10 Great Book Series for Kids – Perfect for Read Alouds
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Since I am a bookworm, it has always been really important to me that our kids love to read. FishPapa loves to read, so it sounded like an easy thing to swing. For the most part, it’s working so far.
Everyone loves a good story.
We do have to do a fair amount of battling with electronic devices, but overall, they all like books, especially when we work through a series of books together as a family read-aloud.
I started reading longer chapter books to my eldest son when he was about four or five. It was such a wonderful experience for us. It’s been harder to swing a read aloud as the years go by since my older kids can read on their own and don’t have to or want to wait for me. But, most still love a family read aloud.
I can’t always catch my teens in the same room, but I bet you they’re listening.
10 Great Book Series for Kids
There’s something about a serial adventure that attracts us all. Whether it’s those addicted to Downton Abbey or a
reader waiting for the latest installment of his favorite hero story, we all want to see what happens next. Series books are great for family read-alouds since they encourage discussion and contemplation about how the adventure will continue in the next volume.
Here are some of the series of books that we’ve enjoyed together:
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Imagination Station series by Paul McCusker – We’ve received review copies of the Imagination Station books since the series first began. My 8-year old has been thrilled with each new addition. He can read them himself, but he loves it when we read them together.
Each book is a step back in time by cousins Patrick and Beth as they set out on an adventure to help keep the past the way it’s meant to be. We’ve enjoyed these books as a complement to our own homeschool history study.
The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Maud Hart Lovelace – I first read these books when I was in fifth grade. I would have started sooner had I known of their existence. My experience with this early 20th century series was reading out-of-print editions. How thrilled was I that they brought the books back into print so that I can read them with my girls.
The stories follow Betsy from age 5 all the way into adulthood. As she grows, so do the complexity of the stories and subject matter. I loved growing up with Betsy and her best friends Tacy and Tib.
The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Most of us probably have been exposed to the Little House books in some form, whether it be the novels themselves or the television series that lasted far too long. (I’m sorry but it got really weird once Nelly Olson turned nice and all.)
Boys and girls alike will enjoy these stories. At least our kids have. Farmer Boy is a particular favorite from the series since the food descriptions are so yummy-sounding.
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner – As soon as my boys could read indepently, these were the books that they were drawn to. The adventures of the Alden children, four orphans being raised by their grandfather. They solve mysteries together.
I’ve only read a small handful of these stories; I must have had a sheltered childhood. They are old, old stories that still hold sway with kids today. My boys have read them all.
The Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osbourne – This series of historical fiction/time travel is another one that my boys gravitated to as soon as they could read independently. In fact, FishBoy8 didn’t know that he could read a book on his own until we sat down with MTH#1 and went through the first page together. He was stunned. And proceeded to finish the book that day.
These books are a fantastic complement to homeschool history study.
The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson – This book series ranks high on my list of favorite books, for adult or child. We were fans of AP’s music, and are most definitely a fan of his novels. These are such good reads! Everyone in our family loves them, including Papa.
There are three books in the series so far: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, North or Be Eaten, and The Monster in the Hollows. The fourth and final book should be released sometime this year. I can’t wait.
The Chronicles of Narnia has been a favorite of mine since I was a newlywed. That was the first I ever read the stories. Remember, I lived a sheltered life. For being a childhood bookworm, I missed out on a lot of great books. I must have been too busy reading Sweet Valley High.
CS Lewis created a magical world in Narnia, but he also crafted a beautiful allegory about our relationship with God. These are must-reads for adults and children alike. The movies do not do them justice.
The Light Keepers series by Irene Howat has been a fun one for us to explore. Each book tells the biographies of ten boys or girls who made a difference, changed the world, used their talents, didn’t give in, or who made history. It’s great fun to read about great men and women who once were children.
For instance, Ten Boys Who Changed the World features the stories of Billy Graham, Brother Andrew, John Newton, George Muller, Nicky Cruz, William Carey, David Livingstone, Adoniram Judson, Eric Liddell and Luis Palau.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein are some of our family’s favorite stories. I laugh about this fact today since I hated it that Mrs. Geary made us read The Hobbit in 8th grade. (Again, too much Sweet Valley High.)
These books have always started out as read alouds for the younger readers. They are immense and intimidating. FishBoy10 hasn’t yet made it through LOTR even though he can devour ten books in a day. It’s just a little overwhelming right now. I’m hoping we can tackle the story soon since I know that he’s missing out on a lot of the story, even though the movies did an amazing job, all things considered.
Harry Potter by JK Rowling – I was slow to allow Harry Potter into our home. It was about three years ago that my oldest son expressed his desire to read them and his frustration at my banning them. I agreed that we could read the first one together and then see. I also sought the opinions of folks that I know and respect who happened to have read the books.
I fell in love with the story as did my children. We read all the books in 12 months, just in time to see the last film be released at the movie theater. We have had a wonderful family experience working through the books.
