Category Great Books for Children

               Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red hair and has an interesting triangle-shaped nose. She is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children.

               The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book ‘The Raggedy Ann Stories’. When a doll was marketed with the book, the concept had great success. A sequel, ‘Raggedy Andy Stories’ (1920) introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy.

               Elmer Elevator meets an old alley cat one night. Elmer takes the cat home. Though his mother makes him get rid of it, the cat is touched enough by his deed to return the favour.

               The cat narrates Elmer about her last travel to a strange place, known as Wild Island. The island is populated by various beasts. No man dares to go to it for fear of what horrors may be in store. There the cat meets the most fascinating, and saddest inhabitant of the place – a baby dragon!

               The baby dragon, once hurt his wing, and fell out of the sky. Thus he happened to land on the island.

               Once the animals found him, instead of aiding the dragon, they decided to hold him prisoner. Shocked by this, Elmer decides to go and rescue the dragon.

               My Father’s Dragon series is a trilogy. The first book, ‘My Father’s Dragon’ was written by Ruth Stiles Gannett.

               ‘Swallows and Amazons’ is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. It was published in 1930 and the story is set in the Lake District in August 1929, during the last fortnight of the summer holidays.

               The Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) sail a borrowed dinghy named Swallow, and the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), sail a dinghy named Amazon.

               The Walkers are staying at Holly Howe (a farm near the lake) during the school holidays, and want to camp on an island in the lake; the Blacketts live in a house (Beckfoot) nearby. When the children meet, they agree to join forces against a common enemy – the Blacketts’ uncle Jim Turner.

               The children meet on the island which they call Wild Cat Island, and have a series of adventures involving sailing, camping, and exploring the island. The story includes a good deal of everyday Lake District life of the farmers and the charcoal burners working in the woods.

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            ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’ is a 1960 American children’s novel written by Scott O’Dell. It is based on the true story of Juana Maria, left alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island in the 19th century.

            This book narrates the story of a young girl stranded for years on an island, off the California coast. Her name is Karana, which is her secret name. Wonapalei is her secret name. Wonapalei is her common name (everyone in the village has a secret name). One day, a ship of Aleuts, led by a Russian named Captain Orlov, arrives and persuades the natives into letting them hunt sea otters in return for other goods. However, the Aleuts attempt to swindle the islanders and leave without paying. When they are confronted by Chief Chowig, Karana’s father, a battle breaks out, and lives are lost on both sides. Finally, the Aleuts leave the islands, leaving little payment for the otters they hunted. Karana’s father and many other men in the tribe, die after the battle.

            This action-packed book chronicles Karana’s struggles to survive as she comes face-to-face with the island’s wild animals, violent Aleutian hunters and her own fear and loneliness.

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            Hans Brinker and his sister have many troubles, being poor and seemingly fatherless. They are still hopeful, however, and they try to treat everyone with fairness. Their father had an accident years ago when his daughter was just a baby. Ever since, he has been ill and mindless.

            The siblings prepare to enter a skating competition with the other children. They have little chance of doing well on their handmade wooden skates, but the prospect of the race and the prize of the silver skates excite them and fire their dreams. The troubles they face, and how they overcome them, is beautifully narrated in the book ‘Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates’.

            It was written by Mary Mapes Dodge and first published in 1865. The novel takes place in the Netherlands. The book’s title refers to the beautiful silver skates to be awarded to the winner of the ice-skating race.

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               ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ tells the story of a stuffed toy rabbit made out of velveteen. For some time, the velveteen rabbit is completely ignored by his owner, a young boy.

               The rabbit spends most of his time in the company of other toys. The only friend that the velveteen rabbit has is an old toy horse. The toy horse tells the rabbit that being real and being clockwork are not the same thing. The horse goes on to explain that toys become real when children love them very much.

               When the boy rediscovers the velveteen rabbit, he quickly falls in love with him. After some time, the boy declares that the rabbit is not a toy but real. Soon afterwards, however, the velveteen rabbit finds out that, although he is real to the boy, he is not necessarily seen as such by anyone else. ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ was written by Margery Williams. The book was first published in 1922.

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