I thought since yesterday I shared with you some of my favorite ways to encourage your young readers, today I’d share some of our favorite books. There are so many FANTASTIC books out there, so these are books that I pulled from my brain and our collection just today. If you have some favorites for the younger readers, please leave a comment! I promise you, I will look at what you mention. {I’m a little book obsessed.}

For the very beginning readers, I still love Dick and Jane. They have very quick “chapters” and repeat words often so that kids feel a sense of great accomplishment when reading.

There is also a collection of books called “Toon” books. They have different levels for different readers and are in comic strip form. There is something about comic style stories that my boys love.

For poetry, I really treasure the illustrations and poetry by Gyo Fujikawa. They are so sweet!! Every other page in these is color. Another of our favorite writers and illustrators is Tasha Tudor and she illustrated a book by Robert Louis Stevenson called “A Child’s Garden of Verses” that is a good one. And of course, Shel Silverstein is a favorite around here.

Alfie and his sister Annie Rose. These would be stories to read aloud to your little ones. I’m not sure why I exactly like these books. They are simply sweet stories about a pre-school boy and his little sister.

Picture books. Fern Hollow is a beautiful book! It was one of my treasured ones as a child. And the Henry books are a newer find. There are 4 in this series. Henry goes exploring in each story and it has spurred my boys onto more than one adventure in the woods.

For your readers ready to tackle short chapter books.
A to Z Mystery Kids. And the slightly younger series called Calendar Mysteries. These are a very fun way to introduce mysteries to children.
Nate the Great. More mysteries!
The Littles. I love this series! Another one from my growing up years. A family of little people that live in the walls.
The Cul-de-sac Kids. Stories about a bunch of neighbor kids. These have a bit of faith interwoven in them.
Anna Hibiscus. A little girl who lives in Africa with her Canadian mom and African dad. It was the perfect series for the kids to read right during the adoption of their new cousin from Ethiopia.

And these are just because books…maybe gentle read alouds for you to read at bedtime, or after supper…or anytime!
The Lighthouse Family. The author of these is Cynthia Rylant {the author of “Mr.Putter and Tabby” books–awesome!!}.
Thornton Burgess. He has lots of animal stories. He wrote his first book in 1910 and then wrote for the next 50 years. The stories are about real animals and he weaves into his make believe stories true characteristics of the animals. It’s very clever and educational in a sneaky way.

There you have it! Some of our picks. Leave me a comment here, or on fb, or wherever on your favorite books for young ones! I’m always on the hunt for more!!