If you’re not sure about the books and how they might fit within a Christian worldview, I highly recommend this post by Andrew Peterson. The truth of Jesus is present in the book. He says it all way better than I could.
So, those are some of our favorites.
Do you have a favorite children’s book series?
This post was originally posted on January 20, 2013. These books are still my favorites!
I am reading the series Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome to my girls this year. They are very wholesome and exciting and we are just loving the time together, with so many good discussions around the dinner table about what we’ve read. I highly recommend them!
My girls both love our daily read aloud ritual. However, my youngest was reluctant to read on her own until I lightened up on the, “it needs to be good literature” attitude. She started sailing through the books when I let her pick a few out. She has read all the Captain Underpants and nearly every other book written by Dave Pilkey; the Dork Dairies series; the Nate the Great series; the new Raina Telegemeier series which started with Smile; the Sisters Grimm series; the Bad Kitty series by Nick Bruel; and the A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy. You might guess from the story selections that my youngest has a quirky sense of humor that many of these books appeal to. We always read the first book of a new series together. That is my opportunity to discuss the book’s characters, plot, setting, and anything I think might need some clarification such as why I do not care for some of the characters in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. We were at the book store today and she selected the first book in a new series called Timmy Failure, Mistakes Were Made (according to the jacket cover Timmy has a pet polar bear named total).
Ron Roy is a huge favorite at our house – he also has a Calendar Mysteries series (featuring the younger siblings of the A to Z kids) and his Capital Mysteries too (all in Washington DC). My daughter even sent him an email asking if he could come and speak at their school and he wrote her back an actual, personal email! Made her day (week, month!) and I think he now has our whole family as fans for a lifetime!
Also love the Raina Telegemeier series – they’re new but they’re super good with a little more mature plot lines (though nothing untoward or inappropriate). We found they were great for starting conversations as our children are now heading into the tween years.
We also read the entire Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events series. Definitely not for everyone but we thought they were great! Also a great starting point for discussions with the kids but darker than the other series for sure.
Lea
Thanks for all the great book ideas!
For lovers of the Little House on the Prairie books, I like to let everyone know there is a biographical series about Laura’s daughter Rose (starts with “Little House on Rocky Ridge”) and historical fiction books about Laura’s mother (Wisconsin), grandmother (Boston) and great-grandmother (in Scotland!). I read the Little House books many times as a child and adult, and was so thrilled to discover that there are more similar books now.
For lovers of action adventure, like my son, we have been lucky to discover two series I never see mentioned: “The Youngest Templar” series by Michael Spradlin, starting with “Keeper of the Grail” which first got my son interested in historical fiction, and “The Five Ancestors” series by Jeff Stone starting with “Tiger” (Five Ancestors series is absolutely fantastic on audio).
I just discovered the Betsy-Tacy books with the help of our children’s librarian. I had NEVER heard of them before, and neither had my family or friends! I would have loved them growing up. I am loving them now, though, and look forward to sharing them with my daughters. I’m glad to see them on your list!
LOVE Betsy, Tacy, and Tib.
Little Britches series by Ralph Moody. Fabulous read-alouds!
The Melendys series. The Saturdays, Four Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two. Also by the same author Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away. The Melendys are a family of four children, eventually five, their father, housekeeper, and man of all work. They grow up in WWII era NYC before moving to the country. I loved this series when I was a kid and still do. To be able to spend a full day in NYC doing things like going to the opera or circus, or getting a full haircut, style and manicure for $1 is amazing. Comfortable, happy reading.
I have a 12 year-old daughter. When she was younger, she loved the Magic Treehouse Series when I read it aloud to her, then she read them again. We just sold several Animal Ark books. It is a great little series for dog-lovers. We got into it because my daughter wanted me to read Junie B. Jones books to her. I hated these books, so I said she could read them, but I wouldn’t read them aloud, which was a good incentive for her…so we needed to find something to read aloud. Since we both love animals & especially dogs, this series worked great. We also read Puppy Patrol & Puppy Place series. Now, a little older,,she still loves being read aloud to, so we started withThe Mother Daughter Book a Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick with such titles as Much Ado About Ann, Dear Pen-pal, Pies & Prejudice, Home for the Holidays, Wish You Were Eyre. Great to read together, check them out for those of you with girls.
I can’t believe no one mentioned Hank the Cowdog!! OK, they’re not exactly classic literature, but my kids actually laugh out loud while reading them! 🙂
My three oldest boys have read those. Thanks for the reminder. I can probably get those for boy #4.
Thanks for sharing. We will be finishing up “The First Four Years” this weekend and so I’m looking for a new series to start! I’ll be checking these out ASAP!
I just got a job as a school librarian in an elementary school (after teaching at a high school for awhile). I am a bit out of my element as far as the literature of the younger ones… so I am making notes off of these comments, and will see which all books are currently in the library, and which ones I need to get. Thanks for the list!
I got lots of great suggestions from this list. Can’t wait to see if the boys like them.