Fabulous children’s book recommendations
Reading logs don’t have to be a struggle to fill. With the right books on your shelf, reading minutes will add up before you know it. From classics to the newest children’s book recommendations, we’ve rounded up ten children’s book titles that will keep your kids reading this fall.
Whimsical read-alouds
One way to get kids reading is to encourage them to read aloud to you or to their younger siblings. There’s nothing sweeter than watching siblings bending their heads together over the colorful illustrations in a new book, and Mix It Up! by Hervé Tullet will enchant anyone opening its pages (Chronicle Books, $16). After reading the fun story about combining colors, give kids a reading break with oversized paper and water-based paints to see what the create.
Jan Brett’s The Mitten is a gentle reminder to keep track of one’s possessions — which all kids can use as they drag fall jackets, water bottles, and homework folders to and from school (Barnes & Noble, $15). The illustrations give hints as to what happens next, and animal-loving kids will enjoy laughing at the animals huddled together in the mitten.
Get them hooked on a book series
Loyalty in books can go a long way in developing lifelong readers, so finding a series your child loves can be beneficial to keeping those pages turning. Ivy + Bean shouldn’t have been friends, but sometimes first impressions are wrong — a fantastic lesson for little ones just beginning to branch out and form close childhood friendships, from Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall (Barnes & Noble, $4).
The Magic Treehouse books have so many options, from “Fact Trackers” to boxed sets, kids who enjoy them won’t run out of books anytime soon. The mysteries build on one another, and the reading level increases as the series moves forward, so starting at the beginning with Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne makes the most sense (Barnes & Noble, $5).
Poetry counts toward reading minutes
Poems can be a way to sneak in reading minutes in a busy day. Gone Fishing: A novel in verse by Tamera Will Wissinger is an entire story told through 40 poems woven together (Barnes & Noble, $14). Not only does the book offer a great introduction to poetry, but the story deals with a common issue in households with young children — sibling rivalry.
For the laughs alone, there’s no one like Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends (Barnes & Noble, $13). The 40th anniversary edition contains twelve additional poems, so mom and dad can borrow the book after bedtime to fall in love with their childhood favorites all over again before picking out the additional poems.
Tackling tough subjects through reading
How do steampunk, vampire hunting, and mystery solving relate to girl power and conversations about feminism? Colleen Gleason manages to twine them together in The Clockwork Scarab, a Stoker & Holmes novel (Chronicle Books, $18). In case you’re wondering, she is talking about Stoker and Holmes as in the the vampire hunter and the mystery solver — though probably not the ones you’d think!
Books are doorways into new worlds, and they can help parents and kids bridge tough conversations by beginning with fictional issues. Lois Lowry doesn’t shirk away from presenting tough subjects to young readers. Possibly the dystopian book that started the young adult dystopian trend that includes The Hunger Games and Divergent, The Giver is a children’s classic (Barnes & Noble, $10). The movie tie in version includes Q & A with some of the movie’s cast, including Taylor Swift.
Put them to sleep with bedtime books
Whether you read to your kids at bedtime, let them read to you, or some combination of both, bedtime books remain favorites. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld is a good book for beginning readers to try (Chronicle Books, $17). It’s often a favorite of younger children, so they will be familiar with the story when faced with some of the more complicated words.
Stars Wars lovers and their children will giggle as Darth Vader attempts to coax his twins — Luke and Leia, of course — to sleep in Goodnight Darth Vader by Jeffrey Brown (Chronicle Books, $15). The rhyming book features fantastic illustrations and imagined scenarios about what the Star Wars universe looks and sounds like at bedtime.
Bonus idea for keeping kids reading
Reluctant readers may be coaxed into reading more if they see some sort of prize at the end. A family movie night with a movie adapted from a children’s book can be a motivator until kids decide they love reading for its own sake. Several of the books on this list of recommendations can be tied into a movie night, from The Giver to the entire Star Wars saga.
