Jerel Law Visit Inspires Appreciation for Middle Grade Reading

Jerel Law Visit Inspires Appreciation for Middle Grade Reading

 

Hope Academy is excited to host author Jerel Law on February 22nd from 3:30 – 5 pm in the Fireside Room at West Cabbarus Church.

Mr. Law is a gifted communicator and pastor and will be discussing how his book series came to life with a short question and answer session to follow. Mr. Law will also sign copies of his books which will be available for purchase. This event is free and open to the public. A love offering will be taken to show appreciation for Mr. Law’s time.

For more information about this event please call Hope Academy at (704) 999-2436 or email info@hopek12.com.

 

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Mr. Law’s Sons of Angels children’s Christian fiction series, similar in nature to the popular Percy Jackson and the Sons of Olympians books, is often labeled as Middle-Grade Fiction. This term can seem elusive but pertains as much to reading-development as it does age. Popular booksellers often associate an 8 – 12 year-old range to the category, but parents should use their own discretion for a book’s appropriateness for their children.

 

Laura Backes, the publisher of Children’s Book Insider, writes, “The author of the true, classic middle grade novel does not worry about vocabulary choices or simple sentence structure; once children are ready for these books they are good readers. Middle grade novels are characterized by the type of conflict encountered by the main character. Children in the primary grades are still focused inward, and the conflicts in their books reflect that.”

 

As children move toward reading more complex storylines and plots you may be asking yourself, “What are good book recommendations, particularly as a Christian parent?”. Children will likely stay within previously enjoyed genres but may also begin exploring new ones.

In honor of Mr. Law’s visit, Hope Academy has gathered book recommendations within this reading stage from parents and staff of older children.

The following is not an exhaustive resource but a good starting point for readers that have progressed from easy-read chapter books. At the bottom of the list, you will find a link to an online tool for further book exploration at a variety of ages and reading levels.

 

 

Suggested Middle Grade Books by Genre

Adventure

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis *
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling
The Good Master by Kate Seredy
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene*
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright

 

Fantasy

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch *
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart *
The Unwanted by Lisa McMann
Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Lightning Thief by Rich Riordan *
100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson *
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Animals
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Rascal by Sterling North

Historical Fiction

Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret Pumphrey
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder *
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley
Relational Exploration
Miracles on Maple Hill by Alice Sorensen
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Sophie the Awesome by Lara Bergen
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Mandie and the Secret Tunnel by Lois Gladys *
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John *
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Classics

The Favorite of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris
The Pilgrim’s Progress (Children’s Edition) by John Bunyan
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery *
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
Black Beauty: the Autobiography of a Horse by Anna Sewell
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Heidi by Joanna Spyri
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Myths and Folktales

D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang *

*designates one book in a series of many


 

Discover More Children’s Book at: Classical Christian Education Support Loop

HOPE Academy would like to thank Tina Fillmer and Michelle Ballantyne for their guidance in building this list.

 

Do you have any other great reads to add to this list? Please comment below, we can’t wait to see what you have to share!!!!

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