My Top Ten Favorite Books to Read Aloud
I’m so happy to share today my top 10 favorite books to read aloud! As a homeschooling mom of 8, I spend a lot of time reading aloud to my kids, and it’s probably my most favorite part of homeschooling!
I’ve read all of these books through at least once, and will happily read them all again as my kids grow– and then will hopefully read them to my grandkids as well!
Oh, and try out the audio books, too! I especially love hearing the accents for characters of certain books (British, Swiss, etc.), as well as the violin playing and singing in the Little House books!
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.
Little House on the Prairie series (all books) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Chronicles of Narnia (all books) by C.S. Lewis
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Anne of Green Gables (book 1, not the whole series) by L.M. Montgomery
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rascal by Sterling North
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
The Story of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
If you haven’t read these, but have seen the movies, remember: The book is always better!
Did I miss any of your favorites? Please share. I’d love to add to the list! And if you enjoy this post, please pin it!
Download some free Bookmarks for Books to Read Aloud
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- Morning Time Plans for Teens: A Year With Lewis & Tolkien
- Use Picture Books to Teach Music in Your Homeschool
I love the Little House series..I read them all as a child and have read all of them except the last one to my girls. (Haven’t gotten there yet!) Another great book that I came across is called “Joshua’s Song”. I can’t recall the author. A great story with some history about the “Great Mollasses Flood” in Boston, 1919.
Since I love historical fiction, I’ll definitely look at Joshua’s Song. Thanks for the recommendation, Leanne!
–Gena
I love to start with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
Snow Treasure!
I’ve never read Snow Treasure!
–Gena
Great list! I like to keep lists of our favorite read alouds as well. One of our favorites last year was The Hobbit. Right now we’re reading through Pinocchio – which is certainly different than the Disney movie version!
I’ve had Pinocchio on my to-read list for years, but still haven’t read it!
–Gena
Ooh I am a homeschool mom too! I am reading Charlotte’s Web out loud right now and it’s really good. I also love the Little House series! Great selections; going to pin this post.
I haven’t read Charlotte’s Web in a long time! It’s on my list this year.
–Gena
What a great collection of books. I am a huge fan of where the wild things are 🙂
I’m going to head over and read your breastfeeding post! 🙂
–Gena
We love Heidi! And we’re slowly making our way through the Little House series…we got stuck on Farmer Boy (I love it, but my daughter isn’t too interested). Great list!
On another note–I have the same theme as you, but my comments don’t look like yours and I’d like them to. Did you use a certain plug-in or is this the default?
We just finished Farmer Boy. My girls kept saying, “When can we read about Laura again?” 🙂
I use the Comment Luv plug-in. Let me know if you can’t find it, and I’ll look up the exact name.
–Gena
What a great list! We have read most of these, but will definitely be adding in the ones we haven’t.
It’s so wonderful to be reading aloud!
–Gena
Great list! As an ex-homeschooler (only one child of school age now and he’s decided on public-school this year) I love reading and your list covers some of the best books out there. My favorite was always the Narnia series, I still have them!
I’m going to check out your post “What does a social media manager do?
–Gena
I love reading and I can’t wait until my kids are old enough for chapter books. I loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a kid. For now we read picture books and my two favorites are Love is a Handful of Honey and Someday. Someday always makes me tear up in the end, even after 200 readings.
I love the “teary” ones–thanks for letting me know about “Someday!”
–Gena
What a great list! We also love “The Little Prince” and my favorites were Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka. What fun to read these classics aloud to your kids. I remember those days!
Thanks for those additions!
–Gena
I was going to say Where the Wild Things Are or Charlotte’s Web but those are already taken! For a young child I would recommend Dr. Seuss!
Oh, I LOVE Dr. Seuss!
–Gena
My kids are older now and I do miss reading to them. Very great selection of books!
If they’re still at home, you might try reading to them again. 🙂
–Gena
What a great post! I have read several of these books and especially love The Chronicles of Narnia series. I have two boys, ages 5 and 22 months and read to them often. Such a great time to share with your children. Thanks for sharing. I’m posting the link to my blog here too because there was an issue with it in the original list.
http://fearfullymademom.blogspot.com/2013/09/mess-or-masterpiece.html
You’ll have so much fun reading to them as they grow!
