Literature
"The most common and the monstrous defect in the education of the day is that children fail to acquire the habit of reading. Knowledge is conveyed to them by lessons and talk, but the studious habit of using books as a means of interest and delight is not acquired. This habit should be begun early; so soon as the child can read at all, he should read for himself, and to himself, history, legends, fairy tales, and other suitable matter. He should be trained from the first to think that one reading of any lesson is enough to enable him to narrate what he has read, and will thus get the habit of slow, careful reading, intelligent even when it is silent, because he reads with an eye to the full meaning of every clause."
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"It is a delight to older people to read aloud to children, but this should be only an occasional treat and indulgence, allowed before bedtime, for example. We must remember the natural inertness of a child's mind; give him the habit of being read to, and he will steadily shirk the labour of reading for himself; indeed, we all like to be spoon-fed with our intellectual meat, or we should read and think more for ourselves and be less eager to run after lectures."
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"A child has not begun his education until he has acquired the habit of reading to himself, with interest and pleasure, books fully on a level with his intelligence. I am speaking now of his lesson-books, which are all too apt to be written in a style of insufferable twaddle, probably because they are written by persons who have never chanced to meet a child. All who know children know that they do not talk twaddle and do not like it, and prefer that which appeals to their understanding. Their lesson-books should offer matter for their reading, whether aloud or to themselves; therefore they should be written with literary power. As for the matter of these books, let us remember that children can take in ideas and principles, whether the latter be moral or mechanical, as quickly and clearly as we do ourselves (perhaps more so); but detailed processes, lists and summaries, blunt the edge of a child's delicate mind.
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Therefore, the selection of their first lesson-books is a matter of grave importance, because it rests with these to give children the idea that knowledge is supremely attractive and that reading is delightful. Once the habit of reading his lesson-book with delight is set up in a child, his education is––not completed, but––ensured; he will go on for himself in spite of the obstructions which school too commonly throws in his way." Charlotte Mason
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Select a group of books below that corresponds to the main age range of your students (younger, middle, older) and read them aloud or listen to an audio book while in the car. If you have both younger and older students, you can read aloud to the younger and then assign a set of books for older students to read independently. The main goal is to select books that your family will enjoy and read them aloud together.
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We believe the main objective of literature is to enjoy well written books. Ask for narrations if you want to, but don't feel that you must do a study guide or literary analysis on every piece of literature you read.
After completing the book offer the additional treat of watching the movie, if available, and discuss the similarities and differences between the two.
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PRE-K/KINDERGARTEN
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A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Aston
A Rock is Lively by Diana Aston
A Butterfly is Patient by Diana Aston
An Egg is Quiet by Diana Aston
A Nest is Noisy by Diana Aston
A Beetle is Shy by Diana Aston
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Chanticleer and the Fox by Barbara Cooney
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Madeline series by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
The Velveteen Rabbit by Marjorie Williams
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Martin
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
YOUNGER STUDENTS (GRADES 1 -4)
Book Group 1
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Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
All-of-a -Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A . A. Milne
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren
Mother West Wind by Thornton Burgess
A Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle
King of the Golden River by Ruskin
Book Group 2
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Burgess Animal Stories by Thornton Burgess
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
Heidi by Spryi
Little House on the Prairie by Wilder
Farmer Boy by Wilder
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Book Group 3
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Treasures of the Snow by St. John
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Swallows and Amazons by Ransome
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Misty of Chincoteague by Henry
Sea Star by Henry
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Henry
The Family under the Bridge by Carlson
Strawberry Girl by Lowry
Ginger Pye by Estes
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Fleming
Wheel on the School by Dejong
Cricket in Times Square by Selden
The Bears of Blue River by Major
Sugar Creek Gang Series by Hutchins
Parables from Nature by Gatty
Bambi by Felix Salten
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Book Group 4
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The Magician's Nephew by C. S . Lew is
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S . Lewis
The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis
Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
The Silver Chair by C. 5. Lewis The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Some Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Complete Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Hale
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey
Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Return to Gone Away Lake
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight
Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
The Borrowers Series by Mary Norton
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
Princess and Curdie by George Macdonald
Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Dubois
Five Children and It by Nesbit
The Good Master by Kate Seredy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
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MIDDLE STUDENTS (GRADES 5-8)
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Book Group 1
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The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Children of the New Forest by Capt. Marryat
Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
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Book Group 2
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Little Britches by Ralph Moody
Man of the Family by Ralph Moody
The Home Ranch by Ralph Moody
Mary Emma and Company by Ralph Moody
The Fields of Home by Ralph Moody
Shaking the Nickel Bush by Ralph Moody
The Dry Divide by Ralph Moody
Horse of a Different Color by Ralph Moody
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by O’brien
Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving
The Wouldbegoods by Edith Nesbit
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
What Katy Did by Coolidge
Follow My Leader by Garfield
Goodbye, Mr. Chips by Hilton and watch the movie
An Old Fashioned Girl by Alcott
A Little Brother to the Bear by Long
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth Speare
Eagle of the Ninth by Sutcliff
Book Group 3
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
School of the Woods by William J. Long
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
Call of the Wild by Jack London
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Penrod by Booth Tarkington
A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long
Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris
Book Group 4
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Kim by Kipling
OLDER STUDENTS (GRADES 9-12)
Book Group I
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The Hobbit by J . R. R. Tolkien
The Fellowship of the Ring by J . R. R. Tolkien
The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
1984 George Orwell
The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Book Group 2
Ivanhoe by Sir W alter Scott
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Book Group 3
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Moby Dick or The White Whale by Herman Melville
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Screwtaple Letters by C. S. Lewis
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Book Group 4
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Lorna Doane by R. D. Blackmore
The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
A Tree Grows in Brookly by Betty Smith
The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert Pirsig