We love reading aloud to the kids or having them read to us and each other. It is not relegated to only bedtime, when everyone is tired. We read a chapter here or there over lunch, waiting at dance class, or on a picnic. I read to my kids while they eat both to keep them and ME sitting during the marathon that can be mealtime, and to hold a page turn for ransom for a big bite. We also use audio stories both in the car and in the kids rooms for quiet time.
Here follows a list of our favorite read aloud chapter books – four or five stars out of five. Many have been read and reread. I did not include books we started and didn’t finish, or ones that were only so so. All the titles below are well written and kid approved. Books in the younger lists are still requested by older kids. Tip Toes Lightly and Winnie the Pooh are favorite lunchtime stories.
First Bedtime Stories (2 years+)
- House at Pooh Corners by A. A. Milne
- The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by B. Potter
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit by B. Potter
- The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by B. Potter
- The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly by Reg Down
Longer Storyline Read Alouds (3.5 years +)
- House in the Big Woods by L.I. Wilder
- Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
- Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
More Complex Stories (5/6+)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- Magic Tree House Series (52 books) by Mary Pope Osborne (can be read in 30 minutes)
- Nate the Great Series (26 books) by Marjorie Sharmat (can be read in 20 minutes)
- Stuart Little by E.B. White
- The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
- Mr. Popper’s Penguins
- Matilda
- The BFG
- The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me
More Intense Stories
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe