The List

Books that aren't at the front of the shelf

Older children's books, operas, plays and film. For some of them you have to go down to the stacks, or order them through interlibrary loan. All of it tried out on a ten-year-old.

Through memories from my own childhood, books I've found in used bookstores, things I've come across by accident etc, I've gradually built up a pretty long list of really good and interesting books for kids, which I want to share here. This is not a complete list — everything listed here I've actually read with my son (some of it I've read the whole book aloud, more often I read a bit aloud and he keeps reading alone). I've also included a few resources around theater and opera, and possibly film.

I'm a bit tired of the concept of "reading for pleasure". I completely agree that you have to get people interested in reading, and then it's totally fine to read everything from Donald Duck to Per åtte år spiller fotball, or the Bobbsey Twins which I read a lot of when I was little. Lots of practice is super important! But I don't think it should stop there!

Some of them have attitudes, roles and words from their time.

If you have any questions or feedback, please get in touch: [email protected]. Same if you want to discuss how we can get even more people to read.

Authors · Series · Operas · Theater · Movies · For ambitious adults

Authors

The shelf links to the book on nb.no · most can be read there from Norway

TORDENSKJOLDS SPIONERTordenskjolds spionerEinar Spang TORDENSKJOLDS SPEIDERTordenskjolds speiderEinar Spang I TORDENSKJOLDS BUKSERI Tordenskjolds bukserEinar Spang ILDDÅBENIlddåbenEinar Spang UNDER SYDKORSETUnder sydkorsetEinar Spang

Einar Spang

Author of historical boys' books that were published around 1920–1930. We found one of the Tordenskjold books at Resirkula, and got hooked, the others were ordered through interlibrary loan. We're talking original editions and slightly old-fashioned language, but we start by reading aloud, and then the book gets taken along and read further. The books are super exciting, and mostly take place in coastal communities in the time before 1814 when Norway was at war with England, and boats were captured etc. Young boys who go to sea and take part in exciting adventures. Very detailed descriptions of life at sea, lots of boat-related vocabulary that you can learn together. The books below are just a short list, there are many — they're all there as scans on nb.no: Tordenskjolds spioner · Tordenskjolds speider · I Tordenskjolds bukser · Ilddåben · Under sydkorset. By the way, someone has made a sort of modern version of Ilddåben — check out Kystfilmer.

AGATON SAX SLÅR TILAgaton Sax slår tilNils-Olof Franzén

Nils-Olof Franzén

Wrote tons of books about Agaton Sax, a very eccentric Swedish gentleman who gets mixed up in all kinds of crime cases with Scotland Yard etc, where he uses his brain and the fact that criminals always underestimate him. Written with dry and witty humor. I remember reading these in elementary school, and my son also really liked them.

ETTERSØKT: ROBOTEN MATILDAEttersøkt: roboten MatildaPhilip Newth

Philip Newth

The Matilda series about an eccentric robot is lovely. Amazingly these didn't feel dated at all.

ENOK EVENTYRERENEnok eventyrerenRoar Skolmen SJØRØVEREN ENOKSjørøveren EnokRoar Skolmen DEN BLÅ GROTTEDen blå grotteRoar Skolmen

Roar Skolmen

These are totally fantastic novels that often have to do with time travel and cultural history. We started with the series about Enok, this one works for everybody, and it's about a young boy from Sørlandet who travels in time and ends up on a pirate ship. Den blå grotte is a girl who travels in time and ends up with the emperor Tiberius, where she has to tell him stories from the Old Testament every night so she won't end up in his bed, she escapes and ends up in Jerusalem at the same time as Jesus etc. You learn a lot about Bible history and Roman history here. Marias Noa-Noa is about a trip to a Pacific island and also how a teenager comes to understand her body and sex, maybe for slightly older kids, but very well and sensitively written. Enok eventyreren · Enok sjørøveren · Den blå grotte · Marias Noa-Noa.

EVENTYR OG HISTORIER FRA MOSTUAEventyr og historier fra MostuaIngeborg Refling Hagen

Ingeborg Refling Hagen

A fantastic author — if you're interested in literature and learning her three-volume biography is incredibly inspiring. She's written lots of poems and short pieces that can be read aloud, a bit in the same direction as Prøysen. She also has a series of eight volumes, "Fortellinger fra Mostua", which is a sort of literary history for children and adults, written with a frame story (children lying sick on a farm, neighbors come in and take turns telling stories, the children reflect naively and insightfully on the stories)... There's a fair amount of Bible history, which is maybe unpopular today, but even as a non-Christian I think there's a lot of value in understanding these stories and cultural history better.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORYCharlie and the Chocolate FactoryRoald Dahl

Roald Dahl

No need to say more, right? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory · George's Marvelous Medicine · The Witches · The BFG · Matilda · Fantastic Mr. Fox · The Twits.

