List of Recommended Chapter Books For Children

It’s Tuesday which means my sister Jennifer is back with us again!!! Woohoo!!!

Here’s her list of recommended chapter books for children!  Jennifer writes:

My favorite part of the day with my children is when we turn on the little lamp on the side table, prop up the pillows, and snuggle together with a good book.  I began reading chapter books to my oldest child, Johnathan, when he was about 4 years-old.  The first chapter books that I read to him were talking animal books like Mouse and the Motorcycle, Charlotte’s Web, and Cricket in Times Square since these seemed to hold his interest at a young age. 

            Once Julianna was old enough to join us for our read-alouds, we made it a part of our bedtime routine.  This often means that they begin getting ready for bed soon after dinner so that we have a half hour to read a chapter book and a Bible devotional book.  This also limits the amount of television that they watch in the evenings.  We have encouraged our children to be readers by limiting their amount of “screen” time which includes the TV, video games, and computer to a half hour on school nights and an hour on weekend and summer days.

             It has been increasingly challenging to find the time every evening to read together as my children near the teen years and have more evening activities.  We have continued to make it a priority to read at least three or four nights of the week, and sometimes we’ll read earlier in the day if we know that our evening is going to be busy. 

            Here are some of our favorites.  We tend to read all of the books by a favorite author or in a series.  I am sure you will recognize some popular titles and hope that you will find a few new titles to read to your children!

 

Homer Price and Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price by Robert McCloskey – Both of these books take place in the small town of Centerburg in the simpler times of the 1940’s and tell about the funny adventures of a boy named Homer and his friend Freddy.  My kids loved the humor, the interesting characters, the tall-tale-like stories, and McCloskey’s illustrations in these books.

Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott – Many people are aware of Little Women, but they don’t realize that there are two sequels to this classic.  Little Men and Jo’s Boys focus on the silly antics and touching interactions of the children who attend Professor Bhaer and Jo’s Plumfield School for Boys.  These books led to many valuable discussions about values and life’s lessons with my children.  I would recommend waiting to read these until your children are slightly older since there is some romance in the first and last books of the series.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater – This humorous story tells about a house painter, Mr. Popper, who suddenly finds himself to be the owner of twelve penguins.  This one had my children laughing out loud!

The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett – Both of these classic stories deal with overcoming hardship, loneliness, friendship, and kindness.  Although the main characters are girls, boys will still enjoy the mystery and adventure of these classics.

Books by Beverly Cleary – Socks, Muggie Maggie, Henry Huggins, Henry and Ribsy, Beezus and Ramona, Runaway Ralph, and so many others – Beverly Cleary’s writing has a way of entertaining and amusing children with the everyday happenings in children’s lives and includes boys as main characters as well as girls.  I would exercise some caution when reading books about Ramona since much of the humor comes from her misbehavior and sibling rivalry with her older sister Beezus.  Be prepared to have discussions with your children about how Ramona could have handled situations differently.

Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder – My personal copies of these books are well-worn as we read these together, and my daughter read them several times by herself.  A family favorite!

 

Sarah Plain and Tall, Skylark, Caleb’s Story, More Perfect than the Moon, Grandfather’s Dance by Patricia MacLachlan – If you like the Little House books, you’ll also enjoy this series about the the Witting family on the Western Frontier.  It begins with Anna, Caleb, and their widowed father accepting a mail-order bride, Sarah, into their family and then follows the family as it grows in size and in love!

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson – This is a sweet story about a homeless, old man who befriends the three Calcet children, their dog JoJo, and their widowed mother who come to live under the same bridge as him.  The themes of this book focus on friendship, responsibility, and family.

 

Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright – This Newbery Medal Award Winner is about the everyday life of a ten year-old girl named Garnet during one summer on a Wisconsin farm in the 1930’s. 

 

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – This is the only book of the Narnia series that we have read as my children tend to enjoy classics and historical fiction over fantasy, but they loved this story about  four children’s journey into the magical land of Narnia where they encounter the evil White Witch and the majestic lion, Aslan.  This books lends itself to sharing the gospel with your children!

