Recommended Book Lists
In this post I wrote about the importance of reading aloud with your children. In response I received several requests from parents to provide a list of books I would recommend for reading aloud (or for your children to read independently as they get older).
Below is the beginning of a list, I will continue to add to it over time as we read more books (or I remember the good ones we have read, unfortuntely, I have not kept a list). These are personal recommendations based on what we have enjoyed as a family.
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Picture books
While some of the books listed below are clearly for a younger age group, I haven’t put an age group, because I think many picture books can be enjoyed by all ages, including adults! They are often beautifully written and illustrated with stunning artwork.
- Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
- Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
- I Have A Dream Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Kadir Nelson
- Hidden Figures: The Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
- I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis
- The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base
- Jungle Drums by Graeme Base
- The Waterhole by Graeme Base
- Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton
- The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library
- Have You Filled a Bucket Today? By Carol McCloud
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
- Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
- One fish two fish red fish blue fish by Dr. Seuss
- The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
- Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
- The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
- The Napping House by Audrey Wood
- Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- Jamberry by Bruce Degen
- Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
For ages 7-10
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
- Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne
- Magic Tree House Non-Fiction Companion Series
- The Adventures of Mali and Keela: A Virtues Book For Children by Jonathan Collins
- Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
- Mercy Watson Series by Kate DiCamillo
- The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
- Anna Hibiscus Series by Atinuke
For ages 10-14
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
- Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
- Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac
- You are Awesome by Matthew Syed
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowlings
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowlings
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowlings
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowlings
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowlings
- brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Fabelhaven by Brandon Mull
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
- Sing Down the Moon by Scott O’Dell
- Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
- March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell