Inspire a Love of Reading

One of my greatest pleasures is reading. I absolutely love to have a bath and then curl up in bed with a fantastic book. This love of books has been passed to my daughter who I often catch reading late at night because she just couldn’t put the book down. She knows she is never going to get in trouble for reading too late because she is READING!  She knows how happy it makes me to see here truly loving a great book. There are so many amazing children’s books that will inspire a love of reading for life and this is truly a gift for your child.

I know most of my daughter’s favorite books because a lot of them we have read together. But, I asked her to tell me her top 10 books she loved when she was 10. I found it interesting the variety she had from fiction and non-fiction, serious books to light-hearted books, sad books to mystery books. She didn’t do this mix on purpose. They were just her favorites. This is her list straight from a girl who loves books.

10 Amazing Books

1. Harry Potter Series (JK Rowling)

We have read this series over many years, reading about 1 a year together. I had read all the books prior to having kids but had always them before I was a mom looked forward to reading them again with my kids. My daughter absolutely loves this series and has read each book multiple times over. It amazes me every time I read them how intricate they are, how enjoyable the characters are, and how with each book JK Rowling builds upon the story.

2. Wonder (R.J.Palacia)

This book made us laugh and cry but the story of Auggie and how it was told from his perspective and his family’s and friends’ was inspirational. This book makes you want to be better and treat people better. My daughter loves school and in this book besides Auggie, she especially loved the teacher Mr. Tushman. I wish every child had a teacher like Mr. Tushman sometime in their school years.

3. Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery)

I am Canadian, and this book is famous in Canada. It is about a young orphan who goes to live with a man and his wife in Prince Edward Island (PEI) which is a small province in Canada. What makes this book so special is the writing is amazing and you fall in love with Anne. The story funny and sweet and as you read it you wish she were a real person and you could be friends. My daughter and I read this book together. It is a pretty long book with a lot of words. It is not the easiest read but well worth it. The descriptions are amazing and after we read the book, we visited PEI so she could see the places that inspired the author when she wrote the book.

4. Ms. Bixby’s Last Day (John David Anderson)

This is a sad book that my daughter read on her own and is one that she came down to cuddle with me because she was crying over the book. She loves this book which is about three sixth-graders who skip school to give their favorite teacher, who is dying, a very special last day. This book just pulls at your heart from start to finish and is a book that my daughter recommends to her friends and new kids she meets.

5. The Land of Stories (Chris Colfer)

This a series and it is amazing. My daughter and her friends were hooked on the series as soon as they started the first one. We had to make an emergency trip to the library to get books 5 and 6. This series is about twins that travel to a magical land where some of our favorite fairy tale characters interact together in this story land. Like Jack and the Bean Stalk and Goldie Locks and Little Red Riding hood are all hanging out together. This is a great series and both girls and boys love it.

6. Rain Reign (Ann Martin)

This is a book about a girl with autism and is told from her point of view growing up with all the emotions and needs of a middle school girl. My daughter loved the main character Rose. I think that this book is special similarly to Wonder because it teaches us to understand that although people are different, to not be scared. Understanding that each person is special in their own way and that it is up to each of us to look for the special-ness in each other is an important lesson. I think this is so true at this in the world.

7. Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Stories of Extraordinary Women (Francesca Cavello, Elena Favilli)

There are 2 of these books and my daughter loved them both. These books contain short stories about amazing women and what they did. My daughter loved them because they are about real girls making a difference. All the girls are strong and amazing in their own way. The second book also includes a map so she could see where in the world all these girls lived. These books are perfect for bedtime because they are just short one page reads about each amazing rebel girl. I want to raise a strong, smart, loving, and generous girl who believes that she can do and be anything she wants. I feel like her reading these stories about strong women who have overcome adversity is inspirational to her. There are now 4 different volumes in this series.

8. Warriors (Erin Hunter)

There are multiple books in the series 4 spin off series. If your child enjoys fantasy books, this series is for them. This series centers around clans of  wild cats and the world they live in. There is a lot of action and drama between the clans.  My daughter enjoyed reading and sharing these books with her friends and cousin.

9. Greetings from Somewhere (Harper Paris)

This is a book series about twins whose mother is a journalist and takes a job travelling around the world for a year to write about travelling to amazing cities. The whole family goes, and each book is set in an amazing place in the world. My daughter not only loved the twins and the mysteries they solve in each book, but through each book she learned a bit about each of the places visited. This series inspired her to wants to go to Paris, which we did! This series is an easier read then the others, good for ages 5-9.

10. Theodore Boone – Kid Lawyer (John Grisham)

This book series focuses on Theodore Boone a middle school age boy who loves the law and whose parents are both lawyers. My daughter loved them because she likes the character Theodore Boone and that she has loved learning more about the legal system. It was interesting to read these books with her because they contain a lot of legal terms that are used in regular conversation.

When reading these books with her, I noticed that there were a lot of legal words that she did not know so it was a good discussion to go through and talk about what they meant. Who doesn’t love a John Grisham book? Now kids can enjoy this author as well as adults.

 

Hopefully from our list you find a few new books that your children will love as much as my daughter.

What other books do your kids love? We are always looking for new favorites!

Enjoy reading!

 

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