We love reading around here. During our homeschool years we were able to read a lot more books than usual. It was wonderful. Here is a list we have come up with of our favorite reads (see the notes about some content you should know about-depending on the sensitivity of your child and family). Also, I will keep this updated as we read and enjoy more books together as a family or individually. Enjoy!
ELEMENTARY AGE:
Magic Treehouse
(There are so many stories to ❤️ in this series- they are a great entry into chapter books for little ones)
Mary Poppins
The Hundred Dresses
(sweet story and fun to read around the 100th day of school)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series
(there are several books and Paige loved them all)
The Tale of Despereaux
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane*
(such a delight- be sure to grab your tissues)
The One and Only Ivan
By the Great Horn Spoon
(one of my favorite read-aloud stories)
The Little House on the Prairie series
Where the Red Fern Grows*
The Indian in the Cupboard
(This is fun read-aloud I read to my big kids & my sister just read to Blake)
Mandy
The Castle in the Attic
Catty Woodlawn
Mr Poppers Penguins
(different from the book/ both are sweet)
Because of Winn Dixie
Charlottes Web
The Moffatt’s
The Borrowers
Anne of Green Gables
(the first one- and see below about the series)
Wonder*
(+ the Julian Chapter is such a great add-on to this story & is also just a great story by itself)
The Land of Stories
An Elephant in the Garden*
Bridge to Terabithia*
Pippi Longstocking (series)
Sign of the Beaver*
Explorer Academy (series)
The Green Ember (series)
The Trumpet of the Swan
The Fog Diver – 2 books
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
Number the stars*
The Wingfeather Saga
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe & the other Narnia books
A Wrinkle in Time
Harry Potter series– books 1-3 (the rest are great for older kids)
Wings of Fire– books 1-10 (third series**)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
(I’ve happily read this aloud during several Christmas breaks- we love it!)
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
My Side of the Mountain
I Survived* (series)
(These books are best for upper elementary or younger middle school kids as they are fictional characters who survived factual historical tragedies – they may not be suitable for younger children)
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Explorer Academy
(Grant devours these books- he tells all his friends to read them)
Little Women
(Paige struggled to get going on this- but after watching the movie she read it in a day or two and absolutely loved it)
Harry Potter series– books 4-7
(Paige went through a serious HP phase- she couldn’t get enough. We even threw her a Hogwarts Feast a few years ago- see HERE)
The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings series
(We adore these movies and some of us have read the books too)
Wonder*
(This was a favorite read-aloud with Paige & Grant)
Magicians Nephew & rest of Narnia
Where the Red Fern Grows*
(Bring some tissues for this one.)
Hunger Games*
(Paige and I read these quickly and almost liked the movies as much as the books!)
Percy Jackson (series)
Keepers of the Lost Cities (series)
Anne of Green Gables (series)
(Some of these stories are better than others- like Isle of Windy Poplars is a little boring to me- but the whole cannon is fun to read and most of the books are an absolute delight. I usually have one of the books in my Audible due so I can listen when I need a little Anne inspiration in my heart!)
TEEN:
Percy Jackson- Hero’s of Olympus**
To Kill a Mockingbird*
The Book Thief*
Pride & Prejudice
A Tale of Two Cities
Hunger Games
Lunar Chronicles
The Hiding Place*
(This is a favorite of mine- I have read it several times. Bring your tissues!)
The Hobbit & The LOTR series
A Time to Die (Christian dystopia)
For teen girls:
The Christy Miller series
NOTES:
*= SENSITIVE TOPICS: these books would make great read-aloud stories as they do have some sensitive topics that may be tough for young readers to process alone
**=SEXUAL TOPICS: parents should know there are some sexual or LGBTQ characters/themes that they may want to talk about with their kids before or after reading the book
SOURCES:
For sources of how to find these books I could add a bunch of links- but we shop around, thrift and borrow a lot of books (and I tend to listen more often than read). Here are some sources that we do love for tracking them all down:
The Library
Thrift Books (I always look here before shopping on Amazon)
thrift stores
Local bookshops
Amazon & Kindle
Homeschool families (if you need a book to borrow- they probably have it!)
Hoopla (find out if your library has this service- it’s wonderful)
Audible