Anne of Green Gables Series – This classic series follows the childhood adventures of the imaginative, orphan  Anne Shirley as she is adopted by a brother and sister who live on Prince Edward Island.  My son even enjoyed the humor in this one and found a boy character, Gilbert, that he could relate to. 

 

Chapter Books My Children Read Independently:

 

Easier Chapter Books:  The Cul-De-Sac Kids (mysteries) by Beverly Lewis, Little Animal Ark by Ben Baglio, Flat Stanley books by Jeff Brown, and Cam Jamsen books by David A. Adler.   

 

My 10 year-old daughter really enjoys the Grandma’s Attic series by Arleta Richardson and the Mandie mystery books by Lois Gladys Leppard.  When my son was this age, he was a big reader of animal stories like Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight, Angus and Sadie by Cynthia Voigt, Animal Ark books by Ben M. Baglio, and many of the books by Bill Wallace.  They both enjoyed Ginger Pye, Pinky Pye, and Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes.

 

Some titles my 13 year-old boy has currently read are Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and other books by Mildred Taylor, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.  These books should be read with parental guidance as they do center around more mature topics like racism, death, and war.

 

Two excellent resources that can guide you in choosing books for your children are Gladys Hunt’s Honey For a Child’s Heart and Sarah Clarkson’s  Read for the Heart. Both encourage you, as I would, to read to your children to reach their heart!
~Jennifer

 ____________________________________________________________

OH Wow – I LOVE this list and will use it!  I needed something like this – thank you sis! 

My son Alex (age 9) is enjoying the Narnia series and is in book 4 – Prince Caspian.  He also enjoys the Sugar Creek Gang series and is on book 12.  

Please chime in – what are some of your favorite chapter books that you have read to your children or your children are reading on their own?

Walk with the King,

81 Comments

  1. I am totally addicted to reading and we read a lot in our house. We do our devotion at breakfast and are currently doing “Long Story Short” which is 78 weeks out of the Old Testament. Our 5 year old is reading things like BOB books and Green Eggs and Ham to us as she learns to read. My husband is reading her out of the Wizard of Oz series at bedtime and I am reading her Heidi at quiet time. Then because we have a 3 year old also there are lots of little kid books being read.

    My favorite as a child was Charlotte’s Web and I read that to her last year. I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was a child and loved them, but had never been to church. When I read them again after becoming a Christian it was amazing.

    Thanks for this wonderful list. I have A LOT of these books stashed already for our girls to read or to be family read alouds.

  2. You reminded me of some great ones that I loved when I was little…thank you! 🙂
    On our summer list…Caddie Woodlawn, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, A Wrinkle in Time (to finish), Calico Captive, Trumpet of the Swan…a couple of others.
    I’m loving these book recommendations…thank you!

  3. Love love love this list! To pieces!! I’m a SAHM but a teacher by profession and this is a fantastic list! Reading is a favorite past time for me and I hope my kids will love reading as much as I do. I read to our children every day and have also bEen reading chapter books to my kids since they were toddlers 🙂

    Thanks for sharing! A definite PIN

  4. We loved (ok, I loved and so I saying they did too) the Time Warp Trio series. Another good series starts with The Indian in the Cupboard. We also liked A Wrinkle in Time.

    I’ve found it hard to keep my 9 yr old not reading what my 12 yr old does. We have fallen off the reading every night wagon. I know it’s because they can read on there own and they are readers. I’m going to make a point of getting things done earlier to make this happen or we’ll just have to stay up later to do it.

    There are a lot of books in this list that I hadn’t considered or even heard of. Thank you!

    1. My boys loved The Indian in the Cupboard!! I did not know it was the first in a series! We will definitely be looking for the rest of the series. Any titles in the series?!

  5. I loved reading the “all of a kind family” books when I was younger. It’s about a jewish family of 5 girls. Sweet, sweet stories, great morals and just wonderful “clean” books about the love a family has for each other.

