The Books I Read to my Children
Reading is THE key to a good education. Other things matter - but reading is supreme!
A few things for parents to understand:
Children LOVE stories and reading to them is one of the very best things you can do as a parent. I read to mine from when they were very young - into their teens - pretty much every night.
Don’t limit your reading to books children can read themselves. Read to the child cognitive level for understanding. I started reading The Lord of the Rings to my oldest before he was three and he asked me to. I said I would only read it to him each night if he could tell me what happened the day before in the story. I did the same for his siblings.
EVERY child can be a reader and boys no less than girls. Sometimes the effort is in finding the right books and often a good series or set of books by an authors is what kick starts them.
My favourite non-fiction recommendation is The Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (adult/illustrated version).
Below are many of the books I read to my children. I have also read a good number of these to my classes as a teacher,
The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien
The Father Christmas Letters J. R. R. Tolkien
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight J. R. R. Tolkien
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil J. R. R. Tolkien
Farmer Giles of Ham J. R. R. Tolkien
Smith of Wootton Major J. R. R. Tolkien
Leaf by Niggle J. R. R. Tolkien
The Magician’s Nephew C. S. Lewis
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis
The Horse and His Boy C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian C. S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C. S. Lewis
The Silver Chair C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle C. S. Lewis
Pilgrims Regress C. S. Lewis
The Back of the North Wind George MacDonald
The Princess and the Goblin George MacDonald
The Princess and Curdie George MacDonald
The Golden Key George MacDonald
The Complete Fairy Tales George MacDonald
Phantastes George MacDonald
The Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
Tom Brown’s Schooldays Thomas Hughes
The Enchanted Castle E. Nesbit
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
The Tanglewood’s Secret Patricia St John
Treasures of the Snow Patricia St John
The Victor Patricia St John
Rainbow Garden Patricia St John
The Mystery of Pheasant Cottage Patricia St John
Star of Light Patricia St John
The Secret of the Fourth Candle Patricia St John
In the Grip of Winter Colin Dann
The Big Fisherman Lloyd C. Douglas
The Robe Lloyd C. Douglas
The Jungle Book (1 & 2) Rudyard Kipling
Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling
Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe
Swiss Family Robinson Jonnie Wyss
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson
To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee
Fantastic Mr Fox Roald Dahl
The Minpins Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Roald Dahl
Revolting Rhymes Roald Dahl
The Giraffe the Pelly and Me Roald Dahl
Dirty Beasts Roald Dahl
Chalie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
Esio Trot Roald Dahl
My Year Roald Dahl
The BFG Roald Dahl
Boy Roald Dahl
George’s Marvelous Medecine Roald Dahl
Danny The Champion of the World Roald Dahl
Going Solo Roald Dahl
Matilda Roald Dahl
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hans Andersons Fairy Tales Hans Christian Anderson
I Am David Anne Holm
The Silver Sword Ian Serraillier
Peter Pan J. M. Barrie
Artemis Fowl Eion Colfer
Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne
And Then We Were Six A. A. Milne
Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
The Little White Horse Elizabeth Gouge
Aesop’s Fables Aesop
White Fang Jack London
Dragon Boy Dick King-Smith
Babe Dick King-Smith
Charlotte’s Web E. B. White
Stuart Little E. B. White
The Knight and the Squire Terry Jones
Watership Down Richard Adams
The Odyssey Homer
Anamalia Graeme Base
The Eleventh Hour Graeme Base
The Discovery of Dragons Graeme Base
The 27th Annual African Hippopotamus Race Morris Lurie
The Snow Goose Paul Gallico
Gullivers Travels Jonathan Swift
Oliver Twist Charles Dickens
365 Bible Stories God
Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll
Alan Quartermain Rider Haggard
Exodus Leon Uris
The Storm Frederick Buechner
On the Road with the Archangel Frederick Buechner
Son of Laughter Frederick Buechner
alwyn.poole@gmail.com
The books on your list, if enjoyed by the children, would meet the criteria for true Education, by RSPeters...
1. that “education” implies the transmission of what is worthwhile to those who become committed to it;
2. that “education” must involve knowledge and understanding and some kind of cognitive perspective, which are not inert;
3. that “education” at least rules out some procedures of transmission, on the grounds that they lack wittingness and voluntariness on the part of the learner.