MAMA RUCH’S BOOK LIST
Compiled by Katherine Ruch
(and her children)
not exhaustive, growing
longer as you read
(B): Primarily of interest to boys
(G): Primarily of interest to girls
Otherwise, most likely of interest to both
Levels of enjoyment (not necessarily reading levels)
L1: Level 1: Approximately ages 2-5
L2: Level 2: Approximately ages 4-7
L3: Level 3: Approximately ages 7-10
L4: Level 4: Approximately ages 10 and up
PICTURE
BOOKS
A
Alsburg, Chris Van
The
Wretched Stone (L2 and up)
Anno, Mitsumasa
Anno’s
Journey (There are several Anno books. Most are wordless and the reader
has to find Anno in various
landscapes—very fun even for young
children) (L1 & L2)
Ardizonne, Edward
The
Tim series (mostly B) (L2)
Tim
and Ginger
Ship
Cook’s Ginger
Tim
and Charlotte
Tim
to the Rescue
…and
more
Armstrong, Jennifer
Pockets (L2)
B
Barker, Cicely Mary
The
Lord of the Rushie River (L2 & L3)
Barklem, Jill
The
Brambly Hedge series (the illustrations are exquisite) (mostly G) (L2 & L3)
Poppy’s
Babies
Summer
Story
Sea
Story
Autumn
Story
The
Secret Staircase
Children
of the Forest
Winter
Story
The
High Hills
Spring
Story
Bernadette
Varenka
(a Russian story of a delayed answer to prayer and the miracle that results)(L2 and up)
Beskow, Elsa (all I’ve read of hers are great) (L1 & L2)
Pelle’s
New Suit
Peter’s
Old House
Bishop, Jennie
(These books are about preserving purity) (L2)
The
Princess and the Kiss
The
Squire and the Scroll
Bolton, Michael
The
Secret of the Lost Kingdom (L2)
Brett, Jan
A
Christmas Treasury (this includes most of her great stories with their
gorgeous,
lush illustrations; you can easily find many of her
individual books.) (L1 & L2)
Brisley, Joyce Lankester (L2)
Milly-Molly-Mandy
and sequels (G)
Brown, Margaret Wise (L1)
The
Little Fur Family (a house favorite)
Brumbeau, Jeff
The
Quiltmaker’s Gift (phenomenal
illustrations) (L1 & L2)
Bunting, Eve
One
Candle (a Hanukkah story—very moving) (L2 & L3)
C
Cannon, Janell (L1 & L2)
Verdi
Stellaluna
Caudill, Rebecca
A
Certain Small Shepherd (Christmas) (L2 & L3)
Caseley, Judith
Mama
Coming and Going (L1)
Celenza, Anna Harwell
Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue (C.D. incl.) (L3 & L4)
Collington, Peter
A
Small Miracle (wordless Christmas story—a family favorite) (ALL)
Cooney, Barbara
Miss
Rumphius (L 2 & L3)
Eleanor
(about Eleanor Roosevelt’s life) (L2 & L3)
Basket
Moon (L1)
Craft, Charlotte
King
Midas and the Golden Touch (L2)
Cullen, Lynn
The
Mightiest Heart (L2 & L3)
D
Deedy, Carmen Agra
The
Yellow Star (L2 & L3)
DePaola, Tomie
(many Christian themes and saints’stories; great illustrator;
a few
suggestions:) (L1 & L2)
The
Clown of God
Pascual
and the Kitchen Angels
The
Holy Twins
Patrick,
Patron Saint of Ireland
The
Night of Las Posadas (Christmas)
DeRico, Ul
The
Rainbow Goblins (L1 & L2)
E
Early, Margaret
Robin
Hood (medieval looking illustrations—one plate per story) (L2 & L3)
Everett, Gwen
John
Brown: One Man Against Slavery (L2)
F
Fair, Sylvia
The
Bedspread (G) (L2)
Field, Rachel
Hitty
(I like the one rewritten by Rosemary Wells and illus. by Susan Jeffers—a
cross betw. a
picture book and a chapter book—lovely, full page illustrations)
(G) (L2 & L3)
G
Gilman, Phoebe
Something
From Nothing (L1)
Gruelle, Johnny
Raggedy
Ann and Raggedy Andy series (L2)
Wooden
Willie (a little known one, but a family favorite) (L2 & L3)
The Paper Dragon (L2 & L3)
