I have realised that I am passionate about reading and achildren learning to read. I believe that one of the greatest gifts that we can give a child is the ability to read. My children literally have thousands of books. They love reading and hate parting with books. I will never forget the occasion I walked into a friend’s 3 & 2 year old daughters bedroom and looked around. There was no bookshelf but a huge cupboard with heaps of toys in it. I had given this friend books for each of her children and she proudly opened the cupboard door and showed me the sum total of all their books. If you excluded the 6 books I had given to her children, there were only 2 other books. This friend did not value books and reading like I do.

As a parent, I see part of my role is always making sure that my children have the next level of books ready to read. I realise that one of the ways that I can influence their character, their imagination, their vocabulary, their future, is by supplying them with books that encourage and inspire them to great heights. If I am raising children who are, and are going to be, world changers, then I need to watch what I feed their minds with.

I believe in the power of reading great and inspiring biographies/autobiographies. The best series we have found for our kids is the “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge. They are brilliant, inspiring, and well worth the money. Our kids have a great understanding about most of the international mission groups throughout the world and the things the founders went through at the beginning of their journey. We have most of the set which also includes the “YWAM Heroes of History”. I cannot recommend these books highly enough.

I am listing a suggested reading list of books for girls and boys aged 7-8 years and also 9-10 years. This is a “suggested” list only as it is what my children have loved at that age. Every child is different. I have an adventure mad son who loves adventure, mystery and suspense. The ages are also approximate as some children read fluently earlier than others. Princess (11) was reading “Little House on the Prairie” in Prep, basically self taught, whilst Matey (8) is really only now reading fluently in grade 2 after a lot of time and effort put in from me. Let me stress again, these are the books that mychildren have loved and their favourites in their own bookcases. They have read a lot more, but these are their all time favourites.

The ages are only approximate as every child’s reading fluency and emotional ability is different. Plus, even though I have separated them into boys and girls, my Princess has read just about every book listed on the boy’s lists. She devours books and loves the adventure as well. Likewise, one of Matey’s all time favourites is “Amelia Bedelia”. He has read a number of the books I have listed under the girl’s section. Thus, the books can usually be suited to both genders. Princess has read this list over, added more suggestions and wanted me to really stress that she loves all the books I’ve put on the boys list as well.

I have marked certain books with **. This means that they are definitely Christian reading.

Feel free to post comments at the end of the blog on what your children enjoy reading.

Girls ~7-8 years

1. “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge**
2. “Cul-de-Sac Kids” series by Beverley Lewis**
3. “Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories” series by Arthur S. Maxwell**
4. “The Little Princess” by Sheri Rose Shepherd**
5. “Alex” by Nancy Simpson Levene** -great to read to your kids & talk about consequences for actions as the 8 year old Alex is caring but struggles with telling the truth to her parents & teachers
6. “LightKeeper” series by Irene Howat** (10 Girls who made a difference, changes history etc)
7. “Sarah & Paul” series by Derek Prime**
8. “Here’s Lily” series by Nancy Rue**
9. “Milly Molly Mandy” series by Joyce Lankester Brisley
10. “Amelia Bedelia” series by Peggy Parish and Herman Parish
11. “Black Beauty” by Anne Sewell
12. “Pony Pal” series by Jeanne Betancourt
13. “Secret Seven” series by Enid Blyton
14. “Bobsey Twins” series by Laura Lee Hope
15. “Pippi Longstockings” by Astrid Lindgren
16. “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
17. “Heidi” by Johanna Spyri
18. “A Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
19. “The Boxcar Children” series by Gertrude C. Warner
20. “The Little House on the Prairie” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
21. “Go Girls” series (written by Australian authors who spent a week in a private school in Melbourne asking Grade 3 girls about their concerns etc, then wrote a series of books about them)

