There is a great need in our homes for a enriching, exciting children’s bookshelf. If you place a high value on a healthy imagination and inner strength of character, here’s a fabulous list of books for younger children through middle grades.
The main reason today that children aren’t finding enjoyment and excitement in reading is the fact that they are not being exposed to truly great books starting when they are young. We don’t live in a culture that is filled with very much excellence. While we may not be able to control the media of our generation, we must take on the responsibility of exposing our children to excellent books that will inspire, encourage, and help them flourish into adults who have a love of literature.
Mediocrity is the natural state of man. There are lots of time-wasters out there. However, as mothers, God has called us to something better – something higher. We must rise above what our culture views as normal activity and cultivate minds and hearts in our children that are full of wonder, hopeful expectation and excellence.
As parents, God has entrusted us with a very important job. We are not here only be mothers, but to be instructors and teachers of all that is good, noble and beautiful in the world.
The content our children’s minds feed upon will in many ways determine what comes out of their mouths and hearts when they are adults and wanting wisdom.
“Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.” ~C.S. Lewis
Recommended Titles For the Children’s Bookshelf
I don’t want to leave you frustrated by talking about exposing your children to engaging, wholesome reading without sharing what books to implement it. Many are 5-star books for your children’s bookshelf. I encourage you to read the Amazon reviews for more detailed content.
Picture Books
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses – Jan Brett
Tuesday – David Weisner
Time of Wonder – Robert McCloskey
Song And Dance Man – Karen Ackerman
St. George and the Dragon – Margaret Hodges
The Brambly Hedge Series – Jill Barklem
When the Relatives Came – Cynthia Rylant
Bunny Bungalow – Cynthia Rylant
The Boy Who Held Back the Sea – Thomas Locker
Roxaboxen – Barbara Cooney
Only Opal – Barbara Cooney
The Young Artist – Thomas Locker
The Bear Who Heard Crying – Natalie Kinsey Warnock
All the Places to Love – Patricia MacLachlan
A Song for Lena – Hilary Horder Hippely
Make Way For the Ducklings – Robert McCloskey
When I Was Young In the Mountains – Cynthia Rylant
Miss Rumphius – Barbara Cooney
Children’s Classics For the Bookshelf
Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood – Pyle
Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
The Treasure Seekers – E. Nesbit
The Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams
The Anne Series – L.M. Montgomery
Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
The Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh – A.A. Milne
The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Little Men – Louisa May Alcott
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Water Babies – Charles Kingsley
The Railway Children – E. Nesbit
Heidi – Johanna Spyri
Children’s Fiction and True Stories For the Bookshelf
The Little Britches (Series) – Ralph Moody
All-of-A-Kind Family – Sydney Taylor
Miss Rumphius – Barbara Cooney
Paddle-to-the-Sea – Holling C. Holling
Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh – Sally M. Walker
The Town that Fooled the British – Lisa Papp
The Scarlet Stockings Spy – Trinka Hakes Noble
Simeon’s Gift – Julie Andrews Edwards
The Reluctant Dragon – Kenneth Grahame
The Raft – Jim LaMarche
Baby Island – Carol Ryrie Brink
Johnny Tremain – Esther Forbes
The Chestry Oak – Kate Seredy
The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo
A Home for Virginia – Patricia St. John
The Door In the Wall – Marguerite De Angeli
Carry On Mr. Bowditch – Jean Lee Latham
Ellen – E.M. Almedingen
Across Five Aprils – Irene Hunt
I, Juan de Pareja – Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
The Journeyman – Elizabeth Yates
The Trumpeter of Krakow – Eric Kelly
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken
Because of Winn Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
Fairy Tale/Fantasy For the Bookshelf
The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit –
The Princess and the Goblins – George MacDonald
The Princess and Curdie – George MacDonald
At the Back of the North Wind – George MacDonald
Tales of Hans Christian Andersen – H.C. Anderson
The Redwall Series – Brian Jacques (so excellent for the child hard to interest)
Dangerous Journey – John Bunyan
Little Pilgrim’s Progress – Helen L. Taylor
Some other booklists here at Deep Roots with completely different content.
(FYI: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
What are your favorite wholesome and engaging books? What books are on your young children’s bookshelf?
I know many of you homeschool moms are avid readers. Please share with us!!
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Amy Loften
Little Pilgrim’s Progress and Chronicles of Narnia are two that come to mind.
