Next week I'll move on to science fiction, which, if we don't count stuff published in the 1950s and 60s (I love Bova and Heinlein, but SF is by its very nature forward-looking, not back, and the kids of today need SF that takes them even farther than the SF world they're already living in), will feel like a very short list. But hey, look at this huge list we just created! Maybe it won't be so short after all.

So, behind the cut you'll find the list you all helped me make. It may not contain every suggestion because sometimes I just didn't know the books well enough to judge whether they would be right for the list, and sometimes I felt like they didn't fit either "middle grade" or "fantasy" enough for my personal whims. And it's exactly that, my own whims.

Feel free to copy for your own use and amend as necessary--this isn't a comprehensive list (though it feels darn close), but hopefully it's a great resource for any of us wanting to expand our reading. I know it will be for me!

Thanks for all your help.

* A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle

A Ring of Endless Light, Madeleine L’Engle

* Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, Brandon Sanderson

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett

* Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

Babe: The Gallant Pig, Dick King-Smith

* Babymouse, Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (strictly speaking, this is a graphic novel, which opens up a can of worms, but it's so fun!)

Beauty, Robin McKinley

Bedknob and Broomstick, Mary Norton

Billy Bones, Christopher Lincoln

Boggart, Susan Cooper

Book of a Thousand Days, Shannon Hale

* The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, Lloyd Alexander

* The Borrowers, Mary Norton

The Chaos King, Laura Ruby

* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

* Charlie Bone,

Charlotte's Web, E.B. White

* Children of Green Knowe, L.M. Boston

Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure, P.B. Kerr

* The Chrestomanci Chronicles, Diana Wynne Jones

Coraline, Neil Gaiman

* The Dalemark Quintet, Diana Wynne Jones

* Danny Dunn books (?)

Darkside, Tom Becker

The Deep Freeze of Bartholomew Tullock, Alex Williams

* Dragon Keeper, Carole Wilkinson

* Dragonlance: The New Adventures, various authors, including Tim Waggoner, Ree Soesbee, Dan Willis, Jeff Sampson, Christina Woods, Stephen D. Sullivan, and Stan Brown

* Dragon's Milk, Susan Fletcher

* Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey (?)

Dreamhunter/Dreamquake, Elizabeth Knox

Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine

Eva Ibbotson's books (I've meant to read her stuff for years but haven't ever gotten around to it)

* Fablehaven, Brandon Mull

The Faerie Wars, Herbie Brennan

* Five Children and It, E. Nesbit (and pretty much anything by E. Nesbit)

The Folk Keeper, Franny Billingsley

* The Gammage Cup

A Gift of Magic, Lois Duncan

Half Magic, Edward Eager

* Hall Family Chronicles, Jane Langton

* Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Daniel Pinkwater

* Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones (well... more YA, really, but House of Many Ways is more middle grade, so...)

* Hugo Pepper, Paul Stewart & Chris Riddel

The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks (though perhaps should be phased off any recommendation lists, due to cultural inaccuracies, but it is a title that grabs kids)

* Inkheart, Cornelia Funke

* Into the Wild, Sarah Beth Durst

James & the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl (man, I loved this one in about 3rd or 4th grade)

The Key to Rondo, Emily Rodda

* Larklight, Philip Reeve

* The Last Apprentice, Joseph Delaney

The Last Dragon, Silvana de Mari

The Last Unicorn

The Light Princess, George MacDonald

* The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

* The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Narnia), C.S. Lewis

* Little Sister, Kara Dalkey

* The Mad Scientists' Club, Bertrand R. Brinley

The Magic Thief, Sarah Prineas

Many Waters, Madeleine L’Engle (part of the Wrinkle in Time series, technically, but far enough forward that I kind of count it separately)

* Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers

Matilda, Roald Dahl

May Bird and the Ever After, Jodi Lynn Anderson

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O’Brien

* Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom), Garth Nix

The Mouse and His Child, Russell Hoban

My Rotten Life: Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie, David Lubar (ARC, to be published this August)

* The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart

The Name of This Book Is Secret, Pseudonymous Bosch

The Neverending Story, Michael Ende

Nightmare Academy, Dean Lorey (I've got this ARC around here somewhere. This is the problem with not having my office finished--I'm not quite sure *where* it is. And not having read it yet, I'd thought it was YA, but hadn't looked at it hard yet.)

Of Mice and Magic, David Farland

* Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper

* Pendragon, D.J. MacHale

The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Pope (not technically fantasy, and perhaps YA? But oh so good!) (?)

Peter Pan & Wendy, J.M. Barrie

The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

The Power of Three, Diana Wynne Jones

Princess Academy, Shannon Hale

The Princess and the Goblin/The Princess and Curdie, George MacDonald

The Princess Bride (kinda sorta--perhaps more YA?)

* The Princess Tales (Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep, etc.), Gail Carson Levine

* Protector of the Small, Tamora Pierce

* Ranger's Apprentice

* Red Dragon Codex, R.D. Henham

* Redwall, Brian Jacques

Savvy, Ingrid Law

Sea of Trolls, Nancy Farmer

* The Seeing Stone, Kevin Crossley-Holland

The Shadow Thieves, Anne Ursu

* Skulduggery Pleasant, Derek Landy

* Snow Spider (Magician trilogy)

Standard Hero Behavior, John David Anderson

* The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm), Michael Buckley (I LOVE this series)

* The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (that's one that's on the young end, but still enjoyed by 9-10 year olds)

* The Stink Files, Holm & Hamel

Stoneflight, Georgess McHargue

* The Story of the Treasure Seekers, E. Nesbit

Stuart Little, E.B. White

Swan Sister, Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow

The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo

* The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner (would this be YA or middle grade, really? I'm about to read it so will have a better feeling after, of course)

* The 13th Reality, James Dashner

* The 39th Clue, Rick Riordan et al.

Tom's Midnight Garden, Phillippa Pearce

The True Meaning of Smekday, Adam Rex

The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White

Un Lun Dun, China Mieville

* Vampirates, Justin Somper

* Warriors, Erin Hunter

Watership Down, Richard Adams

* The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett

Well Wished, Franny Billingsley

* What the Witch Left, The Wednesday Witch, The Secret Tree House, Ruth Chew

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

The Witches, Roald Dahl

* Whales on Stilts, M.T. Anderson

A Wolf at the Door, Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow (also in The Dark of the Woods)

* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum