Books

My girls listen to audiobooks pretty regularly. Some listen when they are falling asleep at night (always to the same story, so it doesn’t keep them up waiting to find out what happens next). They also listen if we have rest time or when they are cleaning their rooms or sometimes just hanging out. We also started listening to them in the car on longer drives. Our daily short distance drives are usually reserved for podcasts or music. I’ve made a list of some of the ones we listen to on repeat and have all enjoyed as a family.

1. Henry Huggins — We listened to this last year on the way to and from Niagara Falls and we all loved it, especially the ones that are read by Neil Patrick Harris. I don’t know that Matt or I had ever read the Henry Huggins books and we enjoyed them just as much as the kids. While we initially borrowed it from the library, we now own it so we can listen to it again and again. You can purchase the whole collection together from audible.

2. Ramona Quimby — This is another collection of all of the Ramona books and the girls listen to this over and over again. We started listening to it on the drive home from Niagara last year and have continued to listen to bits and pieces on other drives this year.

3. Molly, the American Girl — While we own almost all of the American Girl books and audiobooks, Molly is by the far the most popular in our house. Felicity listens to it every night before bed and always is asking questions about the story. It has definitely taught them some history as well as their favorite “I see London, I see France, I see Ricky’s underpants.”

4. Pippi Longstocking — We all love Pippi and all of her antics. We have read the chapter books aloud (although I don’t think Felicity remembers them) and watched the 1980s version of the movie. The audiobook is great and it’s a favorite around here. My only request is that they make the rest of the Pippi stories available on audio!

5. Anna Hibiscus — Anna Hibiscus is another favorite book around here, both as a read-aloud and an audiobook. Anna lives in Africa, amazing Africa and experiences live with a loud, large African multi-generational family all living together.

6. Beverly Cleary Audio Collection — Can you tell we are Beverly Cleary fans? This collection has most of her other books that aren’t part of a full series. The girls favorite is probably Mitch and Amy, but they listen to a variety of them.

Do you listen to audiobooks? I always check our library system to see if they are available and borrow from there first. If there is an especially good audible sale then I might buy before listening. We signed up for a free audible subscription just to get Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby since they are pricey and not often on sale.

What are your favorite audiobooks to listen to as a family?

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It’s time for another summer reading list, this time the 7 year old version. Beatrice is a strong reader, but doesn’t read nearly as much as her sisters. She would rather be playing with her younger sister. She also really enjoys being read aloud to. She also enjoys reading picture books to her younger sister.

1. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – This is a newly published book. We first borrowed it from the library, but she loved it so much we decided to purchase it. It has lovely illustrations to go with each Mr. Rogers’ poem.

2. Weird School – The other two girls have loved these books as well. There are tons in the series and the titles always rhyme, such Miss Daisy is Crazy and Mr. Sunny is Funny.

3. Mercy Watson – A cute pig who becomes like a child to Mr. and Mrs. Watson. He is always up to something funny. These books have lots of pictures, which Beatrice always loves.

4. Princess in Black – The princess in black is a regular princess who sneaks out a trap door, puts on her disguise, and goes rescue someone.

5. Be Quiet – This is a picture book we recently discovered and fell in love with. The first time Matt and I both read it we were both laughing out loud, along with the kids. It’s definitely a keeper and one we added to our home library.

6. Mr. Putter & Tabby – Mr. Putter and his favorite friendly cat, Tabby, are a fun beginning reader book. They have pictures, but longer passages of text.

7. Bird & Squirrel – These are a series of short graphic novel about a scaredy squirrel and a bird who doesn’t have a care in the world. These are relatively short, but she enjoys them.

8. Kylie Jean – Kylie Jean is a newish series about a little girl who lives in Texas and wants to be the queen of everything. She learns lots of lessons along the way. Beatrice has read a few of these so far and just picked up Summer Camp Queen today.

9. Dog Man — Eloise really loved these books and now Beatrice has been reading them over and over. They are a graphic novel series by the author of Captain Underpants.

What are your 7 year olds favorite books?

