

Books geeks should read to their kids - wslh
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/04/67-books-every-geek-should-read-to-their-kids-a-printable-list-rewind/

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solipsist
Saving you two clicks: [http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/67-B...](http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/67-Books-Every-Geek-Should-Read-to-Their-Kids-Before-
Age-10.pdf)

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mindcrime
I'd throw in _The Great Brain_ [1] books, any of the _Tom Swift Jr._ [2]
books, the _The Three Investigators_ [3] books, and the _Encyclopedia Brown_
[4] series.

Edit:

Remembered a few other suggestions... Pretty much anything by Jules Verne,
especially _The Mysterious Island_. Definitely some HG Wells, and definitely
some _Choose Your Own Adventure_ books (anybody remember _The Cave of Time_?)

Glad to see _A Wrinkle in Time_ and _The Mad Scientists Club_ on the list.
Those were awesome reads as a kid.

[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Brain>

[2]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift,_Jr>.

[3]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Investigators>

[4]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_Brown>

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YuriNiyazov
No Jules Verne?

I guess he's not very popular in the states, and thus my Soviet upbringing is
showing, but I can't imagine growing up without him. I learned pretty much all
of the geography that I know from him.

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officemonkey
Verne suffers from a lack of good translations in English. Most of them are
abridgments of public domain Victorian translations. They get the science
wrong, they introduce British 19th-century racism, they rename characters for
no reason (Axel -> Harry, Lidenbock -> Hardwigg), and they eliminate Captain
Nemo's anti-British rant because after all, he's a wog.

That being said, no child's education is complete without "Around the World in
80 Days" and "Journey to the Interior of the Earth."

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simonw
I had no idea - that's fascinating. Do you know of any translations that don't
have those problems?

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officemonkey
There's a F.P. Walter translation of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" which is
both modern and donated to Project Gutenberg.

The North American Jules Verne Society has a list of works, a determination of
which are the best translations, and links to Amazon here:
<http://www.najvs.org/works/index.shtml>

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aristus
I'd add Lauren Ipsum, a kids book about computer science I wrote with my wife:
[http://www.amazon.com/Lauren-Ipsum-Carlos-
Bueno/dp/146117818...](http://www.amazon.com/Lauren-Ipsum-Carlos-
Bueno/dp/1461178185)

For every copy we sell we're donating another, too:
<http://www.laurenipsum.org/141>

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dmlorenzetti
If you're interested in reading to your kids, consider checking out "The Read-
Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease (<http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/>).

It has loads of practical advice, and suggested reading lists at the end.

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jejones3141
I'm glad The Phantom Tollbooth is on the list, but don't overlook Norton
Juster's The Dot and the Line.

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wslh
I would add Momo by Michael Ende.

The list is available at [http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/67-B...](http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/67-Books-Every-Geek-Should-Read-to-Their-Kids-Before-
Age-10.pdf)

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gokhan
One for younger audience:

If I Built a Car (Chris Van Dusen)

[http://www.amazon.com/Built-Car-Chris-Van-
Dusen/dp/014240825...](http://www.amazon.com/Built-Car-Chris-Van-
Dusen/dp/0142408255/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335089085&sr=8-1)

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evoxed
Don Quixote needs to be on this list. I started it a few years ago and every
time I pick it up I feel like a kid inside. If my parents had read that to me
chapter by chapter, from age four on I think I would've been in bedtime
heaven.

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sashametro
A bit more obscure, but tremendously fun (and very geeky), are George Gamow's
Mr. Tompkins books (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Tompkins>) - I discovered
the first two in my high school library, but they would be very accessible to
any elementary school child.

Also in the geek mode, why not Abbot's Flatland
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland>)?

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cjmauthor
I witnessed university faculty squabbling, debating, supporting arguments, and
a lot of years of experience and input go into the reading list for students,
and this was an Ivy League school. Although this was obviously a different
level, I would suppose considering the absorption rate of children that a
reading list should be taken very seriously and I would make sure those who
put it together were qualified to do so.

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mdanger
I'm very surprised (and pleased!) to see my favorite YA author, John Bellairs,
show up on here, although I am a little questioning of The Lord of the Rings
for kids under 10 - it's been a long, long time since I read them, but I
wonder if someone that young would be able to keep track of the different
characters' journeys.

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evoxed
It's worth it. A great aunt bought me the Hobbit when I was around five, and I
immediately took to the whole Lord of the Rings series, Silmarillion, etc. By
10 I'd read every Tolkien book I had ever heard of, including ones by his son
that I didn't even realize. My best friend to this day was just as freakish,
and it turns out not only was it pretty much what taught us how to read, but
we kept track of many of the characters and stories the same way– by drawing
all of it. Personally, without them I don't know if I would have appreciated
_books_ , period. Some kids will go to great lengths to match with the things
they're given, so there's certainly no harm in gifting a copy of at least the
Hobbit and testing whether or not they'll really enjoy it.

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stephengillie
I'd add Weighty Words - fun stories that make large words like "abasement" and
"ingratiate" accessible to 12-year olds [http://www.amazon.com/Weighty-Word-
Book-Paul-Levitt/dp/08263...](http://www.amazon.com/Weighty-Word-Book-Paul-
Levitt/dp/0826345557)

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akavi
My 3rd grade teacher read this to my class, and I, to this day, think of the
phrases "a basement" and "in grey she ate" when I hear those words thanks to
this book.

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signa11
i am actually reading flatland and one,two,three,infinity to my son these
days. slow, but pretty interesting reading...

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srconstantin
One,Two, Three, Infinity is probably the best possible introduction to math
for kids.

The big challenge is skipping ahead to the "cool stuff" for kids who are still
young enough to lack facility with algebra. Most attempts to do this are
either hand-waving or unfairly advanced. But the real solution is to show them
genuine math that doesn't _require_ any solving for x, like Cantor's
diagonalization lemma.

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zotz
No Edward Gorey?

[http://www.fuddytv.com/blog/books/edward-gorey-and-his-
alpha...](http://www.fuddytv.com/blog/books/edward-gorey-and-his-alphabet/)

