As many of you may know I am an avid reader. I love books and I love words. Books are my go to. When I have spare time on my hands I almost always choose to read. I've tried to instill this love of reading in my children. I honestly don't know if loving to read is an inherent trait or one that is taught. Maybe my kids like to read because that's what they see me doing. Maybe they like to read because that's just who they are, they're readers.
Now my youngest is just barely 6 and is not reading independently for fun yet. We're still doing all of her reading together as she's getting more and more confident. My son likes to read, however it is not his first choice of activity. When he has spare time he almost always grabs a ball and heads outside. Occasionally though I find him curled up on the couch or laying across his bed with a book. It makes my book lover heart swell.
My oldest child is another story all together. That girl can not get her head out of a book. She reads all of the time. In the car, eating her breakfast, brushing her teeth, trying to get dressed. I've literally had to pull the book out of her hands and say please just put your shoes on. It's awesome, I love that she loves to read but it's also kind of annoying. Annoying because she's so immersed in her book that she doesn't hear us when we talk to her and also because it can be torture to get her to find an alternate hobby. We must be well rounded people. The other reason it's annoying is because it is extremely difficult to find books that are engaging but also age appropriate. I can not possibly read everything she is reading. It's just not feasible. So I've had to let her spread her wings a little bit and learn to self regulate.
I'm doing a lot of online research when she brings home a book. We make lists of books together that she is interested in reading, I read the summary of the book and try to find reviews. We look on Pintrest and Goodreads for book lists and blogs for recommendations. It has been really helpful. So I decided to pay it forward and throw out some recommendations of our own. My children made the following list. I asked them which books they would tell their friends to read and this is what they came up with. But for the record my oldest child would like me to state that her favorite series of all time is Harry Potter and everyone should read it.
Big Sis bookworm (age 11)-
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
My oldest loved loved loved this series. This is an adventure book about orphaned kids who are part of a Society working to thwart Mr. Curtain's evil plans. She says there are 3 books in the series and then there is a 4th book which is a side story and a 5th puzzle book. She's read them all multiple times, these are a little bit more complex and are quite long.
Green by Laura Roberts
This is a fantasy book about Leprechauns, trickery, and passing test to become the Leprechaun money keeper. Green is a stand alone novel.
A Tale Dark and Grim by Adam Gidwitz
Another fantasy trilogy that includes Hansel and Gretel and 8 other Grim inspired tales. This book was a darker (shocking as it's Grim) read that I was skeptical about but she just loved it.
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones
There are 7 Chrestomanci books; six novels and a collection of 4 short stories. My daughter read The Lives of Christopher Chant and Conrad's Fate. She hasn't read the others but don't let that dissuade you, some times she gets distracted from a series if we have to wait too long to get it from the library. These are another fantasy story with magic and castles which is right up her alley.
Treasure Hunters by James Patterson with Chris Grabenstein and Mark Shulman
Both my oldest and my son like this series, there are 4 books about the Kidd family who are shipwrecked. It's adventurous, dangerous with secret rooms and irreverent humor (not in a bad way).
Boy bookworm (age 8)-
Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
My son is in the middle of these right now. He is devouring them. They are a fairy tale adventure type about boy/girl twins who end up falling through a book and in to the Land of Stories. These are bigger books and quite frankly I'm surprised and impressed that he's stayed with them but they're easy to read and the story is keeping him engaged.
Bunnicula by James Howe
My son was introduced to these by his 3rd grade teacher and he thought they were awesome. The story is told from the perspective of the Monroe family's dog, Harold. The family cat, Chester, is convinced the new bunny, Bunnicula,rain is a vampire and is trying to convince Harold to save the family from the perceived threat of the bunny. Hilarious and a little bit wacky, my son loved them.
The 39 Clues
This series of adventure novels is written by a collaboration of authors and consists of 4 series. The Clue Hunt, Cahills vs Vespers, Unstoppable and Doublecross. Now my disclaimer is that he has not made his way through all of them. This is another book introduced to him at school but they are shorter and he was able to read through them quickly while being engaged in the story, My other disclaimer is that my oldest daughter did not like these at all. She found them stressful and upsetting due to some tension and the threat of some violence. It didn't bother my son.
The Notebook of Doom by Troy Cummings
Ok when D started bringing these home I was like uh what are you reading... The titles are totally bizarre but also quite hilarious. The first book is Rise of the Balloon Goons book number 8 is Rumble of the Coaster Ghost and the most recent book is 11 entitled March of the Vanderpants. These books are short, easy to read and appeal to my sons sense of humor. He read them all really fast but being able to finish a book quickly actually helped him feel successful as a reader.
Little Sis bookworm (age 6)-
The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
This series of books is not one she can read completely independently but we really enjoy going through them together. She loves the idea of the princess being frilly and also mysterious heading out to defeat monsters that want to eat all of the goats in the kingdom.
Rainbow Magic
This is another series of books that is done by a collaboration of authors and there are about a million of them. My oldest daughter got in to these when she was 6 or 7 and so my youngest has easy access to them. They are simple chapter books with some illustrations and she just loves the fairies. It's one that we read together but it's a good way to start introducing chapter books.
I hope your family enjoys some of our favorites and please feel free to pass along some recommendations of your own! We are always looking for new books to read. Happy reading!
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