I usually hate when people ask what my top ten books are so I decided to take a different approach to how I’m going to rank the books. I’m going to take a shot at listing my favorite groups over the span of my life thus far, starting with age 5 up through today at age 12. In total, I list almost 80 books or book series.
Ages 5-6
At this age, I read as many Geronimo Stilton books as I could find. During this period, my parents began reading Harry Potter to me out loud as well, before I took off and read the rest myself. Harry Potter is definitely too complex for a 6 year old. By 7-8 I was reading the third and fourth books to myself, but my younger brother (Ben) is 8 years old and Mom is reading book 5 out loud to him right now, so I would recommend 8-10 as the starting point for that series.
- Geronimo Stilton by Elisabetta Dami – There are nine different series in the broader Geronimo Stilton literary universe and ultimately 184 books in total, including:
- Geronimo Stilton: 72 books
- Mouseford Academy: 8 books
- Mouse Kings: 7 books
- Thea Stilton: 29 books
- Creepella Von Cacklefur: 9 books
- Cavemice: 15 books
- Kingdom of Fantasy: 12 books
- Spacemice: 12 books
- 20 other special edition books
- Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling: 7 book series that needs no description and continues to spawn offshoot prequels in film.
- Holes by Louis Sachar
Ages 7-8
- The English Roses by Madonna – 12 book series
- Rainbow Fairies by various authors, published by Scholastic
- There are 270 books in the Rainbow Fairies series
- I probably read over 100 of them
- Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne – Really imaginative series that includes magic, time travel, and history. There are 54 fiction and 34 non-fiction books in the series. One of the best series’ to help your child expand his mind beyond his own backyard or treehouse to far away lands and long ago times.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney – 16 graphic novels. Great way to get started with reading, because they are basically comic books.
- Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White – Timeless story with lots of fun characters and so much heart.
- Matilda by Roald Dahl
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
- Stuart Little by E. B. White
Ages 9-10
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
- The Book Thief by Zusak Markus
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
- The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
- Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
- Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas
- The Enemy Above by Michael Spradlin
- The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
- White Rose by Kip Wilson
- The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
- Shadow on The Mountain by Margi Preus
- Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
- 3 books in the series
- Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
- 6 books in the series
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Five Feet Apart by Rachel Lippincott
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan
- 6 Books in the series
- Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan
- A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
- Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio
- Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan
- The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Hoot by Carl Hiassen
- Chomp by Carl Hiassen
- Scat by Carl Hiassen
- Flush by Carl Hiassen
- Squish
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
- Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
- Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
- There are 3 books in the series
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
- 4 books in the series
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- 4 books including the prequel
Ages 11-12
- Divergent Series by Veronica Roth
- 3 books in the series
- Paper Towns by John Green
- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
- The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
- Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
- Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich
- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Internment by Samira Ahmed
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- Track Series by Jason Reynolds
- 4 books in the series
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- On The Come Up by Angie Thomas
- The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
- With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Series by Jenny Han
- 3 books in the series
- The Selection Series by Kiera Cass
- 5 Five Books in the Series
- Heartless by Marissa Meyer
