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These are so many of my favorite books to share with kids. They all have a theme of being “gentle”. They’re good reading for kids who might be reading at a higher lexile level than their maturity level. My standard disclaimer: not every book is right for every child. Just because I consider these gentle, does not mean that your family will agree. Please read them first to determine if they’re right for you.
- Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
A classic of American humor, the adventures of a house painter and his brood of high-stepping penguins have delighted children for generations. “Here is a book to read aloud in groups of all ages. There is not an extra or misplaced word in the whole story.”–The Horn Book. Newbery Honor Book.
- The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
Gaylen, the King’s messenger, a skinny boy of twelve, is off to poll the kingdom, traveling from town to farmstead to town on his horse, Marrow. At first it is merely a question of disagreement at the royal castle over which food should stand for Delicious in the new dictionary. But soon it seems that the search for Delicious had better succeed if civil war is to be avoided.
- Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Originally published in 1911 as Peter and Wendy, this classic children’s novel follows the adventures of a mischievous young boy named Peter Pan. Refusing to grow up, Peter lives in the magical world of Neverland with pirates, fairies, and mermaids. With the help of the Lost Boys and the Darling children, Peter bravely battles the evil Captain Hook and his pirate crew in an endless chase around the magical island. This timeless tale of imagination, adventure, and friendship has captured the hearts of generations and remains a beloved classic to this day. The imaginative and enchanted world of Peter Pan calls readers of all ages on an unforgettable adventure that will teach them how to embrace their inner child and never stop dreaming.
Paddington Bear had traveled all the way from Peru when the Browns first met him in Paddington Station. Since then, their lives have never been quite the same . . . for ordinary things become extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved.
- Burnford The Incredible Journey
An inquisitive Labrador retriever, friendly bull terrier, and courageous Siamese cat set out through the Canadian wilderness to find their owner in this truly “incredible” adventure.
Instinct tells them that the way home lies to the west and together the three house pets face hunger, the natural elements, and wild forest animals as they make their way home to the family they love.
- Cleary Ellen Tebbits
Ellen Tebbits has an embarrassing secret that she’ll never share with anyone. That is, until she meets Austine—and discovers that Austine has the exact same secret! Soon the girls are best friends who do everything together—attending dance class, riding horses, and dodging pesky Otis Spofford, the neighborhood troublemaker.
- Cleary Emily’s Runaway Imagination
Spunky Emily Bartlett lives in an old farmhouse in Pitchfork, Oregon at a time when automobiles are brand-new inventions and libraries are a luxury few small towns can afford. Her runaway imagination leads her to bleach a horse, hold a very scary sleepover, and feed the hogs an unusual treat. But can she use her lively mind to help bring a library to Pitchfork?
- Cleary Henry Huggins
In the first novel from Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary, boys and girls alike will be charmed instantly by an average boy whose life is turned upside down when he meets a lovable puppy with a nose for mischief.
- Clements Frindle
Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school — and he’s always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he’s got the inspiration for his best plan ever…the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle.
- DiCamillo The Tale of Despereaux
Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other’s lives.
At the start, we discover that our young hero is responsible for his entire family’s welfare, after his father was injured in an accident. Rather than be downcast by his father’s poor condition, Hans is emboldened and determined to turn the family’s fortunes around by competing in ice skating races. The stakes become higher as a potential but expensive cure for Hans’ stricken father is revealed by the family’s doctor.
- Enright The Saturdays
Meet the Melendys! The four Melendy children live with their father and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, in a worn but comfortable brownstone in New York City. There’s thirteen-year-old Mona, who has decided to become an actress; twelve-year-old mischievous Rush; ten-and-a-half-year-old Randy, who loves to dance and paint; and thoughtful Oliver, who is just six.
- Estes The Hundred Dresses
Wanda Petronski is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. She claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t. When Wanda is pulled out of school one day, the class feels terrible, and classmate Maddie decides that she is “never going to stand by and say nothing again.”
- Estes The Moffats
Meet the Moffats. There is Sylvie, the oldest, the cleverest, and-most days at least-the responsible one; Joey, who though only twelve is the man of the house…sometimes; Janey, who has a terrific upside-down way of looking at the world; and Rufus, who may be the littlest but always gets in the biggest trouble.
- Fitzgerald The Great Brain
The best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit. When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day. Whether it’s saving the kids at school, or helping out Peg-leg Andy, or Basil, the new kid at school, the Great Brain always manages to come out on top-and line his pockets in the process.
- Gruelle The Raggedy Ann Stories
When Raggedy Ann arrived in Marcella’s nursery, she quickly became the leader of all the dolls. Raggedy Ann always strives to be good—and she usually succeeds! Join Raggedy Ann on adventures from rescuing Fido, the family dog, to getting her famous “I LOVE YOU” heart, to flying in a kite, and much more!
