Wingfeather Saga Series: By Andrew Peterson. We all love this series so much. It is really well done in Audio too! This is a great road trip series. It’s about a family that has to stick together and defeat evil in their world.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan: This book will forever stick with me. Also a must do on audio! This story follows 3 different characters in different parts of the world as well as a harmonica. The story also is world war 3 adjacent and was a great way to introduce this part of history.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling: I really can’t have a chapter book list without Harry Potter. My kids started with audio (can you see a theme) but have also read the physical books. Sharing a love for this series with my kids means so much to me.

Roald Dahl: My kids love just about anything he writes and we especially love his autobiographical ones. Such a timeless author!

Wild Robot by Peter Brown: this is also a series (I really recommend series for getting kiddos hooked on reading). We liked the first and second ones best. Picking book series that are also movies can be a great strategy for encouraging reading. This movie was really well done!

Flora and Ulysses by Kate Dicamillo: This story is so fun! Squirrel and girl take on the world!

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus: I love this story so much. It’s another World War 2 adjacent story. If you liked Chronicles of Narnia this is very similar! This story is about a family of orphaned children that need to find a family to adopt them amidst the evacuation of London during the war. What sounds like a sad story is very heartwarming in the end.

The Vanderbeekers by Karina Yan Glaser: Another great road trip audio series! This story follows a family of 7 and lots of adventures!

Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster: I’m so happy my kids love some of these classics as much as they do. I don’t think I had read this as a kid and really enjoyed it as well.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgreen: Such a classic and so fun! Another one that is great to watch afterwards.

Song for Whale by Lynne Kelly: Another beautiful story! This follows a young girl who is deaf and loves to play with music and the vibrations she can feel. She finds out about the blue 55 whale and wants to make a song that he can hear.

Matilda: Technically should be in the Roald Dahl category but needs to be on it’s own. This one is so beloved by both of my kids. They love all the move versions as well.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall: Another series for road trips. A silly group of siblings and all the antics they get into.

Adventure with Waffles: by Maria Parr. This one is laugh out loud silly. Two kids in Scandinavia that get into trouble in all sorts of ways.

Keeper of Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger: I was SHOCKED when my son finished reading all of these very long books! He is totally hooked and will finish one in a day. I love that he has to wait for the next ones to come out.

Suggestions for encouraging reading:

Extra screen time for reading from a stack of pre approved books.

Kindle: my kids will regularly read really long books when they are on a Kindle because they can’t see how long the book is and can make the print size bigger.

Keep books laying around. When the kids were younger I had books at the kitchen table suring breakfast and lunch. They automatically would grab them to read because they were in front of them. Now I keep chapter books on the couch and chairs for them to grab when they are bored.

If you’re looking for adult book suggestions I have some of those here.