Children's Books in a Montessori Classroom
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Maria Montessori took a view of children's literature that was was very different from most others' of her day and ours. She thought that it was best to avoid giving books to young children that had magic or other fantastical elements in the stories. She thought that children below a certain age would be confused about what things in the stories were real or not. She thought is was disrespectful to children to not provide them with an accurate portrayal of the world when they were still building there understanding of how the world worked.
Another useful criteria for selecting children's books comes from the 19th century British educator Charlotte Mason. She advised against books that used baby-talk, or dumbed-down stories, or that insulted the intelligence of the reader in any other ways. She referred to these books as "twaddle."
Please feel free to add books to the lists:
Realistic/Historical Fiction
Picture Books
- Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork and Lena Anderson
- word count: 5,871
- Will I Have a Friend by Miriam Cohen
- word count: 484
- The Nutcracker Doll by Mary Newell DePalma
- word count: 473
- The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and Tomie dePaola
- word count: 567
- Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
- word count: 654
- A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman
- word count: 732
- The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
- word count: 423
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- word count: 316
- I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
- word count: 469
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
- word count: 741
- A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
- word count: 1,068
Chapter Books
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- word count: 66,181
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- word count: 80,398
- Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
- word count: 8,377
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- word count: 52,038
Non-Fiction
Picture Books
Chapter Books
Biography
Picture Books
- Susan B. Anthony by Alexandra Wallner
- word count: 1,610