Books are one of the best gifts any child can receive! If you need some direction, here is a little list of some top book gift ideas for kids.

We don’t know about you, but with Christmas coming up in just a few weeks we’re checking all of our lists twice. One of the best Christmas gifts to give any child is a book! There’s something so special about encouraging the joy of reading in your kids or grandkids, so we’ve created a list of our recommended books to give the kids in your life at Christmas this year. 

On this list, you’ll find books filled with encouragement, jokes, biblical truth, and sweet, wholesome stories. 

Book Gift Ideas for Kids

Picture Books for Preschoolers (Ages 3-5)

Reading with little ones is always a special time, especially when the books have thoughtful and beautiful illustrations. These books have such a great message while also including fun illustrations for your little one to look at and interact with on each page.

So Happy to Know You! by Annie F. Downs

What Sounds Fun To You? by Annie F. Downs

You Can Pray Big Things by Julia Jeffress Sadler

The Happy Crab by Layla and Kevin Palmer

Learning and Laughter for Young Kids (Ages 5-9)

We love books that educate while keeping it fun and interesting!

Is your teen girl into that old-fashioned fiction that she can’t get enough of? How about some amazing, vintage feel books that she’ll want to read over and over again?

There are at least three ways I know that my teen daughter loves a book:

1. She reads the same book over and over again—when she just read it.
2. She decides she wants to order the book so she can have her own copy.
3. She tells me, “Mom, you have got to read this book!”

My oldest daughter reads voraciously, rather like I did at her age. We don’t read all the same genres—she loves fantasy like Lord of the Rings and The Wingfeather Saga, while I tend more towards modern or historical fiction—so it’s extra fun when we find books we both love.

Sometimes, I’ll pre-read a title before handing it to her. Other times, since she reads quickly (and has more time!), my daughter is the one raving to me about a new book (usually a book or author that’s been recommended to us from a trusted source).

Are you looking for a wonderful series of books for teen girls? Or maybe for yourself? Here are some recommended all-time favorites for you to try!

There’s nothing sadder for a bibliophile than coming to the end of a good book.

I’m always reluctant to turn to the last page, knowing I have to say goodbye to the characters who had become my new best friends.

It is always with great anticipation then, that I embark upon an entire series. Because in a series I have the delicious promise of many more hours in the company of carefully crafted characters.

I’ve enjoyed many series throughout the years. But there are a few favorites I’ve kept on my bookshelf and read over again. I devoured many of the titles as a teen, while others are authors I discovered in the late-night baby-rocking sessions of motherhood.

Here are six series whose characters have become living, breathing, literary friends I’m introducing to my own daughters.

(And just in case you’re already best friends with each of these characters, I’ve added a few more series suggestions, as well. I’d love to hear your favorites!)

1.

Being captivated by a good chapter book can be a challenge in our screen-driven society. But these may well capture your kids attention!

Like many families from the ’90s, I have fond memories of our Saturday mornings. But unlike many others, it wasn’t Saturday morning cartoons that pulled us from our beds on the weekend—it was the kid’s radio programs on our Christian radio station.  

It wasn’t quite as simple as just getting up and turning on the radio, however. Because we lived in Alaska and our station was transmitted from a different time zone, we either had to get up at 4 a.m. to hear our favorite programs or talk my brother into getting up and taping them for us.

One way or another, we almost always caught our favorite shows—Ranger Bill, The Sugar Creek Gang, and the iconic Adventures in Odyssey. Listening to these radio shows blaring through the house on Saturday mornings will forever be one of my favorite childhood memories.

Along with loving radio programs, I was also an avid reader. I read books faster than my parents could supply them and the books I loved best were historical novels.

Finding treasured books can be challenging with the ocean of titles out there today. Here’s a short but sweet list of books for your teen girls.

I read and reread those hardcover copies of Louisa May Alcott’s books. My mom stored them up high in her special bookshelf with the glass doors. They were old books, maybe a little fragile. In fact, Alcott’s short stories was truly falling apart at the binding, and I was only allowed to read it while sitting at the table. 

It sounds cliche to say “favorite books are like old friends.” But there is truly something about those books; I picture their “faces” (covers!), I remember the deep conversations we had and the adventures we shared. It may have even been one of Louisa May Alcott’s books which I read by flashlight while hiding under my covers.

My young self thought that bedtime should be fluid when a good book is being read. (But my parents had other ideas, and their creative punishment of taking away my reading privileges for a day was downright terrible!) 

Now I find myself rereading some of my old favorites while also thoroughly enjoying new finds, content in the knowledge that there will always be another excellent book waiting to be discovered. 

Here are a few of my favorites for teen girls, but be warned, there are some spoilers in my descriptions!

