The 12 Books I Read Aloud to My Children This Year
This was an interesting year of read alouds for me.
We did more books in a series than I think we’ve ever done plus more re-reads than usual.
And we had a few books that didn’t quite land for me which made some seasons of the year really drag, read-aloud wise.
When we’re reading something I’m really enjoying, we read most nights and I read for a long time.
If it’s a slog, I tend to skip more nights and read just a bit.
Here are the 12 books I read aloud this year:
The 12 Books I Read Aloud to My Children This Year
Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus
We’d read and loved A Place to Hang the Moon a year or two ago and I wasn’t going to miss her new book. Frankly, it wasn’t as magical as A Place to Hang the Moon but it was still an enjoyable read about three kids trying to make it in New York City when their dad gets called up during WWII and their mom has passed away.
The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers
After this won the Newbery Award, I knew I wanted to read it. It is definitely an unusual book (it’s told from the viewpoint of a dog living in a park/preserve) but it was surprisingly delightful. I’ve actually heard the audio was incredibly good and I’m sad I missed out on it! But not sad enough to go listen to it after I’ve already read it.
The Plot to Kill a Queen by Deborah Hopkinson
This historical fiction book about a girl sent to act as spy in the castle where Mary Queen of Scots is being imprisoned was a reasonably fun read but not QUITE as good as I hoped it would be.
Half Magic by Edward Eager
This was one of my favorite books growing up and I read it many times. I’d actually read it to my girls years ago but only Ella really remembered it and after a couple of not-quite hits, it felt so good to read something I knew I would love. I think about this book ALL the time, even after all these years.
Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager
Half Magic was so fun and we read it so fast that we went straight into the sequel. I didn’t remember this one as well as I did Half Magic so there were some fun surprises for me.
The Time Garden by Edward Eager
The Time Garden is connected to the other two books but has a new set of kids having magical adventures. I would have absolutely read more books in the series aloud, but we decided to move on to something new as summer kicked off.
Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty
We should have just quit this book. It literally took us the entire summer to read and although the premise is fun (two kids have to spend $5 million in the course of a few weeks and the rules set by the billionaire who gave them the money make it surprisingly difficult and stressful), it just dragged along forever.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
After the flop of the last book, I decided to go back to my Wisconsin roots and read aloud one of my favorite childhood books. We blew through this so fast and my girls were all enthralled.
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
We went right into this book and finished it in a few weeks too. Reading these books with an adult eye after reading them so many times as a child is fascinating – I couldn’t stop thinking about all the political and racial and economic things at play that every adult in this book is dealing with in their own ways.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
I actually didn’t read this one aloud – we listened to it during our many days of driving on Croatia trip and it was such a fun family shared experience (we went with the Stephen Fry version which we all prefer).
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Right into Farmer Boy and this is probably my favorite book in the whole Little House series. (Instagram followers may remember when I thought I’d lost my beloved 70+ year old copy. Yikes!)
The Bells on Finland Street by Lyn Cook
This book came highly recommended as a Christmas read-aloud and the reviews on Amazon were great, so I snatched up a used copy and we read it in December. It’s definitely an old-fashioned and slower paced book but very sweet.
I’d love to hear what you read aloud this year! What was a hit and what was a flop?
And if you’d like a printable copy of this list that you can take to your library or screenshot on your phone for easy access, just pop in your email address below and it’ll come right to your inbox!
We read 14 together this year! Favorites included A Little Princess, Shiloh, Misty of Chincoteague, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Mandy. Somewhat flops included The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles and James and the Giant Peach 🙂
Here’s our family’s 2024 list:
*The Puppets of Spelhorst (very short!)
*The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves: Egypt’s Fire
*Elf Dog and Owl Head
*Seekers of the Fox
*City Spies: City of the Dead
*The Eyes and the Impossible (we loved this)
*The Unforgettable Logan Foster
*Crenshaw (not what I thought it was going to be, glad it was short)
*The Mystery of Locked Rooms (this was a big hit!)
*Half Upon a Time (took forever to get through)
*Far Out (listened on audio, sounds like sci fi/mystery on the back, more of historical fiction and a little mystery)
*Just Gus
*Lasagna Means I Love You (Also a huge hit!)
*Impossible Creatures
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a big hit for us! We stayed up way too late many nights reading it. However stay away the audiobook my husband couldn’t do the narrator.
Below are the books I read to my girls (10 & 12) this past year (several of which I chose based on your recommendation, thanks!). The starred ones were favorites:
-Anne of Green Gables*
-The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes*
-Soul Surfer*
-Ferris
-Amari and the Night Brothers*
-The One and Only Ivan*
-Zia
-The Best Worst Halloween Ever*
-The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel*
-The War that Saved My Life*
-The Best Christmas Pageant Ever*
-Nancy and Plum
We loved the Guardians of Lotus Island series by Christina Soontornvat!
Also loved Hello, Universe and The Girl Who Drank the Moon.