There are so many cool books for this age that it's hard to fit in the classics.
Here are the top 12 books that we either paid full price for the next in the series because it was so good (Wildlore), or it jump started our desire to read alone (Guts and the Baby Sitter graphic novels). Graphic Novels are still a favorite, Connect the Stars, Hello Universe, Wish, El Deafo, Middle School is the Worst, and Beyond the Bright Sea were good fictional growing up stories. When You Trap A Tiger and The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl were inventive and engaging. The kind of books you wish were a series! |
These are books that kids can listen to but might not be ready to read alone. Top 12 books we read together.
Most of the books cover heavy stuff and reading them together allowed us to discuss issues that might otherwise have been missed or misunderstood. Disclaimer: Mom is a crier. Mom will cry when reading sad book parts. There was a lot of throat clearing and kleenex! Katherine Applegate and Kate DiCamillo are reliably great. Each one of these books are memorable and wonderfully written. |
These books helped us understand why we were working so hard in ELA.
Almost all of these selections are series. We found that series are a great way to keep the reading train going. Kate DiCamillo is all over these lists because she's great. When all else fails, read her books together. Owl Diaries and Boris are excellent Kindergarten readers. We enjoyed the early science readers because knowing animal names helped us feel super smart. You can never go wrong with Magic Treehouse, which mixes science and make-believe. George and Martha books are hilarious!! So is anything by Mac Barnett. |
The top 12 books that we all still read!
Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett (he's repped in the I Can Read books, but Circle, Triangle, and Square books are hilarious!) are the funniest kid authors we've read. The simplicity of the books coupled with straight faced characters delivering lines make bedtime fun. Julia Donaldson has enjoyable rhyming books that were an obsession for little ones in our house. Andrea Beatty's rhyming books are smart and also fun to read. Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site was a fan favorite with the boys, and mom was won over when we saw them live. Oliver Jeffers is unique and all his books have unexpected stories and messages. The illustrations are engaging too. The Mitten is also unique and beautiful. The Rabbit Listened and Strictly No Elelphants were fan favorites whose messages hit home. Mom is a fixer not a listener, so somepeople wanted mom to read it a lot. She's working on it. Mae Jemison was a great one for girls needing to see women in science. Grumpy Monkey helped after nap. |