One mistake parents can make is to stop reading aloud to their child once the child learns to read. Even though your child is a reader, you can still read books aloud, especially books that are above their reading level.
One commonality I’ve found in families with academically successful kids is that they participate in family read alouds, even when their child is older, including high school aged. Here are a few of our favorite read aloud books for children who are already reading.
- The Chronicles of Narnia
by C. S. Lewis
- My Side of the Mountain Trilogy
by Jean Craighead George
- The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
- The Sower Series Books
Various Authors
- Little House Series
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Boxcar Children
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
- The Cay
by Theodore Taylor
- Inheritance
by Christopher Paolini
What are your favorite family read alouds?
Photo source: Wonderfully Complex
We’ve read aloud to the kids for at least an hour a day since they were six months old. I credit this with thier abilitiy to sit and listen to me read books like The Wizard of Oz, My Father’s Dragon series books, Alice in Wonderland and The Indian in the Cupboard when they were three. I can never see us giving up reading together.
We’ve read aloud since they were six months’ old, too! And like Christina, I’d say that this has meant that they’ve been better at paying attention. One caution, though: I thought reading aloud would automatically create avid readers. My oldest was; my youngest was not, initially. She would rather listen. It wasn’t until she hit 11 or 12 that she started reading voraciously (and now it’s hard to get her to stop).
Anyway, we’ve adored the Anne of Green Gables series, too, and read that aloud twice. We’ve been through Little House on the Prairie 3 times. I’d say that the best beginner read aloud is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We read that when they were both 4 1/2, and they loved it and could sit through a chapter a night. From that we did Narnia and Little House on the Prairie. But Charlie was a great one to start with!
Sheila from To Love, Honor and Vacuum!
We recently enjoyed Pinnochio. The historical fiction/biography series put out by Christian Focus Publications are excellent. We also enjoy reading a lot of the Veritas Press recommendations.
We (my 4 yo and I) started reading Harry Potter. Its my first time reading it, I intentionally waited until he was old enough to listen/grasp most of it and enjoy it. He has a pretty high threshold on the fear front, so he has no problem with the “scary” or mythical parts. Great fun!! We alternate between reading it at home and listening to it while we are in the car. Great way to deal with long rides too
We don’t have kids yet, so I read out loud to my husband! He’s not much of a reader, but we have found that the time to just lounge in bed with a good book that we can share together has allowed us a new opportunity for bonding time.
I’ll second Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And classic Winnie the Pooh is so funny, especially for the older kids! Also recommend Pippi Longstocking, and Story of the World Volumes by Susan Wise Bauer. My dad, actually, read Black Beauty out loud to my oldest (now 15) every time he visited — took them three years to finish! And now they have that memory to cherish. And don’t forget Charlotte’s Web, and Wind in the Willows… I’m inspired now to suggest to my oldest that we read The Hobbit out loud: he’s not a “reader” but that may appeal to him as an alternative, and get us back on the read-out-loud saddle to boot.
I read Apologia Science and Bible or theology to my kids almost every morning. We are currently reading Bruce Ware’s Big Truths for Young Hearts. I highly recommend it.
My husband just finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with our boys. I hope to join in w/ the next family reading venture!
Thanks for the encouragement!
There’s something I’ve been wondering. It’s a little off this topic.
Both of my kids love me to read to them. I can’t say we’ve been super diligent at hours and hours per week, but almost every day we read to them. My daughter is 4.5, and my son is 3. The idea of reading books without pictures scares me. I keep thinking they’ll never pay attention, and they’ll lose interest. My son will get bored and play cars and just listen when we read picture books with a couple of paragraphs of text on each page. When they pages are turned, he comes back and looks at the pic for a couple sentences, and then goes back to driving cars on the couch.
How do you know? I realize that with so many kids, your little ones probably get all kids of books read aloud around them with or without pictures, but at first how did you know?
Becky, I would encourage you to start now and with any adveture book. I started to read chapter books to my daughter when she was 2 1/2 and my son was sitting nearby as an infant. Sean is now 5 1/2 and even when he seems like he is not listining (stairing out the window or playing with a toy) he can tell me what is going on. In tha last two years some of his favorites have been the Sisters Grimm series, Redwall, Peter and the Star Catchers, Indian in the Cupboard and The Last Battle.
Some of our favorites…
A Secret Garden
The Indian in the Cupboard
Anne of Green Gables
Thanks so much for the list, we are always looking for new books. When my daughter was maybe 6ish months old we started reading aloud as a family at bedtime. DH would read while I nursed our daughter until she weaned. Now she’ll play or snuggle while DH reads and I love using the time to sit and knit or sew while listening to the story. We generally read one chapter per night and it makes a nice end to our evening. We are planning on continuing the tradition of family story time at least until the kids are in high school (here’s to hoping). We started out with the Anne of Green Gables series, but have also enjoyed Little Women, Little Men, The Secret Garden and Watership Down. We are now reading through the Little House books because DH has never read them. Our daughter has developed a love for snuggling and stories and DH and I are getting the chance to share old favorites. It really is a win-win for our entire family.
Becky I will almost guarantee that he is listening eve if he is playing with cars. Just because a child is doing something with their hands does not mean they are not listening. My Mom quilts while listening to books on tape and I do needlepoint, wash dishes, etc while listening to books on tape. I encourage my children to do quiet play while I read out loud to them.
I could not agree with you more! My children are grown. 24, 29 and 31. All are established in their chosen careers. Youngest is still in Grad school. And every holiday when they return home for a visit we always manage to read for at least one of the evenings when we are all together. It is a bond that is so strong that it will never go away. And one of the true blessings of this ritual is that we have all learned more about each other as adults. I cherish this time more than I can ever say. This started when the where 9 months old. Best part is that they still look forward to this special time.
We love the Little House series and Narnia too. Other successes have been translations of books by the Dutch author Piet Prins, Heidi and Around the world in 80 days.