Joy in Family Life — May
Joy in Family Life — May
Oh! How I love a good book! I love biographies and inspirational books; I love historical fiction and devotionals. I love non-fiction and self-help books. Goodness! I even love dictionaries!
Reading has never been a “have-to” in my life but it has always been a “get-to”. I tried to instill a deep love of the written word in my children’s lives from their newborn days. Every night, before bedtime, from the first day that they came home from the hospital, either my husband or I would read an age appropriate book to them.
Your children will learn to love what you tenderly present to them; if your children have been given the priceless gift of a mother who reads, you are well on your way to developing voracious readers as well. The habit and hobby of ingesting literature is able to strengthen your walk with the Lord and develop the faith of your children.
Words have power to change, to enlarge, and to teach. The books that are in your family home should become some of your children’s best friends as they grow up. If you love books, it is likely that your children will as well. The stories that your children read will expand their understanding and their love of the world and its cultures. Books can meet children at any age and help them to traverse the challenges of life. The characters in children’s books and classic literature can spur on healthy conversation in the library of your heart. You will discover heroes and heroines on the pages of a well-written book, you will be able to discuss villains and what motivated their poor choices, and you will be able to identify your child’s affinity for calling and for purpose.
When a mom encourages a child to read, it also expands their vocabulary in an engaging and even exciting manner. When a child reads, they learn of history, science, music, art, and nature all while snuggled on the family room couch!
Often, when dealing with a difficult family situation such as deceit, selfishness, or laziness, I would read a book out loud that addressed that particular challenge. We could then discuss the virtue that we all needed to embrace in the family and thus spur one another on to love and good deeds.
I have an extraordinary gift for you this month. In my new book, “The Rooms of a Mother’s Heart”, I give an extensive list of the books that should be part of family life. And this month, I am sharing that entire list with all of you!
I hope that you will print the list and keep it as a reminder for Christmas gifts, birthday gifts and trips to the library. If you are a grandmother, have your grandchildren check the books that they already have so you know which ones to buy in the future for various occasions. If you are a mother, this list will help bring joy to many rainy afternoons and long winter days!
And let me just say … before you even read the list … “You’re welcome!”
Books for the Baby
Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff
Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton
Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Go to Sleep, Little Farm by Mary Lyn Ray
Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
I Am a Bunny by Ole Risom and Richard Scarry
I Love You to the Moon and Back by Amelia Hepworth and Tim Warnes
Little Bear’s Little Boat by Eve Bunting
Little Blue Truck Books by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Little Poems for Tiny Ears by Lin Oliver and Tomie dePaola
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
My Blue Boat by Chris L. Demarest
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple
The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn
Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by Brianna Caplan Sayres and Christian Slade
Where’s Spot by Eric Hill
Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers; Picture Books
A Blue Butterfly by Bijou Le Tord
A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
A Seed Is Sleeping by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry and Marc Simont
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee
Alphabears by Kathleen and Michael Hague
An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
Any book illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
Baby Dear by Esther and Eloise Wilkin
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Clifford the Big Red Dog series by Norman Bridwell
Curious George books by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
God Bless You and Goodnight by Hannah Hall
Harry by the Sea by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham
I’ll Never Let You Go by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Alison Brown
If Jesus Came to My House by Joan G. Thomas, Henri Sorensen, et al.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and other books by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond
In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck and Tricia Tusa
It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Sims Taback
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Little Brown Bear by Elizabeth Norine Upham
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherri Rinker and Ethan Long
Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Coony
My First Mother Goose by Tomie dePaola
My Little Artist by Donna Green
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray
Noah’s Ark by Peter Speier
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree by Naoko Stoop
Richard Scarry’s books
Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Snow by Uri Schulevitz
The Berenstain Bears series by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice F. Ransom and Felicia Bond
The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater
The Boy Who Held Back the Sea by Lenny Hort, Thomas Locker, et al.
