Showing posts with label
Books I Won't Let My Kids Grow Up Without.
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Showing posts with label
Books I Won't Let My Kids Grow Up Without.
Show all posts
I'm finally continuing my series of posts on books that I feel are essential for my kids to read, or at least try. My list for Junior Fiction is here, and I intend to do lists of picture books, early readers, and YA in the future, as I have time.
This list is of what I think of as "Middle-Grade Fiction," books aimed at kids around ages 11-14. Obviously, some kids might be ready for this level before age 11, and continue to enjoy these after they're older than 14. I've read some of these aloud to my 4-, 6-, and 8-year-olds and they understood them well enough. But 11-14 is the age group I think of as being ready for these, as regards to both reading level and emotional maturity.
Once again, this is entirely based on my own reading experiences and what I think my kids will be ready for in a few years. I like most of these enough to own a copy.
Across Five Aprils and Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Anne of Green Gables and the entire series by L. M. Montgomery
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite d'Angeli
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (I liked several books in the series)
The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
The Hound of the Baskervilles and the other Sherlock Holmes stories by A. Conan Doyle
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (and so many of his books are amazing!)
A Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter
The Little House in the Big Woods and the rest of the series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Mother-Daughter Book Club and the rest of the series by Heather Vogel Frederick (though the kids age, so the rest of the series is aimed more at teens)
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (and the sequels are worth a read too)
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (and the whole series is fun)
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
Where the Lilies Bloom by Bill and Vera Cleaver
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
There are sooooooo many good books for this age range, and I'm probably forgetting some I love. But these are all such wonderful books, aren't they?
Do you have any recommendations for this age group? I'm always looking for more good books!
A fellow homeschooling mom asked me a few weeks ago if I had ever considered compiling lists of book recommendations for different age groups. I hadn't, until then, but it's such a compelling idea that I'm doing it! I'm starting with junior fiction because it's what Sam is reading right now, so a LOT of it is flowing through my house. I intend to do lists of picture books, early readers, middle-grade fiction, and YA in the future.
By "Junior Fiction" I mean longer chapter books aimed at kids around ages 8-12. Obviously, some kids might be ready for this level before age 8, and continue to enjoy these after they're older than 12. I mean, I still enjoy them now, and I'm almost 3x12. But this is the age group I think of them as geared for. I do read books from this list aloud to my daughters, who are 4 and 6 right now, and they very much enjoy them too.
This is entirely based on my own reading experience and what Sam is attracted to right now -- he's 8, and an avid reader. Most of these I love so much, we own a copy.
All-of-a-Kind-Family by Sydney Taylor (I liked the whole series)
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (and the rest of the series is great too)
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (I haven't read the rest of the series yet, but I expect it's good)
Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard (and the sequels are good too, as well as his other dog books)
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley (my favorite book for many years -- the sequels are okay, but not as lovely as the first)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (and the rest of the series is dear to my heart)
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner (and the whole series is good fun)
By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman
The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz
Caddie Woodlawn and Magical Melons by Carol Ryrie Brink
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
A Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Four-Story Mistake and the rest of the Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away by Elizabeth Enright
Half Magic by Edward Eager (and his other books are good too)
The Happy Hollisters and the resultant series by Jerry West
Henry and the Clubhouse and the rest of the Henry books by Beverly Cleary
Henry Reed, Inc by Keith Robertson (the sequels are fun too)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Homer Price and Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey
Jingo Django by Sid Fleischman
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry (really, all her horse books are delightful)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (Sam's just starting them and really liking them!)
Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars by Ellen MacGregor (and the rest of the series is fun)
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (the sequels are good too)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (and the two follow-ups are good too)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald (and the rest of the series is great fun too)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (the two sequels are also enjoyable)
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
Ramona the Pest and the rest of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Rascal by Sterling North
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (the rest of the series is nice too)
Smoky the Cow Horse by Will James
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (I like all her books, but this one especially much)
Stuart Little by E. B. White
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
There are other books in this age range I really dig, but that I'm either forgetting now, or don't like well enough to recommend them to everyone. This is a good start, anyway.
Do you have any recommendations for this age group? We're always looking for new books!
