This week, as part of Many Little Blessings and iHomeschoolNetwork.com 10 in 10 series, we are supposed to focus on our top 10 favorite read alouds. This was hard to narrow down. Greatly influenced by my mother, whose doctoral dissertation was based on her studies of parents reading to children, reading out loud to our children has been a lifetime pleasure. I also learned through experience that reading out loud is not just for little ones. I read to my high school classes when I was teaching and they looked forward to that time every day. I put together three “Top 10 favorite read alouds’ lists; one for younger children, one for older children, and one more for teens.
Our Favorite Read Alouds for Children
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
This is our absolute all-time favorite. Special book between my oldest and myself. I still get emotional reading it.
Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish, Blue Fish, and The Foot Book were all time favorites in our house. We love Dr. Seuss and each of us can probably recite several by heart.
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
This is such a fun story with a great lesson about keeping your temper.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday; and Alexander, Who’s Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move by Judith Viorst
We just simply really loved Alexander and his simple day-to day issues.
The Giving Tree by Sid Silverstein
Another great book that is hard to read without keeping the tissues handy. Wonderful story of unselfishness.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Classic bedtime story. If you have read this book to your children, bet you know the verses too.
The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes by Phyllis Krasilovsky
This is one of my personal favorites because I can so relate to hating to do dishes.
I think we have all of Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter Books. There seemed to always be the perfect title for every occasion.
Our Favorite Read Alouds for Older Children
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
This book was my childhood favorite is still a favorite in our house.
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
I remember this being read to me in grammar school and quickly became a favorite in our home.
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Who would not love to have donut making machine? Fun story.
Stuart Little by E. B. White
I was read this in elementary school and knew it was perfect read aloud to share with my own kids.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Being transported to Narnia through these books was a wonderful adventure for our family.
The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
We used this book in conjunction with our Bible study. Lots of excellent stories for all ages.
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Who can resist this classic tale of Dorothy and her adventures in Oz.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Reading this fun story helped ward of the whines of “I’m bored”.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The tales of Mole, Mr. Toad, Rat, and Badger were one of the first read alouds we did when we started
homeschooling.
The Little House Collection by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Even my son enjoyed all of these books about pioneer life.
Our Favorite Read Alouds for Teens
Little Women, Little Men, Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott is one of my favorite authors and we have read all of these together.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
We love this author’s style but both of these have found their ways into our read aloud hearts.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A favorite classic Christmas tale for kids of all ages.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
My children were quite found of horses, so this was a great book to add to our read alouds.
Amazing Journeys: Five Visionary Classics -a collection of stories by Jules Verne
We totally love Jules Verne. A thinking man before his time for sure.
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
This is a timeless tale of the wages of war.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
This is a powerful story of dealing with fear and growing up in difficult circumstances.
Left Behind: The Kids series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
I had read all of these to my high school class when I was teaching. The students looked forward to it every day and would not let me get away with missing a day.
The Call of the Wild, White Fang and “To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Jack London’s tales of the Yukon had my son wanting to read more.
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
This adventure story of honor, loyalty, and rivalry kept our attention to the end.
What are some of your favorite books that you have read aloud to your family?
(Please note that the images have affiliate links to Amazon. You don’t pay anything extra if you purchase from them, but it could help us make some extra money to purchase new books for school and is greatly appreciated.)
I love that you have lists for different age groups; very helpful. I am not one who cries easily, but Love You Forever gets me every time I read it!
Oh wow a top ten for different age groups ! Thank you so much.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
PS this one is definately going on my pinterest to revisit.
Thanks for compiling this great list! I recognized (and love) some of the books but hadn’t heard of others. I definitely need to add some of these to our “to read” list!
Wowee-Zowee! You did a lot of great work there, Mama! I love the lists- they will benefit my family greatly in the future, I’m sure…
Great books! Many of our favorites, but some we haven’t read yet. I love that you made 3 lists. I’m going to pin this so I won’t forget them!
For our little guy, a favorite readalong is “Boy of Mine” – he and I just read that one tonight (along with Goodnight Moon)
I had never heard of “Boy of Mine”. I will definitely look at that one (and the other “Girl of Mine”) the next time I am at the library or book store for my future grandchildren. Thanks for sharing that title.
Yep. It starts off “Hello. Howdy do. Tiny prince of peekaboo. Bouncing bundle of bubbly joy, I’m so glad that you’re my boy.” and continues from there.