Books take on a new dimension for seven and eight-year-olds. Because children are still in the formal business of learning to read, there is a great difference between what they can read independently and what they can listen to, understand, and enjoy.

Children are now at an age where they can understand that other people have feelings and experiences similar to theirs. A good story will offer them an opportunity to step outside of themselves and into someone else’s shoes. While they may enjoy nonfiction books, the same information gathered in a story format has greater meaning.

Offer children a variety of books with more complex plots and characters. Expand on their interests and provide plenty of easy-to-read books. Always read to them stories that may be a little difficult for them to read independently.

There are two categories of classics: early classics like the fairy tales of Andersen, Grimm, and Perault; and modern classics like Charlotte’s Web and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Both were written by people who never lost their love of childhood. Classics should make a major contribution to a child’s education, merriment, and appreciation of literature. Many good stories provide clear standards of right and wrong, show the ethics of human behavior, and evoke natural and wholesome laughter. Classics contain those unique qualities that surpass time and appeal to listeners and readers of every generation.

A classic is the rare book that has a special element, which enables it to endure the test of time and appeal to children from every generation. It stands out because it has the ability to touch the heart and cross the boundaries of culture, nationality, religion, race, gender, and status.

Classics should make a major contribution to a child’s education, merriment, and appreciation of literature. Classics should provide clear standards of right and wrong, show the ethics of human behavior, and evoke wholesome laughter.

A sense of honor and value surround great literature. Laughter, pain, hunger, satisfaction, love, and joy are found in classics. When our children become familiar with this kind of writing, they have a foundation for making comparisons. Not everything they read will be excellent, but they will know a story’s possibilities.

Read stories in their original versions, not the watered-down ones without any drama of life. They may retell the classic stories, but the basic elements that make the stories classics are omitted.

With the influx of new books for children flooding the market each year, old favorites are in danger of being crowded out. Generations of children are missing the opportunity of listening to classical children’s literature. This is unfortunate because classics are the cornerstone to building a life-long relationship with literature.