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Last year we made summer reading lists of some of the girls’ favorite books, and this year we have some new lists. Next up is Felicity’s list. Felicity just finished up preschool and is a non reader. She doesn’t really have the attention span for chapter books yet, although we will try again this summer, so it’s lots of favorite picture books on her list. Here is her list from last year if you are looking for some other books in the 4-5 year old range.

1. Hula Hoop Queen – This has been a favorite of just about every member of the family for a while around here. After checking it out of the library several times, we purchased it. Kameeka loves to hoop with her friends and hopes to become the hula hoop queen of her block, but first she must help her mom prepare for a party.

2. Charlotte the Scientist – Charlotte is tired of being squished in between all of these siblings. She just wants her own space. After an experiment, she learns that maybe she does like being squish, but just needs a break sometimes.

3. Lola Dutch – Lola Dutch is just a little too much. She is full of big ideas and has her friend Bear along for the ride.

4. Wordy Birdy – Wordy Birdy talks A LOT, and sometimes that gets him into trouble, but as we see in the second book, sometimes talking all the time can be a good thing.

5. Mother Bruce – Both Beatrice and Felicity wanted Be Quiet on their list, but I was able to convince Felicity to add some of Ryan T. Higgins other books, which are just as loved here. Mother Bruce (and the other books in the collection) is about a Bear who suddenly becomes a mother to some baby geese. No matter how hard he tries, they just won’t leave him alone.

6. Hello Lighthouse – This was the Caldecott winner this year and it is just so lovely. The pictures are beautiful and we love the story of a lighthouse keeper and his family.

7. The Bear’s Song – There are several books in this series as well and Felicity loves them all. One they are oversized books, which is always fun. Two, you have to find the bear on each page and sometimes he is quite hard to find. We have checked these out from the library several times.

8. Storm Whale in winter – This is the second book in the series, but the first we read and it’s a lovely story about a whale who rescues a boy out at sea. I love the illustrations!

9. Dandy – Dandy is the story of a dandelion that is very loved by a little girl, but not so much by her father, who is after the perfect lawn. This is a great book for dads and about a dad’s love for his children.

10. Lambslide – This books has lovely illustrations by Robin Preiss Glassner, who also illustrates Fancy Nancy, so the illustrations are of course beautiful and detailed. A little lamb learns how to go about convincing his farmers to build a lambslide.

Do you have other books to recommend for 5 year olds?

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Last year we made summer reading lists of some of the girls’ favorite books, and this year we have some new lists. Next up is Eloise’s list. Eloise is finishing up 3rd grade and is a voracious reader. There is no way I can keep up with her. She tends to enjoy more fiction than anything and mostly will chose different books from her sister. Most often if I suggest something she isn’t that interested and many of the things she loves aren’t my cup of tea. But I mostly let her pick what she wants to read. Here is her list from last year if you are looking for some other books in the 8-9 year old range.

1. Series of Unfortunate Events – Greta started this series but didn’t stick with it because it got too scary, but Eloise has loved it. She is on book 11 of 13. Matt describes it as being pretty dark at times. Three orphans are trying to figure out how their parents died, but they often run into bad luck.

2. Cupcake Club – In the first book a Cupcake Club is created at school and each subsequent book focuses on one club member and some problem they are dealing with. I think there are 11 books in this series.

3. Land of Stories – Greta has this on her list as well. I will say that I bought the first book in the series years ago for Greta and she wasn’t interested in it. Then I suggested it to Eloise this year and she loved it (she tends to love fairy tale type stories), so then Greta had to try it.

4. Whatever After – Siblings have a magic mirror that transports them into fairy tale lands, but they accidentally mess up the story. There are 13 books in this series so far.

5. Who Was – These are biographies that are very popular with younger grades. I love that they are making biographies to accessible and enjoyable for kids.

6. Thea & Geronimo Stilton – This was on her list last year as well and she still loves them and continues to read any new ones our library gets in (there are tons of books in this series). We will also be visiting other libraries in our county system this year and I’m sure she will grab more.

7. Weird but True – These are books by National Geographic that contain tons of pictures and facts. Both the older two love these books and spouting off endless random facts to us.