The First Teddy Bear by Helen Kay, illustrated by Susan Detwiler
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, illustrated by Ruth Harper
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper and George and Doris Hauman
The Little Family by Lois Lenski
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer and Lisa McCue
The Raft by Jim LaMarche
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and J. Alison James
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant and Stephen Gammell
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie
Toy Boat by Randall de Sève and Loren Long
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner and David Catrow
You’re Here for a Reason by Nancy Tillman
Early Reader Books
A Pocketful of Goobers by Barbara Mitchell and Peter E. Hanson
A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet
Amber on the Mountain by Tony Johnston and Robert A. Duncan
Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn
“B” Is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood
Brave Irene by William Steig
Clara and Davie by Patricia Polacco
Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash
For Spacious Skies by Olga Baumert and Nancy Churnin
Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel
Gramma’s Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines
Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say
Hank the Cowdog series by John R. Erickson, illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Connie Roop, Peter Roop, et al.
Linnea’s Almanac by Cristina Bjork and Lena Anderson, et al.
Locomotive by Brian Floca
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont
Nicky the Nature Detective by Ulf Svedberg, Lena Anderson, et al.
On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne and Vladimir Radunsky
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand
Pets in a Jar by Seymour Simon and Betty Fraser
Poppleton series by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague
Rosie’s Posies by Marcy Dunn Ramsey
Sam the Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchely and Arnold Lobel
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers
Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz and Pat Cummings
The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman and LeUyen Pham
The Brave Girl by Michelle Markel and Melissa Sweet
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night by Peter Spier
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small
The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat by Eugene Field
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
The Library by Sarah Stewart and David Small
The Life and Times of the Peanut by Charles Micucci
The Long Way to a New Land by Joan Sandin
The Long Way Westward by Joan Sandin
The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman
The Star-Spangled Banner by Peter Spier
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Ted Rand
They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson
Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library by Barb Rosenstock and John O’Brien
Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins and Jill McElmurry
Uncle Jed’s Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell and James E. Ransome
Wagon Wheels by Betty Mermelstein and Cheryl Chan
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant and Diane Goode
Who Says Women Can’t be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone and Marjorie Priceman
You Are Special by Max Lucado, illustrated by Sergio Martinez
Young Teddy Roosevelt by Cheryl Harness
Must-Reads for Elementary Years
A Gathering of Days by Joan Blos
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
A Year Down Under by Richard Peck
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz
All of a Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor
Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish
American Girl History Mysteries series by Barbara A. Steiner
Ballet Shoes series by Noel Streatfeild and Diane Goode
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawton
Betsy, Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! by Jean Fritz and Mike Wimmer
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink and Trina Schart
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, illustrated by Macky Pamintuan
Frindle by Andrew Clements
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
George Washington Carver from “The Heroes of History” series by Janet and Geoff Benge
Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
I Spy Series by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Walter Wick
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord and Marc Simont
Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park
Just So Stories: for Little Children by Rudyard Kipling
Justin Morgan and the Big Horse Race by Ellen F. Feld
Leonardo’s Horse by Jean Fritz and Hudson Talbott
Little Britches by Ralph Moody
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mandy series by Lois Gladys Leppard
Matt Christopher Sports Classics
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater, Florence Atwater , et al.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald and Alexandra Boiger
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene
Nature Got There First by Phil Gates
North to Freedom by Anne Holm
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Pippy Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary
Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner and Greg Hargreaves
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
The Amazing, Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh and Helen Sewell
The Bobbsey Twins series by Laura Lee Hope
The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Boyhood Diary of Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt and Shelley Swanson Sateren
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Jean Lee Latham
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Dragon’s Hoard by Mell Eight
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
The Five Little Peppers series by Margaret Sidney
The Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla and Bruce Bowles
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White and Fred Marcellino
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness
Todd and Christy series by Robin Jones Gunn
Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John
Two Collars by Jeri Massi
“We Were There” series by Alida Sims Malkus and Leonard Vosburgh
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink
Young John Quincy by Cheryl Harness
Must-Reads for Middle School Years
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle
A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott
Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Beautiful Joe by Margaret Marshall Saunders and Hezekiah Butterworth
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lewis Wallace
Bertie’s War by Barbara Blakey
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
Canterwood Crest series by Jessica Burkhart
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Donna Parker series by Marcia Martin
Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renée Russell
Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley
Emily Byrd Starr series by L. M. Montgomery
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey
Give Me Liberty by L. M. Elliott
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski
Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott
Johnny Tremaine by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George and John Schoenherr
Just David by Eleanor H. Porter
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
On the Runway series by Melody Carlson
Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling
Rascal by Sterling North
Redwall series by Brian Jacques
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott
Sounder by William H. Armstrong
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer, et al.
