The Best Books For Large Families! Great Reads For Busy Moms!

Do you have three or more children?

Congratulations! You are outnumbered!

Be inspired with PRACTICAL ideas on how to manage a home full of children, and embrace it!

These books were chosen because they all give you tips and fun ideas about how to love your kids – without losing your mind!

Print this booklist before going to the library!

Here are some of the best books for busy moms!

Best Books for Big Families!

Windows to Our World: Sarah’s Journal, Growing Up, Crossings Oceans, Finding Love & Giving Life to 10 Children by Sarah Janisse Brown, creator of the amazing Dyslexia Games. Sarah has written here on DRAH about this wonderful reading help for MANY children who confuse letters (and adults, too!)

Any Christian homeschooling mom will love this story. Any teen girl who loves the Lord will love this story. An inspirational read of an adventurous, God-led family! When we want what Jesus wants, He brings us along electrifying paths.

More Hours in My Day: Proven Ways to Organize Your Home, Your Family, and Yourself by by Emilie Barnes and Sheri Torelli

Filled with inspiration, encouragement, and tried-and-true tips, this book is a must-have for every woman!

Discover how to:

Establish simple systems that save time and money and gain peace of mind
Organize the home’s problem areas–kitchen cupboards, crowded closets, home offices, and more
Reclaim precious time for family and friends

Managers of Their Homes – A Practical Guide to Daily Scheduling for Christian Homeschool Families by Steve and Teri Maxwell

Schedules ARE stress-busters, but you need the proper tools to make it that way. In Managers of Their Homes, you will discover practical help on planning and implementing your schedule despite the challenges you face. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to go to bed each night, with the peace of mind that you accomplished what you wanted to each day?

Back to Basics: Raising Self-Sufficient Children by Barbara Frank

Are you raising your children to be self-sufficient? In the uncertain days ahead, will they be able to fend for themselves? Or will they be like so many modern Americans, dependent on others to do everything for them…as long as they have the money to pay for it. When money was tight for our grandparents, they could still enjoy good food and nice clothing and furniture because they knew how to make these things for themselves. They were self-sufficient.

The 5 Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman

Discover how to speak your child’s love language in a way that he or she understands.

Discover your child’s love language
Assist your child in successful learning
Use the love languages to correct and discipline more effectively
Build a foundation of unconditional love for your child

A Sane Woman’s Guide To Raising A Family by Mary Ostyn

Written from the practical, experienced perspective of a mother of ten and has thoughtful, helpful answers to important questions. Can a mother meet the needs of multiple children without drowning in sheer neediness? How can a moderate income stretch to include more children? How can you make space in your home work for you? What are some ideas for handling mountains of laundry? How can you preserve time for yourself and your marriage? How can you manage multiple children and their activities?

The Walton Family Cookbook by Sylvia Resnick

“Gathering around the dinner table to discuss the happenings of the day was a tradition that was cherished by all of the Walton family. Good food and lively conversation creates a bond that is cherished and long remembered by each of us. You’ll find anecdotes from the Walton’s own family dinners.” And, yes, feel free to change recipes to your health needs!

Loving Our Kids On Purpose: Making A Heart-To-Heart Connection by Danny Silk

You CAN raise good kids! Loving Our Kids on Purpose combines the principles of the Kingdom of God and revival to form a powerful strategy for parents.

Books ABOUT Big Families

How has literature treated the subject of large families? Serious novelists, children’s authors and non-fiction writers have been drawn to this subject where meal times are always an event and the laundry never ends.

Goodnight, John-boy by Earl Hamner Jr

Published in 1961, this novel was the basis for that long-running TV series The Waltons in the 70s. The author, Hamner grew up in rural Schuyler, a village in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. As is true in most families, the Waltons faced many challenges, occasionally stumbled along the way, but they struggled to live their lives within the framework of the values they believed and taught.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp

Published in 1949, this is the true tale of Maria, the novice nun who takes a job as a governess of seven children in the Austrian household of widower and retired naval captain Georg von Trapp. Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells the dramatic story that inspired the classic American musical The Sound of Music. Doe, a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun…. you know the rest.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers Book 1 of 8: (all are wholesome) by Ralph Moody

100 Wholehearted Books to Help Fight Back the Culture

Print this booklist before going to the library!

My Living Books Lists:

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ~Matthew 19: 14

Comments

Felisha

March 16, 2021 at 4:19 pm

Have you heard of Managers of Their Homes? I just bought it, and it’s changing our schooling and overall life for the better. I think it would fit well among this list 😍 We are getting ready to read Caddie Woodlawn in our homeschool. I can’t wait to experience all these books I missed while in public school!

- Jacqueline
  
  March 17, 2021 at 5:57 pm
  
  I love this suggestion, Felicia! Thank you! I just added it to the post!
  Hugs, ~Jacque
  
Jennifer

March 19, 2021 at 12:44 am

I would have to disagree with one of the books on this otherwise beautiful list…
We are actually reading Cheaper by the Dozen right now, and I have so far found two parts that were too embarrassingly inappropriate to read aloud.
The dad goes into a restaurant looking for a little boy he’s left behind during the day, but by night the place has turned into a gaudily lit place full of women, one of whom asks if he’s looking for a ‘ naughty little girl’! He says ‘no, a naughty little boy’.
Closer to the end of the book the dad gets into a disagreement with the teenage daughter. She has purchased some teddies to wear as underwear and he wants her to return them but in the end she is allowed to keep the teddies so she will not be the only girl in school who doesn’t wear them . There is even a drawing of the dad holding it up!
There may be more but I only just started reading this two days ago. The teddy part near the end I found because my daughter was flipping through and looking at the pictures.
I was shocked, since it was a part of an old son light curriculum. Hopefully they have removed this book!

- Jacqueline
  
  March 19, 2021 at 10:39 am
  
  Jennifer, THANK YOU for alerting me to that! It has been many, many years since we read it and honestly, I think I may not have picked that up then or just skipped over it when I did find it! Sometimes I fell asleep midsentence!
  I do not remember the cussing, either. It has been so many years ago, now, but would not have tolerated that!
  Occasionally, I had to skip over things (attitudes I felt were off, story line not to my liking, words, etc.) Sadly, that is why I had to be so selective and prayed before buying books in used book stores!
  I just removed it from the list and am replacing it with Little Britches! I forgot they they were a larger family, but solid books they are! Thank you!!!
  I can thing of or find any more that fit the large family genre and are worthy.
  I hope you didn’t buy it based on my recommendation 🙁 A fail on my part!
  Grace and peace,
  Jacqueline
  
Jennifer

March 19, 2021 at 12:50 am

Little Britches by Ralph Moody is another wonderful book. All of my children have enjoyed it, as well as my husband and myself. There are quite a few books in the series, all of which are very good. I believe there were six children in the Moody family.
And now I have one more complaint against Cheaper by the Dozen… There is a quite a bit of cussing and the dad says ‘Jes** Chr***’ when he gets angry at one of the boys!

ms

March 29, 2021 at 8:26 pm

Could you recommend important hardcopy books for us to own? Especially books about herbs, cures, world events, survival methods, self-care, health, Biblical teachings, etc., etc. Since we do not know if some books will be banned in the future…