I have two sons, a freckled seven-year-old with sparkling hazel eyes and a jolly, roly-poly baby.

My greatest desire is that they will know they are loved: by the Lord, by me, and by others. Unconditionally. And I want to be a voice of encouragement and affirmation in their lives. So I was thrilled to hear that Rachael Denhollander has written a book that celebrates how much a little boy is worth.

And as it turns out, little boys are worth, well, everything. 

Affirming Your Little Boy’s Worth

How Much Is A Little Boy Worth is a lovely and heartfelt picture book. With lyrical prose and glowing illustrations, it’s just right for snuggling up and sharing with your little boy.

It reminds me a bit of the classic I’ll Love You Forever in style, but I personally find this one much more substantial. My son told me he really liked the illustrations, and I enjoyed the variety of settings and ethnicities portrayed in the pictures. The scenes will be familiar and relatable to most boys ages 3-8, the age range I’d recommend for this book. 

In a world that is conflicted about what manhood looks like, our sons can hear conflicting messages.

A comic book can unlock the imagination and inspiration of a hero saving the world from bad guys. Have I got a comic book to share with you!

One doesn’t have to look any further than a list of upcoming movies to recognize that superheroes have caught hold of the public’s imagination. No matter how many times the stories have been told, people still flock to watch and experience the excitement and hope, and adventure of their favorite hero.

The comic book section of any bookstore reflects the same excitement and connection to the idea of superheroes fighting to save the world. But if you’re like me, you might watch or read the stories with a bit of melancholy. After all, despite the way they grip your emotions and create epic storylines…there is an emptiness at the end. Not much from those adventures translate to real-life or godliness or the hope of Christ.

When it comes to what I provide for my children to read over and over again—I want the stories to carry truth that can help them make sense of their world and encourage them to follow Christ.

 If you’ve ever felt this way—I have an awesome resource for you!

Tween girls are at a good age for learning what it means to grow into a young woman and many girls (and moms) need direction with what that looks like.

When I was a girl, I had a special place I called The Bower.

Really, it was just a Wisteria shrub that had grown over an old clothesline near an overgrown flower bed in our backyard. I thought it was enchanting, and many times I slipped through the tendrils and branches to sit inside with a notepad, sketchpad, or good book.

When I was a teenager, that Wisteria shrub was cut down.

Little did I know as a “tween,” but Wisteria is meant to have beautiful, fragrant blooms. Unfortunately, our Wisteria was never meant to be planted in such a shady place, had never bloomed, and could never truly thrive there.

Growing up is sort of like that.

We cannot grow up and truly thrive under just any conditions. We must have the right amount of shade and sun, the best soil, and lots of loving care in order to go from a sprout to a full bloom.

Do your girls need some fresh reads? How about a list of wholesome chapter books to get them started?

“I just don’t have time to pre-read all their library books. How can I keep good books available for my growing bookworms?”

Nothing gets me excited like brainstorming a list of quality literature. As a busy mom, I easily identify with the mothers who don’t have hours and hours to pre-read their children’s library picks. And as a voracious reader, I love sharing about quality titles that have sparked my imagination, drawn me in, and made me feel right along with the characters.

Some of the following titles have been favorites since I was a young girl, others have just recently joined my lists of recommendations. But all of them are ones I’m excited to share, in hopes that they’ll provide a few hours of delight and inspiration, expanding their horizons and perspectives. (And perhaps the busy moms can also sneak in a few chapters here and there, because these are truly enjoyable reads!)

Chapter Books for Younger Girls

(These could even be enjoyed as read-alouds to your youngest children.)

Laura’s Album compiled by William Anderson

This charming biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder pairs a succinct summary of her life with photos and other memorabilia.

Finding high quality, age-appropriate devotionals for our tween and teen girls can be a challenge. Where do you start?

I can still remember the first Bible study I attempted on my own. I was a young teen, and I desperately wanted to grow in my faith. The study booklet I borrowed from my parents’ bookshelf was by a respected Bible teacher, but I found myself a little out of my depth. I tried a few different studies and devotionals over the next several years, and while I certainly gleaned some nuggets of truth, I would have loved a book geared toward girls like myself.

A decade later, while teaching a group of middle school girls, I discovered that such books do exist. What’s more, there are a wide range of options from serious studies to daily devotionals, written for various age groups. Of course the Bible itself is the most valuable resource, but there are some sweet blessings in using devotionals specifically for tweens and teens. Some are designed to be read by mothers and daughters together, opening up opportunities for deep discussions and a safe space to ask questions. Some work well in group settings, allowing girls to encourage and challenge their peers to embrace the truth.