The kids and I have been sitting in living room around candles for a half hour before bed reading the Hobbit. They LOVE IT SO MUCH. They're screaming for more each night when it's time to stop. I was the same when my dad read it to me. My kids are 8, 6 and 5. Two girls and one boy. The 5 year old does drift off at times, but she understands the story and likes it and asks lots of questions about words.
They love the sequence of adventures, the creatures, the personalities, the dialogue. There's lots of opportunity to use different voices while I read it. They never saw the movie so the suspense is killing them. We'll probably be done in about a week.
So what book should be next?!! I want it to be rich in dialogue and somewhat advanced as well as enjoyable. Long so we read a little each night. Fiction because we read a lot of non-fiction. We are going to read Harry Potter (so excited, I haven't read books or seen movies because I've been waiting for them to be old enough..) but I want to break from wizard genre before getting into that one. We're not doing Lord of the Rings yet. We already read Chronicles of Narnia, but maybe could repeat since it's been a couple of years..
What have some of your favorites been to read to kids, boys and girls, 5-8 as group? I'm partial to the classics for this age but might consider something modern. Recommendations please!
Thank you, Mel! We've actually done a lot of reading on Greek and Roman gods! Some of these sound awesome!
A couple good ones that I don't think were mentioned are From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Harriet the Spy.
What about the Redwall series? Have you tried that?
Also, The Rats of NIMH is terrific. (Just a book, not a series.)
Brian Jacques! Brian Jacques! Brian Jacques!
Read his "Redwall" series. Brilliant. There are a ton of them, and they can be read out of sequence as each can stand alone, BUT I recommend you start with the first one he wrote, just titled "Redwall." Look at your library's online catalog and get started now!
These are about talking animals -- but they're not your Peter Rabbit animals at all. There are no humans at all in the novels; the animals have their own distinct mythology, culture, history; Redwall Abbey is the home of all things good and caring and the animals must always battle forces of evil in the form of the "vermin" like wicked weasels and scurrilous stoats and ferocious foxes...But the language is definitely not little-kid writing, and there are battles aplenty, as well as wonderful, detailed descriptive writing throughout. The villains sometimes are pretty straightforward, but the heroes often have some very well-written conflicts to deal with.
My daughter is nearly fourteen and STILL loves to return to read the Redwall novels, and many adults are fans, so this is a series that works at six and again at sixty. Both boys and girls love them. I volunteered for years at our elementary school library and both boys and girls checked these out constantly. These books also are in the middle school library too, which tells you that the level of writing is high.
I can't recommend them highly enough. Oh, and if you love doing voices as you read, there are lots of different accents you can adopt for these very English animals.
I think you are right not to read "The Lord of the Rings" with them yet -- put all together, the three novels are very long and dense for kids this age; "The Hobbit" is far shorter and more simply written (in my opinion). My daughter actually didn't like "The Hobbit" all that much but adored "The Lord of the Rings" and has read the entire series several times! Go figure.
If your kids have stayed absorbed by Narnia (also a huge favorite of my daughter's) and "The Hobbit" they may enjoy Rick Riordan's terrific Percy Jackson series, though I think kids of five and six are too young to fully appreciate these books. And while it's not essential for your older kid to know any Greek mythology to understand them -- it really, really enhances the books if your oldest first does some reading of Greek myths. (There are lots of good kid -friendly retellings of the myths in your children's school library, I promise -- ask the librarian!) I would stick for now with the first series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as the most recent series (Heroes of Olympus) builds on that earlier one, and also involves many more mature teenage issues including romances and personal conflicts between characters. (The characters are 12 at the start of the first series but are older teens in the second series.)
My daughter and I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians (five books but easily done) together and had a blast. I'm now reading the five Heroes books because she begged me to, so we could discuss them!
Riordan also wrote the Kane Chronicles, three books about siblings and the Egyptian gods. Same caveat, more enjoyable with a just a bit of understanding of the major Egyptian myths but those are in the school library already.
All Riordan's Greek, Roman and Egyptian books are eaten up by every elementary and middle schooler we know.
If you want a break from the drama of gods and warring animals, and need a shorter and mellower read, look for the Marco and Polo books by (I think) Phyllis Naylor Reynolds, especially if your kids like cats. Totally different from these others but a lovely break, these books are about the adventures of two cat brothers. Sweet and I still miss them!
A bit different from what you're reading now but my kids LOVED listening to me read Judy Blume books aloud when they were that age (actually they were ages 4-12, my oldest used to camp out on the floor of his younger brothers' room in the summer and they'd all sleep there). Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing and SuperFudge are perennial favorites, but I also snuck in Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great and was happily surprised that they could appreciate a story with a girl as the protagonist. I loved these are a kid and forgot how funny they are until I read them aloud to my own kids.
Beverly Cleary books (The Mouse and the Motorcycle, the Henry series, the Ramona books) are all entertaining (and quick!) reads for this age group.
A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle; Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry, Inkheart series or Dragonrider by Cornelia Funke.
The Madeline L'Engle series (e.g., a Wrinkle in Time). That was a favorite of mine as a kid.
ETA:
Note to self. Read other responses first. There were several mentions of A Wrinkle in Time. Also, I concur with the Roald Dahl books. So good.
