every proposed title and strove to come up with a reading list, not just for the summer, but for a lifetime. The Endowment hopes that this effort, which will grow and evolve over time, has produced a selection of books kids will save to read to their own kids in the future. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions. Have we left off essential books? Are there enough that appeal to both girls and boys? Are some works no longer classic but just old? Please send your comments to info@neh.gov. We cannot promise to reply to each query or to agree with all your suggestions, but we will take every one seriously.
For college bound students, please access EDSITEment’s recommended summer reading list.
The entire Summertime Favorites list appears below. You can also view the list by age group:
Aardema, Verna and Leo & Diane DillonWhy Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African TaleAllard, Harry and James MarshallBarrows, Annie and Sophie BlackallBecker, Bonny andKady MacDonald DentonThe Story of Babar, The Little ElephantMike Mulligan and His Steam ShovelCameron, Ann and Ann StrugnellCronin, Doreen and Harry BlissDorros, Arthur and Elisa KlevenEstes, Eleanor and Louis SlobodkinGannett, Ruth Stiles and
Ruth Chrisman GannettGarza, Carmen Lomas and
Harriet RohmerGrahame, Kenneth and
Michael HagueGrimes, Nikki and Javaka SteptoeGuest, Elissa Haden and Christine DavenierHamilton, Virginia and
Leo & Diane DillonThe People Could Fly: American Black FolktalesHoban, Russell and Garth WilliamsHodges, Margaret and Trina Schart HymanHoffman, Mary and Caroline BinchHowe, James and Marie-Louise GayKrauss, Ruth and Crockett JohnsonLe Guin, Ursula K. and S.D. SchindlerMilne, A.A. and Ernest H. ShepardMinarik, Else Holmelund and
Maurice SendakMunsch, Robert and
Michael MartchenkoNoble, Trinka Hakes and
Steven KelloggThe Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the WashNumeroff, Laura Joffe and
Felicia BondParish, Peggy and Fritz SiebelPennypacker, Sara and
Marla FrazeePrelutsky, Jack and Marc BrownRead-Aloud Rhymes for the Very YoungRylant, Cynthia and
Suçie StevensonThe True Story of the Three Little PigsSharmat, Marjorie Weinman
and Marc SimontSilverman, Erica and Betsy LewinSylvester and the Magic PebbleMufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African TaleThurber, James and Louis SlobodkinUdry, Janice May and Marc SimontAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad DayWhite, E.B. and Garth WilliamsMouse and Mole: A Winter WonderlandZion, Gene and
Margaret Bloy GrahamZolotow, Charlotte and
William Pène Du BoisThe Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting BoyBrooks, Gwendolyn and Faith RinggoldAlice’s Adventures in WonderlandClements, Andrew and
Brian SelznickD’Aulaire, Ingri and
Edgar Parin D’AulaireD’Aulaire’s Book of Greek MythsCharlie and the Chocolate FactoryThe Complete Grimm’s Fairy TalesHoberman, Mary Ann and
Wendy Anderson HalperinHowe, Deborah & James
and Alan DanielThe Dream Keeper and Other PoemsJuster, Norton and Jules FeifferFrom the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. FrankweilerWhere the Mountain Meets the MoonMathis, Sharon Bell and
Leo & Diane DillonMrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMHHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s StoneStewart, Trenton Lee and
Carson EllisThe Mysterious Benedict SocietyWilder, Laura Ingalls and
Garth WilliamsCleaver, Vera and Bill CleaverThe Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassThe Adventures of Sherlock HolmesClaudette Colvin: Twice Toward JusticeLester, Julius and Tom FeelingsThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
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