Table of Contents “Seek Ye Out of the Best Books… and Get Your Kids To Read Them!” . 1 “201 Great Books to Teach Values” . 5 “Best 100 Books for Young Readers, 2013” . 10 Poetry . 10 Folktales and Fairy Talkes . 10 Picture Books . 11 Easy Readers . 15 Middle-Grade Fiction . 15 Middle Grade . 17 Teen Fiction . 18 Graphic Novels . 21 Factual Picture Books . 21 Factual Books for Young Readers . 23 Major Awards for Literary Works for Young Readers . 25 Picture Books that Teach Values . 28 “Seek Ye Out of the Best Books . and Get Your Kids To Read Them!!” “An essential part of our learning library will be good books. Reading is one of the true pleasures of life. In our age of mass culture, when so much that we encounter is abridged, adapted, adulterated, shredded, and boiled down, it is mind-easing and mind-inspiring to sit down privately with a congenial book.” President Thomas S. Monson Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting February 9, 2008 In Doctrine & Covenants 88:118 we are encouraged to “Seek ye out of the best books”. Reading stimulates essential brain activity. Reading educates and entertains. Reading can teach valuable lessons and precious principles. President Monson said, “Reading is one of the true pleasures of life.” So . if reading is so great . what can we do to encourage a child who would rather eat a bowl of lima beans than pick up a book? Lots of stuff!! We are excited to share reading strategies, motivational activities and wonderful principle centered reading lists. Let’s get those kids reading the good stuff!! 20 Ways for Parents to Encourage Reading The following are some ways to turn a young reader's reluctance into enthusiasm: 1. Scout for things your children might like to read. Use their interests and hobbies as starting points. 2. Leave all sorts of reading materials including books, magazines, and colorful catalogs in conspicuous places around your home. 3. Notice what attracts your children's attention, even if they only look at the pictures. Then build on that interest; read a short selection aloud, or simply bring home more information on the same subject. 4. Let your children see you reading for pleasure in your spare time. 5. Take your children to the library regularly. Explore the children's section together. Ask a librarian to suggest books and magazines your children might enjoy. 6. Present reading as an activity with a purpose; a way to gather useful information for, say, making paper airplanes, identifying a doll or stamp in your child's collection, or planning a family trip. 7. Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters. Older children enjoy showing off their skills to an admiring audience. 8. Play games that are reading-related. Check your closet for spelling games played with letter tiles or dice, or board games that require players to read spaces, cards, and directions. 9. Perhaps over dinner, while you're running errands, or in another informal setting, share your reactions to things you read, and encourage your children to do likewise. 10. Set aside a regular time for reading in your family, independent of schoolwork, the 20 minutes before lights out, just after dinner, or whatever fits into your household schedule. As little as 10 minutes of free reading a day can help improve your child's skills and habits. 11. Read aloud to your child, especially a child who is discouraged by his or her own poor reading skills. The pleasure of listening to you read, rather than struggling alone, may restore your child's initial enthusiasm for books and reading. 12. Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting passage in a book, an interesting tidbit in the newspaper, or a joke in a joke book. When children read aloud, don't feel they have to get every word right. Even good readers skip or mispronounce words now and then. 13. On gift-giving occasions, give books and magazines based on your child's current interests. 14. Set aside a special place for children to keep their own books. 15. Introduce the bookmark. Remind your youngster that you don't have to finish a book in one sitting; you can stop after a few pages, or a chapter, and pick up where you left off at another time. Don't try to persuade your child to finish a book he or she doesn't like. Recommend putting the book aside and trying another. 16. Treat your children to an evening of laughter and entertainment featuring books! Many children (parents, too) regard reading as a serious activity. A joke book, a story told in riddles, or a funny passage read aloud could reveal another side of reading. 17. Extend your child's positive reading experiences. For example, if your youngster enjoyed a book about dinosaurs, follow up with a visit to a natural history museum. 