Alf Prøysen

Everybody knows the songs, and they're worth hearing again, but how many people have read the short pieces he wrote (over a thousand)? Poetic and simple language (with a few dialect words), often about being an outsider, privilege, hard circumstances, but also simple pleasures.

AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYSAround the World in Eighty DaysJules Verne

Jules Verne

Do I need to say more? But he wrote so incredibly much more than the few books you might know.

KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLEKing Arthur and the Knights of the Round TableRosemary Sutcliff THE WANDERINGS OF ODYSSEUSThe Wanderings of OdysseusRosemary Sutcliff ROBIN HOODRobin HoodRosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff

Fantastic British author who has retold many sources from ancient Greece, English literary history etc. Writes beautiful language and really nice to read together. The only boy at Tusenfryd who actually knew what Merlin, Excalibur, the sword in the stone etc, were actually about? Robin Hood · Tristan and Iseult · King Arthur (3 books — the last two focus quite a bit on Christianity, but useful to learn about, whatever you believe) · The Wanderings of Odysseus.

FRIHETENS FENGSELFrihetens fengselMichael Ende

Michael Ende

Some of my favorites when I was little. Frihetens fengsel · Momo · The Neverending Story · Jim Button and the Wild 13.

LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROYLittle Lord FauntleroyFrances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Actually the first book I read in English, in junior high. Now I'm reading it aloud in Norwegian — exciting contrast between America and class differences in England, the angry grandfather who slowly softens because of the little lord. Little Lord Fauntleroy.

WINNIE-THE-POOHWinnie-the-PoohA. A. Milne

A. A. Milne

Everybody knows it, but the original is incredibly poetic, and it's a good idea to read it aloud in English. Winnie-the-Pooh.

RUBBER TARZANRubber TarzanOle Lund Kirkegaard VESLE VIRGILVesle VirgilOle Lund Kirkegaard HODJA FRA PJORTHodja fra PjortOle Lund Kirkegaard

Ole Lund Kirkegaard

Rubber Tarzan · Vesle Virgil · Per og vesle Mads · Sirkus Benito kommer til byen · Hodja fra Pjort.

MORMOR OG DE ÅTTE UNGENE I SKOGENMormor og de åtte ungene i skogenAnne-Cath. Vestly AURORA I BLOKK ZAurora i blokk ZAnne-Cath. Vestly OLE ALEKSANDER FILIBOM-BOM-BOMOle Aleksander Filibom-bom-bomAnne-Cath. Vestly LILLEBROR OG KNERTENLillebror og KnertenAnne-Cath. Vestly

Anne-Cath. Vestly

Many of these books exist read by the author herself, who has a lovely and cozy voice, and they've been on repeat on car trips for many years — apparently you never get tired of hearing some of these stories again. Mormor og de åtte ungene · Aurora i blokk Z · Ole Aleksander Filibom-bom-bom · Lillebror og Knerten · Guro og Erle.

EMIL OF LÖNNEBERGAEmil of LönnebergaAstrid Lindgren

Astrid Lindgren

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter · Pippi Longstocking · Emil of Lönneberga · Karlsson-on-the-Roof.

Dikken Zwilgmeyer (Vi barn) · Gabriel Scott (Sølvfaks) · Zinken Hopp (The Magic Chalk) · Rasmus Løland (Kvitebjørnen) · Maja Lunde (Solvokteren) · Klaus Hagerup · Asterix (fun to discuss the Roman Empire, look at maps etc) · Angela Sommer-Bodenburg (The Little Vampire) · Tor Åge Bringsværd · Jostein Gaarder · Lars-Henrik Olsen (Erik Menneskesønn) · Charles & Mary Lamb (Tales from Shakespeare, in English) · The Odyssey and the Iliad retold.

