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I snuggled up on the couch recently with my 4 year old son and began reading the words of a book that landed in our mailbox not too long ago. My son leaned in close, immediately captivated by the adventures of a fellow four year old and his dog.
I changed the title character’s name from Bruce to Bo, the namesake of my resident four year old, and the words sank deeper. The boy with the sword was him. The adventures, the story became his.
My oldest son listened in from a neighboring room and interrupted us mid-story, “Wait. Did you write this book, mom?” I smiled, correcting his mistake, but his assertion caught my attention. This book spoke of courage and fear. It spoke the language that is familiar in our home. It spoke the very words, in story form, that I want to speak over my children.
We love books here. I’m not much for buying my kids toys, but I give them books at nearly every celebration. I’ve even been known to make up a celebration because I have cause to give them another book. However, I seek to choose titles carefully. Henry David Thoreau is quoted as saying, “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all”. I get that logic. The number of books available today feel endless, but I want to select books that celebrate words and art, books that suit my kids’ current interests or may encourage new ones, books that affirm admirable character traits, a strong faith, a sound worldview. Character lessons take flight, sink deep, when my children experience them through story.
I keep a long and constantly growing list of books I want to introduce my children to, but I thought I’d share a few recent favorites as well a few classics that focus on brave lead characters. Seeing as though the holidays are coming (and books really do make the best gifts!) this might be the perfect place for you to grab a few ideas for the brave kids in your life.
Picture Books
The Gutsy Girls
series – This series by Amy L. Sullivan is one of my newest favorites. Formatted as picture books, these boldly illustrated biographies introduce children to some of the most courageous and God-fearing women of the past. I love that these stories fully engage my 6 and 8 year old girls, are seasoned with historical facts and provide content to help them dig deeper. A glossary of words, additional historical references and a note from the author speaking life straight to the heart of your own Gutsy Girl is beautiful, friends. This series is a winner.
Bruce the Brave
by Shalene C. Roberts- This book, mentioned in my introduction above, had my heart immediately. Bruce is a wild and brave 4 year old…until he is not. And where the story leads from there rings of the very Truth I want to speak life to in my home. Another picture book, you’ll find this title illustrated with a charming simplicity.
Chapter Books
Caddie Woodlawn
– Caddie is a fun loving and adventurous tomboy who resists the typical fascinations and expectations of an 11 year old girl growing up in Wisconsin in 1864. Brave and spirited, Caddie’s story is every bit as engaging today as it was when it was published 80 years ago. Carol Ryrie Brink does an excellent job infusing courage and spirit, with character and integrity in this book and my 6, 8, and 11 year olds loved this as a family read aloud.
Other similar chapter books my girls have loved this year include Betsy-Tacy
and Poppy.
You can find more of our favorite family read alouds over here.
Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers
– This book came recommended by a few I Choose Brave readers last year and it did not dissapoint. The character lessons and discussions that spilled out from reading this book aloud with my 11 year old son were priceless. The combination of teaching lessons of respect and honesty and infusing it with an adventurous and historical setting made this a sure win for us. We can’t wait to explore other books in this series.
Also in this category, we’ve loved The Wingfeather Saga
and The Redwall Series. Both of these series’ are incredibly engaging (even for the moms and dads reading them aloud!) and yet a little intense so keep that in mind for your youngest readers.
Parenting Hack: One of my favorites way to keep my kids reading is to get them hooked on a good series!
Something More
Lastly, I want to share two other resources that we are loving lately.
In response to a radio advertisement my 6 year old heard recently she asked me why people in some parts of the world don’t have clean water. While she tried to wrap her brain around that fact I was wracking mine for ways I could keep expanding my children’s worldview even at their young ages.
I’m collecting all of those ideas to share in a later blog post, but for now I’m loving Ann Dunagan’s latest book The Whole World Needs Jesus. Beautifully illustrated by Ann’s daughter Caela Rose, this book speaks straight to a younger audience about a world much bigger and much different than their own. Ann’s heart to reach the world through missions and help us teach our children along the way is beautiful. This book would make a great gift and you can purchase copies directly from the Mission Minded Families website.
Lastly, for brave adventures when we are out and about we love Jonathan Park Audio Adventures. I reviewed these fantastic audios on the blog this summer, although we’ve been listening to them for years now. Audiobooks and games are one of my favorite family gifts and make a pretty great grandparent gift as well. Entertainment, education and, embracing a worldview we can agree with make these a winning combination for us!
So there are a few favorites from our home to yours. I hope you find some new titles to add to your collections, but I’d like to help you get started with that too!
The Giveaway!
