My love for reading is clearly contagious. It seems as though we can not have enough books to satisfy in our home. The chapter book series has become a favorite. Reading a series is such a great way to connect ideas and peak further interests. Plus, it is easier to trust the content of subsequent books once we have read the first one. If I am going to be selective about what goes into their minds, this is a necessary time saver.
For today’s TOP TEN, I am sharing my favorite chapter book series.
1. Little House on the Prairie and Little Britches
I doubt the Little House series needs much explanation, but if you happen to have forgotten about it…don’t miss this opportunity to teach your children about what life was like in early America. The family values and references to God are a refreshing and welcome part of this series. Little Britches is a similar series, but perhaps with a more masculine spin. Both would make excellent family read-alouds for almost any age.
2. All-of-a-kind-Family
Written in the 1950′s this series is a rare find. Rich vocabulary and wholesome values are just a few of the reasons why this series is sought after. The family’s charm and adventures will captivate your heart. Check your local library to see if you can get your hands on them.
3. Animal Ark and Pony Pals
Animal ark and Pony Pals are both wholesome and excellent books for the beginning chapter book reader. Animal Ark weaves animals facts with entertaining stories sure to please any animal-lover’s heart. There are more than 26 volumes ranging from horses to puppies and everything in between. Pony Pals are very similar, but focus on horses. Both of these series are available at the local library and while they do not have Christian themes, they virtually avoid all moral issues whatsoever.
4.Imagination Station
Written by the folks from Adventures in Odyssey, Imagination Station promises young readers (ages 7-12) adventure and mystery. This series is much like the popular Magic Tree House series, minus the magic and wizardry. There are more than 9 volumes of excitement.
5. Moody family series
If you are looking for a series that makes life beautiful, the Moody Family series will not disappoint. So far, Sarah Maxwell has written 7 books detailing the pleasures of the good life…following a simple homeschooling family as they help others, learn to love God and enjoy time as a family. This series makes a great family read aloud or a trust-worthy independent selection!
6. Cul-de-Sac Kids
Perfect for your new chapter book reader, the Cul-de-Sac kids enchant with tales of friendship,teamwork and faith as they explore the neighborhood. These books are short, making them perfect for building confidence.
7. Rod and Staff Chapter Books
I fell in love with Rod and Staff books at my very first homeschool convention. With books on every level, they are perfect for read-alouds or independent reading. The books share stories of simple families living lives that honor Christ. Farming, homemaking, and missions are just a few of the topics covered. My 8 year old can not get enough of these books, so I had to include them even though they aren’t exactly a series.
8 My America and Dear America
Both historical fiction series, My America and Dear America are journals from the point of view of a young child in early America. My America is written for ages 6-12 and Dear America is for ages 9-12. I would caution you to consider reading Dear America aloud at first, to be sure that you can discus any graphic content.
![368987: My America Series: Our Strange New Land; Elizabeth"s Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 1, Softcover](http://ag.christianbook.com/g/product/3/368987.gif "368987: My America Series: Our Strange New Land; Elizabeth"s Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 1, Softcover")
9. Sisters in Time
Another great historical fiction series told from a child’s point of view. Sisters in Time has a clearly Christian perspective as the characters rely on God for protection, grace, and provision during some of history’s most difficult times. Perfect for family read-alouds.
10. Christian Heroes Then and Now
Last, but possibly my favorite is Christian Heroes Then and Now. With over 25 volumes, there is a story for every time period and region. From your living room, you can relive the stories of the heroes of our faith as they share the gospel with the world.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Each Tuesday, I am teaming up with a wonderful group of homeschool bloggers to bring you 10 weeks of Top Ten Homeschooling Lists. Be sure you stop by ihomeschool network where you will find a list of over 30 other bloggers participating in the series.
Disclaimer…many of the links in the post are affiliate links. That means that if you decide to purchase any of these great books by clicking on my links, it will support my family. Thanks!
Also linked up with Titus 2sday, Growing Home, Hip Homeschool Hop, Far Above Rubies, Raising Homemakers, Deep Roots, Women Living Well, We are that Family, Slowly Natural, Holy-Spirit Led Homeschooling, Raising Arrows, The Modest Mom and A Mother’s Heritage.
Kim Sorgius
Kim is just a girl, crazy in love with Jesus. She's a single mother of 4, a passionate homeschooler and life-long student. After teaching 8 years in public school, she traded her M.A. in Early Childhood for sippy cups and homeschool co-ops. Kim is the owner and editor of The Homeschool Village and Not Consumed where she encourages others to rest victoriously in the hands of God, rather than allowing life's difficult circumstances to consume.
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what a great list! so many ive never heard of!!!
YOu know what I love about your list – they are all….straight up, good character books…more of God – less of the world!!!!
