Bookish Thoughts...

I'm listening closely these days to my kids, to see what they are thinking about, what intrigues them, and how I can help them build on those interests. With that in mind, besides all the fun reading I have here, I'm creating possible book title lists to help them explore those interests at a deeper level...

For The Girl, the world currently revolves around princesses/queens (real ones, not fantasy), and animals. She's really enjoying the Royal Diary: Elizabeth I, Red Rose of Tudor, for example. So with all that in mind, here are some titles I am considering:

Royalty:
Various selections from the Royal Diaries series
And from the Landmark/World Landmark series:
Queen Elizabeth & the Spanish Armada, by Frances Winwar
Marie Antoinette, by Bernardine Kielty
Cleopatra of Egypt, by Leonora Hornblow
Queen Victoria, by Noel Streatfeild
Catherine the Great, by Katherine Sherman
and so forth!

Animal Related:
Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton-Porter
All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot (maybe the others in the series as well)
The Scientist in the Field series, by various authors
The Story of Dr. Doolittle, by Hugh Lofting


And for The Boy, the world is about science, inventions, Victorian times, and Steampunk. Titles under consideration include:

Fiction:
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne

Victorianism:
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
Dodger, by Terry Pratchett (also falls under Steampunk)

Science:
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
The Magic of Reality, by Richard Dawkins
Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Childhood, by Oliver Sacks

I'm sure there are other titles that will come to mind as we go, and other interests that will spring up!