Top Ten Books I Want My (future) Kids to Read

With the birth of my nephew I’m a bit nostalgic and looking into the future of my family. That brings me to my favorite books. Books I read to my sister time and time again. Books I read on my own. Books that helped shape me into who I am today.

I haven’t read most of these for years, so I may be a faulted on a few details.

10. Aesop’s Fables

I hated/hate the original fairy tales. Let’s scare the bejeezus out of small children so they will do as told. Yay! But Aesop’s Fables have stories and morals I can get behind from the turtle and the hare to the grasshopper’s working diligently. My favorite is the Lion and Mouse.

9. All Dr. Seuss Books

Every single one of Dr. Seuss books has a morale I stand behind. One of acceptance of the quirky, one of fun, one of never taking one too seriously. I love them all.

8. Diary of Anne Frank

I read this book so many times as a child. I have always had an interest in the Holocaust and other genocides. This was never required reading in my school, but I wish it was. This is a book I will insist my kids read. Living, loving, growing up in a small confined place with danger all around.

7. Black Beauty

No book evoked such emotion from me before. I was so angry during this book that I wanted to commit homicide. It made me cry. It made me feel relieved. It made me happy. This is on the top of my list of wants for First Editions.

6. Anne of Green Gables

I hated this book at first. I thought it was basically a “spare the rod and spoil the child” book. Encouraging child abuse. And then I fell in love with kindred spirits, and lights in the window, and everything that made Anne “Anne”.

5. Little Men

I hated Little Women. Hated it. So bored. When I picked this one up I was not expecting to enjoy it. It had some extreme punishments that definitely stuck with me. After reading that painful lying scene I certainly thought before I spoke. It was a fun read with incorrigible boys and I enjoyed learning about their stories

4. Harry Potter

This series was my constant companion from the time I was 12 until I was graduated from high school. I went to midnight releases of the last two books and completely loved every single book. I didn’t read them at first because I thought they were boy books, but within the first chapter of the first book I was hooked. I only picked them up to impress a boy and am I so glad I did!

3. Little House on the Prairie

If any series resonated with me it was this one. I’ve always been a history lover and growing up in rural Oklahoma I understood the setting quite well. It was such a companion to me as I grew up, but I don’t really think it taught me any big lessons. My favorite book in series is actually a prequel not written by Ingalls: Little House in the Highlands

2. Bridge to Terabithia

This was required classroom reading in 4th grade. 4th grade was also the beginning of the bullying years. This book taught me how to deal with bullies, parents that seemed cruel, and how imagination can one’s biggest ally.

1. The Boxcar Children

This is the very first series of books I read on my own. I was born to a family of readers and with severe dyslexia and a want to be included my greatest wish from age 3 to 6 was to be able to read. This series set me up for a love of reading. It was a series that resonated with me unlike books like The Babysitters Club. (My gosh those books are superficial)

What were your favorite books as a child? Have you read any to your children or do you plan on encouraging them to read certain books?

Categories: Random, Top Ten