Free Kids's book of the week

Following up on a great suggestion from Penny Golden, I'm starting a separate new mail list for "free kids' book of the week" (in addition to the "free ebook of the week"). If you'd like to get the books (as email attachments), just send me an email requesting to be added. Also, please send me your suggestions for what books to include. seltzer@samizdat.com

You can also get these books delivered wirelessly to your Kindle for a one-time charge of 99 cents. Check the Kindle store for details Suggestions always welcome.

6/30/2009 -- Andersen's Fairy Tales

6/23/2009 -- "The Curly-Tops and Their Pets" by Garis

6/16/2009 -- "The Little Lame Prince" by Miss Mulock

6/9/2009 -- "Oh, Money! Money!" by Eleanor Porter

6/2/2009 -- "Miss Billy Married" by Eleanor Porter

5/26/2009 -- "Miss Billy's Decision" by Eleanor Porter.

5/19/2009 -- "Miss Billy" by Eleanor Porter.

5/12/2009 -- "Just David" by Eleanor Porter.

5/5/2009 -- "Pollyanna Grows Up" by Eleanor Porter, the sequel to "Pollyanna".

4/28/2009 -- This week's Kid's Book of the Week is "Pollyanna" by Eleanor Porter. According to Wikipedia: "Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature. The book was such a success that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, the most recent of which, Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, appeared as recently as the mid-1990s. Pollyanna has been adapted for film several times. Some of the best-known include Disney's 1960 version starring child actress Hayley Mills, who won a special Oscar for the role, and the 1920 version starring Mary Pickford. The most recent incarnation of a Pollyanna character is Poppy, the main character in the 2008 Mike Leigh film Happy-Go-Lucky."

4/21/2009 -- This week's Kid's Book of the Week is "Rilla of Ingleside" by Lucy Maud Montgomery, from the Anne Shirley/Anne of Green Gables series. In this one, first published in 1917, Anne is 25-27. According to Wikipedia: "Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. It was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book. Montgomery found her inspiration for the book on an old piece of paper that she had written at a young age, describing a couple that were mistakenly sent an orphan girl instead of a boy, yet decided to keep her. Montgomery also drew upon her own childhood experiences in rural Prince Edward Island. Montgomery used a photograph of Evelyn Nesbit, clipped from an American magazine and pasted on the wall above her writing desk, as the model for Anne Shirley, the book's main character. Since publication, Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million books. In addition, this widely loved book is taught to students around the world."

4/14/2009 -- This week's Kid's Book is "Rainbow Valley" by Lucy Maud Montgomery, another of the Anne of Green Gables/Anne Shirley books. In this one, first published in 1919, Anne is 41 years old.

4/7/2009 -- Anne's House of Dreams, another of the Anne of Green Gables/Anne Shirley books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. In this one, first published in 1917, Anne is 25-27.

3/31/2009 -- "Anne of the Island" by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the third book in the Anne Shirley/Anne of Green Gables series.

3/24/2009 -- "Anne of Avonlea" the second of the Anne of Green Gables/Anne Shirley books. According to Wikipedia: "Following Anne of Green Gables (1908), the book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. This book follows Anne from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new ones like Mr Harrison, Miss Lavendar Lewis, Paul Irving, and the twins Dora and Davy. The book's title is fitting, as Anne is no longer simply "of Green Gables" as she was in the previous book, but now takes her place among the "important" people of Avonlea society, as its only schoolteacher. She is also a founding member of the A.V.I.S. (the Avonlea Village Improvement Society), which tries to improve (with questionable results) the Avonlea landscape."

3/17/2009 -- "Anne of Green Gables" by Montgomery

3/10/2009 -- "Willis the Pilot" by Johanna Spyri (author of Heidi), a sequel to "The Swiss Family Robinson" by Johann Wyss.

3/3/2009 -- This week's kid's book is "The Swiss Family Robinson" by Johann Wyss. Next week I'm thinking of sending out a sequel to that book, "Willis the Pilot" by Johanna Spyri (author of Heidi).

2/24/2009 -- Heidi by Johanna Spyri

2/17/2009 -- Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge

2/10/2009 -- "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell.

2/3/2009 -- Our free kid's book this week is another animal story -- "Kazan" by James Oliver Curwood, which appears on our Children's Book CD.

1/27/2009 -- "Further Adventures of Lad" by Albert Payson Terhune.

1/20/2009 -- "His Dog" by Albert Payson Terhune, another good yarn about an amazing collie.