I’ll check out the corrected link.
–Gena
I read the Red River Series to my highschoolers one year. They were riveted! I enjoyed the books myself. It’s very important to read aloud to your kids.
I’ll have to check that out. I’ve never heard about it!
–Gena
I have never read any of the books on you list. I am just now, in my adult life, finding the time to read and find books I like to read.
It’s never too late! I never read any of these until I was an adult either. 🙂
–Gena
I love Black Beauty! Great list of books! I love reading to my girls.
Black Beauty is on our list for this year. I’ve never read it!
–Gena
Oh I love the books! We read all Little House books aloud, and The Bronze Bow (I was just looking for that book a few days ago!), and Anne of Green Gables…I miss reading aloud with my kids.
Maybe you can find a neighbor kid to read to!
–Gena
I agree with several of your choices. The Chronicles of Narnia are ones that I’m always reading to my kids. They love the series so we read them over and over.
I’m excited to start that one again as soon as we finish Little House!
–Gena
Ooohh I remember Heidi from when I was a child! I need to see about buying it for my daughter.
Oh, do. But be sure to get the unabridged version!
–Gena
Hi – I found you today through the TGIF Linky. These books are great – I’m always looking for some new reads (and tend to forget about the classics) – thank you!
The classics are usually wonderful.
–Gena
Wow, a mum of 8!! Now you really are a supermum!! It’s amazing that you spend so much time with them and read to them all. My boys are under 3 but I try to read to them every day, and hope that I have many more kids to come and that I will be as patient and as educational with them as you are.
Well done!
Leyla
http://www.motherhooddiaries.com
Oh my goodness–No I’m not supermom! I do love homeschooling them, though. 🙂 I hope you have many more kids to come, too!
–Gena
Five of those are on my list too. The rest I haven’t heard of but i will definitely be checking them out – thank you! Lucinda
You’re welcome!
–Gena
Oh MAN! I LOVE all of your choices! Good picks.
Thanks!
–Gena
This is a great post. I have some of the exact same copies of the classics you posted!!! I haven’t ever read Johhny Tremain, and will put that on the list to read with my son!
Thanks for sharing. These are some great books for both girls and boys!
Johnny Tremain is a great one to read with boys–deals with the American Revolution and with the sin of pride.
–Gena
Love this list of books, especially Little House and Anne of Green Gables. Can’t wait to start cuddling up with my kids and reading the novels that I loved as a kid.
It’s so fun!
–Gena
I loved the Little House on the Prairie and Heidi books as a young girl. They were some of my favorites. As an adult I think the The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit books are an excellent read and appeal to young and old readers alike.
Totally agree! These aren’t just books to read to kids.
–Gena
What a wonderful set of books. I remember reading Heidi as a chid. Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome!
–Gena
What a great list. I love Little House on the Prairie. My kids are adults but I use to read to them all the time. We would go to the library and they would pick out books from the children’s section. Great memories and lots of nice bonding time.
Fun memories at the library–we do that, too!
–Gena
The Little House series brings me back to my childhood. I loved the books and the series. I still re-read my Anne of Green Gables books as an adult. I love them so much. Another of my favorite books from when I was younger were The Borrowers series.
I’ve never heard of The Borrowers–will have to look into that!
–Gena
Love your list! I have to say Charlottes Web, Black Beauty, Little House were always my favoirte. My daughter loves the Junie B Jones and Ralph the Mouse. Thanks for the reminders of some awesome books to introduce to the kids.
I haven’t read Junie B Jones or Ralph the Mouse. Thanks for the ideas!
–Gena
Wow. This list took me back to my childhood. I loved most of those books and read them over and over. Now I will have to go to the library and check some out and relieve my youth. Thanks.
Yeah! Do it!
–Gena
I have read almost every one of these. Good choices!! I’d have to add, Black Beauty
OK–definitely adding Black Beauty to my read-aloud list for this year.