8. The Critter Club – A couple of girls who love animals and save animals and help them get back to health.

9. Big Nate – A hilarious series about a middle school kid who gets lots of detentions.

10. Because of Winn Dixie – Everything changes for 10 year old Opal when she meets Winn Dixie (a dog). Eloise recently joined a book club and this was the first book she read. It had been sitting on our shelves for years and she never picked it up, so I’m glad that she was encouraged to read it.

Do you have other books to recommend for 9 year olds?

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Last year we made summer reading lists of some of the girls’ favorite books, and this year we have some new lists. First up is Greta’s list. Greta is finishing up 5th grade and is a voracious reader. There is no way I can keep up with her. She likes a variety of books, including books above her grade level and below. Any good story will do! Here is her list from last year if you are looking for some other books in the 10-11 year old range.

1. Chasing Vermeer – Petra and Calder try to solve a mystery without getting killed. Greta loved the codes and clues in the pictures in the book.

2. Land of Stories – A set of twins falls into a fairy tale world and has to defeat the evil there. This is a six book series and each book is pretty sizable.

3. The Sports Beat – Two kids are chosen as winners of a sports writing contest and get to solve sports mysteries.

4. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales – Graphic novels about history told by Nathan Hale. These books bring history to life in an exciting and sometimes humorous way.

5. Sisters 8 – Eight year old octuplet ‘orphans’ use their powers that they gain throughout the series to get their parents back safely. This is an eight book series.

6. Click – Graphic novel about a girl who does not know where she belongs in the talent show.

7. Zlata’s Diary/ Anne Frank – Both girls grow up during a war and keep a diary, so they are similar, but one takes place in the 1990s and one in the 1940s.

8. Cilla Lee Jenkins – A girl who wants to be a writer details her experience at school. This is so far a three book series, but Greta thinks there will be more.

9. Mr. Lemoncello – Mr. Lemoncello is an eccentric inventor who creates a library for kids in his hometown. Kids get invited to the library to play games that Mr. Lemoncello has invented. So far this is a four book series.

10. Nick & Tesla – Twins are sent to live with their eccentric inventor uncle. They solve science related mysteries. This is a six book series.

11. Ban this Book – A shy girl speaks up and forms a secret banned book library when her favorite book is banned from the school library.

Any recommendations for her to try? What do your 11 year olds love to read?

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Eloise is 8 and also loves reading, at least we are doing something right. She reads quite a bit and has just recently finished her first 400+ page book. She was super excited about it. Here are some of her recommendations for your summer reading.

1. Ramona – Everyone loves Ramona, she’s spunky, funny and sometimes a pest. I just noticed that the final book in the series wasn’t published until 1999, which I definitely didn’t read it. I might need to add it to my summer reading list.

2. Ada Lace – Ada is a new series that we just got from the library recently, the first two anyways. We also just won them from The Mighty Girl website, but haven’t received them yet. Both Greta and Eloise loved them. Ada is a girl who loves science, math and solving mysteries.

3. My Weird School – Again another series that Greta loved and Eloise is currently loving. There are so many of these books, and I never can remember which ones we own and which ones they have read. They are all funny and based on the Ella Mentry School.

4. Bailey School Kids – Another big series, over 80 books in this one! In each book the students encounter a regular person who might be a mythical being.

5. Katie Kazoo (also George Brown and Project Droid also by Nancy Krulik) – Katie Kazoo has long been a favorite around here. Katie switches between herself and another character in each book, leading to funny antics. In the past year I looked up the author of Katie Kazoo and learned she had some other early chapter book series and so off we went to the library. George Brown, class clown and Project Droid were both a hit.

6. Who was books – I’m sure you have seen these books in every store around. They are biography books about different famous people, everyone from Jesus to Princess Diana and everyone in between. There are also What Is books and Where Is books. Lots of topics to interest lots of kids.

7. Heidi Heckelbeck – Heidi Heckelbeck is a witch trying to be a normal girl. These might be better for a slightly younger reader, they have lots of illustrations and fairly large print. Looking on amazon I realized there are several new ones that we haven’t read, off to the library request list.

8. Dog Man – Eloise got these graphic novels for her birthday. They are written by the author of Captain Underpants, which she has also enjoyed. Dog Man is part dog, part human and loves to seek justice.

