A Century of Children's Books Part IV

Part IV—1956-66

This annotated list of classics and favorites was compiled by Sally Epp, children's librarian at the Belle Isle Library (part of the Metropolitan Library System).

Every book listed is still in print and available for check out through Interlibrary Loan.

Please choose books for your children thoughtfully, as books for a wide range of ages, interests, and developmental levels have been included.

Key— E=Easy Reader - T=Tween - JF=Juvenile Fiction - YA=Young Adult - TNF=Tween Nonfiction - JNF=Juvenile Nonfiction

1962	Keats, Ezra Jack	The Snowy Day	E
	This beautifully illustrated story about a young boy waking up to find his world transformed by snow was the first full color picture book to feature an African American character.
	Berenstain, Stan	The Big Honey Hunt	R
	Papa Bear shows Brother Bear how smart bears hunt for honey, with disastrous but hilarious results in the first ever Berenstain Bear book.
	L'Engle, Madeline	A Wrinkle in Time	JF
	Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their neighbor Calvin conquer evil with the power of love as they search for Meg’s missing father in a fantastic journey across time and space .
	Zolotow, Charlotte	Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present	E
	Mr. Rabbit helps a little girl search through all the colors of the rainbow to find the perfect birthday present for her mother.
1963	Sobol, Donald J.	Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective	T
	Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown, boy detective, sets up a detective agency and solves mind-boggling mini-mysteries using his encyclopedic brain.
	Parish, Peggy	Amelia Bedelia	R
	Amelia Bedelia is a housekeeper who follows instructions literally, so hilarious things happen when she is asked to "dust" the furniture and "draw" the drapes.
	Lionni, Leo	Swimmy	E
	Big fish eat little fish, but Swimmy, a little black fish in the middle of a school of little red fish, comes up with an ingenious way to protect his friends from being eaten.
	Sendak, Maurice	Where the Wild Things Are	E
	When Max puts on his wolf suit and makes mischief of one kind and another, he is sent to his room, and soon finds himself in a faraway land where he is king of all the wild things.
1964	Silverstein, Shel	Giving Tree	E
	This moral tale is about a tree that loves a little boy so much that it gives the boy anything he asks for…but will the boy be happy when each request is granted?
	Fitzhugh, Louise	Harriet the Spy	JF
	Harriet spies on people and records her observations in a secret notebook, but when her friends find her notebook she must deal with the painful consequences of her actions.
1965	Waber, Bernard	Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile	E
	Lyle the crocodile lives with a family in a house on East 88^th Street in New York City, but when a cranky neighbor sends Lyle to the zoo he’s afraid he’ll lose his family forever.
	Alexander, Lloyd	The Black Cauldron	JF
	Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper, feisty Princess Eilonwy and loyal Gurgi fight to destroy the evil Black Cauldron, in this second volume of the acclaimed Chronicles of Pyrdain.
	Cleary, Beverly	The Mouse and the Motorcycle	JF
	Ralph the mouse lives in the wall of a hotel room, and when Keith leaves a toy motorcycle out where Ralph can find it, he begins a series of exciting midnight explorations.
	Morey, Walt	Gentle Ben	JF
	It’s lonely in the Alaskan wilderness for Mark until his father rescues a huge but gentle bear from an abusive owner who has convinced the town that the bear should be feared.
1966	Kessler, Leonard P.	Kick, Pass and Run	R
	Even kids who would rather be outside playing will enjoy this beginning reader that explains the basics of football.
	Ness, Evaline	Sam, Bangs and Moonshine	E
	Samantha’s father, a no-nonsense fisherman, says the opposite of reality is moonshine, and Sam’s wild tales of moonshine cause trouble for her cat Bangs and her friend Thomas.

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