In my last post from this series, I gave my list of recommended read-alouds for 6- to 8-year-olds. Now I will post my list for the 9- to 11-year-olds. I was in that age group when my fourth grade teacher introduced me to the fascinating, imaginary world of reading aloud. She was the first teacher I can remember who read chapter books aloud to us. Every day after lunch, we’d lay our heads on our desks and listen while she read a chapter. We were so sad when she came to the end of the chapter and would beg for more. If we were lucky, she might oblige us. I credit her with igniting my fire for reading, and I thank her for that. The books I remember her reading to us are all included in the following list, and I read them to my own children. My very first introduction to the Little House series was in her classroom. It was my favorite series throughout childhood and has even had a measurable impact on my own pioneer-era stories.
I just have to tell you, one of our favorite experiences with my kids was when I read them Summer of the Monkeys with a Southern accent. You really can’t read it any other way, and it was funny and a good time!
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hans Brinker, Or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
The Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E.L. Konigsburg
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
The Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
Naya Nuki: Shoshoni Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
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