18. Offer other special incentives to encourage your child's reading. Allow your youngster to stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a chapter; promise to take your child to see a movie after he or she has finished the book on which it was based; relieve your child of a regular chore to free up time for reading. 19. Limit your children's TV viewing in an effort to make time for other activities, such as reading. But never use TV as a reward for reading, or a punishment for not reading. Establish a culture of reading, not a culture of TV. 20. Not all reading takes place between the covers of a book. What about menus, road signs, food labels, and sheet music? Take advantage of countless spur-of-the-moment opportunities for reading during the course of your family's busy day. http://www.rif.org/parents/tips/tip.mspx?View=3 Ideas For Reading Motivation Lock Box – Reading is the “KEY” to knowledge Book Basket Sticker Chart Create a Home Library Reading Rainbow Rocks Create a Mini Mart and give tickets for books read Act It Out – Have your kids act out what is happening as you read Read the Sunday Comics together Have your child read into a tape recorder, then play it back - kids like to hear their voice Musical Books – read whatever book is under the chair you land on Scavenger Hunt Hide a book and play Hot & Cold to find it Name That Book - read the book first and have your child make up a title Make a Word Search about a book – then read the book Have a quiz at the end Speed Read, Slow Read, High Voice Read, Low Voice Read Chapter Punch Card Book Punch Card Read A Series Read All The Books By One Author Read a book for each letter of the alphabet Great Websites For Reading Strategies & Book Lists www.rif.org www.reading foundation.org www.childliteracy.com www.cbcbooks.org www.readingrockets.org www.literacyconnections.com www2.scholastic.com www.wholesome-books.com Free Online Reading Teachers www.starfall.com (this sight is GREAT and super fun) www.sfreading.com www.learntoreadfree.com www.yourchildlearns.com Principle Centered Literature A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Kellar Exiled, The Story of John Lathrop by Helene Holt Lessons From A Sheep Dog by Phillip Kellar Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Silas Marner by George Elliot The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Maples Dodge William Bradford, Pilgim Boy by Bradford Smith and Robert Doremus The Magna Charta by James Daugherty Heidi by Johanna Spyri Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis Redwall by Brian Jaques Cold Train Coming by Larry Barkdull The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo Number the Stars by Lois Lowry The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Spear The Sword Bearer by Dan Redford Other Favorites Include: Anne of Green Gables Series, Montgomery (all ages) A Little Princess, Burnett (all ages) Blood Brothers, Chacour (adolescent-adult) Captain Courageous, Kipling (adolescent-adult) Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Latham (all ages, family) Founding Fathers, Uncommon Heroes, (all ages) Heidi, Spyri (all ages) Ivanhoe, Scott (all ages) Jane Eyre, Bronte (adolescent – adult) Johnny Tremain, Forbes (all ages) Laddie, Stratton-Porter (all ages) Left to Tell, (adult) Little Britches, Moody (family) Little House Series, Wilder (all ages, family) Little Lord Fauntleroy, Burnett (all ages) Little Women, Alcott (adolescent – adult) Lord of the Rings, Tolkien (adolescent-adult) Men of Iron, Pyle (all ages) Mere Christianity, Lewis (adolescent – adult) Old Yeller, Gipson (all ages) Pinocchio, (all ages) Pollyanna, (all ages) The Adventures of Robin Hood, Green (all ages) The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis (all ages, family) The Constitution of the United States (all ages) The Declaration of Independence (all ages) The Hiding Place, Ten Boom The Jungle Book, Kipling The Real Benjamin Franklin, Allison (adolescent – adult) The Real George Washington, Parry (adolescent – adult) The Screwtape Letters, Lewis (adolescent – adult) The Secret Garden, Burnett (all ages) Tramp for the Lord, Ten Boom (adolescent-adult) Treasure Island, Stevenson (adolescent-adult) Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe For more classical literature titles, please visit these websites: http://www.literature.org/authors/ http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/ http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html http://www.kidsreads.com/lists/classic-lists.asp 201 Great Books to Teach Values CATEGORY AUTHOR TITLE Acceptance Abeel, Samantha Reach for the Moon Acceptance Blos, Joan Old Henry Acceptance Bunting, Eve December Acceptance Choi, Yangsook The Name Jar Acceptance Coles, Robert The Story of Ruby Bridges Acceptance Fleming, Virginia Be Good to Eddie Lee Acceptance McKissack, Patricia Goin' Someplace Special Acceptance Mitchell, Lori Different Just