The best clean-reading fantasy books with religious undertones for readers of all ages

Why am I passionate about this?

I've always loved fiction, fantasy, and adventure stories. Growing up in the Star Wars generation, I was seven when A New Hope was released at the theaters. Living in the hollows of West Virginia there weren’t libraries close by, and movies were a great, though seldom, treat. Suggestive material and cursing was not something that we saw in books or movies growing up in a more simple period of time. I still thoroughly enjoy many well-written, clean, books or shows. As an active member of the body of Christ, I now serve with my writing, and hope that kids of all ages can enjoy epic fantasy and adventure books from a clean and wholesome perspective.


I wrote...

Earth

By S.G. Boudreaux,

Book cover of Earth

What is my book about?

Destructive earthquakes and time-traveling portals created by massive storms take our heroes and heroines to beautiful, exotic, strange, and dangerous places. Everyday people thrown into a warrior lifestyle they never expected and didn't ask for; all while fighting demonic forces at every turn. These people are known as Peregrines; those who travel through time and space in search of important artifacts and lost people. 

Seth Jager falls through a storm portal and awakes from a two-day sleep called Peregrine Sickness to discover his wife of seven hours is missing, and he has no idea where he is himself. He must learn how to traverse this strange new world, all while trying to find Caroline. The first time-travel, adventure, fantasy book in a series of five.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

S.G. Boudreaux Why did I love this book?

This series of books is written to engage your children’s mind in a positive way. They are clean, fun, intriguing, and full of danger and expedition. The masterful storytelling and humor of the author and the world he has created combines talking creatures; the Fangs of Dang; with real people in the land of Skreean. The books are non-stop adventure as they follow the Igiby children, their brave and noble mother, and their retired ex-pirate grandfather. They discover and experience many adventures in their curious, coming-of-age, lives, both with themselves, and their secretive past. These books are sure to delight you and your children.

By Andrew Peterson,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

After living for years under the occupation by the evil Fangs of Dang, the Igiby children find a map rumoured to lead to the lost Jewels of Anniera - the one thing the Fangs will do anything to find. The family is thrown headlong into a perilous adventure, uncovering truths about who they are that will change their world forever.

Repackaged with new illustrations, this is the opportunity to discover the Wingfeathers.


Book cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

S.G. Boudreaux Why did I love this book?

This second book in the popular Narnia series, is one of my favorite. It is easy to read, and wonderfully descriptive, following the tales of the Pevensie children. Behind the wardrobe, the Pevensie children discover the world of Narnia, and so begins their adventures in aiding Aslan, the mighty lion and ruler of Narnia, to defeat the evil white witch who has invaded the land. Aslan is a depiction of Christ in this story. 

Sword-wielding adventures in ancient lost lands tend to awaken the adventurer in me and lend to my very overactive imagination. I so enjoy fiction, fantasy, and adventure but when stories are told in a clean and wholesome way without making me wince at certain language or inappropriate descriptions, I can’t seem to get enough. Such wonderful examples of writing have lent me instruction in my own writing, which I hope engage readers with the storytelling instead of the shock factor.

By C. S. Lewis, Pauline Baynes (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

29 authors picked The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Lucy steps into the Professor's wardrobe - but steps out again into a snowy forest. She's stumbled upon the magical world of Narnia, land of unicorns, centaurs, fauns... and the wicked White Witch, who terrorises all. Lucy soon realises that Narnia, and in particular Aslan, the great Lion, needs her help if the country's creatures are ever going to be free again...


Book cover of The Green Ember

S.G. Boudreaux Why did I love this book?

The Green Ember is a beautifully descriptive book for children. SD Smith’s ability to weave a picture in your mind is wonderful. I have this on audiobook and loved listening to the story. As a kid at heart, I don’t mind storytelling from the animal’s perspective. 😉 A good story is a good story, no matter who it is written for, and these books are described as “new stories with an old soul.”

By S.D. Smith, Zach Franzen (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Green Ember as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Heather and Picket are extraordinary rabbits with ordinary lives until calamitous events overtake them, spilling them into a cauldron of misadventures. They discover that their own story is bound up in the tumult threatening to overwhelm the wider world.

Kings fall and kingdoms totter. Tyrants ascend and terrors threaten. Betrayal beckons, and loyalty is a broken road with peril around every bend.

Where will Heather and Picket land? How will they make their stand?


Book cover of Redwall

S.G. Boudreaux Why did I love this book?

The lines between good and evil are clearly drawn in Jaques series written for a school of blind children he encountered regularly early in his life. His books are so visually descriptive because of that encounter. A wonderful adventure series written for children about talking animals, but again, to be enjoyed by all ages as his books are full of real adventure and danger. Now I’m unsure as to whether the series has religious undertones, but a clear division of good versus evil is depicted. Warning, there is much death, and even murder, as related to the perils of the book, but death follows life. It is more a story of strife, overcoming, and learning what you are capable of when put to the test. 

I purchased the entire series for my son when he was young, and as a severe ADHD reader, he enjoyed them, although I doubt he read them all. ADHD, you know.

By Brian Jacques, Gary Chalk (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Redwall as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

The first book in the beloved, bestselling Redwall saga - soon to be a major Netflix movie!

Redwall Abbey, tranquil home to a community of peace-loving mice, is threatened by the evil, one-eyed rat warlord Cluny the Scourge and his battle-hardened horde of predators.

Cluny is certain that Redwall will fall easily to his fearsome army but he hasn't bargained for the courage and strength of the Redwall mice and their loyal woodland friends . . .

One of TIME magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

'Not since Roald Dahl have children filled their shelves so compulsively' -…


Book cover of The Hobbit

S.G. Boudreaux Why did I love this book?

This is another already popular series that has been around for ages. I guess I’m partial to older books as they are mostly clean reading due to the era. The Hobbit is a wonderful tale of unexpected adventure, bravery, overcoming, and acceptance in the world of middle earth where strange and wonderful creatures abound. Fairies, elves, dwarves, hobbits, and goblins abound in a masterfully described world. These books were also a catalyst to my own writing. As a fairly new author since 2017, I couldn’t write contrary to my beliefs, and these wonderful stories show that it can be done in a way that is not only engaging and clean but that can captivate the mind as the stories I read play out like a movie in my head.

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Why should I read it?

41 authors picked The Hobbit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Special collector's film tie-in hardback of the best-selling classic, featuring the complete story with a sumptuous cover design inspired by THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and brand new reproductions of all the drawings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End.

But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid…


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I Am Taurus

By Stephen Palmer,

Book cover of I Am Taurus

Stephen Palmer

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Philosopher Scholar Liberal Reader Musician

Stephen's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from the perspective of the mythical Taurus, from the beginning at Lascaux to Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and elsewhere. This is not just a history of the bull but also a view of ourselves through the eyes of the bull, illustrating our pre-literate use of myth, how the advent of writing and the urban revolution changed our view of ourselves, and how even bullfighting in Spain is a variation on the ancient sacrifice of the sacred bull.

I Am Taurus

By Stephen Palmer,

What is this book about?

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. In I Am Taurus, author Stephen Palmer traces the story of the bull in the sky, starting from that point 19,000 years ago - a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull. Each of the eleven sections is written from the perspective of the mythical Taurus, from the beginning at Lascaux to Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Greece, Spain and elsewhere. This is not just a history of the bull but also an attempt to see ourselves through…


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