Jaynie
Wonderful list of books. Makes me wish I had young ones again. I would add, may be difficult to find, The Little Tim series of books by Ardizzone.
Esmeralda
A Hole is to Dig and The Runaway Bunny in the “Little Children’s” category.
The Little House series, naturally. Tales of the Kingdom and Tales of the Resistance by David Mains. The Ordinary Princess by MMKaye. Sarah, Plain and Tall.
I am so pleased to see The Chestry Oak, Roxaboxen, Miss Rumphius, and Brambly Hedge on your list! Spread the word! 🙂
Kathryn Ross
Enjoyed the Betsy Tacy series that grows with your young lady reader from age 5 to womanhood.Great book suggestions here.
Joy!
KAthy
John Heilman
Fifty percent of school age children in the US are not white. They are Latino, Asian, African-American, Native American. I think, from my brief examination of these titles, that no one from these groups is included among the authors or characters. Is it that you believe only white people are asked by God to aspire to virtue and excellence? Do you live in a world of only white people? Are you conscious of the message that this list sends to.non-white people? Or are you a conscious racist who intends to send the message of white superiorit and exclusion of most of God’s children?
Jacqueline
Hi, John,
I think what you bring up is a really important point. I do pray I am not guilty of failing to add books that are more representative of other cultures purposefully. I imagine we all tend to think in references to what is our experience in life. I will have to compile a list of books that are virtuous and excellent and can think of several immediately. Amos Fortune, Free Man http://amzn.to/1MWSWQj ; George Washington Carver: Man’s Slave Becomes God’s Scientist (Sower Series) http://amzn.to/1qaszMj ; and Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad by Monica Edinger http://amzn.to/1qasqZe . Also, The Story about Ping
Marjorie Flack http://amzn.to/1qasmsB . Paddle to the Sea is included already.
John, would you help me compile a good list?
Just so you know, I am part American Indian and relate strongly to my ancestor’s pain.
Blessings!
John Heilman
We used this resource for our multi-cultural story times at the public library here in Bozeman, MT. I am sure it will be fruitful. I do not have a list of my own.
Jacqueline
John,
I appreciate that. Would you consider sharing a list you develop over time? As someone who sees myriads of books, it might be fun for you and helpful to my readers, too. You are hitting on something I’ve wondered about and need to think about more deeply. Thank you!
Barbara
I quickly added books that we’ve read with our children over the years. A few for each age group.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/229LC0EXNKXY2?ref_=wl_share
Jacqueline
Wow, Barbara! That is great! Thank you so much! 😀 I just looked it over and it is excellent!
Blessings, J
Lisa Surgi
Everyone is encouraged to add to the list! Help us to grow by adding those titles!
Kate Huf
Really! Man! What books would you recommend? These are classical books! What are you doing pulling a race card? Inststyad…. if you know of some wholesome, classical books that have stood the test of wholesome and classical, why don’t you suggest them or make up your own list and publish it!
Jacqueline
Haha!! Thanks for coming to the defense of the classics, Kate! 😀 Love your suggestion to John, too!!
Blessings in the Lord and have a great weekend!!!
John Heilman
Jacqueline,
This is not a matter of either/or, but of both/and.
John Heilman
Dear Friend,
These 60 are classic books for a white (i.e., descendants of northern Europeans) culture. In many ways that are not beneficial to 50% of our nation’s children, either by minimizing them, stereotyping them, or completely ignoring them, thus discounting their existence.There are books which present the values and virtues which this blog holds dear, and they do not reflect at whites only world view. And such lists do exist.
Do you really think it is beneficial to “minority” children to read books where the only characters presented are ethnically white?
Jacqueline
I just need to research a list so there is something out there. I just don’t know where to start and really almost need to read the books to feel a comfort level in recommending them 🙂 Lots to think about here!
Kathleen Landrum
John, you are thinking as an adult, not seeing and thinking as a child does. Young children do not naturally see colors as advantageous or otherwise, but have shown themselves to be more objective than we give them credit for. If adults continue to point out “differences”, children learn that “highlighting differences” is the goal of the book, the movie, the lesson and our daily purpose.
Jacqueline
Kathleen, I agree. The more we speak of differences (even for the right reasons), the more we think and look for them. Ironic isn’t it!?
