As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
When we began homeschooling in 2020, I realized that our kids sort of missed out on the “fun” of back-to-school shopping. Taking out the new book sack with all the new pens, pencils, folders, binders, etc. was always something to look forward to (at least for me) on the first day of school. While my kids do get new items as needed, they do not necessarily have a stack of new supplies to open up on the first day of school. Combine this with my idea of reading at least one book series a year to my children, and I ended up with this tradition.
Every year on the first day of school, my kids get to unwrap the read aloud book series I chose to read to them that school year. I try to choose a series that they haven’t read so that they do not know what to expect. So far, even on the years that they weren’t too thrilled when they originally opened the books, they’ve thoroughly enjoyed the series we’ve read each year. Personally, I enjoy adding a new hardcover series to our bookshelves each year as well as being able to see the excitement in my children’s eyes as they fall in love with these books and the characters’ stories. Interested in doing something similar, but need ideas? Here’s what we’ve read so far as well as a few ideas for the future:
2020-2021 School Year (Our first year of homeschooling)
Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Little House in the Big Woods
- Farmer Boy
- Little House on the Prairie
- On the Banks of Plum Creek
- By the Shores of Silver Lake
- The Long Winter
- Little Town on the Prairie
- These Happy Golden Years
- The First Four Years
Since this was our first year of homeschooling, I actually borrowed most of the books from the library that year. Eventually I did purchase the entire set, but I hadn’t started wrapping books as a surprise this first year. (I was still in the “we will take it one year at a time” homeschooling mindset since it was all new to us.)
If you want to take these books to the next level, there is a cookbook that goes along with the Little House books. I remember buying a few candy sticks for a treat for the kids after reading about the girls’ peppermint candies in the books. This would also be a great time to introduce a few simple skills like how to sew a button or make your own butter. Visiting a historical home would be a good match for these books too.
Bonus Suggestion: We also ended up reading most of The Borrowers Series, which we borrowed from the library, or pieced together with purchases from Thriftbooks.com. We didn’t end up reading book 5, however. There are also a couple of movie adaptations of this series.
2021-2022 School Year
The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C. S. Lewis
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
I remember reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was a kid, but I didn’t know it was a series then, so I really enjoyed being able to discover the rest of the books with my own kids. When we read these books, we tried out Turkish Delight (I was able to find a gift box of it at our local TJ Maxx store), and I borrowed the movies from the library after we read all of the books. There is also a series produced by BBC, but I had a hard time finding them all (sometimes the library has these). Netflix is supposed to be releasing a series based on the books soon, so that may be an future option too.
2022-2023 School Year
Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages
- The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
This series kept us all on the edge of our seats. We all fell in love with the characters (especially Constance lol). After we read all of the books, we watched the series released on Disney+.
2023-2024 School Year
Little Women Series by Louisa May Alcott
- Little Women
- Good Wives
- Little Men
- Jo’s Boys
Little Women is my favorite book of all time, so I was excited to share this series with my children. I figured my daughters would enjoy it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my son appreciated the stories also. There are many movie adaptations of Little Women, but my favorite two are the 1994 version and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women.
2024-2025 School Year
Green Ember Series by S. D. Smith
- The Green Ember
- Ember Falls
- Ember Rising
- Ember’s End
We are currently on book two of this series, and the kids are enjoying it so far. I normally read about 2 chapters each night that I read to them, and some nights they beg for me to read a third. These books are full of adventure, and are keeping us on the edge of our seats to see what happens next. If you try these out and want to read more, the author has written other sets of books that correlate to this story (The Green Ember Archer Series and Tales of Old Natalia). I haven’t read these yet, but if my kids continue to like this series, we may continue with the characters in these two additional book sets.
Other Series Ideas
I haven’t read all of these on the list yet, so please do your own research before choosing any of these. However, these are some of the titles that are on my overall list of possible choices for future school year read-aloud series:
- The Chronicles of Never After by Melissa de la Cruz (Book 5 is scheduled to be released in December 2024)
- The Indian in the Cupboard Trilogy by Lynne Reid Banks
- The Wizard of Oz Complete Collection by L. Frank Baum
- Doctor Dolittle: The Complete Collection by Hugh Lofting
- The Complete Collection of Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
- Redwall Series by Brian Jacques
- The Hatchet Series by Gary Paulsen
- The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
I hope I’ve given you lots of ideas for wonderful read aloud series for your own family. What would you recommend that I add to this list? I’m always looking for more amazing book series!