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Donna Diamond
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
The Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy
The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery
The Story of D-Day by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
This Is Our Constitution by Khizr Khan
Three Girls and a Secret by Rene Guillot
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Trixie Belden series by Julie Campbell
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
Twice Upon a Time by Wendy Mass
Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott
Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen
Must-Reads for High School Years
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Porter
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Emma by Jane Austin
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman and Nancy Freedman
My Name Is Ahser Lev by Chaim Potok
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis
Perelandra by C. S. Lewis
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Promises on the Wind by Irene Hunt
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Silas Marner by George Eliot
That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
The Scarlet Letter by Nathanael Hawthorne
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
The Selection series by Kiera Cass
The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
The Tide in the Attic by Aleid Van Rhijn
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Biographies for Elementary and Middle School
Benjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire
Betsy Ross, Designer of Our Flag by Ann Weil
Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie by Robin Gourley
Coming Home by Floyd Cooper
Dizzy by Jonah Winter
Fort Mose by Glennette Tilley Turner
Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman by Gladys Aylward
Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson
Heroes of History series
Julia Ward Howe, Girl of Old New York by Jean Brown Wagoner
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Marie Curie and the Discovery of Radium by Ann E. Stineke
Mary Todd Lincoln: Girl of the Bluegrass by Katharine E. Wilkie
Molly, by Golly! by Dianne Ochiltree
Musical Genius: A Story about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Barbara Allman
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Neil Armstrong – Young Flyer by Montrew Dunham
Sergeant York by John Perry
Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers by Patrick Kavanough
Stealing Home: The Story of Jackie Robinson by Barry Denenberg
The Story of George Washington Carver by Eva Moore
The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds
Thomas Edison, Young Inventor by Sue Guthridge
Biographies for High School
A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot
A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall
A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Rockness
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Christy by Catherine Marshall
Churchill by Paul Johnson
Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Rose
God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew
If I Perish by Esther Ahn Kim
L’Abri by Edith Schaeffer
Night by Elie Wiesel
Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot
Tolkien and the Great War by John Garth
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Poetry
A Child’s Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa
A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson
Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
Favorite Poems Old and New selected by Helen Ferris
Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense: The Collected Poems of Lewis Carroll
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry by J. Patrick Lewis
Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Poems by Christina Rossetti
Poetry for Kids by Robert Frost
Poetry for Young People by Emily Dickinson edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin
Poetry for Young People by Walt Whitman edited by Jonathan Levin
Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Best Loved Poems of the American People by Hazel Felleman and Frank Allen
The Best Poems of the English Language by Harold Bloom (Editor)
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Golden Books Family Treasury of Poetry selected by Louis Untermeyer
The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children’s Poems edited by Donald Hall
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky
The Road Not Taken and Other Poems by Robert Frost
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne
When You Are Old: Early Poems and Fairy Tales by William Butler Yeats
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Winter Poems selected by Barbara Rogasky
Books for the Holidays
Preschool and Young Readers
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin
Give Thanks to the Lord by Karma Wilson
Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child
Sharing the Bread: An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Story by Pat Miller
Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
Thanksgiving in the Woods by Phyllis Alsdurf, illustrated by Jenny Lovlie
Thanksgiving Is Here by Diane Goode
Thanksgiving on Thursday (The Magic Tree House Series) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross and Carolyn Croll
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh
Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer
The Christmas Cat by Efner Tudor Holmes, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and P.J. Lynch
The Mysterious Star by Joanne Marxhausen
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston and Barbara Cooney
Who Is Coming to Our House by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
Apple Pie 4th of July by Janet S. Wong
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern
The Berenstain Bears God Bless Our Country by Mike Berenstain
The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh, illustrated by Marie Nonnast
The Night Before the Fourth of July by Natasha Wing
The Story of America’s Birthday by Patricia Pingry
Middle School
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Christmas in My Heart anthology series by Joe Wheeler
Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Nativity illustrated by Julie Vivas
Two from Galilee: The Story of Mary and Joseph by Marjorie Holmes
A Is for America by Devin Scillian
Poems and Songs Celebrating America by Ann Braybrooks
Books Offering Hope and Therefore Growth
Not My Will, But Thine by Neal A. Maxwell
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis