Some of My Children’s
Favorite Books
When my children were small they loved when we had reading time together. We
have so many great memories of the stories we enjoyed. Some made us laugh, some
taught us lessons, but we all had fun being together and sharing. There are so
many books I could tell you about that my children loved, but I will just give
you a sampling of some of their favorites.
1. Hank the Cow Dog Series – by John
R. Erickson
This was one of my son’s favorite book series. He absolutely loved these books.
We even got some of the books on tape for him to listen to as we traveled on
vacations. It’s all about a ranch dog and the people on the ranch and the
adventures they have.
2. The Truck Book – Harry McNaught
This is a picture book about all the trucks and construction equipment you
could imagine. My son was so into construction equipment because his dad is an
electrician and would take him out on the job sites and show him the equipment
in person. He loved looking at pictures of the machines his dad had used. I
know most boys love anything construction and would love this book as well.
3. Where the Sidewalk Ends – by Shel
Silverstein
This collection of children’s poems was a favorite of my daughter’s. She could quote many of the poems by heart and loved to make up poems of her own that were similar. The poems were funny and sweet and had great illustrations with them that we could all enjoy.
This collection of children’s poems was a favorite of my daughter’s. She could quote many of the poems by heart and loved to make up poems of her own that were similar. The poems were funny and sweet and had great illustrations with them that we could all enjoy.
4. Miss Nelson is Missing – by Harry
Allard and James Marshall
Both of my children loved the plot of this story, as they were both very good students. The idea is that a nice teacher’s class was very bad and treated her poorly, so she dressed up as a substitute who was strict and mean. The class shaped up and appreciated the nice teacher when she returned.
Both of my children loved the plot of this story, as they were both very good students. The idea is that a nice teacher’s class was very bad and treated her poorly, so she dressed up as a substitute who was strict and mean. The class shaped up and appreciated the nice teacher when she returned.
5. Goosebumps Books – by R.L. Stein
This series of books was creepy but not too scary and usually had a happy
ending. My daughter was not very much into scary stories and she still loved
them, so that will tell you something. They had so many of these books that a
child could read them for years and never get through them all.
6. My Teacher is an Alien – by Bruce Coville
My daughter was big into science fiction tales like this one. Three kids find
out their teacher is an alien in disguise that is planning to destroy the
earth. One kid is a pretty girl, one’s a nerd, and one’s a bully. They have to
learn to work together to unmask the teacher, but in the process they also
learn about each other and why they are different.
7. Aliens Ate My Homework – by Bruce Coville
A boy comes home to discover miniature aliens eating his homework. They tell
him that his father was an alien that left a secret message in his brain and
they have to bring him back to their planet to extract it. They also inform him
that a bully in his class is an evil alien that is after the information. They
are going to shrink him with their shrink ray to get him home when their ship
breaks down so they have to fight the bully there. Eventually the bully escapes
and the boy is safe… for now.
8. Monster of the Year – by Bruce Coville
This book had both my kids rolling with laughter. Two boys get to design a
billboard so they create a pretend monster of the year contest. Only there is a
problem. Monsters start to show up at their house and they have to decide how
they are going to pick a winner and survive the losers! The monsters are funny
rather than scary as Dracula drinks warm V-8 juice and the Creature from Black
Lagoon won’t get out of the bathtub.
9. Under Alien Stars – Pamela Service
Aliens have taken over the earth! A boy’s mother works for the aliens and he’s
mad at her. He decides to kidnap the head aliens’ daughter so they will leave.
However after his successful kidnapping, worse aliens attack. The alien girl
and the human boy have to figure out a way to get her back to her father so
that she can help her father fight off the aliens. Along the way they learn
they are not so different after all.
10. Stinker from Space – Pamela Service
An alien crash lands on earth and is dying so he transfers his mind into the
nearest living creature, which happens to be a skunk. With the help of two
children he tries to repair his spaceship so that he can get vital information
back to the space fleet that is protecting Earth from evil alien invaders.
11. The Being of Two Minds - Pamela Service
Two children who live on different continents and never met each other have
dizzy spells and can see into each others minds. No one believes them, but one
of the children is a prince who gets kidnapped and his only chance of rescue is
the little girl from far away who can read his mind. She travels to Europe to
enlist the help of his butler and together they track down the kidnappers and
free the prince.
12. Bunnicula - by James and Deborah Howe
A great ‘spooky’ story that my daughter loved, narrated by a dog! How cute! A
typical suburban family finds a rabbit in a box at a Dracula movie. They take
him home with them and name him Bunnicula because of the movie and because his
black and white fur has a cape pattern. The paranoid cat thinks the rabbit is
evil, because the rabbit sucks the juice out of the carrots, but the dog
protects the rabbit from the cat because he thinks the cat is a bit crazy. The
cat thinks the rabbit is going to hurt the family and does everything he can,
from garlic to steaks (yes, meat) to stop him. Funny and cute, this series just
gets better with time.
13. The Borrowers - by Mary Norton
My son loved the idea of little people living in our house! Probably because
that way he could blame someone else when he lost something. The tale of little
people who borrowed things we lost is one that will stir children’s
imagination. The resourcefulness and bravery of the tiny family is
inspiring.
14. The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks – by Nancy McArthur
Another one of my daughter’s favorite books (notice that she had a lot of them)
this story is about two boys who must share one room. One brother is messy and
the other one is neat. When the messy brother cleans out his closet he finds
two strange seeds. The brothers each take a seed and plant them in pots at the
end of their bed. The messy brother feeds his plant by sticking leftovers in
the dirt and watering it with cola. The neat brother carefully measures out
plant food and waters drop by drop. As the plants grow, however, the boys start
noticing something strange. Their socks have started disappearing. They stay up
late one night to see what happens, but what they discover is more shocking
then they could ever imagine. A funny and upbeat series that will keep kids
laughing!
These are just a sampling of the books my children loved to read. There are so
many more that I could spend all day telling you about them. Hopefully,
however, this list will give you some help in finding books your children will love
to read over and over again.
Author Byline:
Ken Myers as an Expert Advisor on multiple household help
issues to many organizations and groups, and is a mentor for other
“Mom-preneurs” seeking guidance. He is a
regular contributor of “www.gonannies.com”. You can get in touch with him at kmyers.ceo@gmail.com.
