In a recent post, I gave five reasons for why parents should read to their children. If you missed that post, check it out here. Here are just a few of the books I read to my children while they were growing up.
1. The Bible. When they were young, we kept it very simple and taught them Bible stories. We also worked with our girls on memorizing Scripture. I can’t help but feel that something is wrong when so many children being raised in Christian homes know all the words to Frozen or some other Disney movie but do not know any Scripture. Why can’t we help our children hide God’s Word in their hearts? Make it fun, keep it simple, and reward them for memorizing Bible verses.
2. The Chronicles of Narnia. I am constantly amazed at the number of people who have never read this classic series. “Oh, I saw the movies” is the normal answer. The movies are OK, but these books are powerful, life changing, fun, and will speak to both children and adults. Our kids loved to hear the stories of Narnia and Aslan, the great lion. C. S. Lewis was one of the great minds of the last century and a phenomenal storyteller and he wrote these stories to help children understand spiritual truths. Buy these books and read them to your kids. You will both be glad that you did.
3. The Hobbit. This is another fantastic book that almost everyone has seen in movie form. The Hobbit is an easy read that your kids will enjoy. If you think they are old enough to watch the movie, they are old enough to enjoy hearing the book read to them. I don’t recommend reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy to children. It is a tougher, much darker story. They Hobbit, however, moves quickly, has a lot of action, lots of humor, and tells a great story of good versus evil.
4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This is a classic in American Literature. It is a wonderful story that my children loved. I changed a little of the language as I was reading it to make it more politically correct. Mark Twain was one of the greatest story tellers of all time. This is one of his best.
5. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is another classic by Mark Twain and this is another story that has stood the test of time. Again, I changed the language a little as I was reading it out loud to my girls. Other than that, though, this was a story that they really enjoyed. Twain combines humor, action, and a great plot that your kids will love too!
What are some books that your parents read to you or that you have read to your children?
If you are interested in checking out the books that I have mentioned above, please click through the links above. If you decide to buy them, Amazon will show me a little love!
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