Book Lists for Raising Readers

After penning down my post on how to raise a reader, which explained how you can cultivate the love of reading in your children, I had promised a post on where to find books for your child. Often we go to bookstores, are browsing online, or are at the library, but we don’t know which books to pick up for our children. Here are some resources that you can check before heading there, so you know what to look out for.

Where to find a good list of books?

Good Reads
Good Reads is the epitome of book resources. It is not only a place where you can keep a log of the books you’ve read and rated, but it also has lists of books that have been popular and come recommended by many. Once you make a list of the books you’ve read and rated, it can populate a list for you based on your most liked genres.

Each year Good Reads does a  ‘Best Books’ award and you can browse through all the previous years to see which books were nominated for each genre. Here are some of the books that were on the list for 2019 Middle Grade & Children’s books.

For a complete list Click here. You don’t miss it

Newbery Award Winner

The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, to the author of “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children”.

Having read so many of the Newbery books, I can safely say they have been a favorite with my children. Here is the link that lists the Newbery Medal and Honor Books from 1922 – to the present 2020! That’s a lot of books for your right there!
Newberry Medal and Honor Books

Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. These categories loosely represent the following:
Younger Readers – Preschool-grade 2 (age 7), including easy-to-read books;
Middle Readers – Grades 3-5, ages 8-10;
Older Readers – Grades 6-8, ages 11-14;
All Ages – Has appeal and interest for children in all of the above age ranges
You can find the list here.
Notable Books

Common Sense Media

One of the reasons I quite like Common Sense Media is because they have a great Parents Guide for books and they also have diverse reading book lists!
The Parents Guide gives a great cursory glance about the book for different themes such as ‘educational value’, ‘positive themes’, ‘violence’, ‘language’, ‘sex’, ‘drugs’ etc.

Though every parent will have different perspectives on what is ‘right’ for a child, this guidance will show you how the book rates in these themes and will help you decide if is appropriate for your child.

Common Sense Media also has some great lists that you can browse through before heading to the bookstore. I will link some lists here.

New Teen Books 2020

Best Books of the last 15 years (Ages 10-12)

Best Non- Fiction Books (ages 8-9)

These lists and resources are just scraping the surface of the so many ones out there! You can visit bookstore websites, libraries, Amazon or Book Depository to see what is trending in books for children! If you are at a yard sale, or second hand book store, you can also read the blurb and pick one out! Just never leave home without a book!
Happy Reading.

With all my love,

-N