    For older kids I would suggest books by margaret peterson haddix. her “shadow children” series is excellent, but I wouldn’t reccomend it until the teen years because some of them are sad, but the underlying themes of the book are AMAZING. She’s an author that really makes you think. Would be a great series to read WITH your child and discuss things. The books are set in a country where it is illeagal to have more than 2 children. They follow the stories of several 3rd children and their difficulties having to stay hidden from society and their struggle with guilt, wondering if they even have a “right” to be alive etc. WONDERFUL wonderful books. Makes you really consider the sanctity of life, and that every child has a right to live etc. (makes you really thing about abortion etc. even though it’s not directly talked about)

    1. I was going to suggest the All-of-a-Kind Family books too! I love those and hope to pass them on to my daughter when she’s older (she’s 5 mos now, so it *might* be a little early-ha!).

      1. I third ‘All of a Kind Family’ I loved that series. Also, I loved ‘The Borrowers’ and so did my daughter.

  6. Me and my six year old daughter are reading through The Secret Garden this summer and we are loving it!
    I remember reading Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry when I was in middle school and how the book moved me to tears. It is on my list for my kids when they are a little older.

  7. My son has enjoyed the Magic Tree House books. He loved reading them to his little sister. Thank you for the list. I really need to get more reading done in this house!

    1. When my son was in second grade, he really enjoyed The Magic Treehouse Books; however, I did want to give a word of caution that Johnathan’s second grade teacher actually alerted me to. Some of the books involve some magical spells which might concern some parents. Most of these are great though as the kids travel back into history!! Fun!!

      1. My kids and I LOVED reading “The Mysterious Benedict Society” series! I read it aloud to my kids who were 5,8, and 11 at the time. We re-read it at night with Dad a year later and we all enjoyed it and were sad to see it end! The age level for kids to read it alone would probably be 8 and older.

  8. Excellent post! I am curious on how to “steer” my children to a better selection of books. They seem so easily lured to the graphic comics, bubble gum series, and popular (paranormal) novels. I generally choose what they read, however, our library outings have become somewhat a tug-of-war on what is appropriate.

    1. CC that is a challenging situation! You mentioned the library outings being a tug-of-war, and I thought about how I would handle this situation. Before going anywhere in public, I tend to discuss behavior expecations with my children before we arrive at the location. I would probably begin a discussion at home about what kind of books I expect them to look for at the library. You might even check the library’s web-site and read summaries of available books together to agree on ones that sound interesting to them and sound appropriate to you. I do believe that there are some Bible-based comics, but they probably aren’t available at the library. I wouldn’t totally discourage children from reading “bubble gum” series as sometimes this sparks their interest in reading, but I would limit the number of these that they’re allowed to choose on each library visit. Hope this helps!

  9. Growing up I LOVED The Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne – I believe there are somewhere close to fifty of these books! I also loved Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel

    1. The Magic Tree House books are wonderful, and my son enjoyed these in second grade! (word of caution – a few of these do have “magical spells” that make some parents uncomfortable) Most are a fun trip back into history!!

  10. We love reading Robert McCloskey books…our favorite being “Blueberries for Sal”.

    For the older children we like Elsie Dinsmore and books by G.A. Henty or R.M. Ballentyne.

  11. I am currently a SAHM but am a Christian school teacher by profession. I have taught 3yr olds, 2nd, 4th and 5th grades. I love the list you have compiled and read many of those to my students. Another that went along with our history curriculum in 5th grade is Number the Stars. I wish I could remember the author but my books are all packed up right now. Such a great book! It really gives them an idea of what it must have been like to live through WWII in Belgium without the extreme violence and gore some others have. The students hung on every word and begged me to continue.
    I also read The Mysterious Benedict Society book 1. (There are 3 books in the series but the second dabbles in psychic stuff and I didn’t even finish it.) It was a great brainteaser of sorts and the kids couldn’t figure out what would happen next. The ending surprised us all!
    Missionary biographies were among favorites as well!
    My 2nd graders liked The Borrowers.
    There are a bunch more but my preggo brain is fighting against me! 🙂
    Thanks again for sharing… I can’t wait until my boys can sit still long enough to enjoy a story with Mom!

