Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers (Core Knowledge Series)

I've been on a children's book and/or education kick, which has meant discovering for the first time the world of book guides for children. My intention is to only *buy* books of lasting home-library value; everything else, and there must be so much, can come from the public library. This book has exceeded all others in advising on what references, storybooks and educational resources belong in the home of a child who loves learning.I recommend the  NYTimes Books for Children  and the  The Read-Aloud Handbook  book as well, but it's the Hirsch book, specifically the "Core Collection" recommendations, that has led me to the most interesting learning materials!I also love that he's not afraid to refer to or at least mention quality out-of-print materials. What good is the Internet's vast book culture if not to find out-of-print materials that are wasting away on a back shelf in some store across the country? For example, he mentions a history series by Olive Beaupre Miller. I found a woman in Texas who was selling her set, they came yesterday, and man am I ever jealous! How come I didn't get to read those when *I* was younger? Another example of why I think OOP book should not be ignored in these kind of guides is a treasure I stumbled upon in a used bookstore the other day. "A Classical Storybook" by Morris Bishop is a treasure trove of Greek and Roman stories from the histories and poetry of the era. Enchanting! I went online, and as it turns out Morris Bishop was BFF with Vladmir Nabokov, was a hugely important Romantic literature scholar and apparently an altogether lovely man. Suffice it to say, I have ordered the medieval, Renaissance and Romantic storybooks for my children as well. If more reader guides mentioned these treasures of the past, I believe the spike in demand by interested parents would lead many of them to be reprinted. God love the profit motive!Anyway, back to Hirsch: I'm relatively comfortable when it comes to identifying quality resources in the humanities, social sciences and liberal arts, but I'm a little foggier when it comes to most kinds of science and mathematics. I was thrilled to see that Hirsch gives those subjects their due as well, and I've already been thrilled to discover through him H.A. "Curious George" Rey's amazing books about constellations, astronomy and the night sky ( The Stars: A New Way to See Them , Find the Constellations ). What a treat!I've been scribbling all over this book, taking notes, starring items and dog-earring pages. I can't say that's the case for most of the booklist books I've read, although expositionalish :) introduction to the Read-Aloud* guide will definitely been getting multiple reads from me.Anyway, this book is highly admirable, and I hope it, itself, has many printings, revisions, expansions and future editions to come. Invaluable.

I really like this book but it's in a severe need of an upgrade. Many of the books aren't available.

Some of the books recomended are hard to find but Books to build on is a good guide for those working with the core knowledge curriculum.

This is a great compliment to the Core Knowledge Sequence system. The Core Knowledge Sequence is a great addition for any household that really wants thier children to excel. We use this as a supplement to their reqular school curriculum. It's sad that our public education system is dumbing down our kids, this is a tool you can actively use to combat that deteriaration.

Many good book suggestions, many questionable ones for the Christian homeschooler. Also good to note that the writer was involved in Common Core.

Really makes you think about the books we read to, or buy for our children to read. Nice guide.

excellent resource and guide to teaching on grade level.

It's good.

Nice reference. You can't go wrong with any of these books.