Note: This giveaway has now ended. Congratulations Laury H.!
Amy L. Sullivan and Ann Dugagan have generously donated a copy of their books Gusty Girls: Gladys Alward and The Whole World Needs Jesus and I’ve added a copy of one our all around family favorites this year, Redwall by Brain Jacques.
To enter the giveaway simply enter your e-mail address in the rafflecopter below by midnight on Friday the 18th and we’ll randomly select a winner. Good luck and keep reading to those brave kids of yours!
Addi loved the Clementine Series.
My 10 year old is finally learning to love to read and I love listening to her tell me about books and how reading them makes her feel. Her new favorite is “Walk Two Moons” which I just started reading last night, at her request. 🙂 She also loves the “I Survived” series and is touched to learn what other kids live through.
Thank you for your blog post! I’m excited to check out these titles. We like Hero Tales by Dave& Neta Jackson.
So many favorites on this list and a few new ones to check out. I love that you’ve included Betsy-Tacy; I have great memories of reading them and so look forward to sharing them with my girls. Not even sure what to add . . . if I start, I might not stop!
My son loves the I Survived books by Lauren Tarshis. They are about brave kids making it through true disasters, such as the sinking of the Titanic or the Joplin tornado. He loves history and these have a good mix of fact and fiction.
Kate DiCamillo is a favorite author in our house, especially Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn Dixie. We also like the Christian Heroes series. We just found out the next book for our mother-daughter book club will be Anne of Green Gables. So excited to read this one together, especially after seeing it mentioned in the comments!
Oh, Lauren. You get me. Kate DiCamillo has been one of my favorites for years. Her writing is just stunning to me. Have you read The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate? Similarly beautiful. I’d love to hear more about how mother-daughter book club works. That sounds fascinating. (And yes to Christian Heroes – so much good stuff there!)
My kids (ages 9 & 11) and I just started reading aloud The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud by Jenny L. Cote. We’re really enjoying it and look forward to more in the series! And, of course, the Chronicles of Narnia are filled with bravery and on our favorites list!
Yes, always Narnia! It has been a couple years since we’ve had read through that series and my kids having been asking to read it again. Such a commitment though! However, I was thinking Turkish Delight would be a fun treat in their Christmas stockings. 🙂 And thanks for recommending Jenny L. Cote. I’ll look into that series.
These are all great suggestions, to be sure! As far as audiobooks/audiodramas we really love the Brinkman Adventures. They are similar to Jonathan Park but the focus is on missions. Our favorite series you mentioned is The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson. We’ve loved his music for years and thoroughly enjoyed this series!
Fran, we’ve pretty much worn out our Brinkmann Adventures cds. And even my husband can quote lines. 😉 And we have one last Wingweather book to read, but I’m kind of holding out because I don’t want it to be over. Clearly, we have similar tastes!
i a huge book lover currently me and darrel my 12 year old are working our way through the land of stories series by
Chris colfer. I think this one is a great book for brave kids as it combines classic fairy tales with our world and the two chracters are twins and they face brave issues and have to choose to follow what is wrong and right and it opens up discussion dialog between me and my son.
Jan! So fun to see your name here! Books that bring out that dialogue are the best. And I think reading to a pre-teen might be my very favorite so far. The content they can digest and process at the age is amazing. Thanks for the suggestion!
We are book lovers too! Every time my daughter disappears into her room and is very quiet I find her sitting on the floor flipping through books (she is only 17 months). I love reading her books that teach good lessons. Thanks for the recommendations.
How sweet is that, Kira?! I’m pretty sure when my 17 month old’s were quiet they were causing trouble. 😉 However, that early love for books has stuck for my kids so keep reading together. It makes for some of the best memories.
Thank you for the wonderful suggestions! My 12-year-old struggles with finding good books to read and I will be happy to show her this post! I know it will be encouraging to her as it was to me! I can remember reading in kindergarten to my children The Kissing Hand book. It helped them to be brave just beginning their journey with school.
Julie, I’ve never even heard of The Kissing Hand, but I just looked it up and it looks adorable. And this right here is why I love book conversations; we all get new ideas!
This came at the perfect time. Thank you! I enjoy your blog.
My pleasure, Jennifer! Thank you!
We also love Caddie Woodlawn, but I would also add Anne of Green Gables, & Eight Cousins.
My older son likes Wonder, The Mostly True Story of Jack, and Tea Cakes for Tosh
Definitely Anne of Green Gables, Nancy! I’m waiting just a bit longer to introduce my kids to Anne Shirley, but I loved reading that series when I was a kid and can’t wait to read it again with them. Thanks for the new ideas as well!