  12. This is a very helpful list. We quickly learned that although we wanted to encourage reading in our kids, taking them to the library to pick out random books was actually quite difficult. So many of the “appropriate” reading level books had subject matter that I didn’t want to expose my children to. I have found out that when in doubt, go for the older, more classic books. They “tend” to be more appropriate all around.

    1. One thing I do is order books from the library website ahead of time. That way most of our books are ones I choose, but the kids still get to choose a few themselves. It also makes our weekly library trips quicker- we grab our books from the holds shelf and go.

  13. My boys can’t sit through chapter books yet (we read A LOT of the Berenstain Bears and Curious George), but I did have to add a comment about Anne of Green Gables, being as it is my all-time favorite collection. Anne didn’t go to live with her aunt and uncle; she was accidentally shipped to an older brother-sister who needed a boy to help with the farm work. They were very close to sending her back when she was able to win them over with her lively personality. Thanks for the list. I’m definitely going to save it.

    1. Thanks Kristin for the correction!! You’re right about Anne of Green Gables! It’s been several years since we read that series together so I had forgotten about the comical ride of Anne and Matthew in the wagon as he realized that he had received a girl instead of the boy that he needed to help them on the farm!! Thanks!!

  14. I absolutely loved the Little House series as a child. I read the first one when I was 8 and have revisited them from time to time as I grew up. Please be aware, however, that Native Americans are portrayed very negatively in the series. Although this was the cultural norm at the time, it is not acceptable now. This might be a good talking point with your children about prejudice and how we should not judge others who are different than us!

    1. There was a reason that Native Americans were portrayed negatively in the culture of that day. Unrest between the settlers and natives dated back to before the French and Indian War. The settlers didn’t understand the natives and lumped them all into one group. The natives didn’t understand the settlers and lumped them into one group. There are many true stories of Indian captives, (I Am Regina, Calico Captive, Alone Yet Not Alone, and Indian Captive just to name a few). Although there were atrocities committed by both sides, Ma Ingles had good reason to be afraid.

      How would you feel if strange men, who didn’t even speak your language, came into your home uninvited and demanded food? Especially if the only ones home were mom and little girls with no way to protect themselves?

      1. Sign of the Beaver would also be an interesting read aloud…and portrays the friendship between a young settler and a native boy….

  15. My older two are 5 and 7 and we have enjoyed reading The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. Also we just started reading The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope. Both are classic series that center on solving a mystery and show positive family interactions. My kids always beg for one more chapter!

  16. We love books at our house. This summer my 7 year old daughter and I are reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins and doing the lit study from Confessions of a Homeschooler. My oldest son keeps trying to veer off to “junk food” books. He’s 12. He hates it when I make him choose a book from Honey for a Child’s Heart. But then later admits that the book wasn’t too bad. It’s sad that so much coming out for tweens and teens is garbage. Thank goodness for the classics!

  17. J.M. Barrie’sPeter Pan, illustrated by Scott Gustafson, was a favorite at my home, especially because all the adventures were narrated by Daddy! (Search amazon for ISBN 0670841803)

  18. I am always interested in what other people are reading to their children hoping to find a missing classic that we haven’t read yet. We are addicted to books here as well. My children are constantly either reading something or I am reading to them. My oldest is such an avid reader that he has now taken over my Kindle and we replaced it with a Kindle Fire for me. Many nights you will find us curled up on our big couch with either my husband or I reading to our children. This is on top of the 2 to 3 hours of reading we do everyday for school. Reading has become a natural part of my children’s lives. It is part of the ebb and flow of things. If you are ever in doubt about reading out loud to your children, there is a great book call The Read-Aloud Handbook. He will give you wonderful statistics of why it is important. Thank you for sharing some of your favorites. There are just a few I haven’t read to my children yet, and some of the new ones I hadn’t heard of before. Just more blessings to add to the collection.

