In the spirit of last year’s post where we shared the best books our kids read in 2018, we thought it would be fun (and useful) to share our 2019 family reads.
Please note that these are not necessarily newly released books. In fact, you will definitely find many classics in here (Mrs. Family Trip was an English major and it shows).
Some of the books listed in our Chapter Book Series for Kids post are still incredibly popular under our roof (such as Warriors and Wings of Fire). But there were also some new series as well as classics and standalone novels our sons enjoyed this year.
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Our 10 year old (“Bean”) loves historical fiction and action books. This list will, of course, skew towards that, but there is surely something on here for every reader. Also note that Mrs. Family Trip loves a classical curriculum education model where children are introduced to “lite” versions of classics and classic literature at a young age, so they grow up with the stories. In theory, this makes reading the full and complete versions later less intimidating for learners. (We’ll see about that.)
Best Books our 10 year old son read in 2019:
The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin
This was one of my all-time favorite books as a kid. It took awhile to convince the Bean to give this a fair try as my dog-eared, highlighted copy from the 7th grade didn’t look too enticing. But once he started, he loved it.
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman Philbrick
Such a great book, it received the Newberry Award. With humor and creativity, this historical fiction book is a great read for kids.
The Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
When the librarian recommended this to the Bean, I was surprised he took it. It seems outside of his genre. But he not only loved “the most famous fictional horse of the century,” he went for the sequels, too.
The Three Musketeers (Classic Starts Edition)
by Alexander Dumas
This swashbuckling story is classic and will excite kids of all ages, assuming the version is appropriately scaled for vocabulary and comprehension.
Courageous: A Novel of Dunkirk
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
In the historical fiction vein, this one follows best friends Aiden & Sally through the Battle of Dunkirk.
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L’Engle
This was another of my favorites as a kid. The recent movie was a travesty and never should have happened. This book is amazing and captivating. It invited a lot of questions and conversations into our home, too.
Rick Riordan Presents Series
I can’t express enough how great this cultivated series is. Highlighting legends and lore from different, and less well-known, cultures, these authors write in the spirit of Percy Jackson and likewise present unique and thrilling stories. These are still a hit, and new ones were released in 2019, so our oldest had his nose buried in those as soon as they were on shelves.
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
by Avi
As part of our “afterschooling” project, the Bean is required to read literature from medieval times settings. Avi wow-ed us with Charlotte Doyle last year, so when I found this book, I was excited. Our son approved. (In case you were wondering, additional novels that fit this medieval criteria that we enjoyed include A Door in the Wall and Adam of the Road.)
Our youngest, our “Bug,” is an accelerated reader but he really loves books with a lot of art included. He gravitates towards graphic novels. That said, there are plenty of good works of literature to be had that fit the bill.
Best Books our 8 year old son read in 2019:
The Action Bible
by Doug Mauss
A book similar to this was included in our list of Easter basket ideas, but our sons received this one, and it has remained incredibly popular at our house
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
by C.S. Lewis
We had no idea our youngest was reading this, until he told us he had not only read it once already, but was on his THIRD time through the book (which may be the best testament to a well-cultivated home library I can think of).
Homer Price
by Robert McCloskey
This book was also courtesy of our “afterschooling” program. I admit I was not familiar with it, but, originally published in 1943, it was so fun, complete with great illustrations and zany characters.
A Boy No More
by Harry Mazer
I am including this book in this list since it was, indeed, one of our youngest’s favorite reads. He found it at a used bookstore while on an outing with his grandmother, who bought it for him. It would not have been something I would have selected for him as the reading level is high, but he couldn’t put it down and read it at least twice. This skews towards older/more mature readers, but is a loved series about World War II.
The “I Survived” Series
Mrs. Family Trip here, saying “I do not get it,” but my boys love these things. Since they aren’t terrible and do have historical relevance, we allow it!
Graphic Novels
Our youngest loves art and is a creative soul. And we don’t deny the power and impact of graphic novels; in fact, we embrace them. We’ll be sharing a round up of the best graphic novels we know of soon, so stay tuned!
As a bonus to this post, I thought I’d share the best books we read as a family. These are the books we read together, a chapter each night before bed.
Best family books we read in 2019:
Wildwood
by Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis
This is the second time I have mentioned this book on this website because we loved it that much.
The Harry Potter Series
by J.K. Rowling
Always and forever.
The Penderwicks
by Jeanne Birdsall
Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations for this given the cover and tagline (we are a house full of boys who love Star Wars, after all) but this was surprisingly delightful and we all thoroughly enjoyed it!
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo
DiCamillo is a genius at kids literature and, I feel, is constantly overlooked. Her stories are beautifully intricate and imaginative, and quietly powerful. At first, our sons were hesitant to read this because they don’t touch anything where a dog dies or gets hurt, but when I provided a spoiler alert that the dog is fine throughout the book, they were interested, and glad we read it.
We are on to 2020 and looking forward to cracking open some more wonderful reads. If you have any recommendations for us, please drop them below!