Guarnieri, Paolo
A
Boy Named Giotto (L2 & L3)
H
Haas, Irene
The
Maggie B (L1 & L2)
Hall, Donald
The
Ox-Cart Man (L1)
Herriot, James
A
Treasury for Children (great
retellings from his veterinarian books) (L2-L4)
Hest, Amy
When
Jessie Came Across the Sea (L2 & L3)
Hissey, Jane
Little
Bear’s Trousers (L1)
Hoban, Russell
The
Frances books (mostly L1)
Hobbie, Holly (The Toot and Puddle series is good,
but these are our favorites)(L1 & L2)
Toot
and Puddle
Wish
You Were Here
Hodges, Margaret (great retellings of many stories) (L2
& L3)
Merlin
and the Making of the King
The
Kitchen Knight
Saint
George and the Dragon
Houselander, Caryll
Petook,
an Easter Story (illus. by Tomie dePaola) (L2)
Hyman, Trina Schart (mostly an amazing illustrator) (L2)
Retellings
of Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood
Hughes, Shirley (a house favorite—author and illustrator)
(L1 & L2)
All
About Alfie (This is a compilation of Alfie stories. They also are published
individually as Alfie Gets in First,
Alfie’s Feet, Alfie Gives a Hand, and
An Evening With Alfie or
individual stories)
Dogger (had to read this one every night for weeks)
Alfie
Wins a Prize
The
Big Alfie Out of Doors Storybook
The
Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook
Tales
of Trotter Street
Alfie
and the Birthday Surprise
I
Iwamura, Kazuo
(for young children—cozy family stories and illustrations) (L1)
The
14 Forest Mice and the Summer Laundry Day
The
14 Forest Mice and the Spring Meadow Picnic
The
14 Forest Mice and the Winter Sledding Day
J
Johnson, Crockett
Harold
and the Purple Crayon (L1)
Johnston, Tony
Yonder
(L1)
K
Kellogg, Steven
Paul
Bunyan (B)(L1 & L2)
Mike
Fink (B) (L1 & L2)
Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey
The
Bear That Heard Crying (based on a true story about Sarah Witcher) (L2)
Krauss, Ruth
A
Hole is to Dig (L1)
L
Lasker, Joe
A
Tournament of Knights (L1 & L2)
Lindman, Maj (L2)
Flicka,
Ricka, Dicka (and all the different stories)
Snip,
Snap, Snurr (and all the different stories)
Lunge-Larsen, Lise
The
Race of the Birkebeiners (L2 & L3)
M
Mayer, Marianna
Beauty
and the Beast (beautiful illustrations) (L2)
MacLachlan, Patricia (I find her books painfully beautiful)
All
the Places to Love (L2)
Through
Grandpa’s Eyes (L2)
Mazer, Anne
Salamander
Room (B)(L1)
McClintock, Barbara
Dahlia
(L2)
McCloskey, Robert (L1 & L2)
Lentil
Make
Way for Ducklings
One
Morning in Maine
Blueberries
for Sal
McLerran, Alice
Roxaboxen
(L2)
Meisel, Paul
Zara’s
Hats (L2)
Mills, Lauren
The
Rag Coat (L2)
N
Nesbit, E.
The
Book of Beasts (B) (L2)
Northcote, Nancy
Pottle
Pig (hilarious stories with
great illus. about a very mischievous pig) (L2)
O
O’Connor, Sandra Day
Finding
Susie (L2)
Oram, Hiawyn
Badger’s
Bring Something Party (L1 &L2)
P
Paterson, Katherine
The
Angel and the Donkey ( a
wonderful, beautifully illustrated retelling of the
story of Balaam and his donkey) (L2)
Peet, Bill
Capyboppy
(L2)
Chester,
the Worldly Pig (L1)
Philbrick, Margaret (All)
Back
to the Manger (lovely Christmas story with great local references &
illus.)
Phillips, Mildred
The
Sign in Mendel’s Window (L2)
Potter, Beatrix (try getting the very small books as she
published them) (L2)
Peter
Rabbit
all her other books
Polacco, Patricia
(great current children’s author who illustrates her own books; appeals
to a broad range of children;
celebrates family, miracle, and heritage.