  19. My son used to read to ME – Hank the Cow Dog. Such corny humor about life and mystery on the farm, as provided by Hank, the narrator. I “howled” along with him as he read aloud in the car.

  20. We have discovered the Viking Quest Series by Lois Walfrid Johnson…historical fiction/adventure with strong biblical principles ages 10-14.

    1. We just finished reading this series to my son-6 and daughter-8. They loved it so much!!! Now we are trying to find some other series that will have their interest as much!

  21. Don’t forget the Box Car Children books! There are a ton in this series, and all are quite intriguing mysteries. These were my absolute favorites growing up, and there are lots of them!

  22. Anne of Green Gables – actually Anne was an orphan who was “adopted” by an elderly brother and sister (not HER brother and sister) that lived together and needed help with their farm (not an Aunt/Uncle). We just watched the movies on TV this past week end. Love it!

    1. Thanks Lisa!! It’s been awhile since we’ve read that series together!! I’ve e-mailed Courtney so hopefully we can change that book summary. That is part of the charm of the series is that they all come to love each other even though they were strangers to begin with!

  23. My children are 5, almost 3, and 1 so we are just starting to explore the world of chapter books. The kids loved “Scarlet’s Web” and “Pollyanna” (they pretend to be Pollyanna and Jimmy Bean)

    We’re just about done with “A Little Princess” It’s a little above their comprehension level (well a lot above the two youngest’s) but we’ve still enjoyed it.

    Planning to start the “Little House” series soon! Yay for reading!

  24. Thank you! Although most of these my eldest has been through…and my middle son is enjoying now. We read aloud every morning at breakfast (our current story is Arthur and the Minimoys), and they read alone throughout the day…then the middle boy still gets a story at night (currently it’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, AGAIN! He loves that story:) My hardest part is finding things for my 11 year old. He is an avid reader..and very good. So he’s made his way through larger things like all the Narnia books, Harry Potter series, the Eragon Books…and most any and every classic..we’ve got some left, but he loves fantasy, and it’s very difficult to find things at his reading level…but still keep the content appropriate. Anyone have any suggestions for teen readers, but the content isn’t, well, ummm…teen?!:)
    Blessings..and thanks for all your wonderful, well everything! I love your site, your blog, and your sister’s reading lists, your Bible study and your attitude! Thank you for being a good example and an inspiration!

    1. As a middle/high school librarian, I get this challenge a lot. What to give the boys?! 🙂
      Anything by Roald Dahl, the Redwall Series, books by Rick Riordan (the Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus, Percy Jackson), A Day no Pigs Would Die, The Outsiders, the Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stuart, the Seeds of America series by Laurie Halse Anderson is excellent (Chains, Forge, Ashes) and give great history of the Revolution (but we have waited forever for the 3rd book to be printed! Still waiting.)

      If he’s into sports, I can’t keep the Baseball Card Adventures series by Dan Gutman on the shelves! The tiles are all like Babe and Me, Shoeless Joe and Me, etc. A good, quick read that they really like.

      HOpe that helps! There are many more, but I’m in ‘summer mode’ and not able to think!
      Lisa

    2. Lisa, depending on your son’s interests, you might try George MacDonald’s fantasy books. MacDonald was CS Lewis’ inspiration so if your son enjoyed Narnia, he may enjoy Lillith, and Phantastes. He may enjoy Curdie and the Princess too.MacDonald was an 18th century Scottish writer and preacher.
      Some of his writing is wordy, but he gives you lots to think about. I think Bethany has republished a lot of his writing. Micheal Phillips has edited most of them I think, to more contemporary language.

  25. I never realized that the Mouse and the Motorcycle was a book. I loved that movie when I was little

  26. I LOVE this list. My daughter is 4 1/2 & loves to “read” & be read to. The thing I love most about Jennifer’s list/books are the torn covers & bent pages. Indicating these books have been & are well loved.

  27. While I don’t have kiddos, this is a great book list for friends who are wondering about “next stage books” for their children!

    And as a girl from Minnesota, who has a good friend from Walnut Grove (really!), Little House on the Prairie is a MUST! 🙂

  28. My son loved the Sugar Creek Gang Series and we all loved E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and the Trumpet of the Swan.