VI BARNVi barnDikken Zwilgmeyer SØLVFAKSSølvfaksGabriel Scott THE MAGIC CHALKThe Magic ChalkZinken Hopp KVITEBJØRNENKvitebjørnenRasmus Løland ALADDIN, OR THE WONDERFUL LAMPAladdin, or the Wonderful LampOehlenschläger ERASMUS MONTANUSErasmus MontanusLudvig Holberg ODYSSEVS' REISEOdyssevs' reiseHomer / Zinken Hopp HISTORIEN OM THOMAS A. EDISONHistorien om Thomas A. EdisonElite-serien

More on the shelf

The covers link to the book on nb.no · most can be read there from Norway

Series

Donalds litteraturhistorieDonalds litteraturhistorie, Donalds jordomseiling, Donalds verdenshistorie, Donald og vitenskapene. Historien om …Biographies — totally fantastic, the story of John Lennon, Shakespeare, John F. Kennedy, Marie Curie etc. Still remember the one about Thomas Alva Edison from when I was little. The library doesn't have the biographies because they're not published anymore and "kids don't want old books anyway"... but we found 10 "historien om" at Resirkula for 1 krone each. Time MachineThese are totally fantastic "choose your own adventure", where you constantly have to make choices, based on background information you've been given, set in the age of knights, ninjas, dinosaurs etc. Gyldendals Gode Guttebøker (GGG)Old boys' books that he devours — about dragons, about Alexander the Great and Benjamin Franklin, about time travel to the Roman Empire.

SECRET OF THE KNIGHTSSecret of the KnightsTime Machine 1 EMIL AND THE DETECTIVESEmil and the DetectivesGyldendals gode guttebøker

Operas

Check out operatilfolket.no, and also operaen.no, lots of events for kids, free previews of operas etc. We've seen The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro on screen — he thought they were really funny. I translated as we went along, and that made them much easier to follow.

The Barber of Seville (Rossini)The opera that originally got me interested. Incredibly nice and varied music, and often very funny productions. Has Figaro's famous aria, Figaro, Figaro, Figaroooo! Lots of funny situations and easy to understand/follow. Based on a play that's also available on Fjernsynsteateret among other places. The Marriage of Figaro is a kind of "sequel", and works really well afterwards — but note that the count's personality changes completely, in this opera you have lots of sympathy for him, while in the next one he becomes a skirt-chaser and not especially sympathetic. The Magic Flute (Mozart)Fantastic and iconic music. A slightly crazy and confusing plot, which apparently can also be read as a political message with Freemasons and all sorts of things, but can be enjoyed without caring about any of that. Both the Queen of the Night and the last song by the birdcatcher are iconic. Often great and colorful productions. (This one is often put on as a children's opera, and there are also versions in English for kids, even in Swedish.) The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)"Continuation" of The Barber of Seville. Personally I think that one is a bit better, but The Marriage of Figaro also has great music, and lots of funny mix-ups with hiding in closets, jumping out of windows, and of course mix-ups in the dark. The Elixir of Love (Donizetti)A simple love story, but fantastic music and production at the Met Opera. Refers to Tristan and Isolde at the beginning, a man who's in love with a farm owner, and gets tricked by a fantastic traveling charlatan into trying a magic potion to make her fall in love. This is how an opera should look, such a rich stage picture and lovely characters. Così fan tutte (Mozart)Two couples in love, and a troublesome "friend" who talks the men into testing the ladies' faithfulness, by pretending to go away, but coming back and trying to seduce the ladies in disguise. Many versions of this one in different settings. We saw one at the Met Opera where it was set in an amusement park in the US in the 1930s or something.

Theater

Children's theater is great, but there are lots of slightly more classic plays that can also be explored. Theater works well for reading aloud, with a bit of dynamic use of your voice etc. I read André Bjerke's great verse translation of Aladdin aloud to my son. It also works great for retelling — I've retold many plays while we've been walking in the forest (easier than retelling a novel!). And of course they should be seen — both live, but also for example on Fjernsynsteateret, lots of older plays by Holberg for example which are super fun!

Ludvig HolbergWe've seen all the Holberg plays on Fjernsynsteateret through Kulturbase. He's completely in love with Erasmus Montanus. Aladdin, or the Wonderful LampOehlenschläger, in André Bjerke's verse translation. At first he said he wasn't interested because he's seen the movie, but he was quickly captivated. IbsenAn Enemy of the People, plus reading dialogues from Peer Gynt aloud. (Peer Gynt is on Fjernsynsteateret in a four-hour version by Bentein Baardson, fantastic production).

