What’s Inside: Age-specific recommendations for great children’s books to give as gifts.
Charlotte Mason Approach to Gifts by Categories
I’ve been talking about gifts in this series of posts.
- Toys & Gifts for Kids: Charlotte Mason’s Approach: The philosophy of what makes a worthy toy or gift?
- Best Educational Gifts by Age for Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers: Roundup Post to get you started on these categories
- Best Living Books to Give Kids: A Gift Guide (this post)
- Best Nature Study Gifts for Kids by Age: A Charlotte Mason Guide (coming soon)
- The Best Handicraft Gifts for Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers (coming soon)
- Open-Ended Toys and Learning Gifts for Kids by Age (coming soon)
Best “Living Books” to Give Kids
I talk a lot about the benefits of living books and even giving the gift of a library to a young child. And I have numerous posts on great examples of living books.
But I’d like to clarify one point for a moment.
Age of Child Matters
The gift of starting a book library is fantastic for very young children or even babies. It’s something that grows with them. And we all know the correlation of increased vocabulary to quantity of books a child hears when they are little.
However, if you are considering a book gift for an older child, it’s best to know the child well. Will they enjoy a beautiful, hardbound edition of classic literature or fairy tales like Andrew Lang’s fairy books?
Or will the child sense that you are giving them something that is “good for them” instead of the GI Joe that your brother got? Why did he get the “fun” gift and you got a book? Every time.
Not that I’m being ungrateful, but this did happen to me. I had an uncle who thought it was his purpose to give me educational gifts only, while he didn’t think that about my brother.
Kids are so petty. Yes, I mean me. And I love books! Yet, I still felt that way.
In the end, it all works out. Because my favorite book gift ever was from that same uncle. The Jeremy Mouse Book by Patricia Scarry. (Wife of Richard Scarry).
I guess my advice here is to be balanced. A book this time AND a different kind of gift next time … maybe.
Meanwhile, if you know they love books, find out a little more. There are even book-related gifts to consider.
For instance, you can gift great audiobooks (or an audiobook subscription) or a beautiful book shelf or special reading lamp or give materials for DIY bookmarks.
All this to say: Living books for children make great gifts when chosen with love and care.
Here are my very biased suggestions for well-loved book gifts. I’ve selected my favorites with this compilation, but you need to do your homework and know the child first.
Top 3 Illustrated Picture Books to Give to Children less than 6 years old
This group is the easiest to gift books. They are still absorbing everything and will usually be pleased with any of these.
Get hard covers for little kids. They last longer.
If you’d prefer to get books from Bookshop.org, check out my “shop”.
For more suggestions, look at The Gift of Living Picture Books or Caldecott Winners or Losers.
Top 4 Chapter Books to Read Aloud
These are great for grandparents or parents who like to read to their kids. Generally the reading level is adult – more than the child can read. These also make great audio book gifts which are superb for car rides. I always like to have one on hand in case of emergency.
Pick books that will be read again and again. And select quality hardcover or gift editions, unabridged. With original illustrations.
Top 4 Chapter books for newly independent readers
For kids who are completely independent readers, the family read aloud list is a good one. But you have to check that they don’t own it already. And if they are older, they may need a more challenging read.
But kids who are working towards fluency in reading often love to chew up books. So these are slightly easier but engrossing stories.
- Little House on the Prairie
- Little Britches series
- Charlotte’s Web and other E.B White books
- The Secret Garden
For the Older Reader
If you have an avid reader who is reading above the 8th grade or 10th grade level (keep in mind that “average” reading level in the US is 7th to 8th grade level), you begin to face a real challenge in finding appropriate books.
The reading ability of the child often means that authors chose to write about mature subjects. Some kids can handle this and others might need a few years before broaching different subjects.
My advice here is to make sure you know the child, check with the parents (if it’s not your kid), and then think of classic books that made an impact on your life.
Do you remember reading Frankenstein or The Count of Monte Cristo? Which Dickens stories did you like the most? Were you a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe? Were you a huge science fiction reader and think no library is complete without The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or the complete works of J.R.R Tolkien (including the Silmarillion)?
Sometimes sharing a book that mattered to you can lead to some great discussions and making connections on a new level.
Other posts specifically about books
If you are looking for more recommendations about books, check out these posts.
- Great American History Living Books (middle school age)
- Living Books List Read in High School (complete high school reading list of my most avid reader)
- Math Living Books (specifically for the math lovers of all ages)
- Preschool Read Alouds (for starting a library of great books
Check out these other Categories of Gifting
I hope you enjoyed this post on Living Books as Gifts. Here are the other posts in this series.
- Toys & Gifts for Kids: Charlotte Mason’s Approach: The philosophy of what makes a worthy toy or gift?
- Best Educational Gifts by Age for Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers: Roundup Post to get you started on these categories
- Best Living Books to Give Kids: A Gift Guide (this post)
- Best Nature Study Gifts for Kids by Age: A Charlotte Mason Guide
- The Best Handicraft Gifts for Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers
- Open-Ended Toys and Learning Gifts for Kids by Age