–Gena
Summer of the Monkeys was always a favorite of mine! I am currently working on introducing Bible Stories to my little one so they will be ingrained in her 🙂
I’ve never heard of Summer of the Monkeys. I should’ve added that before my husband and I read aloud each night (he to the older boys and me to the younger kids) we read a chapter or so of the Bible. We’ve read through many books of the Bible this way!
–Gena
Great list! We are reading through the Little House series right now. Honestly I’d like to take a break and read something else, but my son wants to keep reading! I think we are on book 4. Reading outloud (to him particularly, while my daughter naps) has truly become one of my favorite times of the day. I’m not familiar with all the books on your list, so I’ll keep them in mind when my son tires of Ma, Pa, Laura, Mary, and Carrie (or when we turn the last page of the last book and my son doesn’t want to start all over again)!
I think that The Sign of the Beaver or Dr. Dolittle would be good ones to read to the younger set.
–Gena
Great choices on all of these books! I also love Where the Wild Things Are and my mom used to always read us Goodnight Moon.
Oh, yes–Goodnight Moon!
–Gena
Little House on the Prairie was always my favorite. My kids are just getting into chapter books. They each read a book of their choosing each night, and then either me or my husband reads a chapter from a book that we all agree on. It’s really nice to snuggle and read together.
What a great technique! I love the switch-off idea!
–Gena
This is a great list of classics. I need to be better about reading to my children. They have “reading time” at night before bed, but it’s not me reading to them usually. I need to change that. Thanks for sharing this great list.
I highly encourage it!
–Gena
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. The last book I read aloud was the first Harry Potter book, and it was to my granddaughter. The little stinker could read, but liked to have me read to her. She would “sneak read” ahead, and we would have to continue where she left off. It made following the story very difficult for me. I loved the time I spent reading to my children and grandchildren. I am happy to say that I raised children who are still readers as adults, and they raised children who are still readers as adults. So worth it. Enjoy your time together
Funny story!
What a blessing that you’re kids are still readers! I pray that my kids will be as well!
–Gena
You and I share a love for many of the same stories. Have you ever read Five Little Peppers and How They Grew? If not, I highly recommend it!
I have read Five Little Peppers! What a precious story.
–Gena
Ah, I had forgotten about Farmer Boy! I still have my old copy somewhere.
We’ve just started reading Flat Stanley and we are going to Exchange Flat Travellers with other families. I can’t wait!
Other books we love are Little Critter, Berenstain Bears and Clifford. We love classical like Good Night Moon as well!
My correct website is http://themastersdaughter.Weebly.com
I need to read Flat Stanley! My niece from California did that with us last year. 🙂
–Gena
I love Little House and Anne of Green Gables to read aloud too. We are doing those in our homeschool this year. Reading aloud to my daughter has helped her so much. Great list!
We must think alike!
–Gena
Love this list! I can’t wait until mine are bigger and I can read more to them! Some of these are my favorites. One that my Mom read to my brother and I while growing up was “Where the Red Fern Grows”. I still remember sitting on the bed together reading!
Oh, yes, that’s a good one, too. But a tearjerker!
–Gena
I LOVED the Lara Ingalls Wilder books when I was younger. I wonder if they’d be as interesting to my boys… 🙂
You could try it and see!l–Gena
Narnia and the hobbit are excellent books to read out loud. I’m also doing the little passports travel and learn, here is the link: http://www.lush-fab-glam.com/2013/09/stylish-mommy-hood-tips-fun-activities.html
Sounds fun!
–Gena
Wow! You are such a good Mom! My kids love to read but I am a slacker on providing the classics. I know my boys would love Dr. Dolittle, I’m going to have to dig that one out. I haven’t read some of these, thanks for your great list! Reading is such a big part of our day, we should include some better stuff in there too 🙂
I love to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aloud. That’s the one i always recommend to beginners. One of my favorites is Snow treasure!
Thanks for those suggestions, Michelle, I’ve read Charlie but not Snow Treasure.
–Gena
Many of these are my favorites as well. But I just realized I’ve never read Heidi to my kids! I need to add that to our list. 🙂
Thank you for linking up.
It’s not on the list, but I think I’ll read The Secret Garden next. 🙂
–Gena