- Haywood B is for Betsy
Betsy is scared about going to first grade, but it turns out school is a great place. She learns about tadpoles and the true meaning of Thanksgiving, makes new friends, and has more fun than she’d ever imagined.
- Haywood Here’s a Penny
Penny’s name is really William, but when he was adopted as a baby, he had hair the color of a new copper penny. Adopted or not, Penny decides to prove his friend Patsy wrong when she says he doesn’t truly have a family!
- Juster The Phantom Tollbooth
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason. Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams!
Along with Wit, Charm, Health, and Courage, Princess Amy of Phantasmorania receives a special fairy christening gift: Ordinariness. Unlike her six beautiful sisters, she has brown hair and freckles, and would rather have adventures than play the harp, embroider tapestries . . . or become a Queen. When her royal parents try to marry her off, Amy runs away and, because she’s so ordinary, easily becomes the fourteenth assistant kitchen maid at a neighboring palace. And there . . . much to everyone’s surprise . . . she meets a prince just as ordinary (and special) as she is!
- King-Smith Babe: the Gallant Pig
When Babe arrives at Hogget Farm, Mrs. Hogget’s thoughts turn to sizzling bacon and juicy pork chops. But before long, Babe reveals a talent no one could have expected: he can handle Farmer Hogget’s stubborn flock better than any sheepdog ever could! When Farmer Hogget enters Babe in the Grand Challenge Sheepdog Trials, everyone, including his wife, thinks he is a fool. But he believes in Babe. Now it’s just up to Babe to convince everyone else to believe in a sheep-pig!
- Kipling Just-So Stories
Just So Stories is a collection of Rudyard Kipling’s animal tales in which we learn about ‘How the Whale got his Throat’, ‘How the Camel got his Hump’, ‘How the Rhinoceros got his Skin’, ‘How the Leopard got his Spots’, ‘The Elephant’s Child’, ‘The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo’, ‘The Beginning of the Armadilloes’, ‘How the First Letter was Written’, ‘How the Alphabet was Made’, ‘The Crab that Played with the Sea’, ‘The Cat that Walked by Himself’ and ‘The Butterfly that Stamped’. These witty, inventive stories have delighted generations of children.
When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort-she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because he was a miser and would have money. Claudia was a good organizer and Jamie bad some ideas, too; so the two took up residence at the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the Museum so beautiful she could not go home until she bad discovered its maker, a question that baffled the experts, too.
- Lawson Rabbit Hill
It has been a while since Folks lived in the Big House, and an even longer time has passed since there has been a garden at the House. All the animals of the Hill are very excited about the new Folks moving in, and they wonder how things are going to change. It’s only a matter of time before the animals of the Hill find out just who is moving in, and they may be a little bit surprised when they do.
- Levine Ella Enchanted
At her birth, Ella of Frell receives a foolish fairy’s gift—the “gift” of obedience. Ella must obey any order, whether it’s to hop on one foot for a day and a half, or to chop off her own head! But strong-willed Ella does not accept her fate…
- Lindgren Lotta on Troublemaker Street
Little Lotta has Big troubles
Poor Lotta is having a very bad day. First, she wakes up mad because in her dream her older brother and sister were mean to her. Then, Mother expects her to wear a sweater that “scratches and tickles.” Madder than ever, Lotta decides to run away and find a new place to live. After all, everyone at her house is mean, so she won’t miss her family at all — will she?
This hilarious and authentic look at a very bad day in the life of a very spunky five-year-old is sure to resonate with every reader.
- Lindgren Pippi Longstocking
Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Longstocking. She has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a pet monkey named Mr. Nilsson. Whether Pippi’s scrubbing her floors, doing arithmetic, or stirring things up at a fancy tea party, her flair for the outrageous always seems to lead to another adventure.
- Lovelace Betsy-Tacy
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy’s age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy’s fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becoms such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.
- Lovelace Emily of Deep Valley
Emily of Deep Valley is set in Betsy Ray’s Deep Valley and tells the story of a young woman who longs to go off to college following her high school graduation, but whose family commitments demand she stay close to home. Resigning herself to a “lost winter,” Emily nonetheless throws herself into a new program of study and a growing interest in the local Syrian immigrant community, and when she meets a handsome new teacher at the high school, gains more than she ever dreamed possible. Maud Hart Lovelace’s only young adult standalone novel, Emily of Deep Valley is considered to be one of the author’s finest works.
- MacDonald Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Meet Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! She lives in an upside-down house with a kitchen that is always full of freshly baked cookies. She was even married to a pirate once! Best of all, she knows everything there is to know about children.