M Rogier
We wish that children don’t see colours, but they do. Here’s just one article about children’s colour bias. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/13/doll.study/
woI actually grew up in churches that did believe that whites were more intelligent and weren’t cursed like African Americans–the “curse” of Noah’s son Ham. This belief was so pervasive that my own father (I am adopted) didn’t feel like he could be honest about his own family–his father passed as white. In NC in the 30s-50s it was advantageous to do so. My dad’s mother was white and her family disowned her for marrying a man that wasn’t completely white. It’s horrible, but it has happened and continues to happen. I would have loved to have read books about other ethnicities and races, but they weren’t available to me–although I made a point to read books that had been banned… like Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Even the Narnia series wasn’t allowed at my church–they had witches… I would love to have a good list of children’s books that aren’t from a white perspective. Even adult fiction lacks non-white characters. We need to encourage minorities to write books as a white author can’t really fully understand not being white and the lack of white privilege. Hopefully in another generation or so there will be more good books available written by non-whites. (I don’t use the word minority because they really won’t be a minority, thankfully by then.)
Jacqueline
Oh, dear M. Rogier, would you help me then, to get a list together? It will be a challenging work because there are things that I won’t accept for a book list no matter what what color it is about or written by and I would need to read almost every one…ARG!. Let me pray about this and see if the Lord will lead me to an already existing book list like this by someone I trust or I can find the time to go through our really large number of volumes. I know we have quite a few (and read many, many of them), but some are now in boxes for the kids one day! I love that you shared your heart here and it grieves me that you had that legalistic and oppressive bias pressed upon you. Lord, forgive us all our pride and prejudices. WE LOVED Uncle Tom’s Cabin, btw, and we so hated simon Legree – pure evil! We need to remember the truth of Jesus – and nothing of man’s twisted ways – will set us free!
God bless you, friend.
Jennifer
Love this list. Do you know the title of the painting featured? I would love to obtain a print for our homeschool room.
Jacqueline
Yes, Jennifer,
It is a Jessie Wilcox Smith, cropped hard. http://prints.bl.uk/artist/24591/jessie-willcox-smith
Blessings in the Lord 🙂
Katherine Mills
Growing up my favorite books were the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Hardy boys mysteries and the Boxcar Children series.
Robin McLain
There are several books by Holling Clancey Hollings – they have reprinted some of them – others might have to be found in used bookstores or online. They are timeless!
John Heilman
Research does not support your position. I would guess that you are not familiar with many non-white children, though I may be wrong, and if so, Forgive me.
I urge you to educate yourself on this matter.
Tina at Mommynificent
I enjoyed your list and then appreciated your tone a lot in the comments section. Your teachable spirit really shines through. Since reading it, I’ve been brainstorming some multicultural titles that we’ve enjoyed. I find Sonlight curriculum an excellent starting point for booklists worth reading. Their Core F especially is full of quality multicultural titles but all of the cores are worth looking at in my opinion – http://www.sonlight.com/FC5.html. A few other books that have come to mind are Ezra Jack Keats’ beautiful picture books (http://amzn.to/1sBIkgt), Allen Say’s stunning works (http://amzn.to/1TGxSRc) and a series of early reader chapter books about Ling and Ting (http://amzn.to/1XBw4bv). My girls who are half-Chinese love these books and read them over and over again. Gilbert Morris’ Kerrigan Kids series is also well-loved here (http://amzn.to/1WQkbiL). Also, we are currently finishing up our school year studying children and cultures around the world. I have been documenting our journey on my homeschooling blog and ending each installment with the books we read about that particular place. Here’s the landing page for that series (http://desperatehomeschoolers.com/children-around-the-world/) I’ll keep thinking but hopefully this will give you a good start.
I’ll be happy to talk with you more about this and help you add to your list if you want. Feel free to email me!
Tina
Mary Kumuda Sujay
Thank you so much, Kathleen for these Titles and the https://deeprootsathome.com/100-whole-hearted-books-to-fight-back-the-culture-a-giveaway/. I am a 50-year-old Indian from Bangalore, India. I have grown up on Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Hardy Boys and others where the characters were predominantly white but that did not matter at all. We as children just enjoyed these books so I think irrespective of what colour the characters of the books are from, children enjoy them just the same. This helped me a lot with the English language and I am really grateful for all those books. God bless you for your work.