I do not like all of her books because they express attitudes or moral
choices with which I disagree, but the ones listed below are excellent.) (L2,
unless otherwise noted; enjoyed by
all)
Uncle
Vova’s Tree (an
Epiphany story)
The
Trees of the Dancing Goats
Betty Doll (G)
The
Keeping Quilt
Thunder
Cake
Rechenka’s
Eggs
Just
Plain and Fancy
Chicken
Sunday
Thank
you, Mr. Falker
The
Christmas Tapestry (an amazing Christmas story)
An
Orange for Frankie (a touching
Christmas story)
Tikvah
Means Hope
The
Butterfly (heavy subject matter—Jews plight during the Holocaust) (L3)
Pink
and Say (for older children—a Civil War story) (L2 & L3)
The
Bee Tree
January’s
Sparrow
Poole, Josephine
Joan
of Arc (illus. by Angela Barrett) (L2)
Provensen
The
Master Swordsman and The Magic Doorway (B) (L2)
R
Rand, Gloria
Sailing
Home (L2)
Riordan, James
Jason
and the Golden Fleece (a beautifully illustrated retelling) (L2)
Robertson, Bruce
Marguerite
Makes a Book (beautiful in showing how illumination was done) (L2)
Robinson, Joan
Teddy
Robinson (an easy chapter book—a house favorite) (L1 & L2)
Rogasky, Barbara (L2)
Sleeping
Beauty (illus. by Trina Schart Hyman)
Rapunzel
(illus. by Trina Schart Hyman)
The
Water of Life: A Tale of the
Brother’s Grimm
Rylant, Cynthia
Let's Go Home (L1 & L2)
Cobblestreet Cousins series (L2 & L3)
The Relatives Came (L2 and up)
S
Sanderson, Ruth
(L2)
The
Crystal Mountain
The
Twelve Dancing Princesses
Rose
Red and Snow White
San Souci, Robert D.
A
Weave of Words (L2)
Sherman, Josepha
Vassilisa
The Wise (L2)
Steig, William (L1 & L2)
Brave
Irene
Dr.
DeSoto
The
Library
Stewart, Sarah (L2)
The
Money Tree
The
Gardener
The
Journey
T
Thayer, Jane
The
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy (precious story) (L1)
Tudor, Tasha (mostly known for her lovely illustrations)
(All)
Pumpkin
Moonshine
A
Time to Keep
A
Doll’s Christmas
Wings
from the Wind (an anthology of poems)
V
von Stockhum, Hilda
A Day on Skates (L2 and L3)
W
Waddell, Martin
The
Hidden House (G) (L2)
Wangerin, Walter, Jr. (L2--L4)
Peter’s
First Easter
Mary’s
First Christmas
Wells, Rosemary
My
Very First Mother Goose (L1)
Lassie
Come Home (a retelling—beautifully illustrated) (L2 & L3)
Wilde, Oscar
The Selfish Giant (retold by
many different authors; I like the
one by Fiona
Waters, illus by Fabian Negrin, but I
have seen others I love). (L2)
Wildsmith, Brian
Joseph
(a beautifully illus. retelling of the story of Joseph and his
brothers)(L1)
Williams, Margery
A
Velveteen Rabbit (this is a lovely story; just make sure you find one with
equally beautiful illustrations, as the
options are plentiful.)(L2)
Wheeler, Lisa
Sailor
Moo: Cow at Sea (L1)
Wise, William
The
Black Falcon (from the Decameron, retold by Wise) (L2 & L3)
Wood, Audrey and Don
Elbert’s
Bad Word (great story, and they never tell you the bad word—yea!)(L1)
King
Bidgood’s in the Bathtub (L1)
A Cowboy Christmas: The Miracle
at Lone Pine Ridge (Christmas)(L2 & L3)
Wynne-Jones, Tim
The
Zoom Trilogy (B) (L1 & L2)
CHAPTER BOOKS
Alcott, Louisa May (G) (L3 & L4)
Little
Women
Little
Men
Jo’s
Boys
Eight
Cousins
Rose
in Bloom
Jack
and Jill
Alexander, Lloyd
The Pyrdain Chronicles (several books) (B) (L3 & L4)
Atwater, Richard
Mr.