1/13/2009 -- This week's free kid's book of the week is Bruce by Albert Payson Terhune. (Thanks again to Mitch Borden for introducing me to that author). It's the story of a dog in WWI, with lots of humor and pathos, and insight into dog nature and human nature. There are also some eloquent passages about the evils of vivisection that still ring true. Above all, it's a good yarn well told. If you happen to be interested in animal rights, you should check the books on that subject at Micah Publications http://www.micahbooks.com/books.html#rts

1/6/2009 -- The Railway Children by E. Nesbit (thanks to a suggestion from Penny Golden

12/30/2008 -- Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie

12/23/2008 -- The Children's Book of Christmas Stories edited by Asa Don Dickinson and Ada M. Skinner, plus Holidays at the Grange or a Week's Delight: Games and Stories for Parlor and Friends by Emily Mayer Higgins

12/16/2008 -- Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin

12/9/2008 -- Tales of Wonder edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith

12/2/2008 -- On Christmas Day in the Morning and On Christmas Day in the Evening by Grace Richmond

11/25/2008 -- Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens

11/18/2008 -- Johnny Bear by Ernest Thompson Seton

11/11/2008 -- Biography of a Grizzly by Ernest Thompson Seton

11/4/2008 -- Monarch, the Big Bear of the Tallac by Ernest Thompson Seton

10/28/2008 -- Animal Heroes by Ernest Thompson Seton

10/21/2008 -- Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton

10/14/2008 -- The Bobbsey Twins at School by Laura Lee Hope

10/7/2008 -- The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Boork by Laura Lee Hope

9/30/2008 -- The Bobbsey Twins at Home by Laure Lee Hope

9/23/2008 -- This week's kid's book is "The Bobbsey Twins or Merry Days Indoors and Out" by Laura Lee Hope. That's the first book of the series. According to Wikipedia: "Laura Lee Hope is a pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate for the Bobbsey Twins and several other series of children's novels. Actual writers taking up the pen of Laura Lee Hope include Edward Stratemeyer, Howard and Lilian Garis, Elizabeth Ward, Harriet (Stratemeyer) Adams, and Nancy Axelrad.

9/16/2008 -- For a change of pace, this week's book is "The Pirates' Who's Who: Giving Particulars of the Lives and Deaths of the Pirates and Buccaneers" by Philip Gosse. I was surprised to see that one of these famous pirates is one I had never heard of -- Bartholomew Roberts. And that name made me think of "The Dread Pirate Roberts" in the movie "The Princess Bride.

9/9/2008 -- Charles Dickens' "A Child's History of England" next

9/2/2008 -- "The Young Folk's History of England" by Charlotte Yonge

8/26/2008 -- According to Wikipedia: "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin. Rebecca Rowena Randall goes to live with her two stern aunts in the village of Riverboro in Maine. Her joy for life ends up inspiring them. She faces many trials in her young life, but comes through them with more wisdom and understanding."

8/19/2008 -- Betty Bandy suggested we try one of G.A. Henty's historical novels. So here's "The Boy Knight, a Tale of the Crusades".

8/12/2008 -- A book about children and children's literature -- "Children's Rights: a Book of Nursery Logic", by Kate Douglas Wiggin, author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and a pioneer of kindergarten education.

8/5/2008 --The King of the Golden River. Ruskin is best known for his books about Italian Renaissance art and artists. But I read this book of his in the form of a Classics Illustrated Junior comic book (back in the 1950s).

7/29/2008 -- For a change of pace, here's a collection of Japanese fairy tales.

7/22/2008 -- Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll

7/15/2008 -- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

7/8/2008 -- This week's Kid's Book of the Week is one written by me -- The Lizard of Oz, as a Word document, with the illustrations (by Christin Couture).

7/1/2008 -- Now and Then and Other Tales from Ome by Richard Seltzer

6/24/2008 -- The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit

6/17/2008 -- The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

6/10/2008 -- The Lilac Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

6/3/2008 -- The Grey Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

5/27/2008 -- The Green Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

5/20/2008 -- The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

5/13/2008 -- The Brown Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

5/6/2008 -- The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

4/29/2008 -- Tanglewood Tales, Nathaniel Hawthorne's retelling of Greek myths

4/22/2008 -- Po-No-Kah, an Indian Tale from Long Ago by Mary Mapes Dodge

4/15/2008 -- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

4/8/2008 -- As promised, here's Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

4/1/2008 -- The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain

3/25/2008 -- Pinocchio by Collodi

3/18/2008 -- Stolen Treasure by Howard Pyle.

3/11/2008 -- The Ruby of Kishmoor by Howard Pyle.

3/4/2008 -- Twilight Land by Howard Pyle.