  29. Love this list, Jen!! Some I am familiar with, others I’m curious about. I’m excited to have a list to go from next time I visit the library which will be soon!!

  30. This list was like taking a walk down memory lane…so many memorable books from my own childhood! And while some of them might not appeal to my two boys, they are still on my shelves and I just know I will sneak a few in as they get older 🙂

  31. We stumlbed on a book series by Gloria Repp…the first book is called MIK SHROK, there are 2 books that follow and we have since read most of her other books. The Mik Shrok series is about a missionary couple in Alaska and their adventures. My boys LOVE her books!!!

  32. I, too, have read many of these to my children. My 10yo son enjoys the Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks. They can be a bit hard to find. I haven’t tried Amazon as we usually get them at our used book store. Thanks for your blog , Courtney. I enjoy “walking with The King” with you.B

  33. My son loved the Viking Quest series by Lois Walfrid Johnson that Alissa mentioned above. The main character in these books is a girl, but he didn’t mind that at all, and he is all boy. He was very upset when the series ended. He also enjoyed the Ladd Family Adventures by Lee Roddy. They have been reprinted recently and you can go to Lee Roddy’s site to order them and others of his books. Chuck Black has written the series Knights of the Kingdom and also the series Knights of Arrethrae. My son loved these books as well, and is hoping Chuck Black will write more books. My son felt each book in these series got better and better. I have read to my son since before he was born. Some Bible story books I really like are the Read Aloud Bible stories by Ella K. Lindvall and The Jesus Storybook Bible (Every story whispers His name) and audio CD by Sally Lloyd-Jones. These last selections are great for younger kids. Thank you for all the selections and ideas. Also two series my son enjoyed when he was younger were the Henry and Mudge books and Mr.Putter and Tabby, both series are by Cynthia Rylant

  34. A lot of the books on your post are our favs also! Fun!

    I can not wait to read The Westing Game and The Phantom Tollbooth to my kids. Other books that they already enjoyed are The Dangerous Journey, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Bambi (it is sad), and The Wizard of Oz among many others.

    Amy

  35. You have some great books listed. I am a third grade teacher, and my favorite part of the day is read-aloud time. These are my favorites: The Tale of Despereaux-love, love, love! (Don’t judge it by the movie.) So much character development. My students start mimicing the writing style in their own writing! The Miraculous Adventure of Edward Tulane-it will tug at your heartstrings. The BFG by Roald Dahl-it is silly and laugh-out-loud funny, great for boys and girls alike. My kids absolutely love Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret (I think that’s the author; the book is at school.)

  36. I love all these books. Louisa Mae Alcott has two more that are great-Eight Cousins and Old-Fashion Girl.

  37. A couple of years ago my daughter loved the Lucy series From Faithgirlz by Nancy Rue. Here recently she has been enthralled with kingdom keeper books by Ridley Pearson. She likes that he uses the familiar rides and places at Walt Disney World as the backdrop for the books. But a word of caution, the books definitely have a scary side to them and involve witches and other characters from Disney films.

  38. As a Christian school librarian and a junior fiction book review columnist, this is a topic close to my heart. Some good titles not mentioned: The Missing series, by Margaret Peterson Haddix; Eight Cousins and the sequel, Rose in Bloom, by LM Alcott; The Sisters Grimm series, by Michael Buckley; The Grimm Legacy (can’t remember author, sorry); pretty much anything by Andrew Clements; and the Fairhaven series, by Brandon Mull (which my grown-up kids, ages 25 and 27, fought over when I got review copies to read before they were available to the public LOL). I write a column for Teacher-Librarian magazine, and receive boxes of new books to read all the time. They pile up – but what a great problem to have!

  39. Thank you for this list. I am a third grade teacher and plan on using some of these in my classroom. I also have 4 children of my own that I plan on reading some of this with. It is great to see some of the older titles that I grew up reading or having read to me. Thanks again for sharing this!

