RAR #113: Why Reading Aloud to a Wide Range of Ages is Difficult (and How to Do It Without Losing Your Mind)
We picture all of our darling children curled around us, listening happily as we share a story together…
BUT … What if we have toddlers and teens? Or just lots of kids with strong opinions?!
Is there ANYTHING we can do?
YES! Today’s episode is all about finding the read-aloud sweet spot when you have a wide range of ages in your family.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- why you should ignore common advice when it comes to reading to a wide age span
- whether it’s OK to read under some of your kids’ reading level
- 15+ crowd-pleasing books that you and kids of varying ages will enjoy
Click that play button below to hear the podcast:
Listener Guide
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast:
- 2:28 Don’t be afraid to separate
- 3:24 Shoot for the middle
- 6:36 Keeping them engaged is the key
- 7:55 Books under your kids’ reading level
- 10:09 ‘Life’s greatest delights’
- 11:39 Family and animal stories
- 14:08 Historical recommendations
- 17:06 A touch of magic
- 18:59 Fantasy books
- 21:50 Go on a literary journey … together
- 22:44 Let the kids speak
Links from this episode:
Quotes to remember:
“We want them to see reading as one of life’s greatest delights. We want to choose books that meet kids at all different ages, that will appeal to everyone, and that everyone can follow along the storyline.” – Sarah Mackenzie
“I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.” – C.S. Lewis
“We don’t need to be afraid of reading things that are under our … oldest children’s reading level. If we realize that they can still get so much benefit from the books we’re reading aloud to them (even if they’re not above or even at their reading level), that opens the door to enjoying so many other books as a family.” – Sarah Mackenzie
Books from this episode:
(All links are affiliate links.)
We love books here!!! We listen to your podcast weekly in hopes we will find a gem we have yet to uncover! I have 5 children; My oldest is 15 and my youngest is 5. In our many years of read alouds, our tippy top read alouds are: Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr, the Penderwicks, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (anything by Grace Lin) and A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. But we loved the Incorrigible Children Series, Ingraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke, and The Lord of the Rings (on audio, there is no way I can do voices for 47 hours). The kids series by Carl Hiaasen is excellent as well (Hoot, Squirm, Flush, Chomp, and Scat) . But if you have not read Adventures with Waffles…. look it up!!
With four boys, ages 5-13
(read over the last two years)
:: Little Britches series
:: The Borrowers
:: The Green Ember
:: Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes
:: The Complete Homer Price
:: Charlotte’s Web
:: The Birchbark House
:: The Trolley Car Family
:: The Boxcar Children
:: Tomie DePaola’s 26 Fairmount Avenue series
Hope Auer’s A Cry from Egypt is a terrific read aloud for families with a wide age range of children because it’s a well written and engaging story about a Hebrew family with, I believe, 6 children varying in ages from preschoolers to late teens/young adult.
We enjoy Misty of Chincoteague. It doesn’t have a lot of children but it does have grandparents !! Grandparents Iove to read books where they play a positive influence into the grands lives. We have the deluxe edition, nice big print for old eyes : ) and an audio version just right for listing to as we head out for a road trip to Chincoteague.
I remember us all enjoying Treasure aisland and Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson as children, when my mum read them aloud to my siblings and me.
Also Tintin comic series!
The Little Cow and the Turtle by Meindert DeJong. It is just so pleasant and delightful, and it really conveys a wonder for the world.
I have a 10 year old boy, 5 year old boy, and three year old girl that I read to at night after my 16 month old goes to sleep. We have successfully read aloud Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner with all the kids. They all love it, and we read them once a year.
My kids also loved The Penderwicks (we’ve read aloud the first one with all of us, and then my 10 year old and I have personally read the rest). My five and three year olds have requested to read the rest. Similarly, they enjoyed The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place The Mysterious Howling, and have requested to read the rest of that series, as well.
They also all did pretty well with Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux and The Mysterious Journey of Edward Tulane. They enjoyed Paddington and More from Paddington, as well.
We have also read some poetry books for children, and that has gone well with our age range, too. We’ve had a couple we had to quit for the time being, so I love having these new suggestions from this podcast! Thanks, Sarah!
My 2 cents:
The Mitchell series by Hilda van Stockum
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald
Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits by Daniel McInerny
Latsch Family Farm series by Anne Pellowski
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
*maybe* The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum
I have 6 kids ages 8-15:
Jonathan Auxier’s Peter Nimble, Sophie Quire, and Sweep
Tale of Desperaux (Di Camillo)
The Seven Wonders of Sassafrass Spring
The Seven Tales of trinket
LHOP series
Pendwerwicks
Peter and the Starcatchers
The Great turkey Walk5 children and it
harry potter (we just do the first 3 out loud since they get too long after that)
we’re reading the luck uglies right now– so far so good
frindle
The BFG
The incorrigible children of ashton place
In Junior High, my teacher read to us every day from, To Kill A Mockingbird. She would only read a little. She usually left us hanging in some drama-ridden part. I could not wait for the next installment. After the book was completed, we watched the movie and during the reading of it she found an old antebellum looking house that was abandoned and got permission for our class to go to “Boo Radley’s house! She made such an amazing impact on my reading even though I had loved to read before. She brought books to life for me and my friends and taught us to love these characters. I am following suit with my children.
I would add Caddie Woodlawn and Cheaper by the Dozen to this list. We adored it when my mom read us those as children.