9. Cam Jansen – Cam Jansen is also better for a slightly younger reader, but Eloise still enjoys them. Both of the older girls tend to read a wide range of reading level books, everything from picture books, to beginning chapter books, to longer chapter books. Cam is another spunky girl (lots of spunky girl books here) who likes to have fun and solve mysteries along the way.

10. And some repeats from her sisters’ list – Thea Stilton and Compass South – Greta added both of these to her list, but Eloise wanted them on as well, so here they are. Thea Stilton goes on adventures around the globe and Compass South is about two pirates traveling the world.

Have you read any of these? Have anything else to recommend?

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Beatrice is 6, finishing up kindergarten and reading beginning reading books that contain lots of site words and words that are fairly easy to sound out. She really loves reading and is excited to try her first chapter book over the summer. Here are some of her favorite beginning reader books. All of these books are series of books, so there are numerous options by the same author.

1. Ling & Ting – Twin girls who are up to some silly antics.

2. Mia – These books are about a dancing cat. Nothing super special here, but the girls love them, and I don’t mind them.

3. Fancy Nancy – I love Fancy Nancy, the illustrations are always so fun. There are a whole bunch of beginning reader books that tackle everything from field trips, the 100th day of school, the tooth fairy, etc.

4. Piggie & Elephant – I still remember buying our first Piggie and Elephant book when I was pregnant with Eloise. I immediately fell in love with them and we have ended up owning every single book. They are great for all ages to listen to, but they are also great for beginning readers to try and read on their own. Piggie and Elephant books are also one of my go-to gifts for preschoolers.

5. Dr. Suess – The classic beginning to read books! I know there are those who really can’t stand Dr. Suess books, but I think they are great, with all the rhyming and funny made up words. It’s great for sounding out and they have been some of Eloise and Beatrice’s favorite books to start reading with.

6. Biscuit – In Beatrice’s class the kids can bring in books to read to the class. In the beginning of the year several kids were bringing in Biscuit books and she was dying to read some of them as well. So Biscuit it is. Biscuit is a cute little dog with some silly antics.

7. Andy & Sandy – These books are by the great Tomie dePaola, who we LOVE. These are super, super easy books to start with, most has just 3-6 words per page. They are cute, simple, and come in wonderful hardcovers like Piggie and Elephant.

8. Penny – Another author I’ve loved for a long while is Kevin Henkes. In fact about 5 years ago we met him in person! In addition to his beautiful pictures books, he also has a set of books for beginning readers.

9. Pete the Cat – Pete the Cat is great because in addition to the longer picture books with songs (available on their website), they also make beginning reader books in a whole slew of topics. Pete always seems to be doing the right thing and rescuing someone.

10. Little Bear – I remember reading Little Bear books when I was a child. They are so sweet and a little silly as well, just some very classic early readers.

Do you have any other favorites for a 6 year old beginning reader?

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Here are a few of the books Felicity would like to recommend to you for your summer reading. Felicity is 4 years old and loves being read to. I’ll add that these are books we both agreed to put on the list because if I let her completely choose, it would be full of Dora, Princess, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, etc. Since most everyone has heard of those books we tried to add some less familiar books (and books I, as the parent really enjoy reading as well).

1. Anna Hibiscus Double Trouble – We love the Anna Hibiscus beginning chapter books, and so we went ahead and bought the picture book as well. Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa and this is the story of her two brothers being born. Both the chapter and picture books aren’t available at our library, so we did decide to splurge on them after so many recommendations for them. They are definitely worth the investment and are wonderful stories about a family growing up in Africa.

2. Hattie & Hudson – This was on our list last week, but since we just added it to our personal library, we have been reading it quite a lot. Felicity loves it!

3. No More Monsters for Me – This is a recent favorite. It’s also a great beginning reader book as the words are pretty simple, minus the main character’s name, Minneapolis Simpkin.

4. The Giant Jumperee – Everyone here loves this book about a little bitty frog scaring everyone, including an elephant, bear, and cat.

5. The Snatchabook – This poor little guy just wants someone to read him a story. He doesn’t go about it in the best way, but makes it up to everyone in the end.

