Children's Books That Can Still Make You Cry

The Guardian:

Many books make me cry when I encounter them for the first time, although fewer these days than during my mascara-smeared teens. But it's rare that a childhood favourite still has the power to call forth tears. Mostly, I find, the potency of even the most sorrowful children's book fades with time, like the scent of a floral sachet -- there might be a little lingering whiff of lavender, a tiny prickle at the back of the eye, but no sign of the once irresistible overflow and puckering plop of tear-drop onto page. There are, however, notable exceptions.

Read the whole story: The Guardian

Comments

[hilaritee]

02:18 AM on 05/05/2010

sorry that author's name is actually spelled Yukio Tsuchiya

[hilaritee]

02:16 AM on 05/05/2010

Saddest children's book ever: Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchia...as powerful an anti war message as you will every experience. I am not being hyperbolic....read it and you will see what i mean. Just dont read it in public.

The Yearling...i am still traumatized 26 years later. Also, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech....a very good that provides happy/sad tears.

[naschkatze]

07:39 PM on 05/04/2010

If you would allow me to mention an opera for children? There is a libretto so I guess that qualifies. But, Amahl and the Night Visitors. I cry buckets every time I get to the part where the mother tries to steal the Three Kings' gold for her crippled son.

[BikeFreak]

06:33 PM on 05/04/2010

"The Little Prince" and "The Giving Tree"

Heart touching.

[momcat54]

06:19 PM on 05/04/2010

Black Beauty, Old Yeller I still cry over them I cuddled up with my kids and read all these books we all cried. The best gift you can give your children is to read to them

[isleptwithjoeyramone]

05:24 PM on 05/04/2010

I guess it's because I'm a mom, but Shel Silverstien's 'The Giving Tree' tears me up every time my son and I read it. I read not long ago that there's a bit of controversy surrounding this book; some look at the boy as being completely selfish and cruel, but I don't see that. For me, it's a parable of the unconditional love that a parent has for their child; that they would willingly sacrifice and give their child whatever they needed.

[CarolusMagnus]

05:00 PM on 05/04/2010

the Happy Prince and Wilde's other children's classic, The Selfish Giant deserve to be high on the list as does the Call of the Wild. However, by far, the one children's book that will leave you stunned is Stone Fox retold by John Reynolds Gardiner. The first time I read, I was reading too quickly and skimmed by the climatic sentence. I paused and said to myself, did I just read what I thought I read? I went back, re-read the sentence and it definitely put a lump in my throat. One afternoon, I read Call of the Wild, Stone Fox and I Heard the Owl Call My Name. If you ever want to experience that unique sorrow that only literature can induce, try reading those.