Our Favorite Reads of 2020

I have been reading chapter books to our oldest since he was three years old. I decided this past year to 

keep track of the books we read, if anything to see how many we could read in one year's time. We 

finished out at 35 books and our boys are 4 and 6 years old. We read some really, really good books and a 

couple of duds 😅. I often have people ask me what books I would recommend for them to read with 

their kids so I decided to put it all in one place. Reading to my kids is one of my absolute favorite jobs of 

being a Mom. I hope this helps if you're looking for ideas! 

My favorite reads of 2020

  Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

  

I absolutely loved reading this to my boys this year. It was one of those 

books that I looked forward to reading throughout the day. Our boys are   

really into real life stories and our oldest, Anderson, has a crush on Laura 

Ingalls,hardcore 😍. But for me as a parent who decided to homeschool my 

kids this year, this book was so good for me to read. I, of course, have doubts 

that my kids are getting enough interactions with other people, especially in 

the middle of a pandemic. But reading about Laura's childhood, where seeing 

her cousins once a year on Christmas was the only other interactions she typically had in a year, it gave 

me a whole different perspective. Sometimes, in some seasons, family is all you need. Some of the Little 

House series is very descriptive, but this one isn't overly so. It was definitely one where the boys were 

begging for "just one more chapter" every night. 

The BFG by Roald Dahl

If I'm being honest, I didn't have high hopes for this book. I had set three books 

out in front of the boys and this was their choice. This wasn't the only Roald 

Dahl we read this year. We read both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and 

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator ( this one was dud status for us) as well 

as Matilda and The BFG was far and away my favorite and has replaced 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as my favorite Roald Dahl book. I have 

found now being a parent, I do not like Roald Dahl the way I did as a child. I 

find a decent amount of the content disturbing. Matilda, for instance, has quite a bit of adults being mean 

or even abusive to children 😟. But The BFG is delightful to read aloud. Now in true Roald Dahl fashion 

it is quirky and weird- the story is about giants that eat children, so just want you all to know that on the 

front end. But the Big Friendly Giant is an entirely lovable character whose dialogue is absolutely 

hysterical to read aloud. And spoiler alert: It all shakes out in the end. This was another favorite of both

the boys and myself. I know they love a book when Preston asks to sneak in a chapter or two before his 

nap😍. 

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker 

I'm going to go ahead and throw the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly 

Cleary in with Clementine because they are somewhat reminiscient of one 

another. Clementine is about a precocious little girl who loves to draw, is 

friends with her school principal and calls her little brother Broccoli 

(we are 4 books into the series and still don't know what his real name is, 

which the boys both love and hate). Much like Ramona Quimby, she doesn't 

look for trouble but trouble often finds her. These books are fast, easy reads 

that multiple age groups of kids can enjoy.  And who doesn't love Marla Frazee illustrations? I guarantee 

you both you and your kids will laugh your way through this series. 

Adaptations

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

I know for me, I love introducing my kids to classic literature. However, they 

still are kind of small for the length and depth of a lot of classic novels. 

Adaptations are perfect to introduce them to the story without getting bogged 

down with lengthy text and unnecessary detail. We read a couple of 

adaptations this year- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as The

Swiss Family Robinson. The boys loved both of them. These Great Illustrated 

Classics are great because there is an illustration on every page so it's actually 

fairly quick reading. I'm excited to do more adaptations and abridged novels in 2021. 

Series New to Me

A lot of the books I read with my kids were ones that I loved from when I was a child. There's something 

comforting about reading a story you've read before. The other bonus is that I know the content in the 

book and if it's appropriate for my kids. It can be a little scary to jump into new series that you haven't 

read before. And I certainly don't have time to pre-read what I'm reading to my kids. We did try a couple 

of new ones this year that we all liked! 

Poppy by Avi

I wasn't sure what to think about this story as there was a surprising change of 

events early into the book, but this ended up being one of our favorites of the 

year. It tells the story of Poppy a young mouse who takes on an impossible 

task going toe to toe with the dreaded Mr. Ocax, an owl who frightens and 

threatens her family's well-being. Poppy  has a great combination of  action, 

mystery and great character development. 

The Doll People and The Meanest Doll in the World by Ann M. Martin

This was a fun little series that we read in succession which we very rarely do. 

Don't be fooled-this isn't a series just for girls. I read it to my two boys and 

they both throughly enjoyed it! The Doll People is about the dolls that live in 

a dollhouse in a young girl's room and their adventures as they attempt to 

stay away from the cat, avoid being seen "alive" by the humans in the house 

and also solve the mystery of what really happened to Auntie Sarah. It's fun 

reading mysteries with your kids because you typically see the conclusion coming long before they do. I 

wouldn't say that was necessarily the case with this one. It's a fun read! 

What about series with many books?

