How to Get Your Kids to Read in These Days of Isolation (And Some Book Suggestions)

When I was young, whenever I said I was bored, my father solved my problem with, “Go weed the flower beds!” And so my love of reading flourished.  Try this method on your kids when you’re in isolation to instill a love of reading. It worked for my dad.

But seriously, folks... The best way to get your children to enjoy reading is give them GOOD BOOKS to read. A good book is not a fad book or necessarily an easy book. It is enjoyable and inspires thought beyond the book. When they stop reading it, they think about it and may want to talk about it. And, most of all, a good book builds character and emotional intelligence by giving the reader insight into the human soul. I asked some “30-somethings” what favorite books they remember from their homeschool, and below are the top selections. There are a couple from their kids, too.

Elementary Age:

  • The Magic Bicycle (Spirit Flyer Series)[*]

  • The Bronze Bow

  • Little House in the Big Woods (The Little House on the Prairie series)

  • Hardy Boys

  • Begin (The Growly Books series)

  • A Wrinkle in Time

  • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia series)—good for teens, too

  • Frog and Toad are Friends (Frog and Toad series)—for very young children

Teenage:

  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (This is also a government-banned book. Enjoy!)

  • The Hobbit (Lord of the Rings series)

  • 1984

  • Brave New World

  • Tale of Two Cities

  •  Jane Eyre

  • Pride and Prejudice

  • The Outsiders –for younger teenagers

 I’ve grouped these suggestions in two age groups. However, the thing about really good literature is that people of all ages can enjoy it, so don’t be afraid to cross age boundaries!

(I’ve footnoted where to find a couple of the books. Once on those sites, you can look up all the other books, too.) Also, search “Twaddle-Free Books” on Pinterest and have a hay day!

To get you started, here’s a suggestion for teenagers: Introduce them to some good literature they might not get in school. In my humble opinion, the best and most influential American book ever written is Uncle Tom’s Cabin.[†]  It has changed the lives of millions of people, including my own. If you have a teenager, let them REALLY be rebellious and listen to this government-banned book on audiobook. This book started the Civil War, which led to the end of slavery in America. It was THE definition of 19th Century “wokeness.” It’s looooooong... so it’ll kill a lot of time. Because of the dialects, I highly recommend listening to it versus reading it. Give your teenager a mindless task to do with their hands: clean house, build with Lego, crochet or knit, and then listen along. You should listen, too. It’ll change your life while entertaining you. That’s something you can’t say about many art forms these days.

Read Aloud[‡]

We read aloud (or listened together to audiobooks) a lot back in the day. It was some of our best times and requires so little effort or paraphernalia.  Any of the above books could be read aloud, of course. I laughed so much reading Winnie the Pooh books and Paddington Bear out loud to my younger kids. One of my favorites for mid-elementary age was Rascal by Sterling North. Heart wrenching!

Happy Isolation, y’all!

Beth Smith

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33