What Makes a Good Children’s Book

Reading is the BEST and arguably the only reliable way to transfer great ideas. Words can be lost in conversation; only sound bites are often offered through radio or television. We need the FULL context to soundly judge if an idea is good or bad and to continue the transfer of good ideas properly. Our decisions are made based on the ideas presented to us. We give ourselves far too much credit for creating something new; we, as humans, are often moved mainly by propaganda, which is all around us. What is propaganda but a bundle of ideas packaged up and presented to the viewer and or listener?

Books must remain a priority in our lives. If not, history is lost; without an account, we are bound to make the same mistakes as our ancestors.Children are our future and our legacy; if you are a mama, you know nothing in the world matters more than our children’s well-being. Connecting them to ONLY the best literature is the KEY that unlocks the doors of education. It is also the key that reveals deception.

Children learn to get ideas and knowledge. They also know that fruitful ideas are sown into the fertile ground of their minds. The knowledge a child receives during their early years has a significantly greater impact on their life than at any other time. It sets the foundation for everything else learned later. It only makes sense to be overly selective about the material being presented to them and pour in only the best knowledge.

Much like an adult, a Child’s mind must have an eager attitude of attention to be receptive to an idea. Providing good, thought-provoking, and interesting literature will capture and sustain a child’s interest. A child may take a single idea and become fixated on it, so we cannot afford to leave this to random chance. Providing children with a wide range of good literature and exposing them to only great writers allows them to flourish!

Giving a child one solid, valuable idea through good literature is better than stuffing a bunch of information into their minds.

“A child who grows up with a few dominant ideas in his mind has his self-education taken care of, and his career marked out.” – Charlotte Mason.

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) is best known for improving the quality of children’s education. She has much to say about reading and the importance of children’s love for it.

Our children were born with a desire to learn; sit back and listen to them, for they are filled with questions. Many times, they ask questions that leave us stumped. They, too, can have complex thoughts, and the more we listen to them, the more we can understand that they are born persons. I marvel at their love for life and their desire to learn! Their passion for books can begin early and grow if we present them with the best literature. A great book brings them back, making them want to re-read it over and over and expanding their minds and imaginations during their early elementary school years. As they grow and mature, they learn to apply logic and reasoning to solve problems.

Stories About Normal Children vs. Tales of Imagination

“Stories about Christmas holidays, John and Emily, or the fun times, peculiarities, upright morality of children just like themselves, living in circumstances like their own, leave nothing to the imagination. Children are so familiar with that kind of thing that it rarely occurs to them to play at the situations in any of those stories. They wouldn’t even read it a second time.

But they love tales of the imagination, people from other lands and other times, heroic adventures, death-defying escapes, and fantastic fairy tales in which they can suspend reality and believe the impossible. They can surrender to it and feel even when they know the story is implausible.” – Charlotte Mason.

We want our children to think for themselves as young adults and carry a love for education well into adulthood. I have created a list of children’s books for children aged five through seven. Most of these are well-written classic books; you can borrow them from the library or purchase them. Hardcover books are great to buy if you have a home library or want to keep them in your family for future generations. Children often love to re-read books that prompt their imaginations, and these books do just that! This list is to connect you with some of the best authors of all time.

Our book list is not intended to tell parents what their child should read. That choice is, of course, solely left up to the parents. This was created to share our family favorites and introduce some of the greatest authors of all time, if not yet known.

Here is a list of some Great Classic Books your children may long remember well into their adult years. Nothing could be more precious than a child remembering reading time with their mother.

Kindergarten

Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish

Olivia the Spy by Ian Falconer

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell! by Lucille Colandro

Jonah and the Big Fish by Katherine Sully – Part of My First Bible Stories (11 books)

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr.Seuss

First Grade

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

The Tortoise and the Hare: An Aesop Fable

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Bread and Jam for Frances by Hoban, Russell

A Birthday for Frances by Russell Hoban

Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban

A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert

Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustafson

Poetry

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

Social Studies

Social Studies can also be referred to as a social science. The specific topics within social studies that are typically studied include history, government, economics, civics, sociology, geography, and anthropology. These topics often overlap as they are all connected.

Geography

“The peculiar value of geography lies in its fitness to nourish the mind with ideas and furnish the imagination with pictures… Here, as elsewhere, the question is not how many things they know, but how much they know about each thing.” -Charlotte Mason.

As the Crow Flies by Gail Hartman

There’s a Map on My Lap! by Tish Rabe

Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska

Mapmaking with Children by David Sobel

Place-based Education: Connecting Classrooms & Communities by David Sobel

Mapping the World: Stories of Geography by Caroline Laffo

The Blackbirch Kid’s Almanac of Geography by Alice Sieg

History

Brad Meltzer has a series of books called “Ordinary People Change the World.” To name a few world changers and excellent books Brad Meltzer has written: Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King Jr., Jane Goodall, and Benjamin Franklin.

I have linked one book below; they can be purchased individually or in a bundle. These excellent living books can be a great source to teach history, science, social studies, and art. Living books translate the story well, whereas textbooks often fail to do so; children remember the person and their story much more vividly than dry facts.

I am George Washington by Brad Meltzer

The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh )

Science

The Sciences by Edward S. Holden

Art -Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists

Leonardo da Vinci by Mike Venezia

Pablo Picasso by Mike Venezia

Claude Monet by Mike Venezia

Salvador Dali by Mike Venezia

Frida Kahlo by Mike Venezia

Vincent van Gogh by Mike Venezia

Michelangelo by Mike Venezia