I love to read. My favorite books are well written fiction chapter books for children and middle schoolers: the ones with the great plots and fascinating characters. My second favorite books are books about a girl or woman (or sometimes a man or group of people) who faces extreme difficulties and overcomes them in some out of the ordinary way. These can be fiction or non-fiction. My third favorite read these days are parenting or teaching books or articles that are TRULY practical…theoretical doesn’t do it for me, because I’m in the daily battle to be a good mom; I need practical wisdom that will help me today. Fourth, I love missionary stories. I was introduced to these early on and they always move me to tears.

The following is a short list of some of my favorites in no particular order. If you haven’t read these, get your library card out and read them…they are all fun, inspirational, challenging, moving, and drive the reader to be great and do great things!

Anything by Katherine Patterson— Bridge to Terabithia; Jacob have I loved
The Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis
The Little House… Books by Laura Ingles Wilder
Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert C. O’brien
Charlotte’s Web By E.B. White
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Pollyanna by Eleanor (Hodgman) Porter
The Book of Ruth from the Bible
The Book of Esther from the Bible
1st and 2nd Samuel from the Bible
The Book of Acts from the Bible
Not without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer
Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger
Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (http://www.corrietenboom.com/)
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
The Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R. Tolkien
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Bleachers by John Grisham
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Nothing's Impossible: Leadership Lessons from Inside and Outside the Classroom by Lorraine Monroe (http://www.lorrainemonroe.com/)
Molder of Dreams by Guy Rice Doud
Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner
Teaching with Love and Logic by Jim Fay and David Funk
In the Middle by Nancie Atwell
Anything by Michael and Debbie Pearl—“No Greater Joy” magazine; To Train Up a Child; Created to Be His Helpmeet (http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/)
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc MP Weissbluth (http://www.familysleep.com/)
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg (http://www.babywhisper.com/)
Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories
I Heard Good News Today, Stories for Children by Cornelia Lehn
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

There are probably more…but these are the ones I can’t put down for sure.
What’s on your list?


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2 comments:

    The Nuffers said...

    Beauty has always been one of my favorites too! Did you know she wrote another version of Beauty and the Beast? It's called Rose Daughter, very different, but good in its own way.

  1. ... on October 16, 2009 at 8:30 AM  
  2. Beth said...

    oooh! I'll have to look that one up! Thanks.

  3. ... on October 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM