Despite being in fifth grade I still encourage my children to read aloud for at least 30 minutes daily.
Reading aloud has a number of benefits aside from simply reading including but not limited to; pronunciation, presentation as well as an increased attention span.
Having just finished up fifth grade I figured it would be good to list our favorite read-aloud books. We read over 25 books this year, but I’ve only included the ones we really enjoyed and would comfortably reccomend to friends and family.
1. The Saturdays
The Saturdays is a lovely book in which we meet and fall in love with the Melendys. The four Melendy children live with their father and their beloved housekeeper in New York City. Among the children, there’s Mona, Rush, Randy, and Oliver who are all deeply loveable and have their own character traits that little ones might identify with.
The story rotates around Randy’s idea to start the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club, a club where the children take turns to decide what adventure they’ll be up to that week. This is a brilliant book that might help to strike inspiration in the family for your own Saturdays!
2. Thimble Summer
In this heartfelt and touching story, we follow Garnet Linden, who finds a magical thimble in a dried-up riverbed. The summer has been very long and hot, and we start the book in a drought!
A few hours after Garnet finds the thimble, however, the weather breaks and the rain pours. For the remainder of the summer, a whole host of fascinating and exciting things take place for which Garnet believes the thimble is entirely responsible.
Among her adventures, we see Garnet’s pig Timmy win a blue ribbon at the county fair, and a brand new barn gets built! This thimble summer is an exciting one for Garnet, and readers of all ages are sure to love being along for the ride in all the magnificent adventures that take place.
3. Gone-Away Lake
In this tale written by the author of The Saturdays, we see how summer can have magic all its own! The story of the book follows two children who are out in nature during their summer holidays when they come across a ghostly lakeside resort.
Naturally, they can’t resist the potent urge to walk in and do as much exploring as they dare, leading to some wonderful passages detailing the exploration of this abandoned site.
Kids who love a story where they have to find out information as they go might enjoy this book – it feels almost like a detective novel in its composition – you learn tidbits through the book which come together at the end to form a stunning picture.
This book would be great for explorers – the author has made a wonderfully cool setting, and you can feel free to hop in and explore with our main characters.
4. The Reluctant Dragon
This light-hearted and deeply sweet story tells the tale of a dragon who is told he must fight St George. However, he simply doesn’t want to!
This story is a wonderful passage of bravery, friendship, and derring-do which is made all the more incredible by the beautiful illustrations throughout it.
This is a great starter fantasy novel that would be ideal for kids that loved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Peter Pan. Interestingly, this story was written by the same author as The Wind in the Willows. We’d recommend th
5. The Penderwicks
The Penderwicks are a group of four sisters with wonderful personalities and their large, loveable dog. When they go for a summer holiday with their absent-minded father, they find themselves in a wonderfully sprawling estate called Arundel!
The estate has beautiful gardens ideal for exploring throughout, and it isn’t long before they do just that. While exploring they make friends with Jeffrey, and learn that his mother Mrs. Tifton, is to be avoided.
This book boasts a wealth of chaotic adventures from cover to cover which makes the book ideal for any little ones out there who perhaps see themselves as the adventurous type.
6. The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom
This deeply lovable book is a fast-paced and hilarious fantasy story in which we follow the quests of four very unlikely but very sweet heroes. The book builds a world in which the four main princes of the story are vying to become among the best Prince Charmings out there, becoming the stuff of legend.
One day they find themselves cast out from their castles and stumble across each other shortly before stumbling across an evil plot to bring about the downfall of their kingdom! We follow the princes as they do their best to stop their bickering and overcome their failings to become the heroes the stories say they should be.
This book is great for any kids who love fantasy settings and would love to be a prince or princess out there doing quests.
7. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Ian Fleming’s classic is a timeless look at how whimsy and a light-hearted determination can be our best assets.
We follow the Pott family (called Crackpot by the people they encounter) as they go to buy a new car and come back with a wreck. The Potts are surprised when the car can speak, fly, and swim!
Chitty is a car on a mission to stop a criminal gang in its tracks, and the Potts are along for the ride!
This book, the first adventure featuring the magical car, is a wonderful one that’s sure to be loved by kids of any age for its fantastical story. We’d recommend this story
8. The Lightning Thief
This modern classic is the first in a series that follower Percy Jackson, a normal teenage boy who suddenly discovers that he is actually an ancient Greek demigod, and has powers to match!
The book opens with Percy not enjoying his school life too much, and then progresses to Percy getting involved in perilously thrilling life or death adventures fit for a monarch!
In this book and the subsequent sequels, you can expect monsters, Greek gods, and plenty of laughs. A wonderful story that starts a wonderful series for any kid that loves to escape into fantastical worlds.
9. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
Everyone knows Harry Potter, and everyone knows this book in which it all began. Any little one will love to visit the magical world of Hogwarts for the first time, and they’ll likely adore returning there again and again in years to come.
The books have powerful messages of the importance of family, friendship, and hard work too. These books are ideal for any kids that love fantastical fiction with a generous helping of exciting twists and turns too.
One of the things that makes the Harry Potter series superb is that the books grow with the reader. The first book is very well-suited to children, but the themes become more mature as the series progresses. This makes it the perfect series for a huge number of kids that will grow up loving to read.
10. The Iliad
Behind the complexities that reading classic fiction imposes, The Iliad is a great many things. Principally, it’s an exciting tale of dramatic events that take place towards the end of a long, bitter war.
We follow the story of the humiliation of Achilleus at the hands of Agamemnon and his slaying of Hektor. That brutal act determines the fate of Troy and, in a more distanced way, the fate of a huge number of people around the world.
The story paints a great picture of individual struggle while also building a universe in which the struggles of individuals are looked upon by a bevy of gods. A great book for any kid that loves to read and loves to learn!
11. The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a wonderfully fantastical tale in which we follow Odysseus, a brave hero who embarks upon a ten-year journey home after the Trojan war.
Along the way, he is confronted with ship-wrecks, battles, monsters, and the endless confrontation of Poseidon. After a long time of using his cunning and smarts to make his way home, we see Odysseus face challenges even there.
This is an utterly classic story, which makes it ideal for any kid that’s looking to learn about ancient stories and has a love of ancient history. We’d recommend this one for any kids that love to read super fantastical works.
12. The Mysterious Howling
This exciting book follows the story of the Incorrigible Children, who were literally raised by wolves. We see their governess Miss Penelope Lumley embrace the challenge of her new position and determinedly set about civilizing them in time for Lady Constance’s Holiday Ball.
Along the way we’re introduced to a number of small mysteries, for example: why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? This book is packed with exciting twists and turns, making it ideal for any little one with a burgeoning interest in mystery stories.
We really love how this story takes every step very confidently, striding from mystery to mystery confident that the reader will keep up.
13. Little Women
Little Women is a beloved story that has been read and re-read by an uncountable number of people worldwide and loved by them all. The book tells the story of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and is based loosely on the life of the author.
The story follows the four sisters as they encounter various obstacles in their lives, and they go through many ups and downs while they endeavor to make important decisions that can affect their future. This book would be ideal for any number of kids, particularly girls, who might be facing up to the trials and tribulations of their teenage years.
This book is an undeniable classic beloved by a huge number of people!
14. Treasure Island
Treasure Island is a stupendous coming of age story that has been enormously loved and re-read since it was first released in 1881.
Treasure Island is utterly timeless, with a number of characters, such as Long John Silver, becoming part of the cultural consciousness even now, over a century after they were first created. This book is jam-packed with pirates, lost treasure maps, mutiny, and derring-do making it ideal for kids that love a thrill-ride of a story.
Leave a Comment