These read aloud living books for kindergarten and elementary children, are rich, living books we enjoyed this past year as a whole family. My hope is that you would find some new titles to pick up and bring your family closer together as you enjoy these read aloud stories.
Why read aloud?
Togetherness
Reading aloud is such a wonderful way to bring the family closer together. Next to family dinners, reading aloud as a family is of utmost importance in the building of our family culture.
Story
Stories speak to the very depths of a person. There is just something about listening to a story with someone that helps you relate to one another better. When we enjoy stories together we have many common ground subjects to talk about, characters to discuss and storylines to contemplate.
Many of the stories we read together bring us on a journey we will never physically live out in our lifetime. This can help cultivate compassion, adventure, empathy, critical thinking and ultimately wisdom as we think through the ramifications and blessings different characters face.
Slowing down
Unlike watching a 2 hour movie, story books take us on a more prolonged adventure. Sure we could binge read and gobble up a story in the span of a few hours. But there is something about picking up a story in smaller chunks that allows our minds to be fed and nourished as we wait in anticipation for what happens next.
What is a ‘living book’?
Literary style
A living book is one that is written in literary form. Living books take you along a journey. Even if they are in the non-fiction category such as our Arabella Buckley Natural History books, living books are written to take you along. Much different than a text book listing facts and cutting to the information the author wants you to gather.
Make the subject come alive
Living books make the subject come alive. The author of a living book communicates their passion for the subject throughout the book. You can feel this come out in the writing.
Rich language
Next, a living book is written using excellent, rich language. Language and vocabulary that speaks to the heart of a person. When looking for living books for children, the language should not talk down to the children and diminish the vocabulary. Rich language is elevated and full of literary voice. Almost like you can hear the author speaking to you.
Touches the imagination & feeds the mind
Finally, along with being rich in language, taking you along the journey, a living book feeds the mind and touches the imagination. A living book helps to cultivate something in hearts and minds of people. The journey the author takes you on and the way the subject comes alive helps cultivate virtue in those who are listening.
In conclusion, there are so many books we could choose from to bring into our homes and family time. Many of the books filling library shelves are not worth our time. That is why I love a good, verified book list of living books. Living books are worth your time. They cultivate virtue and nourish the mind of a person.
Our Favorite Read Aloud Books for Kindergarten & the Family
This past homeschool year I had a 6, 5, 3 and newborn (now 1) year old. Only my oldest student was participating in formal lessons but we all participated in these family read aloud. In my humble opinion, I think these stories are wonderful read aloud to add to your own ‘to be read’ list as a family.
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Winnie the Pooh by A.A Milne
This was my first time reading Winnie the Pooh, the original. We had seen the show and movies before which really cannot compare once you realize how beautiful the original storybook is!
Our family was sick for a few days and instead of sitting in front of a screen trying to just get through the day, we read Winnie the Pooh together. Even my husband was so looking forward to our read aloud of this sweet story because we would just laugh and laugh at how relatable the world of Winnie the Pooh is to the world a child lives in their mind. Very much enjoyed.
A note for those who love audiobooks: I do not recommend reading this title on audio. After we did our first read through, my children wanted to listen again. Instead of reading out loud I thought I would try the audio on the Libby App (a free library app for audiobooks). The narrator really was awful in my very blunt opinion. I quickly turned it off so we could keep our enjoyable read aloud experience untainted. But I digress. Just had to throw this warning out there.
The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
My daughter thoroughly enjoyed this read. Mainly her and I were the ones to read together while the boys did not seem to care as much as she did for this one. Every down moment she would ask “Momma, can you read me another chapter?”. So we finished this in 3 days. Very enjoyable and we will read again in the future.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
We had read Charlotte’s Web aloud when my oldest was 4 and my children loved it then just as much! This time we checked out the audiobook version narrated by Meryl Streep and a cast of voices. This was so very enjoyable for my children.
Any time they had a down moment, they asked for me to put on the audiobook. My children probably listened to the entire audiobook 3 times before we returned it. I should probably just add it to our collection. *makes a note of the Christmas list
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis
It may shock you as much as it shocked my husband, but I had never read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe until just this last year…I know. Now, I have read it twice plus once on audio so we are making up for lost time!
This story deeply reached the hearts of my children. They refer to the characters in their play and like to thumb through the pages of this sweet story. Another audiobook I want to get them for Christmas. I am looking into the Focus on the Family Radio Theater Version here.
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
We really enjoyed All of a Kind Family. We mostly listened to this on audio through Spotify. You can find it for free on there if you pay for their subscription.
We all followed the story line with intent which made for such an exciting ending. I won’t spoil it for you, but it was hit.
Betsy Tacy + Betsy, Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy Tacy and Betsy, Tacy and Tib were my daughter’s most enjoyed series this year. Following along with the childhood of a few little girls her age was delightful. I look forward to reading the rest of the series in the future and so does she.
Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey series by Tyler Van Halteren
These Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey books have been enjoyed by us all for the last 3 years. We read them over and over again. We reference the characters often in our home. I laugh and cry when reading aloud. I highly recommend these beautiful, well done stories for all ages.
Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor
Little Pilgrim’s Progress is along the same Pilgrim’s Progress storyline. The animal characters and the beautiful illustrations make for a wonderful children’s book. This is another moving story and tear jerker.
I also recommend this book if your children don’t seem to stay engaged with chapter books with no pictures just yet. This story is full of beautiful illustrations which seem to help my children track what is going on better.
Honorable mention read aloud books for kindergarten
These stories were difficult for my children to get into. I was enjoying them but they were not. I think books have a right and a wrong time to be introduced. I am sure we will enjoy these later down the road when we try again. But they may be just the right fit for your family so I will share them anyway.
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
The Railway Children is a very sweet story with tender sibling bonds. I enjoyed this story though we only made it half way through before I gave into my children’s requests to not read it anymore. We all want to know what happened to the father though so don’t tell us if you know! I hope we can revisit this again in a year or two.
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
This story was fun to read out of my mother-in-laws vintage copy until I found my own vintage copy. This story was one that her mother, my children’s great-grandmother, read to my mother in law in the hospital as a little girl. Because of the sentimental ties, I was hoping this would be more of a hit but my children didn’t ever really look forward to this read aloud. After a while we moved on but again, hopefully can return with a fresh excitement in the future.
