10 Books to Read to Children (& Enjoy at Any Age!)

There are many, many more than 10 books that children and adults alike would enjoy. And any time spent reading is valuable, priceless time. Here are a few that I feel sure you and your family will enjoy.

A word of advice if you look for these in your bookstore or at used book sales or thrift shops – make sure you are buying the unabridged versions so you get the full vocabulary and experience, especially when shopping for classics.

Here are 10 books (or series) that my family enjoyed and instantly came to mind when I sat down to make a list:

Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys mystery series

These had to top my list. You won’t find them on the top of anyone else’s, perhaps, but I can’t praise them enough.

As a young girl, I learned to read earlier than other kids my age. I don’t remember how; my mom wasn’t a teacher or employing any special methods. She read to me ALL THE TIME when I was tiny…somewhere along the way I apparently began to pick up the words and learned the basics of reading! I devoured books and around the age of seven, I have a wonderful memory of my mom and grandma taking me into a bookstore – books piled everywhere, the smell of a bookstore, ahhh! – and explaining to the lady who worked there that I was an advanced reader and they needed help finding me more books to read. I was too young for adult themes, but children’s books were no longer challenging me.

Those three women set a path for me that day for which I will be forever thankful. For some reason that I can’t recall, I said I liked mysteries. The lady recommended the Nancy Drew series. I chose The Clue of the Dancing Puppet, and that very book, well worn and tattered, holds a special spot on my bookcase to this day.

When my youngest started reading books faster than I could keep up, she and I would take turns reading Nancy Drew mysteries. She was about five years old at the time. She couldn’t wait to read the next chapter, and so one day I told her to read and then “catch me up” when I was able to read with her. I knew she didn’t know all the words, but when she would narrate what she had read, I could hear her comprehension and realized that she was utilizing context clues to understand the story even when she couldn’t read some of the words.

Nancy Drew holds a special place in our house, and if your child would like a suspenseful, wholesome storyline, I enthusiastically recommend Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys (same kind of story but the mysteries are solved by two brothers).

Make sure you are choosing the early books. Carolyn Keene and Franklin Dixon are pseudonyms used by various authors. Therefore the books have had numerous authors over the years and some of the recent additions and spin-off series I have seen do not have the same well written qualities and wholesome storylines as the early ones.

Little House in the Big Woods

You can’t go wrong with Laura Ingalls Wilder. These books are wholesome, spark imagination, and transport young readers back in time. Our oldest daughter loves true stories, and Little House books are on her list of favorites. These books can certainly fuel a love for biographies and autobiographies, as well as a curiosity about the past.

They can be read and reread and partner beautifully with history studies. As a matter of fact, books like this can be the core of your history curriculum for your youngest students. Reading nonfiction books depicting life in a time period sticks with young minds for a lifetime, unlike memorizing dates from a textbook for a test. Dates and facts and important events have their place in your curriculum, but those can easily be recorded in a notebook alongside pictures and narrations (written by your student or transcribed by you) or logged on a timeline.

Travel back in time with a good book, and chances are, your student will hold that memory always. Not to mention, they can be read during school time, at bedtime, or you can listen to them in the car if you have to be on the road a lot. These books don’t ‘feel’ like work – they are entertaining and fun and therefore easily digested.

They spark a love of obtaining information and a love of books.

In Grandma’s Attic

Another trip back in time for a child that loves true stories or to enliven your history time. Each chapter is a separate story told by the grandma about her life when she was a young girl. The stories are inspired by items and trinkets that the granddaughter finds or inquires about from the house and barn.

These are sweet little detailed snapshots of life a long time ago. The kind of stories you wish you would have written down when your grandparents told them…or the kind of stories of a life you can’t imagine but that you wish someone would have captured in writing for future generations. Fortunately, someone did, and now you can enjoy them with your children.

Charlotte’s Web

This book is probably on every list, ever. That’s a great sign that it should be on your list, too.

I intended to read it to my kids and it got moved up in our schedule because it was being remade into a movie and I had a rule about movies made from books. The rule was, always read the book first, then watch the movie. I wanted my kids to interact with the book before the movie did all the work for them. Plus I’m just one of those people that think the book is always better anyway, and I can count on one hand the number of movies that I feel did true justice for the book.

After reading this book to my kids, then watching the movie together, they liked the movie but were not completely satisfied with it. This was a good lesson affirming the reason for my rule. Also, they didn’t like the character’s voices nearly as much as the voices I gave them as I read. I didn’t expect that critique, because sometimes I have a terrible time remembering what voice I’m using for who! With that in mind, I encourage you to read the voices in character. Kids are not harsh critics and enjoy your effort more than you know!

Our autistic nephew spent a few summers with us, and he loved pigs. I chose this as a summer reading book, even though it was assumed to be over his head. When we began reading, I read in very short intervals and would stop to ask what was happening. In the beginning, he couldn’t even comprehend that there was a pig in the story. I kept at it, and he ended up loving this book! He would laugh at appropriate times, ask about the characters, and play-act short scenes. He never forgets anything, and has mentioned it to me since.

