What a great idea to document your readings. I need to do the same. My oldest is 5 right now and has been absolutely loving Roald Dahl as well. Fantastic Mr. Fox, BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and James and the Giant Peach are all up there as top hits. Check out The Enormous Crocodile if you haven’t. It’s much shorter but both my 5 and 3 year old sons love it. I’ll have to check out the Little Christmas Carol. I’ve had a long tradition of reading it myself at Christmas time so it would be great to do it as a family.
Thanks for the comment, Connor! We'll definitely have to check out The Enormous Crocodile. I haven't heard of that one! And yes, do read LCC with the fam this year!
More MacDonald! One of the only writers who includes girls and boys on adventures together, each with their particular gifts and each growing and learning from the other.
Love this question! With four boys, we’ve had our share of unforgettable read-alouds—equal parts meaningful and laugh-out-loud.
A few hits in our house:
• The BFG – the burping and belching scenes made it an instant classic for my crew 😆
• Warrior Kid by Jocko – my 10-year-old started waking up early to “train” after this one
• The Mysterious Benedict Society – clever, adventurous, and full of heart
We’re just putting the final touches on a dad/son summer reading challenge inspired by The Benedict Society—think Legos, secret missions, puzzles, and just enough danger to keep everyone hooked. I’ll be sharing it soon with other parents too!
Absolutely lovely! Thank you for posting the snippets and not just the titles. I am so glad you’re reading those with your son. Last year my wife and I started keeping our eyes out for several of these to start a little library. We don’t have any kids yet, but Lord-willing we will be able to put the library idea into good use. Blessings to you and yours!
I have a three-year-old grandson who leaves piles of books in his wake when he visits, he loves them! Thanks for this peek at your list of longer reads, you've got some great ones here. I wonder if he'd like My Father's Dragon and others in the series? It's a great length, good storytelling, my kids loved them so I'm excited to try them out on the next generation.
They are really remarkable, in spite of being, seemingly, recondite documents when compared their more famed main entry. My favorite was The Willows at Christmas.
Wow amazing list! Thanks so much! You're certainly expanding his world with all these books and quality time together 🥰 I'd like to do something similar with our little ones but was wondering, what's your routine around reading? Before bed or earlier in the night and for how long? Do you go to the library often together?
Thanks, Kat! Most of the time we read at night right before bed (15-20 min or so). Sometimes on the weekends as well during the day. But our reading of chapter books specifically ebbs and flows. Right now, we read books to both my son (5) and my daughter (2) before bedtime, and at her age chapter books are more challenging for her to stay engaged with. We do go the library about once a month as well! But most of the chapter books we've read we have a copy of. Hope that helps!
Awesome that does help!! I was just going to ask about reading to kids of different ages, but you answered my question. 🙂 From your list of suggestions, we picked fantastic Mr. Fox to start with! And I saw there's a movie too that we could watch after! Thanks a lot for this inspiration on reading more challenging books to kids! 🙏
This is a great list! I have 3 boys: 7, 4, and 2. We are big readers over here and I’m excited for our summer break to be able to incorporate a bit more reading that’s not included in our curriculum. Wind in the Willows was already on the list for the summer. We will have to check out some of these.
I am currently reading Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk to my 12 year old. Just one chapter a night, sometimes a little more if there's a cliff hanger. My legs always fall asleep as I sit on the floor, lingering over passages and pondering outcomes. We've acquired a few inside jokes because I tend to add my own commentary from time to time. Yup, this is the book that solidified it for me—I will always read aloud to my daughter. Well, I'm going to milk it for as long as I can, anyway. 😉
What lovely memories you’re creating for your children! I’m looking forward to reading some Enid Blyton to my son, as I have fond memories of my Dad reading The Secret Seven books to me. We’ve also read some of the Brambly Hedge books and he loves the pictures.
This essay just sings to me! I have (and still do) love reading chapter books with my children. If you asked, I *think* they would say Dahl was at the top of their lists. We just loved reading Matilda aloud. There are a few here that we've haven't gotten to yet. It's wonderful when you children become independent readers, but you feel like you are missing out on the book together. Enjoy it!
Thank you for the kind words, Brittany! The Dahl books are so great. We will definitely need to add Matilda to our list for this year. And I couldn't agree more about reading books aloud with your kiddos! Nothing like it.
What a great idea to document your readings. I need to do the same. My oldest is 5 right now and has been absolutely loving Roald Dahl as well. Fantastic Mr. Fox, BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and James and the Giant Peach are all up there as top hits. Check out The Enormous Crocodile if you haven’t. It’s much shorter but both my 5 and 3 year old sons love it. I’ll have to check out the Little Christmas Carol. I’ve had a long tradition of reading it myself at Christmas time so it would be great to do it as a family.
