Reading List for Children

My friend Marni has inspired me with a post she wrote called:

Books We Have Read With the Kids

We have been sporadic over the years with reading and so I can't remember all the titles we have read. One thing we have been doing lately is to pick a topic and research it. Recently we've looked at snowflakes (see Snowflake Bentley--we found out that there is a Field Guide for Snowflakes, how cool is that?). I might read a picture book and then check out more books for their perusal. Another idea we are working on this year is religion. That one will be more detailed and more discussion oriented. We did a little study of "The Pied Piper" due to a reference to it in one of the "Anne of Green Gables" series. We read the actual poem, watched a couple of movies and studied the origins of it.

Recently, I've started being more consistent with nightly reading, so we have a small list of titles that we've gotten through. I try to read a picture book for Sariah so that if she can't sit through the chapters, she can give a kiss and a hug and head up to bed.

Here's our list:

Read Aloud:

James and the Giant Peach

The Endless Steppe

The Little Princess

The Fledgling

1-4 of the Narnia series

My Father’s Dragon

Elmer and the Dragon

The Dragons of Blueland

Tom's Midnight Garden

Mandy

The 100 Dresses

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Fablehaven

Listened to:

Harry Potter 1, 3

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Avonlea

Anne of the Island

Anne of Windy Poplars

Rainbow Valley

Rilla of Ingleside

Room One: A Mystery or Two

Several Junie B. Jones books

Our current list of hopefuls:

The Candy Shop War
Our two missing "Anne" titles
Way to Be! (Gordon B. Hinckley)
Princess Academy


Oprah has a reading list for kids that you can check out here. Looks pretty good from what I can see. I haven't used it before, but I will go back.

Kind of as a side note, but not less important, is our family scripture study which we hold nearly nightly. To date we have read the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of St Matthew; currently we are in St. Mark.

I also think that picture books are really important; even Nathan still likes to read them. For Nathan and May it's still nice to sit down for a quick read and these are often the type that send us into a research spin. Sariah loves to go to the library and pick up several of the new books that are sitting out. A fun one that we recently is "When a Monster is Born." I would probably never have found it on the shelf, I love that the library sets out books. Elijah is in that tricky stage between picture books and chapter books. Any recommendations for him?

I used this list for picture books about a year ago. 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know. We read some aloud and others were just available for the kids to read. It comes from the New York Public Library. They have a wonderful site and lots of lists.

What are your favorites?