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Religious/spiritual Douay-Rheims version of the Bible A traditional daily missal of choice Baltimore Catechisms 1-4 Butler, Fr. Alban: Lives of the Saints Augustine: City of God Augustine: Confessions Aquinas: Summa Theologica (or, more realistically, a compendium thereof for the layman) Thomas a Kempis: The Imitation of Christ Ignatius of Loyola: Spiritual Exercises Belloc, Hillaire: The Servile State Chesterton, G. K.: Orthodoxy Chesterton, G. K.: Everlasting Man Denzinger, Henry: The Sources of Catholic Dogma Lewis, C. S.: The Screwtape Letters Lewis, C. S.: Mere Christianity Lewis, C. S.: The Abolition of Man Ott, Ludwig: Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma Salvany, Felix Sarda y: Liberalism is a Sin Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul Literature Alighieri, Dante: The Divine Comedy Fyodor: Crime and Punishment Dostoevesky, Fyodor: The Brothers Karamazov Dostoevsky, Fyodor: The Devils Dostoevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot Golding, William: Lord of the Flies Huxley, Aldous: Brave New World Orwell, George: 1984 Orwell, George: Animal Farm Shakespeare: Collected Works Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr: The Gulag Archipelago (three volumes) A collection of great poetry Short story collections (complete for each author, if possible) by Edgar Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Shirley Jackson, Flannery O'Connor, O. Henry, and Arthur Conan Doyle Political (for Americans) Hamilton, Alexander; Jefferson, Thomas; John Jay: The Federalist Papers De Tocqueville, Alexis: Democracy in America Kennedy, David M.: The American Pageant: A History of the Republic Coulombe, Charles: Puritan's Empire Panné, Jean-Louis: The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression Dalrymple, Theodore: Life at the Bottom Lobaczewski, Andrew M.: Political Ponerology Traditional Skills and Knowledge Foxfire books: a series of 12 books that teach traditional skills necessary for survival A vintage college level textook on the history of Western civilization A vintage college level texbook on basic logic Four text books to cover basic mathematics, alegebra, geometry, and calculus Five text books to serve as introductions to astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, and physics Latin grammar course (not that all are expected to master Latin, but we're Catholics and should have some familiarity with it) Two texts on English grammar: one for children, one for those reading at an adult level An English dictionary printed before ~1980 A thesaurus For Children The Victory Drill Book: a clear and comprehensive phonics-based reading system for kids learning to read 1 McGuffey's Readers: a series of seven books to be used in grades K - 6 Aesop: collected fables Anderson, Hans Christian: collected fairy tales The Brothers Grimm: collected fairy tales Mother Goose: collected fairy tales and nursery rhymes Alcott, Louisa May Alcott: Little Women Carroll, Lewis: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Carroll, Lewis: Through the Looking-Glass (the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) Kipling, Rudyard: Just So Stories for Little Children Malory, Thomas: The Boy's King Arthur, edited by Sidney Lanier, illustrations by N.C. Wyeth Pyle, Howard: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Twain, Mark: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The "Little House" books: an eight-book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder The Nancy Drew book series: Best to stick to those published before 1959, and definitely to those published before 1980. The Hardy Boys book series: Best to stick to those published before 1959, and definitely to those published before 1980. Adams Synchronological Chart or Map of History Levitt, I. M. and Marshall, Roy K.: Star Maps for Beginners Peterson Field Guides to the flora, fauna, rocks, and minerals of their area A picture-laden book of the history of art A picture-laden book of the glories of Christendom (cathedrals, castles, etc.) Other Things A Child Should Have, If Possible Access to recordings of great music, from chant to classical to opera to Big Band jazz to the Beatles and on Flash cards pertaining to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division so these are known "intuitively," by rote Knowledge of Latin and Greek root words (pdf here) A globe A magnifying glass A musical instrument of his choice (or access to one) if any interest or talent is demonstrated Art supplies His own little treasure chest, preferably a beautiful, wooden one, in which he can keep things A telescope A microscope A good selection of games (at the very least, a chess set and a deck of cards) For boys (and the outlier female): his own tool kit Smart phone 1 I can't recommend "The Victory Drill Book" highly enough. It's quite simple and intuitive, and if you get a copy and go through it with your child in a disciplined way, he will become a competent reader -- and quickly, much more quickly than you likely think. If he learns to read with the Victory Drill Book, and is taught Latin and Greek root words, he will be able to read and understand most anything. If you can't afford books, see "Nonna's Books" for free pdf books, including two that will help you teach your child to read. |