Thanks for the comment, Connor! We'll definitely have to check out The Enormous Crocodile. I haven't heard of that one! And yes, do read LCC with the fam this year!
So fun! Can't wait for my eldest to be old enough to enjoy these!
More MacDonald! One of the only writers who includes girls and boys on adventures together, each with their particular gifts and each growing and learning from the other.
Love this question! With four boys, we’ve had our share of unforgettable read-alouds—equal parts meaningful and laugh-out-loud.
A few hits in our house:
• The BFG – the burping and belching scenes made it an instant classic for my crew 😆
• Warrior Kid by Jocko – my 10-year-old started waking up early to “train” after this one
• The Mysterious Benedict Society – clever, adventurous, and full of heart
We’re just putting the final touches on a dad/son summer reading challenge inspired by The Benedict Society—think Legos, secret missions, puzzles, and just enough danger to keep everyone hooked. I’ll be sharing it soon with other parents too!
You're giving your children the most wonderful gift, which will last their entire lives.
And The Wind in the Willows...!
Absolutely lovely! Thank you for posting the snippets and not just the titles. I am so glad you’re reading those with your son. Last year my wife and I started keeping our eyes out for several of these to start a little library. We don’t have any kids yet, but Lord-willing we will be able to put the library idea into good use. Blessings to you and yours!
Hey Kyle, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I love that idea!
I have a three-year-old grandson who leaves piles of books in his wake when he visits, he loves them! Thanks for this peek at your list of longer reads, you've got some great ones here. I wonder if he'd like My Father's Dragon and others in the series? It's a great length, good storytelling, my kids loved them so I'm excited to try them out on the next generation.
I've never heard of that one! I'll have to check it out!
I adjure you to investigate the later installations in the Wind and the Willows chronicle. They were my favorite books as a youngster.
I will definitely be checking those out! Thanks for the rec, Harlan!
They are really remarkable, in spite of being, seemingly, recondite documents when compared their more famed main entry. My favorite was The Willows at Christmas.
Wow amazing list! Thanks so much! You're certainly expanding his world with all these books and quality time together 🥰 I'd like to do something similar with our little ones but was wondering, what's your routine around reading? Before bed or earlier in the night and for how long? Do you go to the library often together?
Thanks, Kat! Most of the time we read at night right before bed (15-20 min or so). Sometimes on the weekends as well during the day. But our reading of chapter books specifically ebbs and flows. Right now, we read books to both my son (5) and my daughter (2) before bedtime, and at her age chapter books are more challenging for her to stay engaged with. We do go the library about once a month as well! But most of the chapter books we've read we have a copy of. Hope that helps!
Awesome that does help!! I was just going to ask about reading to kids of different ages, but you answered my question. 🙂 From your list of suggestions, we picked fantastic Mr. Fox to start with! And I saw there's a movie too that we could watch after! Thanks a lot for this inspiration on reading more challenging books to kids! 🙏
Of course! FMF is one of our all-time favs! And the movie is incredible too :)
Wow! Such a lovely list.
This is a great list! I have 3 boys: 7, 4, and 2. We are big readers over here and I’m excited for our summer break to be able to incorporate a bit more reading that’s not included in our curriculum. Wind in the Willows was already on the list for the summer. We will have to check out some of these.
Thanks, Emily! Yes, WitW is the best! Would love to hear what your boys love to read as well.
The Little Prince -- it's a delight for both adults and children, alike :)
I am currently reading Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk to my 12 year old. Just one chapter a night, sometimes a little more if there's a cliff hanger. My legs always fall asleep as I sit on the floor, lingering over passages and pondering outcomes. We've acquired a few inside jokes because I tend to add my own commentary from time to time. Yup, this is the book that solidified it for me—I will always read aloud to my daughter. Well, I'm going to milk it for as long as I can, anyway. 😉
I haven’t heard of that one! Can’t wait to check it out!
What lovely memories you’re creating for your children! I’m looking forward to reading some Enid Blyton to my son, as I have fond memories of my Dad reading The Secret Seven books to me. We’ve also read some of the Brambly Hedge books and he loves the pictures.
This essay just sings to me! I have (and still do) love reading chapter books with my children. If you asked, I *think* they would say Dahl was at the top of their lists. We just loved reading Matilda aloud. There are a few here that we've haven't gotten to yet. It's wonderful when you children become independent readers, but you feel like you are missing out on the book together. Enjoy it!
Thank you for the kind words, Brittany! The Dahl books are so great. We will definitely need to add Matilda to our list for this year. And I couldn't agree more about reading books aloud with your kiddos! Nothing like it.
The best Dad a kid could ask for! Especially, a bookworm little buddy.
Thank you Ms. Lawandalea! You are too kind.