6. Mostly Monsterly – This has been a favorite around here for years. Bernadette is a very sweet monster who goes to monster school and doesn’t quite fit it, but she learns to be true to herself, even if it means being different.

7. Minerva Louise – Minerva Louise is a silly chicken who always takes things very literally, kind of like Amelia Bedelia. We have several of her books and they are all equally silly. Many of these are hard to find, but if you do find them they are worth it!

8. Piggies – Another book that has been a favorite for years. We have the paperback version and it’s definitely seen better days.

9. Take Me Home Country Roads – All of the girls loved picture books that are songs, especially ones that we know, anything from the itsy bitsy spider, to Take Me Home Country Roads. There are several John Denver songs turned into books with beautiful illustrations and we love them all.

10. You are My Cupcake – This is a super simple board book probably more appropriate for a baby or toddler, but Felicity still regularly picks it out to read. It’s full of cute sayings like you are my cupcake, my sticky little gumdrop.

Have you read any of these? Do you have any to add?

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I love hearing what books kids recommend other kids their age read, so I asked my kids. I’ll do a separate post for each of them. We all know that summer reading is a must, either for school or just for fun. All of these titles don’t necessarily have anything to do with summer, but they are favorites that my kids want to share with you.

Greta just turned 10, is a voracious reader and these are her recommendations.

1. Amal Unbounded – Greta just got this for her birthday and read it this week during exams. Amal becomes a servant to help repay her family’s debt. It’s the story of a brave girl who tries to out herself from a negative situation.

2. Compass South – This is a graphic novel Greta picked out at the library, and apparently it’s so great she wants to recommend it. Twins are trying to get away from pirates as they travel from place to place. There is a second book as well, that we are hoping to get from the library soon.

3. Anne of Green Gables – Does Anne need any explanation?

4. Hans Brinker (Great Illustrated Classics) – A boy and a girl work together to solve two problems.

5. Unicef books Children Just Like Me, Celebrations, A Life Like Me, A School Like Me. – Greta has loved these books for years. They show children all over the world living their life. There are detailed descriptions and bright colorful pictures. These are great for many ages, but she is the one who loves them the most in our house.

6. St. Clare’s & Malory Towers – These are hard to find in the USA. Our library doesn’t have any books by Enid Blyton, but I had read many good reviews and recommendations for them, so we took a chance and purchased them (one set at a time), and Greta fell in love with them. She describes them as boarding school girls playing hilarious tricks on their teachers.

7. Geronimo Stilton (Adventures in the Kingdom in Fantasy) & Thea Stilton – At this stage Greta prefers the longer Geronimo Stilton books, which are called Adventures in the Kingdom in Fantasy and she still enjoys the Thea Stilton books because they travel the world on their adventures.

8. Mandy & The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles – Both of these are by Julie Andrews, yes, that Julie Andrews. Did you know she wrote books too? And really great ones at that, what can’t she do!?! I read Mandy out loud to everyone last year and they all loved it. It’s a book that I had tried to get Greta to read many times before, but she said it looked boring. Alas, when I started reading it out loud to her sisters, she immediately got sucked in and loved it just as much as they did. The same thing happened with The Last of the Really Greta Whangdoodles, except her teacher read it aloud to the class this year. Even though her class just finished reading aloud she read ahead many months ago to find out what happened.

9. Little House – As with Anne, do these need any explanation? We need to try and read them aloud again here. I think Greta is the only one who I’ve read them all to. I’ve started a few other times with the others but they weren’t as interested or too young at the time.

10. Gooney Bird Greene – Gooney Bird Greene is written by Lois Lowry, which I previously thought of only as the author of Number the Stars. This is nothing like that, but equally good. Gooney Bird is a silly girl who gets into mischief, she is very lovable. Eloise loves these books as well.

11. The Watsons go to Birmingham – Greta read this for Reading Olympics this year. This takes place during the Civil Rights movement and the Watsons are in Birmingham when their grandmother’s church is blown up.

12. Anything by Andrew Clements – Greta has long been a fan of Andrew Clements. Eloise has just started to get into his books. He writes silly stories often about school. The most famous of his books is Frindle about a boy who decides to start calling pens, frindles.

Have you read any of these? Do you have any to add?

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