This is another great guide of recommended books by Kathleen Odean. In this book, there are over 750 books about the things kids love, and many, many different subjects. Whether you like cats, kings and queens, basketball, math, or magic tricks, there's sure to be a book in here that is right for you. The book is divided into subject categories with categories about the subject. (e.g.: sports, than one of the categories is football.) The back of the book includes a basic reference shelf for home, book-related parties, tips for reading out loud, lists of books in series, and much, much more. This is an invaluable resource and a perfect gift for all kids.

Kathleen Odean's books are a gift for parents and grandparents. With so many books to chose from for kids, we all need help picking the perfect one for our kids or our friend's kids or our grandkids. Odean has expertly organized the best of the best and given us a great guide. I would recommend this to everyone and plan to give it to all my friends who are parents or grandparents.

Don't let the "600" scare you. The book list is broken down into: Picture-Story Books, Folktales, Books for Beginning Readers, Books for Middle Readers, Books for Older Readers... and further broken down by Fiction (Mysteries, Historical, Fantasy, Contempory, etc.) and Biographies (Leaders, Scientist, Artists, Sports). Appropriate ages and a very detailed description is listed for every book. It is very easy to find just the kind for book my daughter is looking for.... AND THE BOOKS ARE STILL IN PRINT! For library usage, there is also a section of great out-of-print books. If you are trying to decide between this book, "Great Books for Girls", and "Let's Hear It for the Girls", this is the one to get! If I had to list a complaint about it, it would be that it does not list the number of pages in each book.

Don't let the "600" scare you. The book list is broken down into: Picture-Story Books, Folktales, Books for Beginning Readers, Books for Middle Readers, Books for Older Readers... and further broken down by Fiction (Mysteries, Historical, Fantasy, Contempory, etc.) and Biographies (Leaders, Scientist, Artists, Sports). Appropriate ages and a very detailed description is listed for every book. It is very easy to find just the kind for book my daughter is looking for.... AND THE BOOKS ARE STILL IN PRINT! For library usage, there is also a section of great out-of-print books. If you are trying to decide between this book, "Great Books for Girls", and "Let's Hear It for the Girls", this is the one to get!

This book is a great investment! My daughter is a voracious reader, and this book has helped me find lots of great books for her. We have read a good number of the selections and they have turned out to be great stories. I've found that the annotations in other parent book guides are too short to differentiate the books, and the selections tend to be no more satisfying than books I can find myself. Great Books for Girls continues to surprise and delight me

I first saw this book in my school library and I love to read, especially about girls, so I checked it out. I'm going to buy my own copy of it because it's such a useful book. There are so many books to choose from for all levels of reading, including biographys, fiction, chapter books, picture books, and more! The books listed in here are all excellent. I'm trying to get my sister to read some of them too! I think it's a perfect resource for teachers, parents, librarians, and of course, girls.

Odean doesn't seem to be abreast of the literature for boys -- many of my sons' favorites (and school librarian's picks) were notably absent. In addition, Odean seems to consistently mis-evaluate the reading level of the books she covers. In all, a disappointing resource for parents. I'd like to see a more consistent, researched effort.

According to essay writer Bruce Brooks, he believes that society makes it hard for boys who like to read, especially as they get older. His interpretation is that if boys are reading, they are questioned as to why? and coaxed to engage in other things instead of reading. He doesn't see society treating girls this way when they are reading.

He also states that boys see athletic excellence as widely admired while the love of reading is not. The message to boys is that "real boys don't read."

The boys' manhood!
Along with her companion book "Great Books for Girls", author Kathleen Odean has compiled an impressive list of suggested reading for boys ages 2 to 14. Odean also feels that as young boys get older they lose their ability to express a wide range of emotions.

Take Heed Here
She says that "just the way girls are expanding into realms reserved for males, boys need to become competent in long undervalued realms such as creating a warm home, nurturing children and taking responsibility for relationships." Now, I like that statement!

I like the quote she uses from popular writer, educator and author Zinssner. "No other writing lodges itself so deeply in our memory echoing there for the rest of our lives as the books we met in our childhood." . ...MzRizz.

As a parent and school librarian, I consider this a great guide for boys (and girls). It has the books my son knew and loves--Hatchet, Redwall, Frindle, Matt Christopher--but, best of all, ones he didn't know--Weasel, Dog Friday, Dealing with Dragons, Confess-o-rama. I have to disagree with the review below. You can tell the author of Great Books for Boys is a librarian; her age ranges are right on target, and she gives useful, fairly long descriptions. There's nothing else like this available, so I'm glad this is so good, although I hope she'll bring out a new edition soon like Great Books for Girls has.