As a home-schooling family, reading aloud plays prominently into our family life on a daily basis. From the time our children are born, we begin reading to them. When they are very little it is just a book here and a book there as their attention span permits. As they grow, we slowly add in more intentional reading time. For example, once my children reach pre-school age (2 or 3) we have a settled morning time to sit and cuddle and read a few books. As they grow older, the books just get longer and so does the reading time.
What I have found is that because reading is such an essential part of our family culture, my children LOVE it! Sometimes, they will practically beg me to pick up our latest read aloud title. I could go on and on about the beautiful benefits I have seen reading aloud with my children. But for now, I will simply leave you with my four favorite read aloud series that we have read in the past 2ish years.
I hope these books help you fall in love with your read aloud time as much as we have! All the best!
Chronicles of Narnia
I was introduced to the Chronicles of Narnia several decades ago by my own mother (thanks, mom!). I can honestly say that this series is my all-time favorite read aloud to my children and I have read it more than once to them! Written by C.S. Lewis, this series transports the readers to a world where Aslan the Lion reigns and children are able to do unbelievable things! These books can be read to fairly young children all the way up through high school. They have so many layers of meaning yet with a simple enchanting story that even a 4 or 5-year-old can enjoy.
Green Ember Series
My kids and I discovered these books just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit and I am pretty sure it is what kept us sane at the beginning. Being able to escape into another world with compelling characters — rabbits who are fighting an epic battle between good and evil– brought unexpected joy to our life. S.D. Smith is a dad who wrote these stories for his kids and a cool guy to follow, check him out and keep up-to-date on his latest #RabbitsWithSwords. These titles are great for kids from around 4 and up through middle school.
Little House on the Prairie Books
The Little House on the Prairie series are another series that I have fallen in love with as I read them to my children. They follow the life of Laura Ingalls as she grows and travels all over the nascent United States searching for a place to truly call home. This series is fun because there are also some abridged illustrated versions of these books which are fun to use with young siblings. **I will offer a word of caution that in certain books in this series there are some derogatory comments made toward Native American characters. This provided a springboard for my children and I to discuss respect for all people.
Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea
This is another beautiful piece of literature that I read as a child that I was SO EXCITED to introduce to my children. In these stories, teenage orphan Anne is adopted by a loveable family and we watch her failures and foibles as she comes of age. I recommend reading the first two books to children around the age of 8-10 and waiting a bit longer for the later books in the series as they go more in-depth into Anne’s budding romances and married life, subjects which may be too advanced for that young of an age.
*Please note: The links included in this posts are affiliate links. However, I have personally read all these books and can wholeheartedly recommend them. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me with any questions or concerns.
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