Blessings, Kumuda
Rachel
Thank you for this great list.I will have to search my library for some of these. I would add Little Lord Fauntleroy to the list. I’m currently reading it to my almost 12 month old and it is wonderful.
Jacqueline
Yes, that is a wonderful book, Rachel! You little one is blessed indeed 🙂 Keep reading and don’t forget it is a great time to help your little one memorize simple passages of the Bible 🙂 Praying for you, mama!
Heidi
Is reading the “illustrated classics” as good as the originals?
Jacqueline
Good question, Heidi!
In my humble opinion, the illustrated classics are often abridged and even sometimes altered. I have had several books that were not true to the original, but I don’t remember which ones they were. For us, we wanted our children to be able and equipped to read difficult works, so we read more difficult things for children from the beginning (like the books I’ve listed).
I hope that helps 😀
Kim
Very Thankful for this helpful list!
Sandra
I am very thankful you took the time to put this list together. I have four avid readers who devour every book I put infront of them! It is sometimes hard for me to get wholesome books since I am mexican and have never read most of the titles my kids read until I either buy them or check them out from our local library. This list has given me a little direction and loads of new titles to look for,since my kids just enjoy reading about other kids and NEVER have stopped to think if there’s a “half mexican-half american” kid in the story.
Caron
We all enjoyed Thornton W. Burgess books about personified animals which remained true to their animal traits and patterns. I didn’t read these until we had a son, but my outdoors husband had read them as a child – thankful to have my world expanded. Mike also introduced us to Jim Kjelgaard books, also about animals with examples of young men of character and men little honor in their characters.
Jacqueline
Oh, Thanks, Caron! I not read any of them by Big Red, and it was wonderful, especially for boys! I will make it a point to get my hands on others!
Blessings and thanks again 😀
Kristin
Thank you so much for this list! Our son wanted to read a very popular book about a kid that regularly writes in a journal *cough cough*, so we checked it out at the library. It didn’t last long, and is no longer allowed in our home. My husband and I, just this week, have been discussing books that are appropriate for our 7 year old son. Seems as though we’ve found what we were looking for. Thanks again.
Kimberly
I have few of the books on your list, in my personal library of almost 2000! I am looking forward to seeking the new ones out.
I have attempted to acquire fiction and nonfiction featuring people of color. I have several (auto)biographies that I love. I have also asked for help in various groups to compile a list of books featuring non-European ethnicities, but I have not yet gotten a list. Perhaps some of the difficulty is needing them in English?
Jacqueline
Yes, Kimberly, that is a big factor! I have had my eyes open to find them but I haven’t been able to vet them without buying and reading them. I wish I had time to do that! <3
RoseAnn Kuzdra
The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
Also the version for Young People and the version for Children
An excellent compilation of literary works and exemplary historical stories that portray such character traits as compassion, honesty, perseverance, courage and more.
Jacqueline
Yes, RoseAnn, we actually have that out on the table right now! I need to add it to the booklist! Good reminder for me! ~J
Patricia K
So glad to find your website and this blog. Lots to review. I signed up for the printed list of books by giving my email to receive it, but it is a broken link. If you fix it, could you send out an email that it is working again. In the meantime I can use this very page. Thank you.
Patti
Jacqueline
Hi, Patti,
I’m glad you found Deep Roots at Home, too! Thank you 🙂
I did check to see if the email download is working, and it is for me. It is also working correctly on another computer, so my recommendation is to try downloading it in another browser.
I believe the problem is on your end. I had that problem myself a while back and literally had to change browsers permanently. If you are in Chrome, try Firefox.
I hope that helps!
Blessings,
Jacque
Patricia K
Jacque,
Your site is so feature rich. I will be here a long time reading! I tried Firefox and Safari by copying and pasting the link from gmail as well as going directly from the email on my iPad and tried the two browsers and from the email on my MacBook Pro. I only get a 404 page. I hate to bother you about it, but I would really like to receive the printed list. Maybe my email was corrupted somehow. Is u possible to get the pdf as an attachment?
Thank you for your time.
Jacqueline
Patti, try going to the blog post instead of using the link from an email Try it in your browser and in another to compare. Go here: https://deeprootsathome.com/60-titles-for-the-well-rounded-childrens-bookshelf/
Then go all the way to the bottom and use the PDF button there. See if that helps! It is working on this end and for others, but maybe not from the email.
I sure hope that works!
Blessings,
Jacque