Reading a Children’s Classic every day….
In 2019 I decided to read a new to me,
or long forgotten by me,
children’s classic daily.
One story per month every morning with my coffee.
I read a few pages, or a chapter, depending on which book I am reading and how long it is so that I have it with me every day.
It has been pure zen.
A much bigger joy than I ever anticipated!
Lovely book people on Litsy have joined in with me
as well as a few folks on IG.
Of course with any read I do,
feel free to use my list or schedule
and join in on the fun,
you will be changed from it.
On Litsy we post if we find interesting facts, articles, movies and our reviews using the hashtag #ChildrensClassicRead2025 .
January 2025
THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES by the Brothers Grimm
“The Twelve Dancing Princesses” is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimm’s Fairy Tales in 1815. I think it will be fun to see how many books, movies, ballets and the like we can find of this story. I don’t know this one all that well and I am excited to learn the story!
In a kingdom lives a king and his twelve daughters. The twelve princesses sleep in twelve beds in the same bedroom, the doors to which their father locks every night. But every morning, the king unlocks his daughters’ bedroom doors to find their shoes worn out as if they have been dancing all night. The king, perplexed, promises that any man who can solve the mystery can marry any of the twelve princesses and inherit the kingdom, but every suitor will be given only three days and three nights to discover the princesses’ secret, or he will be beheaded.
February 2025
WHITE STALLION OF LIPIZZA by Marguerite Henry
The magnificent Lipizzan stallions of Vienna come to life as never before in this exciting story from Newbery Award–winning author Marguerite Henry, now back in print.
A young boy named Hans dreams of one day working with the famed stallions of Lipizza. But coming from a family of bakers, Hans is discouraged from ever becoming a rider. That is, until the day he is invited to watch the extraordinary Ballet of Lipizzaners—from the Imperial Box!—and his life is changed forever.
Marguerite Henry artfully includes authentic details about the skillful training of both horse and rider as she weaves the story of Hans and his beloved Lipizzan stallion, Borina. The brilliance of Hans’s dazzling public performances and his devotion to the art of classical riding make this story uniquely rich in history and horsemanship—a tale to be treasured by horse lovers of all ages.
THESE are my favorite horses!!! We have SO loved our horse stories! I am excited for this read.
March 2025
MAGIC FOR MARIGOLD
Magic for Marigold is a novel written by L. M. Montgomery. It is an expansion of four linked short stories Montgomery wrote and originally published in 1925. The United States copyright was renewed in 1957.
The eccentric Lesley family could not agree on what to name Lorraine’s new baby girl even after four months. Lorraine secretly liked the name Marigold, but who would ever agree to such a fanciful name as that? When the baby falls ill and gentle Dr. M. Woodruff Richards saves her life, the family decides to name the child after the good doctor. But a girl named Woodruff? How fortunate that Dr. Richards’s seldom-used first name turns out to be . . . Marigold! A child with such an unusual name is destined for adventure. It all begins the day Marigold meets a girl in a beautiful green dress who claims to be a real-life princess.
I have never read this story and I am very interested to read it. I love Emily and Anne and am excited to fall in love with Marigold.
Good pick for March is reading month I hope.
April 2025
Mouse House by Rumer Godden
“Once upon a time there was a little mouse house. It was like a doll’s house, but not for dolls, for mice.” Not proper mice, but a flannel He-Mouse and She-Mouse with beady eyes and bristle whiskers who stand quite still, propped on their hind legs in the sitting room. Mary knows real mice run and scamper, and disappointed with her new gift, she puts the mouse house away in her room. Meanwhile, down in the basement, a real mouse named Bonnie has been jostled out of her woefully inadequate flowerpot home by her older brothers and sisters. Overlooked by her harried parents and desperate for shelter, Bonnie ventures upstairs and finds the mouse house. And before too long what was a miniature make-believe house becomes a marvelously messy home for proper mice who know how to play, much to everyone’s delight.”
Although mice SCARE ME TO DEATH in real life. I adore stories about them in children’s book form.
May 2025
The Racketty-Packetty House
“The Racketty-Packetty House” is the story of a charming old-fashioned doll family, dolls so delightful that the fairy queen and her fairies love to visit, and of their adventures when their dilapidated racketty-packetty doll house is replaced by Tidy Castle and its noble residents who positively scorn the Racketty-Packetty family and their unfashionable neighborhood behind the door. The characters of Meg and Peg and Kilmankeg, Peter Piper, Gustibus and Ridiklis are all funny and unforgettable.
Well this just sounds FUN!! Happy Birthday month to me!
June 2025
The Tale of the Firebird
In all the world there is said to be nothing more beautiful than the Firebird. When Ivan-Tsarevitch, youngest son of the Tsar, goes on a quest for the amazing bird, he finds himself flying over mountains and woods on a talking wolf, confronting a wicked Baba Yaga, and rescuing an enchanted princess from Koshchei the Immortal. But when he returns from his magical journey, he brings home the most precious treasure of all.
Gennady Spirin brings this original version of the Firebird tale from his native Russia and has illustrated it in his trademark rich, luminous style. This retelling of a classic is sure to become the new standard.
