For the Love of Books

thWe love good books in our family! Well, maybe not all our children would naturally have inclined that way, but we have created a culture of reading in our home – a little healthy “peer pressure” towards reading! 

When the kids were little, I read books aloud at the lunch table. We always had a story going. As often as possible, we have “family read time” where we all sit down and read together, including Mom & Dad, modeling for our children a love for reading. We also have created a rhythm at night of having the older children have the choice of reading together on the couch or going to bed – even the less eager readers will choose to read in that scenario.

 The majority of books I read these days are Junior Fiction. I actually really enjoy them!  My husband and I giggled as we eagerly devoured the Harry Potter series in order to “preview” them for our oldest. We read as many of our children’s books as we can to preview them, but also to have a shared experience. My husband and daughter have enjoyed many books together. Most of our family has read the Ranger’s Apprentice series. I started it to encourage my son who is the least eager reader in the family, and it worked! He’s on book 5…  I’m on book 10. I’m hooked! 

 We have also made a tradition of listening to audio books on road trips. I pick a book to download for each trip and we listen together as a family – it becomes a precious shared experience between the hours of other car entertainment.

As far as finding good content, I try to research books before buying them – there are many good parent preview websites available. I am more careful about what books we own (and therefore will be read over & over) versus a book we might borrow or check out from the library and read once.

What am I most careful about? The age of the main characters. If my 8 year old is reading a book with teenage main characters, I might need to pay more attention. Adult characters acting like adults are usually fine. I am much more concerned about the influence of teen romance in books than most other things. I think that to “stir or awaken love” before its time is a much more realistic concern for our children than their becoming wizards, for example. As for violence, we try to look at the context. Is the book about soldiers or knights, and is it historically appropriate, or is it modern day teens acting violent in ways that seem realistic to our children, and behavior they could pattern?

I’ve made a list of some books we have enjoyed. As you can see, we are especially drawn to series. For one reason, some of my children read so fast it’s hard to keep up with providing good books for them. A series keeps them busy longer. It also allows us the joy of lingering longer with the characters and story.

Book Recommendations:   (* our personal favorites)

Series for Younger Readers:

  • Imagination Station*
  • Magic Tree House
  • Nate the Great
  • Boxcar Children
  • Little House on the Prairie*
  • American Girl books
  • In Grandma’s Attic

Series for Elementary Readers:

  • Narnia (Christian fiction/allegory)*
  • Roman Mystery (Christian historical fiction)
  • The Door Within  (Christian fiction)
  • Ranger’s Apprentice (fiction)*
  • Royal Ranger series (fiction)
  • Green Ember (Christian fiction)*
  • Wingfeather Saga (Christian fiction)*
  • Wormling Series (Christian fiction)
  • Wilderking Series (Christian fiction)
  • Kindgom’s Dawn (Christian fiction/allegory)
  • Dragons in Our Midst (Christian fiction)
  • Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew (the classic version)
  • 39 Clues
  • The Black Cauldron series (fiction)
  • Mysterious Benedict Society (fiction)
  • Anne of Green Gables (classic/ fiction)
  • YWAM Christian Heroes: Then & Now biographies*

Series for Middle School Readers:

      (content where the main characters are teens)

  • Harry Potter*
  • Percy Jackson (Books 1-5 only)
  • Anomoly (Christian fiction)
  • Artemis Fowl series (fiction)*
  • Muirwood (fiction)
  • Seven Wonders (fiction)
  • The Arinthian Line series (fiction)
  • Stormlight Archives series (fiction)*
  • Mark of the Thief series (fiction)
  • Theodore Boone series (mystery/ fiction)
  • Path of the Ranger series (fiction)
  • Kingfountain series (fiction)

Stand Alones:

  • The Hobbit*
  • Swiss Family Robinson
  • Tom Sawyer
  • Robin Hood
  • Dangerous Journey*/ Pilgrim’s Progress
  • King Arthur
  • Treasure Island
  • Space Trilogy
  • Screwtape Letters
  • Lamplighter Stories
  • Patricia St John Books
  • The Secret Garden
  • The Hiding Place*

Favorite Read Alouds:

  • Trumpet of the Swan*
  • Charlotte’s Web
  • Mr. Poppers Penguins
  • Hardy Boys* (Father/Son read aloud favorite)
  • Homer Price
  • Cricket in Times Square
  • The Hobbit*
  • Farmer Boy*
  • Narnia books
  • Stories with the Millers
  • The Railway Children*

Favorite Audio Books:

  • Classic Pooh stories
  • Beatrice Potter stories
  • Narnia series (Focus on the Family Radio Theater)*
  • Jim Weiss audio books
  • Wizard of Oz
  • Lamplighter stories
  • A Christmas Carol