Popper’s Penguins (L2)
Banks, Lynne Reid
The Indian in the Cupboard
(and sequels; one of them has some
weird spiritual
aspects—may want
to skip that one) (B) (L2 & L3)
Beatty, Patricia
Turn
Homeward, Hannalee (L3)
Blyton, Enid (a British author born at the turn of the
century who wrote around 800
books. She has a cult following; worth exploring.)(L2 & L3)
The
Famous Five series
The
Children of Cherry Tree Farm
Tales
of Betsy Mae
Birdsall, Jeanne
The
Penderwicks (and sequels) (L3 and up)
Bond, Michael
A
Bear Called Paddington stories (L2)
Brink, Carol Ryrie (L3)
Caddie
Woodlawn
Magical
Melons
Brooks, Walter (L2—L4)
Freddy series (aprox. 20 in the
series; written in the
1920’s—about a poet
detective pig--humurous and clever) some
of our favorites:
Freddy
goes to Florida
The
Clockwork Twin
Freddy
Goes to the North Pole
Freddy,
the Detective
Freddy
and Mr. Camphor
Browne, Frances
Granny’s
Wonderful Chair (fanciful stories) (L2 & L3)
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
The
Little Princess (L3)
The
Secret Garden (L3)
The
Racketty-Packetty House (L2)
Cassanova, Maria
Moose
Tracks (and sequel) (L3)
Caudill, Rebecca
Happy
Little Family (L2)
Up and Down the River (others
in this series, as well) (L2)
Cleary, Beverly (L2 & L3)
Henry
Huggins
Henry
and Ribsy
Dalgliesh, Alice
The
Silver Pencil (L3—L4)
Bears
on Hemlock Mountain (great boy story) (L1 & L2)
The
Courage of Sarah Noble (L2)
deAngeli, Marguerite
Door
in the Wall ( L3)
Thee,
Hannah (L3)
(others,
as well)
Dicamillo, Kate
The
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (L3 & L4)
Mercy
Watson series (L2)
Dillon, Eilis
A
Family of Foxes
The
Lost Island
Eager, Edward
Knight’s
Castle (L3)
The
Well-Wishers (L3)
Half-Magic
(L3)
Eckert, Allan W.
Incident
at Hawk’s Hill
Enright, Elizabeth (L3 & L4))
Gone
Away Lake
Return
to Gone Away Lake
The
Melendy Quartet (The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were
Five, Spider Web for Two)
Estes, Eleanor (L2 & L3)
The
Hundred Dresses
The
Moffats and all the sequels
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
Understood
Betsy (L2)
French, Allen (L3 & L4) (excellent boy stories!)
The
Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
The
Red Keep
Goudge, Elizabeth
Linnets
and Valerians
The White Horse
Gallico, Paul
The
Man Who Was Magic
The Snow Goose (L3--L4)
George, Jean Craighead
My
Side of the Mountain (and sequels) (L3 & L4)
Julie
of the Wolves (and sequels) (L3)
Gipson, Fred
Old
Yeller (L3 & L4)
Godden, Rumer
The
Doll’s House (G) (L3)
Goudge, Elizabeth
The
Little White Horse (L3 & L4)
Linnets and Valerians (L3 & L4)
Gentian Hill (G) (12 and up)
Graham, Kenneth
The
Wind in the Willows (I do like the one abridged and illustrated by Inga
Moore. She doesn’t change the language, but does edit out lengthy
description that for some children is cumbersome—including mine.) (L2 & L3)
Green, Roger Lancelyn
(one of the Inklings; wrote great versions of these and many
other classics) (L3 & L4)
The
Adventures of Robin Hood
Grover, Wayne
Dolphin
Adventure (great short books;
true stories) (L2)
Dolphin
Treasure (L2)
Haywood, Carolyn
“B”
is for Betsy (and all the sequels) (G) (L2)
Harrison, Michael
Don
Quixote (a retelling of the Miguel de Cervantes tale) (B) (L3)
Henry, Marguerite
Misty
of Chincoteague (and sequels) (L3)
King
of the Wind (L3)
Henty, G.A. (the books are dense; we prefer Jim Weiss’ edited & audio versions)(B)(L4)
The
Lion of the North
The
Reign of Terror
The
Young Carthaginian
many
more
Jacques, Brian
Redwall
(and all in the series) (great boy books!) (L3 & L4)
Jefferies, Richard
Bevis,
the Story of a Boy (written in 1906) (B)(L3)
Jewett, Eleanore M.
The
Hidden Treasure of Glaston (L3 & L4)
Jones, Elizabeth Orton
Big
Susan (G) (L2)
Twig
(G) (L2)
Konigsberg, E.L.
The
Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (L3)
Larson, Kirby
Hattie
Big Sky (L3 & L4)
Lawhead, Stephen (though the writing is not completely even,
these are solid page-
turners) (L4)
The
Pendragon series (Taliesen, Merlin, King Arthur, etc.—Christian
worldview,
portrays the
Druids as early Christian mystics)
The
Robin Hood series (Hood, Scarlet, Tuck)
LeFeuvre, Amy
Teddy’s
Button (great boy story) (written in 17th century? republished
by
Lamplighter Publishing) (L2 & L3)
Lewis, C.S.
