Our kids simply can’t get enough of reading…of course they tend to spend more time reading cereal boxes and our own text messages some days than actual books. And that is something we’d like to change. So we’re doing what our moms did for us way back when: surrounding our kids with books…what..it worked for us, didn’t it?
It’s a cool season for reading! Check out our age-appropriate book picks (we’ve arranged them from baby to teen), to boost your child’s literacy skills while boosting their love of reading.
Best Books for Babies & Toddlers
Whenever we’re asked for recommendations of books for the wee-est ones, we have a set of five we always say you should have (we read them, our kids read them, we are sure our grandkids will read them. These books stand the test of time):
1. Good Night Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
2. Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney
3. I Love You Through and Through, by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
4. The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson
5. Pat The Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhardt
(And all of them are right around $10 each, a price we love almost as much as the books themselves!)
Best Books for Preschoolers
Preschoolers will flip through books in bed, in the car, even while potty training. We like to keep a basket of books available at all times, in just about every corner. These ones will keep their interest with beautiful, colourful illustrations and tell-me-again stories we don’t even get tired of.
1. Anna Karenina: A BabyLit Fashion Primer, by Jennifer Adams
2. A Little Bit of Oomph! by Barney Saltzberg (available in October)
3. Frog Trouble by Sandra Boynton (available in September)
4. Smelly Ghost by Isabel Atherton, illustrated Bethany Straker (available in September)
5. The Man With The Violin, by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Dusan Petricic
Best Books for Young School Age Children
The younger school aged kids will devour books if you give them the chance — especially if their peers are readers. Keep books at hand for this age range just like the younger kidlets, right in reach of bored hands (rather than letting them reach for your iPad).
1. Llama Llama And The Bully, by Anna Dewdney
2. Geronimo Stilton and the Kingdom of Fantasy #5: The Volcano of Fire, by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic)
3. Xander’s Panda Party by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Matt Phelan (Available in September).
4. Sweet Dreams, Curious George (Available in November)
5. Ivy & Bean Take The Case: Book 10, by Annie Barrows, Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Best Books for Middle School Children
Probably the most avid group of young readers, this age group will read anything — but that doesn’t mean they have enough to read! Chapter books, longer stories and more adventure will keep them intrigued and you won’t catch them with their noses out of these books…ever.
1. Counting By 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan
2. How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinks (September)
3. The Harry Potter Series, by J.K. Rowling
4. The Time Fetch, by Amy Herrick (August)
5. Star Wars: Jedi Academy, by Jeffrey Brown
Best Books for Tweens and Young Teens
By this point you have readers. Of course now they’re making their own reading choices in the store and in the library. Here are a few great ones (some old, some new) to steer them towards that might even pique your interest on a cold, sunny Sunday morning.
1. Hero, by Alethea Kontis
2. Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell
3. The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
4. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
5. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
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