When I was seven years old and living in the city of Auckland, my parents took up teaching positions at the St Christopher’s Anglican Mission school in Popondetta, Papua New Guinea. My siblings and I enjoyed three years of adventure in our new jungle home where we become explorers in our own wild kingdom. We swam and fished in the rivers and made huts and gardens where we grew pineapples, peanuts and bananas. We chased huge emerald and blue butterflies. We ran barefoot and free, and imagined ourselves as Tarzan and Jane, swinging on vines through the jungle. Vivid, poignant memories. But one of the most enduring, significant memories I have of that time is of us all squashed in Mum and Dad’s bed, listening to Dad read to us from The Chronicles of Narnia by Tilley light, as the monsoon rains pounded the tin roof and geckos scuttled across the ceiling.
Many years later when I became a mother, I had the joy of reading aloud to my six children every morning, and then listening to Chris read to them by the fire before bedtime. Over those twenty years, we devoured so many books—picture books, classics, mysteries, biographies, adventure stories… What a joy! When our last child left home, I grieved the fact that there would be no more reading aloud sessions. But then Chris and I realised that there was nothing stopping us reading aloud to each other—just the two of us. Since then, we read aloud to each other each night and have enjoyed many of James Herriot’s stories together. 🙂 We are also looking forward to sharing many happy hours reading to our grandchildren in years to come.
Below is a list of some of our favourite books. Of course, I couldn’t list them all, but there are enough here to get you well and truly started!
The ages given are a guide only. The beautiful picture books can be enjoyed by children of all ages—including adults. Books in the 6+ category will be beyond their own reading age but still be enjoyed when read by a parent.
Enjoy! And read, read, read!
Picture Books
Beatrix Potter books
Winnie the Pooh collection and poems by A A Milne
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses by Jan Brett
Paddington series by Michael Bond
Brambly Hedge Seasons series by Jill Barklem
Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children by James Herriot
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Burton
Curious George by Hans A Rey
When Jessie Came Across the Sea by P J Lynch
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
The Log Cabin Quilt by Ellen Howard
Mr Brown Can Moo by Dr Seuss
Shirley Hughes books
Pancakes for Findus by Sven Nordqvist
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
6yrs +
Grandma’s Attic by Arleta Richardson
The Barn Chronicles series by Rosie Boom
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds
The Adventures of Romy by Penelope Foote
The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
8yrs +
The Drover’s Road Collection by Joyce West
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
Thunderhead by Mary O’Hara
Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
The Basket of Flowers by Christoph Von Schmid
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
The Perilous Road by William O. Steele
Carry on, Mr Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen
The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
Mama’s Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes
Little Britches series by Ralph Moody
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Viking Quest series by Lois Walfrid Johnson
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Duncan’s War by Douglas Bond
Jip by Katherine Paterson
Becky Landers Frontier Warrior by Constance Lindsay Skinner
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
The Kingdom Series by Chuck Black
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
I Am David by Ann Holm
On to Oregon! By Honore Morrow
Where Lions Roar at Night by Rosie Boom
Trailblazer books by Dave & Neta Jackson
Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi
Death of a Guru by Rabindranath R. Maharaj
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan
Brotherband series by John Flanagan
Redwall series by Brian Jacques
The Green Ember series by S D Smith
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
No-One Went to Town by Phyllis Johnston
Black Boots and Buttonhooks by Phyllis Johnston
Runaway Settlers by Elsie Locke
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray Vining
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson
House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Michael Morpugo books
Patricia St John books
Children on the Oregon Trail by Anna Rutgers van der Loeff
Sadie Rose Adventure series by Hilda Stahl
Christy by Catherine Marshall
The Rocky Ridge Years series by Roger Lea MacBride
Good Night Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
Pocahontas – True Princess by Mari Hanes
Two Mighty Rivers – Son of Pocahontas by Mari Hanes
The Great Trek by Ion L Idriess
Biggles series by W E Johns
Mandie Adventure series by Lois Gladys Leppard