I love to read. It’s a passion that I’ve tried to instill in my children as well. From the time they were born- and really even before- I’ve been reading to them. I’ve tried to make available for them books that are rich in vocabulary, that feature great heroes to look up to, and that have themes that make the reader think. These books are what Charlotte Mason calls “living books.”
These books aren’t always easy to find. If you walk into your children’s library or children’s corner in your favorite bookstore, you’ll usually find yourself surrounded by books featuring popular television shows and their characters. Although I’ll admit that my kids have read plenty of these books as well- “twaddle,” Charlotte Mason calls them, I’ve tried to surround them with great living books.
I’ve created literature units for many of these books. Some of them are compiled in my favorite freebie- 31 Days of Literature Unit Studies, and I’ve compiled a list of some of the great living books I’ve come across. This is an ever-growing list. Here’s how to use the table below. The books are listed with a variety of labels. You can choose to search by any of these labels.
- Title
- Author
- Amazon link
- Grade recommendation (PreK-2nd, 1st-5th, 3rd-8th, high school)
- Subject connections- If the book is a good connection for a content area subject, I’ve noted it here.
- Literature unit links- If I’ve created a literature unit study, you can find it at that link.
- Notes- any other important notes about the book
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