The Firebird, a Slavic Folklore Tale, is a magical and prophetic glowing or burning bird from a faraway land which is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom to its captor.
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Russian: Александр Николаевич Афанасьев; 23 July [O.S. 11 July] 1826 – 5 October [O.S. 23 September] 1871) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer best known for publishing nearly 600 East Slavic and Russian fairy and folk tales, one of the largest collections of folklore in the world. This collection was not strictly Russian, but included folk tales from Ukraine and Belarus alongside Russian folk tales. The first edition of his collection was published in eight volumes from 1855 to 1867, earning him the reputation of being the Russian counterpart to the Brothers Grimm.
Let us see what versions of this tale we can find!
July 2025
Mandy by Julie Edwards
The magic of finding a home Mandy, a ten-year-old orphan, dreams of a place to call her own. Escaping over the orphanage wall to explore the outside world, Mandy discovers a tiny deserted cottage in the woods. All through the spring, summer, and fall, Mandy works to make it truly hers.
I loved this book as a child as did my daughter. It will be so much fun to revisit this well loved read.
August 2025
RONIA The Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren
On the night Ronia was born, a thunderstorm raged over the mountain, but in Matt’s castle and among his band of robbers there was only joy – for Matt now had a spirited little black-haired daughter. Soon Ronia learns to dance and yell with the robbers, but it is alone in the forest that she feels truly at home. Then one day Ronia meets Birk, the son of Matt’s arch-enemy. Soon after Ronia and Birk become friends the worst quarrel ever between the rival bands erupts, and Ronia and Berk are right in the middle.
I have heard there are many inspired comics in Japan on this story and that there is a series made by Netflix on this story although not in the USA? Unsure. Something to look for when we are reading.
I do love Astrid’s writing and I adore Pippi, so this should be quite a lot of fun!
September 2025
Blubber by Judy Blume
One of my most beloved Judy Blume moments with students happen when I read this book with or aloud to students of ALL AGES kindergarten to twelfth grade. They ADORE it. In my 36 years of volunteering at the public school I have never found this book in any school library. It is so hated by some parents and banned so severely that the only way kids have had access to it is for someone to read it to them from the outside. Yes this is an old book. Yes some things are outdate. HOWEVER Bullying it not, and the reason kids love and adore this book so very much… IT IS REAL to them. There is no happily ever after and it makes them feel. I thought it would be fun for all of us to read it. I have not sat and read it solitary in a long long time and I am looking forward to my take aways as I read it slower and in silence with coffee.
Blubber is a children’s novel by Judy Blume first published in 1974. The narrator is. Jill Brenner, a Pennsylvania fifth-grader who joins her classmates in ostracizing and bullying Linda, an awkward and overweight girl. Linda gives an oral class report about whales and is hence nicknamed “Blubber” by her peers…
Blubber is banned because of the “vulgar” language and bullying. In the book all the girls in the class pick on a fat girl and call her mean names and never get punished, they also curse and are disrespectful.
I mean we all know that never happens in real life……
October 2025
The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson
Reading age for this book 8-12 (!!!!!!!)
Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundation..
Happy Halloween!
Anyone else wonder WHY we talk about the witches that were burned and NOT the people who BURNED them?
November 2025
The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit
The Book of Dragons (1899) is a collection of children’s stories by English writer Edith Nesbit. Comprising eight stories originally published in 1899 in The Strand Magazine, The Book of Dragons is a work that explores the magic and wonder of mythical beasts for children and adults alike.
In “The Book of Beasts,” a young prince named Lionel is named the next king. After his coronation, he goes to the palace library for the first time, where he discovers the eccentric former king’s collection of rare and magical books. Although the Chancellor tries to discourage Lionel from opening them, he picks out a large book titled “The Book of Beasts,” which, when opened, releases a colorful butterfly into the air. Flipping through the book, Lionel turns to a page where a red dragon sits under a palm tree. Terrified, he slams the book shut, but his curiosity proves hard to resist. “Uncle James, or the Purple Stranger” is the story of the Princess of Rotundia, a strange island nation where animals grow to the opposite size as their counterparts around the world. In Rotundia, rabbits and mice grow to the size of elephants, while elephants stop growing when they reach the size of a small dog. One day, the Princess’s friends ask her to show them the royal dragon, but when the ugly creature eats the Princess’s rabbit, her scheming Uncle James hatches a plan to steal the kingdom for himself. These are only two of the eight stories that make up Edith Nesbit’s The Book of Dragons, a bizarre and wonderful collection of tales from one of England’s finest fabulists.
Well this should be interesting. Kids love dragons and I am always looking for a well written story or stories to read to them about dragons, hoping this is a good one.
December 2025
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen
Miracles on Maple Hill is a 1956 novel by Virginia Sorensen that won the 1957 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children’s literature. The book was illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush.
The settings and characters for the book were inspired by real people and locations the author encountered during her stay in Edinboro, Pennsylvania between 1952 and 1958.
Marly’s family moves to the country so that her father, a former prisoner of war, can learn to function once more. The family is befriended by a neighbor couple, Mr. and Mrs. Chris, who make their living with maple syrup. Marly and her brother adapt to living in the country. Their father’s condition also improves.
This sounds lovely. A good way to spend December!