So what do you do if you start a series and it has many, many titles within that series? That's completely 

up to you! If you're all really enjoying them, read as many as you want. However, for me, there are 

just so many books I want to read to my kids, that I don't really want to get bogged down in any one 

series, unless we are all really loving it. So what I like to do is read the first one or two and then let them 

continue on, on their own if they'd like. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner is one of those

 series for us. I really enjoy the first book but as the series goes on, they 

become fairly predictable in the order and content. I also like reading books 

where the vocabulary is more advanced than what Anderson can read himself 

and The Boxcar Children is pretty simple in that area. Another one we did this 

year was Meet Felicity in the American Girl series. The Felicity books are set 

in colonial America which we learned about in school this year. I read the first 

and will let Anderson continue the series if/when he'd like to. 

Historical Books 

One of the things I love the most about Anderson's history curriculum is that it incorporates so much 

literature within it. We read quite a few that tied in directly with the time period we have been learning 

about. One of our favorites was Sarah Whitcher's Story. 

Sarah's Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates

This was one that we finished ahead of what the curriculum said to do, 

because I needed it to resolve 😂 It tells the story of Sarah Whitcher, a girl of 

about 4 or 5 who wanders off into the woods and goes missing for days. It's 

alternately told from her perspective being lost and her family's perspective of 

the attempt to recover her. It is loosely based on a true story and had us pretty 

riveted throughout reading it. It also opened the door to good conversation of 

what my kids would/should do if they ever found themselves in a similar 

situation to Sarah. Also in this category we read The Courage of Sarah Noble by Sarah Dalgliesh, The 

Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds and Daughter of Liberty: A True Story of the American 

Revolution by Robert M. Quackenbush. 

Books we wouldn't read again

As is the case for us as adults, we read things that just don't land and that we then decide not to read 

again. My nature is to finish a book even if we aren't enjoying it because I don't like quitting books but 

I've come to realize that there's no point to continuing a book we aren't enjoying. We did choose to finish 

our "Eh" books, but I definitely would not make us do that every time. 

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of my favorite books, ever. I was 

really excited to read the sequel to the boys but this one fell really flat for us. In 

my opinion, the story was just stupid and lacked all the artistry of Charlie and 

the Chocolate Factory. I think Roald Dahl should have left that as a stand alone 

book, personally. I guess maybe I'm glad I read it once, but I won't read it again. 

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

I was surprised not to have liked this one more but it was a slow and 

sometimes boring read. We struggled with it being old so there was unfamiliar 

vocabulary and it's set in England which added more unfamiliar vocabulary. I 

think many kids love the idea of little people and their goings on but in my 

opinion, there are just so many other series out there with that basic concept 

that I'd find something more modern! Quint read The Return of the Indian by 

Lynne Reid Banks (Book 2 in the series) with the boys and none of them 

loved it. I think The Indian in the Cupboard is a must read for all kids because of the imagination and 

magic it invokes. There is some outdated language in regards to Indians that we needed to talk about 

throughout but it's so good. The content in that series, past the first book, is getting out further than our 

kids' ages so we will leave it there, at least for now. 

My First Read of 2021

I could give a review of all 35 books we read this year, but Amazon does that just fine. I will leave our 

complete 2020 list here at the bottom, in case anyone is interested! But I thought I'd leave you with my 

first read of 2021 which also is one of my favorite books of all time. 

If you buy your children one book in 2021, let it be The Miraculous Journey 

of Edward Tulane and if you introduce them to one author, let it be Kate 

DiCamillo. Everything she writes is wonderful. I have people often ask me 

what to do if their kids interest or age gap is quite varied and I always point 

them to this author. In my opinion, when you're reading a book by a masterful 

storyteller, it doesn't matter the topic or genre. It's captivating. Tonight, 

reading it to my two and four year old, I looked up and they were completely 

mesmerized. It's the story of a china rabbit, pompous and selfish, named 

Edward who is separated from the girl who loves him and the journey it takes him on after that. It's 

wonderful and the illustrations are breathtaking! I knew it would both delight and destroy my daughter 

Charlie whose stuffed animals and dolls are as real to her as we are 💓. 

I hope this helped! The bottom line is you won't regret the time you spend connecting with your kids 

through great books. Let me know what you're reading or planning to read this year to your kids! We are

always looking for suggestions! 

Complete Book List

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

Poppy by Avi

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

The Doll People by Ann M. Martin

The Meanest Doll in the World by Ann M. Martin

Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne

The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Clementine's Letter by Sara Pennypacker

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Swiss Family Robinson ( Great Illustrated Classic) by Johann Wyss 

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Clementine: Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker

Frindle by Andrew Paul Clements

Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

The Return of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh

The BFG by Roald Dahl

The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Meet Felicity by Valerie Tripp

Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates

Daughter of Liberty: A True Story of the American Revolution by Robert M. Quackenbush

Rascal by Sterling North (This was Quint's favorite book he read to the boys in 2020!)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Great Illustrated Classic) by Mark Twain

The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carson