Parents' Coalition Fourth Annual Summer Reading List

This summer, Parents’ Coalition, like everyone else, is watching the 2012 London Summer Olympics.  And so, we thought we would focus our Summer Reading List on England, sports, and the Olympics.  In that spirit, we were honored to receive a letter from the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Peter Westmacott, who told us that one of his favorite childhood books was Winnie-the-Pooh, because, as he writes,

“As a child I was a big fan of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, I found Pooh’s uncertainty about life endearing and familiar, Tigger energising, and Eeyore’s resigned self-pity a characteristic I continue to encounter in every walk of life. I was also very fond of another British classic, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The Mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, was my favourite character.

During my teenage years I was drawn to anything by the novelist Hammond Innes. My father was a naval officer, and many of Innes’ novels were thrillers taking place at sea.”

We asked our friends and neighbors to tell us what their favorite books were, either about sports, the Olympics, or England and this was what we found out.

This summer our Reading List includes…

This is London.  This book introduces the magical City of London and was written by Miroslav Sasek, and first published in 1959.  An updated version is in print and still available.

The Kid Coach by Fred Bowen was a favorite of Rosanne Hurwitz, PC member and blog contributor.  Mr. Bowen also contributes to the Kid’s Page at the Washington Post.  The Kid Coach is about a team whose adult coach quits, and the kids organize to find their own coach among the team’s members.

Another PC member and blogger, Agnes Jones Trower, said that her daughter's favorite book about sports was The Magnificent Seven: the Authorized Story of American Gold, by Nancy H. Kleinbaum, because she took a few years of gymnastics at Hill's Gymnastics in the early ’90s, and knew Kelly Hill and Dominique Dawes.  The Magnificent Seven of course refers to the seven gymnasts who represented the United States in the 1996 Olympic Games.  They were the first to ever win a gold medal in the Womens Team Competition.  Kelly Hill and Dominique Dawes were on that remarkable team.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier…Lyda Astrove, also a PC member a blogger, recommended Rebecca.  Although not about sports (as I recall), it is an atmospheric tale that takes place in England.

So have fun, watch the Olympics, and root for your teams and athletes.  And be sure to get outside and play yourself! Have a wonderful summer and remember to send us your favorite books – we promise to post them on the blog.