There are so many series to get into!
Wizard of Oz - whole series has a good 20 or so books - Dorothy, Aunty Em and Uncle Henry eventually all move to Oz permanently.
The Percy Jackson series
Adventurers Wanted series
The Myth Inc Link books by Robert Asprin are funny and punny!
Disc World books by Terry Pratchett (you might want to start with the Tiffany Aching books first but they are all good).
The Chronicles of Narnia series is a good one, and a good one (but sad) is Where the Red Fern Grows. Also, Iron Will, Charlotte's Web, the Ramona & Beezus series by Beverly Clearey, the "Fudge" series by Judy Blume.
... some of my favorites from Read-Aloud time growing up!
I agree with Mel R. Brian Jacques' books. Yes, begin at the beginning, with Redwall.
What about the original Dr. Doolittle? My DD likes the idea of learning to talk animals and traveling (though some of the language is dated). Dealing with Dragons? Secret Garden? Mixed up files...is a great kid book. Mystery. Adventure. Indian in the Cupboard. James and the Giant Peach.
Stop in and ask the librarian in the children's room at your library. They come up with really great suggestions.
A lot of the suggestions below were ones I thought of, too! I would just add that for a bit of change of pace you could try something like Island of the Blue Dolphins or My Side of the Mountain. STill an adventure, but real-world as opposed to fantasy. In my own reading I like to mix in some real world stuff so the fantasy worlds don't start to "blend" :)
I love reading the How to Train Your Dragon books out loud, they lend themselves to lots of funny voices! You just have to be willing to say "Big Boobied Bertha" to your children...lol!
Oh, and Bunnicula!!
Haven't read the responses but one of my favorites is A Christmas Carol. Since it is the season already that maybe one your kids will like.
I spent a couple years (literally) reading the Lord of the Rings books to our son, starting in kindergarten or so. I didn't do that with his younger sister, and while I have tried to get her started on them now (as a 3rd grader), it hasn't taken yet. I think they were harder to read aloud--complex sentence structure, less dialogue-driven--and the kids will probably encounter them in high school English classes, so that isn't essential.
Yes again to Rick Riordan books, especially for the 8 year old. Both my kids loved all three series (Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, and Gods of Olympus). They read the books, however the books translate well to being read aloud, especially with his characters' smart-aleck personnas.
I'd add books by Laurence Yep and by Linda Sue Park, both because those two authors have produced a lot of high quality books for elementary school aged kids and because they describe Asian and Asian-American experiences really well.
Classics... A Secret Garden and A Little Princess were absolute loves for my daughter at the age of your younger kids. Roald Dahl, including his memoirs such as Flying Solo, would be great, especially for your older ones. I'd add The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster to the list--so much fun word-play and inventive characters.
Have fun!
My husband and son (10) are reading Fablehaven right now and my daughter (12) loves the Kingdom Keeper series. Not sure about ages for your kids, but look into them. And we read all the little house books. My son, who loves adventure, thought they were just for girls, but he's actually really enjoying them, especially knowing it's historical.
My son and I are currently reading The Neptune Project by Polly Holyohe. Very interesting read. We have also loved the first two of Harry Potter books, I really don't like the movies though. My son is nine. We will have the check out the hobbit next : ). The magic treehouse series are always fun too. Thanks for your question, I look forward to seeing the answers.
Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr Fox was one I'd break out on rainy days-- the kids would beg me to keep going. My son didn't care for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (too many grumpy people) but the Little House books were compelling for him. I'm looking forward to introducing him to "Danny, Champion of the World" by Dahl.
Oh, and more historical or scientific: both Holling C Holling's picture books "Paddle to the Sea" and "Pagoo" were a huge hit in our house. The former is about a carved Canadian Indian in a Canoe and it/his journey from the mountains near the Great Lakes, around the lakes and to the Atlantic; Pagoo is about a Pagurus -- or hermit--crab, from its start of life just hatched from an egg eating diatoms of 'sea soup' to its maturity. Both offer very rich language and concepts and are simple enough for youngsters to follow as well.
I read the Lord of the Rings books and the Narnia books to my kids (as well as many others). I believe it's the main reason they are all literate and did very well in school. I sure miss reading to them.
My boys loved the Redwall series - I haven't read them but both boys read the whole series on their own. My youngest son read the series more than once, and when I read his essays from high school, I am astounded at his vocabulary. It was his favorite series.
I think the books will be appropriate for a 5 year old.
We also read the His Dark Materials (the movie The Golden Compass was based on the first book) series, lots of action and ethical dilemmas.
As far as the classics go, Little Women is fun for all ages and genders.
My kids loved all the Roald Dahl books, and EB White. The Series of Unfortunate Events, Alice in Wonderland, A Wrinkle in Time, and YES, Harry Potter! The first two Harry Potter books are actually fairly tame, they don't really get dark until the third book. I miss reading to my kids :-(
I read The Boxcar Children series to my kids and The Magic Tree House series to them as well. Plenty of books to keep you busy for YEARS with these two series. I was sad when my kids no longer wanted me to read to them. Enjoy!
I love the Kingdom Keepers series, and my 7 y.o. daughter is just getting into them now.