Movies

Spread your wings (France, 2019)A really wonderful, warm and exciting movie based on a true story about a father and son who have to teach wild geese a new migration route from Norway back to the Camargue area in the south of France. It's about family relationships, about believing in yourself, and fighting bureaucracy for something you believe in. Very exciting, great nature photography, and a very feel-good ending. There's also an American movie based on the same story. Totto-chan (Japan, 2023)Fantastically great Japanese animated movie about a girl growing up during World War II. Beautiful and bright animation, with a girl who's curious and full of ideas, and kind, but doesn't fit in at the traditional school — she finds an alternative school in an old train car run by a kind and wise principal. There she builds a warm friendship with a boy with polio, different animals and people. Toward the end the effects of the war come in too, the militarization of society, food shortages. Very sad things, but the movie handles them in a fantastic way, and the movie should be fine for someone who's 10+, with parents. The Adventures of Robin Hood (USA, 1938)Lovely movie from the Middle Ages, excitingly made, great sword fights, gorgeous landscape, colorful and stirring music. Quite a few people die from an arrow in the middle of the stomach, but no blood or horror, what my son reacted to most was an innocent kiss from Maid Marian. Beautifully restored and for rent on Youtube. The Thief of Bagdad (England, 1940)Great and colorful movie based on Aladdin but with some twists I didn't know. Lovely how they solved special effects back then. Free on Youtube. See also the play Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp. The Mark of Zorro (USA, 1940)Colorful movie, a very Robin Hood-like story, but more masquerade. Had to explain a bit along the way, but it went fine, exciting fencing scenes. And a funny detail my son recognized right away — the same actor who played a fat monk in Robin Hood plays a fat monk here. The Sound of Music (USA, 1965)Fantastic musical with incredibly great music (I hadn't seen it myself before, but recognized a lot of the songs), beautiful colors and great landscapes. Maybe a bit scary when they have to escape the Nazis at the end, but it went totally fine with the 11-year-old. This one's a must for the whole family! Taare Zameen Par — Like Stars on Earth (India, 2007)Forget everything you thought you knew about Bollywood. Aamir Khan is a superstar who cares about education and inclusion, and has made several great movies. This is a star of a movie, about a little boy with dyslexia who runs into a rigid school and a father who sees the world as one big competition. Everybody sees him as a troublemaker, and he gets sent to a boarding school where things don't get any better until Aamir Khan, who plays a teacher from a special school who comes in as a substitute art teacher, and recognizes the symptoms, sees the vulnerable boy under the armor, and gets him to blossom. It's an incredibly beautiful movie, with fantastic music and incredible actors. Recommended! KystfilmerA group of enthusiasts have made four movies about coastal culture and suspense, including one loosely based on Einar Spang's book Ilddåben: en fortelling fra kapertiden.

For ambitious adults

And adults are allowed to be ambitious! I've been a bookworm my whole life, but only in the last couple of years have I started challenging myself to read plays, see opera, read old texts... It's fun and exciting, and the more you read and learn, the more fun it is, and the more horizons open up.

The OdysseyA really good way to start for people who have never tried reading it is Pollestad's prose translation of the Odyssey, read alongside Daniel Mendelsohn's book An Odyssey. A Doll's HouseI recently read A Doll's House again, for the first time since junior high (when I didn't get that much out of it), on the train on the way to a performance... It only took an hour and a half to read or something. The Trumpet of NordlandPetter Dass was a merry guy with deep knowledge of folk life up north. The Trumpet of Nordland is a well-turned poem brimming with humor and folk life, saltwater and fish guts. Johan Herman WesselHe was really funny, don't think classics are only about death and suffering! Hans E. KinckThe text that was read was so intense, and so packed with meaning, that it immediately left me wanting more. André Bjerke: VersekunstenHere's a short book by André Bjerke on verse rhythms. I didn't know what an iamb was until a couple of years ago! Racine: PhèdreThis is where you can really talk about Western culture being a dialogue — you can see Phaedra by Euripides, Phaedra by Seneca, Phèdre by Racine, and modern interpretations. Jonathan Rose: The Intellectual Life of the British Working ClassesPretty incredible to read about how weavers in Scotland read Milton while they were weaving, miners got together to set up libraries, had theater companies that put on Shakespeare. Ingeborg Refling Hagen: the autobiographyIf you don't know her I'd really recommend her autobiographical books — they're incredibly inspiring! Simon Goldhill: Who Needs Greek?A series of vignettes on how Greek culture interacts with different time periods and countries — incl. a very fascinating section on Wagner!

The List is preliminary, in both content and organization, and I'm open to suggestions. Where the book exists as a scan at the National Library, I link there.

Shorter selection per way in: Parents · Practical · Theory · Bildung journey