Girls ~9-10 years

1. “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge**
2. “Grandma’s Attic” series by Arleta Richardson**
3. “Best Friends” series by Hilda Stahl**
4. “FaithGirlz” series by Nancy Rue**
5. “The Ponytail Girl” series by Bonnie Compton Hanson**
6. “A Girl after God’s Own Heart Devotional” by Elisabeth George**
7. “Sisters in Time” series of Historical Fiction** (American Challenge, American Dream etc)
8. “Little Women” series by Louisa May Alcott
9. The “Trudy” Series eg “Trudy takes Charge” by Mary Alice Faid (old Sunday School prizes of mine)**
10. “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo**
11. “Bindi” series by Bindi Irwin
12. “Go Girls” series by various authors
13. “Famous Five” series by Enid Blyton
14. “Trixie Belden” series by Julie Campbell Tratham
15. “MaloryTowers” series by Enid Blyton
16. “St. Clare’s” series by Enid Blyton
17. “Valley Farm” series by Anne Pellowski
18. “The Diary of Anne Frank”
19. “The SIlver Sword” by Ian Serraillier
20. “Nancy Drew” series by Carolyn Keene (the older books are better than newer version)
21. “Anne of Green Gables” series by L.M. Montgomery
22. “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” series by Kate Douglas Wiggin
23. “Pollyanna” by Eleanor H. Porter
24. “Girl Wise” by Sharon Witt
25. “The Australian Girls Series”
26. “The Agatha Christie Adventures Graphic Series” (Hercule Poirot) adapted by Francois Riviere
27. “My Royal Story” series by different authors put out by Scholastic
28. “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis
29. “The Happiest Refugee” by Anh Do
30. “True Spirit” by Jessica Watson
31. “Life without Limits” by Nick Vujicic
32. “Swimming to Antartica” by Lynne Cox
33. “Soul Surfer” by Bethany Hamilton** (Princess’ all time favourite)
34. “Running Pink” by Deborah De Williams (ran 18,000 km around Australia)
35. “Gifted Hands – the Ben Carson story” by Gregg Lewis

Boys ~7-8 years

1. “The Berenstain Bears” by Stan & Jan Berenstain**
2. “Yun – The Illustrated Story of Brother Yun The Heavenly Man” by Paul Hathaway (comic book version)**
3. “Ladd Family Adventures” series about Josh Ladd by Lee Roddy**
4. “Campfire Capers – Bill the Warthog” series by Dean Anderson
5. “The Imagination Station” series by Marianne Hering & Paul McCuscker
6. “LightKeeper” series  by Irene Howat** (10 Boys who changed the world, made a difference, etc)
7. “Encyclopaedia Brown” by Donald J. Sobol
8. “Tintin” by Herge
9. “Mr Popper’s Penguins” by Richard & Florence Atwater
10. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson (series about the Herdman Family)
11. “Curious George” by Margaret & H.A. Rey
12. Richard Scarry series of books about Huckle
13. “Robin Hood” by Archie Oliver
14. “Australian Geographic – Our Australia” series by Phil Kettle
15. “The Adventures of Mr Bean” adapted by the ABC
16. “Crime Scene Whodunits” by Jim Sukach
17. “Castle Diary: Journal of a Young Page” series by Richard Platt

Boys ~9-10 years

1. “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge**
2. “YWAM Heroes of History” by Janet & Geoff Benge
3. “Freedom” series by Lois Walfrid Johnson**
4. “Airquest Adventures: Sudden Impact” by Jerry B. Jenkins**
5. “Sugar Creek Gang” series by Paul Hutchens**
6. “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne
7. “Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
8. “The Voyages of Captain Cook” by Paul Hanlyn
9. “Treasure Island” by Robert L. Stevenson
10. “Swiss Family Robinson” by Johann David Wyss
11. “The Hardy Boys” series by Franklin W. Dixon
12. “Biggles” series by Captain W.E. Johns
13. “The Silver Sword” by Ian Serraillier
14. “My Story” series, different authors put out by Scholastic
15. “Toward the Goal: the Kaka Story” by Jeremy Jones**
16. “The Two Minute Mysteries” series by Donald J. Sobol
17. “You Be the Jury” series by Marvin Miller
18. “Puzzles for Young Detectives” series by K. Franken
19. “True Spy Stories” by Terry Deary
20. “Usborne Puzzle Adventures” series by Mark Fowler
21. “Stone Fox” by John Reynolds Gardiner
22. “Adventures in Odyssey” by Paul McCusker **

I have sourced most of my books from Koorong or Word for the Christian books, op-shops, libraries, scholastic on special or bookdepository. If you click on the http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=raisingworld   link, it will take you there and any purchase you make gives me a small commission (ie~5%). Thanks. Also, if you google www.booko.com.au it will give you the cheapest place in the world, including postage, to buy the book from and have it delivered to your home.