A few children's classics made the cut in the Boston Globe's recent list of 100 "essential" books either about New England or written by an author with ties to the region.
Little Women (#2)
Make Way for Ducklings (#3)
Charlotte's Web (#15)
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (#54)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (#100).
Avid readers could make a case for lots of others, like anything by Dr. Seuss (born in Springfield, Mass.), Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak lives in CT) Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius, Donald Hall (author) & Barbara Cooney's (illustrator) Ox-Cart Man, Candace Fleming's The Great and Only Barnum (not to mention many other biographies of famous New Englanders), and The Story of Ferdinand (illustrator Robert Lawson was a CT resident).
While not classics in the sense of the word, the scientist in me would add LETTING SWIFT RIVER GO (written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Barbara Cooney). It's set in Massachusetts and based on the damning of the Swift River in 1927. I'd also add Lynne Cherry's A RIVER RAN WILD about the history of the Nashua River.
Best,
Tricia
Thanks for sharing this list!
Posted by: Tricia (Miss Rumphius) | August 04, 2011 at 12:11 PM
P.S. - And how is it Jane Yolen isn't on this list? Talk about an author with ties to the region! I would imagine OWL MOON is set in Massachusetts.
Posted by: Tricia (Miss Rumphius) | August 04, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Oh, gosh, yes, Jane Yolen! You're right, Tricia. Also, anything by James Marshall, who lived some of the time in CT.
Posted by: Susan T. | August 04, 2011 at 02:01 PM