Forgotten Children's Favorites

Posted by Michael Jung Feb 1, 2009

Growing up, one of my favorite children's books to read was The Search for Sara Sanderson, a children's comedy-mystery written by Thomas McKean. It's a hilarious and often silly book about three kids who decide they want to get their widower father a new wife for his birthday.

Rather than go to a dating service (this book was written way before eHarmony or Match.com) the kids file a fake missing-person's report with the NYPD for a 35 year-old blonde haired blue eyed woman who loves kids -- only to find that three other people have already filed an identical report.

Since this is a children's book and not real life, the kids decide to investigate on their own, and discover that the missing person is Sara Sanderson, a would-be heiress who disappeared after an unscrupulous relative tries to get rid of her before she can collect her inheritance. Naturally the kids try to track down Sara Sanderson, and end up having to deal with incompetent thugs, a crooked lawyer, and an obsessive-compulsive cleaning woman.

As much as I remember enjoying this book, I also remember that I would have never even known about it if I hadn't been crawling on my hands and knees in some obscure part of the library before finding it hidden among all the other books on the shelf. Even though I recommended it to a lot of friends, I never saw it displayed prominently on a shelf or in a recommended reading display (which is why I sometimes snuck it onto those displays when the librarians weren't looking :)).

Style-wise The Search for Sara Sanderson doesn't have the distinction of J.K. Rowling or Lemony Snickett (although it was an easy and fast book to read). It probably didn't get a ton of recognition from the New York Times or receive any prestigious awards. Even today it doesn't show up on a lot of web searches -- but it sure provided my eight-year-old self something fun to read and re-read over the summer months.

Don't get me wrong -- I think it's great the New York Times has a bestseller list for children's books and that the American Library Association provides lists of recommended children's books. But sometimes I feel that all the emphasis we place on these resources can make us overlook a lot of other more obscure children's books that can provide kids with an enjoyable reading experience and help make them enthusiastic readers.

So my question to you is this -- What were some of your favorite books growing up that DIDN'T make the ALA or New York Times' list of children's classics?

Don't worry about listing books that you think other people never heard of -- in fact the more obscure these books are, the better. Hey, they gave us a lot of enjoyment when we were kids -- it's time to let them have their moment in the spotlight!