The best book series for growing kids into lifelong readers

Did you know reading to your kids at bedtime makes them on average both smarter and kinder? Well, if you didn’t, now you do. And while parents can be tired and frustrated at the end of a long day, the best way to bond with your kids and entertain them is with a good book—one you will like as much as they do. 

These books are all books my husband and I have read (or are currently reading) to our kids at bedtime. 

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book of C. S. Lewis’ renowned series, The Chronicles of Narnia. The story introduces us to the Pevensie children—Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy—as they flee to the English countryside as London is attacked by the Nazis.

In the home of an old professor, they find a wardrobe that leads to the fantastical land of Narnia, where their arrival marks the fulfillment of a prophecy and marks a new turn in the battle between the White Witch and the grand lion, Aslan. 

The story is full of adventure, excitement, and iconic imaginings and good versus evil themes that have marked it as a favorite for children and adults for the last 70 years. 

My husband read this series to the kids at bedtime and it remains a favorite of theirs, if not their specific favorite; and even though it’s not usually possible, I fell in love with my husband even more as he read. Is there anything more enchantingly lovely to see than a loving father reading to his children? 

Chances are your kids can’t imagine a world without indoor plumbing, cars, or airplanes, or even grocery stores (truly a nightmare for some of us adults, too).

Adding in some good American history, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book series walks you through her early childhood, where we meet Pa, Ma, Mary, and baby Carrie, and other members of their extended family. During this time, Ma and Pa work hard to make their home in Minnesota warm during the winter, Ma pickles a pig’s head, Laura fights with her cousins, and she and her sister must learn to share and do their chores. 

This book is set before their big move (Little House on the Prairie) but it gives us a glimpse of Pa’s restlessness to move, his love of his fiddle, and how he cares for his family. This also shows Laura’s development as a young child into understanding the world around her—something that will help provide kids with a reference as they learn responsibilities (and further try to avoid them). 

This was actually the first longer chapter book series I read to my kids. There are some areas of the books where “politically incorrect” things are mentioned, but you can easily explain these things to kids (“This is something we don’t do anymore, because…” or “The reason they say this is because…”). These teaching moments are helpful to orienting kids to the modern-day era.

But those politically incorrect things are complemented by universal situations and themes—being neighborly, working together as part of a community to have fun and get along, and growing up and making decisions about life, jobs, and money. 

**Tip! If you have boys, start with Farmer Boy. Laura Ingalls Wilder also wrote a book about her husband’s experiences growing up on a farm in New York. Almanzo’s story and Laura’s eventually join together later on in the series.

***Second Tip! After you read Little House on the Prairie, the TV show with Michael Landon follows the book very faithfully, and it truly is very wholesome if you’d like to give them an extra-fun media tie-in. I have never had an issue with my kids watching this show even if I’m not sitting watching with them.

The Boxcar Children is the next on this list because it’s actually a good mix of the first two series I’ve mentioned—it has four children, with two boys (Henry and Benny) and two girls (Jessie and Violet), and it’s set in America.

There’s no fantasy, but there’s still plenty of strife as the Alden siblings lose their parents, and they try to make it on their own. They settle down in an old abandoned box car as Henry finds work in a nearby neighborhood, Jessie and Violet teach Benny to read as their grandfather, who they’ve been trying to avoid for fear of him not wanting them, is searching for them. 

Overall, it’s a wonderful story about family love and neighborly friendships. The books continue the series, where the children go on vacations, solve more mysteries, and make new friends. 

Note***This series is one of the first “longer” series (we haven’t finished it) where the stories are still being written, although the original author has retired; this is similar to Nancy Drew (also a good series) and the Hardy Boys (also a good series) in that multiple people write the books. For this, I recommend only really trying to read the original author’s stories.

Elizabeth’s journey explores her early teen years with her tumultuous family, touching on her mother’s faint but tainted memory and her ailing father’s neglect, framed within the royal trappings.

This is a great book to share if you love British history and culture, and it gives a very interesting though somewhat tamed perspective of growing up in England during the reign of Henry VIII, all while placing the universal experiences of wanting to fit in, finding yourself the family outcast, and discovering the pains of politics.

Along with this series, Dear America and My Name is America series are all recommended as well. I have read many, if not all of them, and I’d like to read them with my kids, too.

The Wingfeather Saga is a great in-between series for fans of Narnia and Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings (I did read The Hobbit to my kids but they didn’t always get why things were funny or scary, and I think with the later Harry Potter books especially, it would be more in my interest to start those when my children are over 10 so they can grow up along with Harry in the series). 

The Wingfeather Saga starts off a little darker, with a family dealing with the past and the secrets. Two boys, Janner, Tink, and their sister, Leeli, are all gifted objects, and they set out to find answers; in the process, they are captured and their mother and grandfather step up to help them. Part fantasy, with a historical feel to it, the book centers on unraveling a mystery while facing down fearful creatures and other people who seek to stop them, and at the heart of it is a family who loves each other. 

A nice added bonus to the series is all the songs and other media that’s tied into it, as Peterson is a songwriter and musician as well as a writer. 

My husband started reading this one to the kids just a little while ago and we actually had to hide the book so they don’t read ahead. I can’t think of a better endorsement for a book than that. 

**Tip! This is not to be confused with the Wings of Fire series. I have almost made that mistake several times.