  40. We have all but maybe 5 books out of that whole list! My son is only 2 but I am obsessed with classic and Newberry award chapter books and collect them at every used book store or sale I can find! (Although some I had saved from my own childhood.) Little Men is probably my top fave! I read it about 3 years ago and all the way through I kept thinking how I can’t wait to read it to my future sons one day! Such an adorable and wholesome book! (“Tookies”!!!) Another great series to add to the list is the Betsy/Tacy/Tib series by Maud Hart Loveless!

  41. My husband and I found a great series of Christian books called “The Wormling Series” First book is called ‘The book of the King” It’s geared for pre-teen to teens and it is such an amazing series. It kept our interest right through the 5 books. Actually the first book was the hardest to get through…but the rest had you hooked!! Google it!! A great read for your teens!!

  42. Thanks for the great list, and comemnts. As a mother of 5 aged from 10-18 now we like the following:
    Amy Le Feuvre is one of our favourites for primary aged children. She has lots of child characters with good principles. Aleck’s Corner is excellent, about serving where God plants us, and counting our blessings.
    For older readers I also like Gene Stratton Porter’s ‘Girl of the Limberlost’ but it is an older style of writing that some children may find off-putting.
    For older teens, I also like Francine Rivers ‘Sons of Encouragement’ about various Old Testament men.
    In Australia, there is a series known as ‘My Australian Story’ which is terrific for novelization of historical events, in a diary style.
    We enjoyed the ‘Wormling’ books too.

  43. For animal/horse crazy kids, I recommend Marguerite Henry’s books such as Misty and King of the Wind. We’ve just discovered the Elsie Dinsmore books and are loving them! Alcott’s Eight Cousins and its sequel are wonderful too! My daddy read the Jungle Book to us at night and we couldn’t wait for bedtime to see what happened next!

  44. What a great list! I haven’t read all of these, but I’ll definitely check them out. We’ve loved Narnia and the Little House books, as well as E. Nesbit’s books (especially The Railway Children) and The Phantom Tollbooth. There are just so many good books out there.

  45. These are some of my favorites:
    Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes – excellent story about the revolution
    Little Britches, Man of the Family and the Home Ranch by Ralph Moody, based on his life in Colorado as a child, 1800’s
    Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls (I liked it better than Where the Red Fern Grows because it was soooo funny)
    the Red Wall series by Brian Jaques (my son really liked these books)

  46. Wow! This is great! I am planning on homeschooling my kids in another year and have been trying to find out what books I should have them read. I wanted books that were just plain ‘ol GOOD books! This is a great resource. Thank you!

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  48. I love how you continue reading aloud with your children long after they’ve mastered those beginning reader skills. I have a good friend who read aloud with her boys through their teen years. They’d all clamber onto the top bunk bed and read, read, read. What priceless memories she–and you–generated.

  49. One of my daughters just “graduated” to regular chapter books, another has just begun easy chapter books. They have both enjoyed “Sophie, Pay Attention” and “A Dog Called Naamn.” They each feature a Bible character and a modern child. Thanks for the good ideas here!

  50. Hi Courtney,
    I love your list and those listed in the comments as well.
    Some of my children have enjoyed G.A. Henty and their are many of his books to keep young ones busy.
    My favorite series aside from Little House, were the Little Britches series by Ralph Moody. Not every situation is perfectly Christian, but the overall morals of hard work, and loyalty are evident throughout the books.
    My daughters also really enjoyed the entire Betsy Tacy series by Maude Hart-Lovelace.
    I linked to your post on books in one of my recent posts on turning off the television.
    http://homeschoolingforthewholefamily.blogspot.com/2014/04/turn-off-television-and-get-life.html

  51. Another wonderful book that kept us all laughing (my son, 10 and my daughter, 8) was Cheaper By The Dozen. We laughed, discussed the turn of the century and how culture changes, and even had great discussions about leaving a legacy and death. We’ve also enjoyed all of the Miss Piggle-Wiggle stories which kept us laughing, and yielded some wonderful discussions on behavior. Really fun stuff!

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