Books for Kids

Today I put together a list of some of my favorite children's books for a friend. Since I know many of my blog buddies have elementary age children, I figured I'd post my list here. These books are all books I've either read myself and loved, or had read to me by my mom when I was a child. The grade level recommendation is based on these books as read-alouds. They are meant for the parent to read aloud to the child. The grade level is the minimum age at which you should begin reading. Most of the kindergarten books are wonderful for 4th and 5th graders, too. I hope this list is helpful, and brings lots of fun for your and your kiddos.

Kindergarten and up

"Betsy-Tacy" (series) by Maud Hart Lovelace (one of my two VERY favorites)
"Little House in the Big Woods" (and rest of the series)" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
"Meet Samantha" (American Girls series) and the other 5 books about Samantha. There are several series about American girls throughout American history.
"Winnie the Pooh" by A.A. Milne
"Stuart Little" by E.B. White
"Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
"Ramona Quimby" (series) by Beverly Clearly
"The Velveteen Rabbit"
"Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Richard and Florence Atwater
"Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey
"Junie B. Jones" (series), by Barbara Park (very popular series with lots of room to discuss how to treat other people. The books are very funny, but you'll have to read one first to judge whether or not your child is ready for it)
"The Boxcar Children" by Gertrude Chandler Warner

First Grade and up

"Cotton In My Sack" by Lois Lenski (one of several by this author)
"The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis
"A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett
"The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett
"Thimble Summer" by Elizabeth Enright
"The Cabin Faced West" by Jean Fritz
"Sarah, Plain and Tall" by Patricia MacLachlan
"Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate Decamillo
"Heidi" by Johanna Spyri
"The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" by Roald Dahl

Second Grade and up

"The Saturdays" by Elizabeth Enright (one of my VERY favorite authors)
"A Family Apart" by Joan Lowery Nixon
"Island of the Blue Dolphins"
"The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden
"Misty of Chincoteague" by Marguerite Henry (one of several by this author)
"Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" by Kate Douglas Wiggin
"Peter Pan" by JM Barrie
"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

3rd Grade and up

"Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
"Laddie" by Gene Stratton Porter
"Ballet Shoes" by Noel Streatfield (one of several by this author)
"The Circuit"
"My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
"The Indian in the Cupboard" by Lynn Reid Banks
"Caddie Woodlawn" by Carol Ryrie Brink
"Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome
"Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling

4th Grade and up

"The Bridge to Terebithia" by Katherine Paterson
"The Giver" by Lois Lowry (and other books by this author)
"A Wrinkle in Time" (and other by this author) by Madeleine l'Engle
"The Watsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis
"Half Magic" by Edward Eager
"The Great Gilly Hopkins"
"Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens
"The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Happy reading!