The
Narnia Chronicles (All)
All of his books as soon as children can read them, esp. The Screwtape Letters and The Great
Divorce (L4)
Lovelace, Maud Hart
Betsy-Tacy
(and all the sequels) (G)(L2 & L3)
MacDonald, Betty
Mrs.
Piggle-Wiggle (and sequels)(L2)
MacDonald, George
The
Princess and the Goblin (L2 and up)
The
Princess and Curdie (L2 and up)
The
Light Princess (L2 and up)
Wise
Woman (L4)
all
the books edited by Michael E. Phillips (ie. The Fisherman’s Lady, The
Marquis’ Secret, etc.) (L4)
MacLachlan, Patricia (L3 & L4)
Sarah,
Plain and Tall (and all the sequels—painfully beautifully)
Edward’s
Eyes (beautiful, but very heavy subject matter—a child dies)
Mains, David and Karen (Christian fantasy for older
children)(L3 & L4)
Tales
of the Kingdom
Tales
of the Resistance
Tales of Restoration
Martin, Ann M. and Laura Godwin
The
Doll People (L3)
McCloskey, Robert
Homer
Price (L3)
McGraw, Eloise Jarvis (books have an Egyptian belief
system—easy to discuss with
older children) (L4)
The
Golden Goblet
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
McSwigan, Marie
Snow
Treasure (WWII) (L3 & L4)
Milne, A.A.
Winnie-the-Pooh
(Certainly this is one of the best children’s books of all time.
Make sure to read the real
version, not just all the picture book selections. The whole family can enjoy the different levels of
humor.)(All)
Montgomery, Lucy M.
Anne
of Green Gables series (L3 & L4)
Emily
of New Moon (and all the sequels) (L3 & L4)
Moody, Ralph (L3--L4)
Little
Britches (and all the sequels) (great boy books, though not exclusively so)
Seabiscuit
Shiloh
trilogy
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds (L3 & L4)
Nesbit, E. (L3 & L4)
The
Enchanted Castle
The
Railway Children
Five Children and It
The Phoenix and the Carpet
Norton, Mary
The
Borrowers (and all in the series) (L2 & L3)
O’Brien, Robert C.
Mrs.
Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (L3)
Park, Linda Sue (L3 & L4)
A
Single Shard
The Kite Fighters
Pearce, Phillipa (L3)
Tom’s
Midnight Garden
Minnow on the Say
Peck, Richard (L3 & L4)
Way
Down Yonder
A
Long Way From Chicago
Perkins, Janet and John
Haffertee
Hampster Diamond (and sequels) (L2)
Peterson, John
The
Littles (and the sequels) (L2)
Pyle, Howard
Men of Iron (L4)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (L3--L4)
King Arthur (L3--L4)
Ransome, Arthur
Swallow
and Amazons (and all in the series) (L3 & L4)
Rawling, Wilson
Where
the Red Fern Grows (L4)
Ray, Mary (historical fiction) (L4)
The
Ides of April
Beyond the Desert Gate
Reilly-Giff, Patricia (L3 and up)
Nory Ryan's Song
Maggie's Door
Eleven
"R" My Name is Rachel
St. John, Patricia (L3 & L4)
Treasures
of the Snow
Star
of Light
several
others
Seldon, George
A
Cricket in Times Square (L3)
Shemin, Margaretha
The
Little Riders (a WWII story about a girl who is very courageous)(L3)
Seredy, Kate
A
Tree for Peter (an amazing redemptive story; a generational favorite in our
family) (L2 & L3)
Sidney, Margaret
The
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (and sequels) (L3)
Speare, Elizabeth George (L4)
Calico
Captive (a story of a woman captured by American Indians)
The
Bronze Bow (set in Jesus’ time; excellent story)
The
Witch of Blackbird Pond (set in medieval times in which people assumed
anyone strange was a witch; this woman was a Quaker.)
The
Sign of the Beaver
Spyri, Johanna
Heidi
(not all sequels are written by Spyri, but are good) (L4)
Steig, William
Dominic
Abel’s
Island
Stratton-Porter, Gene (L4)
Laddie (one of my all time favorites)
Freckles
Keeper of the Bees
Girl of the Limberlost
The Magic Garden (G)
Sutcliff, Rosemary (wrote more than 60 children's books; the ones we have read are amazing. Here
is a sampling):
Black
Ships Before Troy (retells The Illiad; not for the faint of heart) (L2—L4)
The
Wanderings of Odysseus (retells The Odyssey) (L2--L4)
these books are excellent historical fiction: (L3--mostly L4)
The Eagle of the Ninth
The Lantern Bearers
The Shield Ring
Taylor, Sidney
All
of a Kind Family (and sequels) (L3)
Tolkien, J.R.R. (PLEASE do not let your children watch these movies until they have read the books!)