I was actually a little surprised at how difficult it was to weed out those books that didn’t put lovely and pure things in their minds!
Another good one… “B is for Betsy” series. They were written in the 1930s. The first book is about Betsy starting school and each one after that is a different school year. They are extremely wholesome. The libraries have all of them.
We read through the entire Cul de Sac Kids series a while back! I had forgotten about that one.
Thanks for the list. It’s wonderful!
Thanks for sharing this list! We too love Little House books. I’ve not heard of the Little Britches series, I will have to find those. We have the Odyssey series as well. Great list!
My son is thrilled with “chapter books” – to a seven-year-old the fact that a book has chapters makes it so “grown up”!! We are reading some Magic Tree House books this summer and I didn’t know about the Imagination Station books!! I loved Adventures in Odyssey growing up and my son is loving the Magic Tree House books so they sound perfect for us! Visiting from Domestically Divine
Kristen @ Trial & Error Homemaking
loved your choice for this top ten!! this is perfect! thanks
This is an awesome list! I pinned it!
Nice list. My daughter enjoyed the Dear America books when she was younger. I am going to have to check my library for the All-of-a-kind-Family books. They look very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! These are the kind of books I’d love to expose my children to! I’m going to put a lot of them in my “to read/to get from the library” list! THANKS!
Thank you! I have been looking for good books for my 8 year old boy to read by himself!!!! I’ve had a hard time finding lists this specific. Now all I have to do is find the books somewhere!
Thanks so much for the suggestions! The only ones we have read are the Little House and All of A Kind Family. We also discovered a new series, somewhat similar to All of A Kind family, called The Doll Shop Downstairs. There are only two in the series so far, but Abby really enjoyed them.
I like the historical aspect of The Doll Shop series. I will have to check those out!
Little Britches is the #1 read aloud in our family too
We love The Mysterious Benedict Society, and it has just come out with a fourth book.
Do you think this series lends itself more to boys, Jeff?
So timely!!! I was on the hunt for some good chapter books for my daughter and was so sad about what was in the bookstore. Keeping this list on the fridge for sure!
Thanks for sharing these! I need to read All-of-a-Kind Family!
These are AMAZING! I want to look into them ALL!!
Hey again Kimberly, I’m excited right now because I hadn’t ever heard of the “Imagination Station” series… my 7 year old daughter would eat up the adventure, and my husband too! And Little House is always a favorite here!
~ Amy
Great list. We have many of them. Thank you for linking it up on Domestically Divine.
What a wonderful list you have compiled! My husband and I were just speaking about the possibility of homeschooling our children in the future (we have no children yet). It’s a scary thing to think about- both of us coming from non-homeschooling families. I think this list would be wonderful for homeschool and non-homeschooling families alike to enrich their young children’s minds. Thank you for sharing this list!
Thank you for sharing this at Deep Roots! We have loved almost all of these. The only ones that have stopped me from featuring this excellent post on the Wednesday ‘EOA’ link-up are the Dear America series book. I am glad you mentioned to read the Dear America first for graphic content. My concern in our home was getting them and then getting busy, and they read it alone. Still they are SO much better than run of the mill stuff at the public library
Blessings!
Ohhh….I haven’t heard of some of these! My 7 year old girls LOVE Pony Pals, I try to read them to them during school one chapter a day and then do some comprehension work on them but……we end up reading our chapter books in a couple of days instead. They are always begging, “PLEASE read just ONE more chapter”. lol Who can complain about that???
We have read the Moody Family series by Sarah Maxwell, and my kids LOVED, LOVED, LOVED them!!! My 9 year old is now reading them on her own (and she doesn’t usually read unless I give her an assignment to). They are anxiously awaiting the next one to come out, which when I asked Sarah at a recent homeschool conference, probably won’t be till Spring. You can find them at Titus2.com.
Thanks for the list! I wrote them down. . . I’ve started a list when I see good wholesome books recommended so that when I go to the second hand bookstore, I know what to look for!
Could you link to where you bought your Rod and Staff books? Or possibly a list of them?
Thanks!
The easiest place to find the Rod and Staff books is a homeschool convention, honestly.
Here is one example from their site… http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/1-2337/
I’ll have to look when I go in May (I think I noticed you commenting that you’ll be at TTD in Spartanburg too!)
Thanks again for the great list!
Yes! I’ll be at all three TTD conferences this year! It would be great to meet you.
Great recommendations here, Kim! We’re actually reading All of a Kind Family right now — as well as the Eric Liddell Christian Heroes book. Thank you for linking with Read Aloud Thursday!
I found you via pinterest and just wanted to say Thank You for this list. I’ve seen other “favorite book” lists before, but never really cared for the books listed. I like everything you have here. Couldn’t have found this at a better time… we are just pages away from finishing the Little House series. Thanks!