I believe in reading to children. I believe it can unlock the brain, whether you see it happening or not.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins

It has been so long since I read this to my kids that I can’t even recall all the details of the book. Yet, just the title makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy…odd adjectives for a book full of penguins, I know.

Somewhere along the way, a teacher read this to me when I was a child. When I began homeschooling and didn’t know what books I would use, the one thing I knew was this: I must read Mr. Popper’s Penguins to my children. It lodges in your imagination and builds a cozy igloo there for always. An igloo full of penguins.

If you want to tie it to curriculum, add it as a fun read alongside arctic animals and tundra, a study of penguins, or birds. By adding it to curriculum, I don’t mean you make it feel like work. It easily lends itself as a fun read along with factual science books or research. Especially if your child wants to know everything about penguins or glaciers or polar bears or birds…

Learn, but more importantly, have fun while learning.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Yes and yes and yes again. Not the same thing as the Disney movie, although it is super cute and I like it, too, to be honest. But this book is a GEM. It’s so much fun and it’s an older and well-written book. Even in their simplicity, older books have a quality that fosters good language art skills.

I read this to my kids when they were young, and I enjoyed every minute, having never read it when I was young. You don’t have to love dogs to love this book, but if your child does, or just enjoys stories featuring animals, this is a must.

As I write this, I’m contemplating reading it again, just for fun.

A Little Princess

I can hardly finish the question of “What are some of your favorite – ” before my oldest daughter says, “A Little Princess!!”

This book was perfect for satisfying her creative, never-ceasing imagination. I read this to all three of my children, including my son. So it’s not just a ‘girl’s book.’ It is well written and thought provoking and feeds young imaginations heartily.

We also enjoyed another book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden. My (unfortunately pathetic) attempts at an accent also contributed to their enjoyment of that one.

When your children are young, reading to them is of utmost importance. Hearing great language, proper grammar, well-written narratives, are all things that are teaching the brain language arts skills with no effort, no worksheets, no tears. Don’t underestimate the importance of reading books to your children, and don’t only read them books that are ‘on their level.’ Challenge them a bit, and their brains will rise to the challenge.

All this, plus you are spending time together as a family, nurturing a love of learning that will help them when their schoolwork becomes more challenging, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Here’s a rule of thumb: you can never go wrong with C.S. Lewis, Beatrix Potter, or Dr. Seuss! Or maybe that’s just my rule.

Any age can enjoy the Narnia series. As a matter of fact, my youngest daughter and I reread some of them for fun together when she was a teenager. I found myself in tears at times at the simplistic beauty within this series. A few books of the Narnia series were included in an intense worldview class that the same daughter took (and loved) in high school. However, even your youngest students will understand and enjoy this book.

Anne of Green Gables

I smile as I type, as though reminiscing about an old friend. I didn’t read this jewel until I was a grown woman. The first time I read it, I did so on my own, for my own pleasure reading, since it was a childhood classic I had missed.

I am smitten by everything in this book! While reading it, I found myself putting thought into my words and longing for a more extensive vocabulary. With this much enthusiasm in a review from a grown woman, imagine the impression it may make in a creative, imaginative child.

This book was a fun read in our homeschool. As a matter of fact, we listened to it on CD (in the car) the year my son played baseball for a team many miles from home.

Geronimo Stilton series

I had to include Geronimo. Not because of its literary prowess or deep themes, but because when my son (who had LOVED books and reading) had all but lost his enjoyment of books, along came Geronimo Stilton, a mouse with a life full of adventure. Sammy devoured these books around second grade, becoming so engrossed that he could read one in a day. I have to admit, I got a few laughs out of them myself. My daughters also started reading them, seeing their brother’s enthusiasm and since the books were laying around, and they enjoyed them, too.

For lighthearted fun – never a bad thing when you want your kids to like books – consider Geronimo Stilton.

A few more great suggestions

These didn’t make my list only because I chose some of the first titles that came to mind. In all honesty, if I attempted to make a list of ALL the books I think are great choices to read to children, it would be a very long list!

When I asked my daughters, they repeated some of the ones I included above and added these as well:

Aspen:

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Pagoo by Holling Clancy Holling
• Famous Men of… series (because she enjoyed the narrations)
• Trial by Poison by Dave & Neta Jackson
• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Madison:

• The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
• The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (I did think of this one, but didn’t include it because I was thinking about books for younger kids and I would wait until my students were old enough to really appreciate it – because it’s definitely a ‘don’t miss’ book.)
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

I didn’t ask Sammy, but I’m pretty sure I can say one of the ONLY books he enjoyed A LOT was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. He also liked Choose your own Adventure books, and he and I enjoyed reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson together.

I hope this may have given you some ideas! The most important thing is just to read, and enjoy reading together. Not every book we read together would make a favorite list – and the same will probably be true for you as well – but if you read enough, you will find many that will. And those stay with you for a lifetime.