Building A Must Have Book List For Your Homeschool Library

When I was pregnant with Mr. B I started buying used books at library sales and thrift stores. At the time we didn't have any children's books and I wasn't sure what the popular American children's books were (I was raised in Russia). Books were so affordable that I bought EVERYTHING! Then I realized that we were acquiring too many books which weren't very good (and spending quite a bit of money as well).

Since then I have created an Amazon wishlist that I can pull up on my phone when I'm at the store. Having a list also prevents me from buying multiples of the same book (something that did happen quite a bit). In order to create this wishlist I used several resources to educate myself about children's books and which books are best to illustrate the concepts I want to teach my children.

What Your Preschooler Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., and Linda Bevilacqua

This is the book that started it all! First of all, it is an amazing homeschooling resource (and is the reason I want to homeschool). We started using this book before Mr. B turned one and have reviewed it with him many times. In fact, Mr. B loved this book so much that he was constantly asking us to read it to him. His favorites chapters were the nursery rhymes and the science section.

To supplement the material, the book includes a six page resources list for parents. This list organizes resources by (1) Stories (2) Rhymes, Finger plays, and Poems (3) History (4) Science (5) Art (6) ABC and Number Books and (7) Music.

I entered many of these books into my Amazon wishlist. I found many of the popular books right away and we also checked out a lot from libraries. Overall, these recommendation are wonderful and perfectly supplement the material in the book.

We have acquired E.D. Hirsch's entire collection of What Your Child Needs to Know Books through sixth grade.

The Educated Child: A Parent's Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade by William J. Bennett

This is another amazing homeschooling resource. Each chapter presents a subject (English, history, etc,) and makes recommendations by grade level. Step-by-step, the book lays out what the child should learn at each level (this is a lot like a condensed version of the entire What Your Child Needs to Know series).

The book also includes recommended books but these lists are spread out through out the book. For example, in the "Getting Ready for School" chapter there is a list of "Thirty Great Books Every Preschooler Should Meet." Furthermore, the "English" chapter has several more lists organized: K-3, 4-6 and 7-8. This book is full of other great resource recommendations included in other chapters.

The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

This book has an incredible list of recommended books and their descriptions. I acquired this book fairly recently so I haven't had a chance to add some of these books to my list. My only complaint is that the books are organized alphabetically (within categories of books) not by age (even though an age range is included with every book introduced). With each book there is also a list of related books. This makes it a little more difficult to navigate. Overall, this is a great book to have but isn't the best place to start when building a must have list.

Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers by Judith W. Halsted

I wish we owned this book. Right now I'm using the library's copy until I run into my own. This book recommends reading material based on a child's social, emotional or developmental need. The index is well organized by grade level and topic (i.e. loneliness, moral concerns, etc,) and is easy to use. Not only does this book introduce great literature, it also helps the parent select appropriate material to help guide the child through issues that they may be dealing with.

The recommendations in these books have been instrumental in helping me choose books for our library and I often get compliments from the librarians that I shop for books like a teacher!

Of course, not every recommended book goes on the list (that would make my list unusable) and I often still buy book that are not on the list if they are well reviewed and look fun.