6 FREE Issues of WORLD

Sign up for 6 FREE issues of WORLD magazine, covering today's news with a Christian worldview.  We have received these magazines before, and really enjoy the articles.  Click here and type in the code world to sign up.  No credit card is required, just an address, email, and phone number.
Thanks, MoneySavingMom!

Book Recommendations for ages 5-8+

As you've likely noticed, blogging has taken a back seat to life this past year.  A lot has changed!  One quick update is we are expecting girl #6 in June!  Yes, another girl, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

One of the questions I get asked a lot is what books my girls have enjoyed reading and that we would recommend.  It is so hard as a parent to keep ahead of your kids once their reading takes off!  Which books and series are suitable and appropriate for their ages?  I have searched high and low for a good book recommendation site (kind of like pluggedinonline for movies, but for books), but so far I haven't found one.  If you know of one, please let me know!  It would be great to have a searchable site with some details about content, etc.

Since I haven't found something yet, I rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends I trust.  When picking up a new book, I also read the back, try to scan a few pages throughout the book, and then hand it over to my oldest with the qualifications of "you know what is appropriate--let me know if this book is okay". So far she has demonstrated good judgment, we've had some good conversations about topics that are starting to come up in the "tween" books, and some books we decide to skip. Then she can recommend them to the younger girls! ;-)

I have done a couple of other posts in the past with books we have read and recommend, and you can see those here and here.  I won't repeat those recommendations again here, so be sure to check out those links for other good book choices.

Since I did those last two posts awhile ago, there have been MANY more books the girls have read individually or that we have read together as read-alouds.  So it is high time for a new post! Here is a list of books and series that I have tried to group into rough age groups, but you can certainly go outside these age ranges. 

Early Readers and Short Chapter Books (ages 5-8, or as read-alouds to younger kids)

• Chronicles of Narnia "I Can Read" early readers--a good introduction to Narnia for younger kids, or for them to read on their own. 

• Amelia Bedelia Chapter books--Everyone loves Amelia Bedelia, and now there's a new series of chapter books about Amelia when she was young!  

• Henry and Mudge (a boy and his dog), Annie and Snowball (a girl and her bunny, also with Henry and Mudge), Brownie and Pearl (a girl and her cat), and Mr. Putter and Tabby (an old man and his cat) 

• Arthur Chapter books--Arthur and his friends have adventures in elementary school.  Check the content of these for what you think is appropriate for your kids' ages.  

• Mercy Watson series--Mercy is a pig (a porcine wonder!) who has all sorts of funny adventures, and loves toast with a great deal of butter on it! 

• Berenstain Bears Chapter books--there are "First Time Chapter Books" and "BIG chapter books", about 85-105 pages.  Check the content.

There's more to come!  Stay tuned for more posts with longer chapter books for ages 6-9 and 8-10+!

Do you have any recommendations to share?  

I'd love to hear them!