- McCloskey Homer Price
Welcome to Centerburg! Where you can win a hundred dollars by eating all the doughnuts you want; where houses are built in a day; and where a boy named Homer Price can foil four slick bandits using nothing but his wits and pet skunk.
- Merrill The Pushcart War
DO YOU KNOW THE HISTORY OF THE PUSHCART WAR? THE REAL HISTORY?
It’s a story of how regular people banded together and, armed with little more than their brains and good aim, defeated a mighty foe.
- Montgomery Anne of Green Gables
Eleven-year-old Anne Shirley has never known a real home. Since her parents’ deaths, she’s bounced around to foster homes and orphanages. When she is sent by mistake to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she wants to stay forever. But Anne is not the sturdy boy Matthew and Marilla were expecting.
- Nesbit Five Children and It
When Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother go digging in the gravel pit, the last thing they expect to find is a Psammead – an ancient Sand-fairy! Having a Sand-fairy for a pet means having one wish granted each day. But the children don’t realize all the trouble wishes can cause.
- Nesbit The Railway Children
After their father suddenly disappears, Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis are forced to leave their London home and move to the countryside with their mother. Discovering the wonders of the railway behind their new cottage, the children take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of their missing father. Making friends with the station porter, Mr Perks, and the Old Gentleman who rides the train every morning, the siblings experience a bundle of escapades and close scrapes.
- Norton The Borrowers
This is the classic story–read and loved by children all over the world–of Pod, Homily, and their daughter, Arrietty, who live under the kitchen floor in a quiet, half-empty house and get their livelihood by borrowing from the “human beans.”
- Peterson The Littles
The Littles live in the walls of the Biggs’ house. But when the Biggs go on vacation a messy family comes to stay, the trouble begins. Mice! Cats! How much can one small family take? Will Tom and Lucy, the littlest Littles of all, be able to save the day?
- Porter Pollyanna
Chatty, idealistic Pollyanna can always find something to be glad about. Even when the newly orphaned girl has to live with her cold, unloving Aunt Polly, she remains full of hope and joy. But then a horrible accident leaves her crippled—and it may finally be too much for Pollyanna to bear. Will all the people whose lives she’s brightened be able to make her happy again?
Mrs. Caroline “Little Dumpling” Carillon isn’t quite sure what to expect when she sets off to meet her husband, Leon. After all, she hasn’t seen him since their wedding when she was five and he was seven. But their reunion is cut short when a storm knocks him off their boat, and he disappears completely, leaving only one very waterlogged clue (Glub! Blub!). Will Dumpling be able to find Leon (or is it Noel) again? And just what is a glub blub?
- Rylant In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen
Right now, though, the cousins are sharing an attic bedroom in their Aunt Lucy’s light blue house on Cobble Street, and happily making plans for the summer. A cookie company seems the perfect way to make a little money, but it turns out to be much more — an opportunity to meet some very special neighbors!
- Selden The Cricket in Times Square
Tucker is a streetwise city mouse. He thought he’d seen it all. But he’s never met a cricket before, which really isn’t surprising, because, along with his friend Harry Cat, Tucker lives in the very heart of New York City―the Times Square subway station.
- Sorensen Miracles on Maple Hill
Marly and her family share many adventures when they move from the city to a farmhouse on Maple Hill.
- Sorensen Plain Girl
An Amish girl, Esther feels like “one black bird against the sky” in her plain clothes. So when she’s forced to attend public school she’s terrified. She fears the new world she must enter, fears the way she sticks out next to other kids, and–most of all–fears she may do what her brother did: run away and join the sinful but great wide world she’s only just discovering.
Times are tough around the little brown house! The widowed Mrs. Pepper has to sew all day long just to earn enough to pay the rent and to feed the five growing Peppers. But she faces poverty and trouble with a stout heart, a smiling face, and the help of her jolly brood: blue-eyed Ben, the eldest and the man of the house at the age of 11; pretty Polly, so eager to cook for the family and make everyone happy and comfortable; and the three littlest Peppers, Joel, Davie, and baby Phronsie.
- Travers Mary Poppins
It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide up banisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial?
- White Charlotte’s Web
Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte’s Web, high up in Zuckerman’s barn. Charlotte’s spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur’s life when he was born the runt of his litter.
- White Stuart Little
Stuart Little is no ordinary mouse. Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. Though he’s shy and thoughtful, he’s also a true lover of adventure.
Pioneer life isn’t easy for the Ingalls family, since they must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But they make the best of every tough situation. They celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do their spring planting, bring in the harvest in the fall, and make their first trip into town. And every night, safe and warm in their little house, the sound of Pa’s fiddle lulls Laura and her sisters into sleep.
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Thought Provoking Reads 
Wonderful list of books!
Thank YOU
😘❤️💤
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