The
Hobbit (L3 & L4)
The Lord of the Rings (L4 and up) (try the audio version read by Rob Inglis!!)
Von Trapp, Maria
The
Story of the Trapp Family Singers
Von Stockum, Hilda
The
Winged Watchmen (WWII) (L4)
The Mitchells series
White, E.B. (L2—L4)
Charlotte’s
Web
The
Trumpet of the Swan
White, John
Archives
of Anthropos
Wilder, Laura Ingalls
The
Little House books (all of them)(L2 & L3)
Wiggin, Kate Douglas, ed.
The
Arabian Nights (L4)
Williamson, Joanne (writes amazing historical fiction; slowly being republished by
Bethlehem Books—check their website)(L4)
Hittite
Warrior
God
King
Winthrop, Elizabeth
The
Castle in the Attic (L3)
Wright, Harold Bell
Shepherd
of the Hills (a generational family favorite) (L4)
COMIC BOOKS
Goscinny, R. and Uderzo, A. (These comic books are translated from the French and are
clever stories set in the ancient
world.) (B)
Asterix and Obelix and all
the sequels (L4)
Herge (These
comic books, first written in 1929, are translated from the French.)
The
Adventures of Tin Tin and all
the sequels (L4)
ANTHOLOGIES
D’Aulaire, Ingre and Edgar
Book
of Greek Myths
Ferris, Helen
Favorite
Poems Old and New
Kennedy, Caroline, ed.
A
Family of Poems
Kennedy, X.J. and Dorothy
Talking
Like the Rain: A Read-to-me Book
of Poems
Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales
Find
a well illustrated anthology
Perrault, Charles
The
Complete Fairy Tales
Rosen, Michael
Classic
Poetry: An Illustrated Collection
Stevenson, Robert Louis
A
Child’s Garden of Verses
Tudor, Tasha
Wings
from the Wind: An Anthology of
Poems
BIBLE
STORY and DEVOTIONAL BOOKS
There are many great Bible story books. Here are some that might be less
familiar.
Bible Experience (an audio reading of the Bible by
African American actors—annointed,
phenomenal; my children love it)
Lindvall, Ella K.
Read-Aloud
Bible Stories (several volumes) (These are great for young children,
ages 2-5)
The Picture Bible (yes, a comic strip Bible. Surprisingly, this is an excellent
source for
children to learn the Bible stories, and
they love it.)
Hartman, Bob
Early
Saints of God (excellent stories of different saints with reflective
questions
and prayers)
Jackson, Dave and Neta
Hero Tales (a whole series of great biographies)
Lloyd Jones, Sally
The Jesus Storybook Bible (fantastic storytelling, shows the unfolding story of Jesus even
throughout the Old Testament; the audio is exceptional)
Martin, Mildred A.
Missionary
Stories with the Millers (Excellent.
Avoid chapter 17, “Martyred at
Midnight,” in which children watch the
murder of their father.)
Tada, Joni Eareckson and Bobbie Wolgemuth
Passion
Hymns for a Kid’s Heart (several hymn volumes w/ accom. C.D.)
Vos, Catherine
The
Child’s Story Bible
YWAM publishers have amazing biographies of missionaries and
heroes of faith
A Visit With Mrs. G (some of the best audio Bible story
telling I’ve ever heard)
AUDIO BOOKS
Focus on the Family Radio Dramas (very well done, but abridged; I much prefer having children listen to these read first) Narnia
series, Secret Garden, Little Women, Les Miserable, The Hiding Place, Ben
Hur, Anne of Green Gables
Look for all of the chapter books above in audio
version; many are available.
BOOK LISTS
Wilson, Elizabeth
Books Children Love
Kilpatrick, William
Books That Build Character
Michael O’Brien
Landscape
With Dragons (book list in the back)
Sonlight curriculum catalog (this is a homeschooling
curriculum, but the booklists in
their catalog are phenomenal)
consult
website: www.sonlight.com
Chinaberry catalog (great suggestions for early books; some great suggestions for older
children, but use caution.)
consult
website: www.chinaberry.com