2/262008 -- Men of Iron by Howard Pyle. This historical novel is set in 1400 in England, during the reign of Henry IV, who had just deposed Richard II. (This is a good time to reread your Shakespeare...)

2/19/2008 -- The Story of the Champions of the Round Table by Howard Pyle, another of his retellings of famous legends.

2/12/2008 -- The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

2/5/2008 -- Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates -- Fiction, Fact & Fancy concerning the Buccaneers & Marooners of the Spanish Main: From the writing & Pictures of Howard Pyle, compiled by Merle Johnson.

1/29/2008 -- Five Little Peppers Group Up by Margaret Sidney, the fifth book in the series.

1/22/2008 -- This week's kid's book is Five Little Peppers Abroad by Margaret Sidney, the fourth book in the series.

1/15/2008 -- This week's book is the third (in order of the story, rather than order of publication) of the Five Little Peppers series by Margaret Sidney.

1/8/2008 -- "The Five Little Peppers and Their Friends" the second (in the order of the story, rather than in order of publication) of the main Five Little Peppers books by Margaret Sidney.

1/1/2008 -- Thanks to a suggestion from Shelley Rhodes, this week's book is "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew Up" by Margaret Sidney. FYI, Margaret Sidney was a penname. Her real name was Harriet Mulford Stone. She and her husband Daniel Lothrop (founder of a book publishing company) bought and lived in The Wayside, a house in Concord, Mass., that had been the home of Louisa May Alcott and, earlier, of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

12/25/2007 -- Thanks to a suggestion from Penny Golden, this week's kid's book is The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin. Next week, thanks to a suggestion from Shelley Rhodes, I'll start the Five Little Peppers series.

12/18/2007 -- This week's kid's book is "Tom Swift and His Airship", the third in that series. Please let me know if you've read enough Tom Swift books and would like me to move on, or if you'd like me to send out more of them.

12/11/2007 -- This week's kid's book is "Tom Swift and His Motor Boat", the second book in the Tom Swift series.

12/4/2007 -- Tom Swift and His Motorcylce", the first Tom Swift book. Please let me know if you'd like more books from that series.

11/28/2007 -- Journeys Through Bookland, volume 5

11/21/2007 -- Journeys Through Bookland, volume 4

11/14/2007 -- Journeys Through Bookland, volume 3

11/7/2007 -- Journeys Through Bookland [anthology] edited by Charles Sylvester, volume 2

10/30/2007 -- This week's kid's book is Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris. Over the next few weeks I plan to send out volumes of children's story collection "Journeys Through Bookland" edited by Charles Sylvester. NB -- I have volumes 2-6 of that, but not volume 1.

10/23/2007 -- This week's kid's book of the week is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Next week I'm planning to send out the Uncle Remus Stories by Joel Chandler Harris.

10/16/2007 -- This week's kid's book is Bulfinch's "Legends of Charlemagne". These wild tales of wizardry and magic and war were well-known in Europe for centuries and are the basis for many once popular and now little-read classics, like "Amadis of Gaul" and Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso". (Cervantes' hilarious and delightful "Don Quixote" is a satiric reaction to such tales.) It's amazing that Hollywood has not yet mined these story treasures.

10/9/2007 -- This week's kids' book is "The Age of Chivalry" by Bulfinch (a followup to last week's "The Age of Fable"). This one includes tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, along with brief retellings of such stories as Beowulf, Cuchulain, and Robin Hood. Next week, I'll send out the third and last volume, the lesser known but still delightful "Legends of Charlemagne".

10/2/2007 -- Suggested by Betty Bandy, this week's kid's book is "The Age of Fable" from Bulfinch's Mythology. Please let me know if you'd like me to send out the rest of that series ("The Age of Chivalry" and "Legends of Charlemagne") in future weeks.

9/25/2007 -- Thanks to a suggestion from Betty Bandy, this week's Kids' Book of the Week consists of "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.

9/18/2007 -- �The Blue Fairy Book� by Andrew Lang.

9/11/2007 -- For this week's kid book, I'm sending Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and also his Child's Garden of Verses. ("My Shadow" has a haunting quality -- its impact seems to increase as I get older).

9/4/2007 -- This week's selection is "Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain plus "The Outdoor Chums" by Captain Quincy Allen. (I include the Chums because Thomas Pynchon's recent monumental novel "Against the Day" begins with a parody of that little-known children's book series).

8/28/2007 -- Since I can't make up my mind, I'll start with two books, rather than one. "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" by Frank Baum, is one of my favorite Oz books (along with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Ozma of Oz). And "Just So Stories" by Kipling should appeal to a younger audience.