Picture Books
Corduroy by Don Freeman (a must-have for every child, this story has deep Gospel resonances)
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (Cooney is one of my favorite author-illustrators. Her books are gold.)
A Quilt for Baby and Little Baa by Kim Lewis (and many other wonderful books)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (and many, many other delightful books)
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (a story of mother-love that is also an allegory of the soul. Also, Brown’s Goodnight Moon should be on every child’s bookshelf)
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang (a bedtime book as necessary as Goodnight Moon)
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (we also love her Calico the Wonder Horse)
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? and Baby-O by Nancy White Carlstrom (any book by Carlstrom is going to have rich, playful language. She’s one of our family’s favorites.)
Obadiah the Bold by Brinton Turkle (about a Quaker family on Nantucket in the 1800’s. There are two sequels, both of them excellent.)
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children (beautifully illustrated stories taken from Herriot’s books)
Dogger by Shirley Hughes (and her Alfie and Annie Rose stories)
Max Drives Away by Rosemary Wells (the Hero’s Journey in 100 words; Wells also illustrated two collections of Mother Goose rhymes that are perfect for young children—a large book format with one rhyme per page)
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant (her easy reader series include Mr. Putter and Tabby and Henry and Mudge and Annie and Snowflake—all great for emerging readers)
Yonder by Tony Johnston (a beautiful book about a man, his wife, and their place in the world)
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (he has other delightful picture books, including Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse, but Kitten is my very favorite; it’s another tale like Corduroy, of trying and failing to achieve your desire, and then receiving it as a gift of grace)
The Circle of Days by Reeve Lindbergh (a rhyming version of St. Francis’s Canticle of the Sun)
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack (another picture book following the structure of fall/redemption by grace found in the Scriptures)
Summer Story by Jill Barklem (part of the Brambly Hedge series, which is rich with a sense of belonging to a place and its people—or, in this case, its mice)
Mama, Do You Love Me? and Papa, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse (books that reinforce the unconditional love of parents for their children; the illustrations by Barbara Lavallee are delightful)
Sylvia Long’s Mother Goose (my favorite collection of Mother Goose rhymes, though you should also check out Beatrix Potter’s books of similar rhymes)
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges (text heavy, but so so so good, and the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman are gorgeous—she’s illustrated a number of Grimm fairy tales that are worth finding)
Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (he has several excellent fairy tale retellings)
The King’s Equal by Katherine Patterson (a delightful fairy tale, this is 64 pages long, so not for little ones, but great for kids who can sit for 30-45 minutes)
Fairy Tales by Berlie Doherty, illustrated by Jane Ray (my favorite collection of fairy tales, it includes twelve tales, all beautifully told and gorgeously illustrated)
Novels
Betsy-Tacy and sequels by Maud Hart Lovelace (among Jane’s favorite books, these were instrumental in giving her a vision for strength of character, healthy friendships and romantic love. The first four books are great for kids of all ages. We recommend the last six books for ages 12 and up.)
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (another favorite series that shaped Jane’s vision of what strong women, friendships, and romantic love could look like)
Both of the above series carry on past the main characters’ weddings to show what it looks like to be married, the give-and-take, the difficulty of melding two lives together, and the joys of doing so.
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (a family favorite; there are four sequels)
The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers (a retelling of the biblical David story, set in a Louisiana bayou-esque fantasy world; there are two sequels)
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (outdoor adventures in the Lake District of England; these books were instrumental in my oldest son’s developing a love of hiking, camping, boating, etc.)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (another family favorite. I read it aloud when my kids were 12, 9, and 6. It was a hit!)
Photo by Gülfer ERGİN on Unsplash