10 Amazing Books to Read Together for Quality Family Time

When you and your child read together, everyone wins. You get that precious bonding time you’ve been wanting more of, and your child gets a safe place to practice their reading skills and talk openly about interests, opinions, and ideas. 

Geared for kids from preschool to 5th grade, the engaging books below will help you create a reading routine for you and your child that they’ll want to stick to. 

And yes, even big kids benefit from a shared read-aloud. The older they become, the less direct reading instruction they might receive at school, so it’s essential to create a read-aloud routine at home where they can continue to build their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills.

These best-selling classics are filled with important life lessons your child will want to read over and over again. You’ll strengthen your bond while your child learns new words, meets unforgettable characters, and enjoys more than a few laughs.

Here are 10 feel-good books for your read-aloud that promise quality family time.

1. The Caring Me I Want to Be

Follow a little girl through her day as she remembers to greet everyone she meets with smiles, hugs, and loving words. This book is as memorable for its lesson on kindness as it is for its sweet illustrations.

2. Princess Truly #9: I Am a Leader! 

The short, funny, and empowering books in the Princess Truly series impart messages of confidence and self-esteem. In this installment, Princess Truly shows readers just how mighty she is by using her strength and determination to overcome obstacles. 

The Princess Truly series is part of Scholastic’s Acorn line of books aimed at beginner readers. With easy-to-read text, lots of humor, and full-color illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading skills while fostering a love of reading. 

3. There Was an Old Mermaid Who Swallowed a Shark

The title character in the There Was an Old Lady series can’t stop gobbling things up! These hilarious books pair a quirky premise with rhyming and repetition that goes down easy for beginner readers. Plus, characters spit out nonfiction facts about whatever the old lady encounters, offering built-in learning moments and talking points.

Since the old lady has swallowed nearly everything on land and in space, here she takes to the high seas to find out if there’s a shell, ship, or creature from the deep she can’t eat — a guaranteed ocean of laughs.

4. The Reflection in Me

Peter H. Reynolds, the inspiring author behind motivational picture books like Our Table, The Word Collector, Happy Dreamer, When Things Aren't Going Right, Go Left, and Say Something!, has teamed up with Marc Colagiovanni again to create a creative and whimsical tribute to looking below the surface.

With Reynold’s incredible art and Colagiovanni’s message of self-love and self-acceptance, this is the second book they've partnered to bring to life. Teaching kids that their exterior and physical layer is only one piece of all the incredible attributes that make them unique, wonderful, and worthy. "I like being you," said the reflection in the mirror. "To me, you are perfectly perfect."

Originally released as an animated short, which has over 1.4 million views on YouTube, this is an inspiring, affirming book to read together as a family throughout so many milestones. Make sure to discuss what makes each reader unique and why it's so important to they love themselves just as they are. 

5. Make Way for Butterfly

This best-selling picture book series spotlights lighthearted tales of persistence with a message about not giving up. Author Ross Burach is known for incorporating STEM-related themes into his kids’ books, and this is no exception.  

The newest, laugh-out-loud installment of The Very Impatient Caterpillar series taps into social-emotional themes your child will relate to — including self-esteem and loving themselves for who they are. Plus, your little one will love learning about the importance of pollinators to our ecosystem along with the story. 

6. Diary of a Pug #1: Pug Blasts Off

In the popular Diary of a Pug series, doggo Baron von Bubbles, a.k.a. Bub the fashionable pug, gets into all kinds of mix-ups trying to impress and protect his human, Bella. Told in charming diary format, this early chapter book is part of Scholastic’s Branches line aimed at newly independent readers. High-interest content, easy-to-read text, fast-paced plots, and full-color illustrations on every page help your young reader feel confident and boost their reading stamina.

This series is a fun, and funny, way for kids to learn about standing up to things they might fear, overcoming them, and finding the good waiting just on the other side. 

7. The Paperboy

Winner of the Caldecott Medal for “most distinguished American picture book for children,” this dreamlike ode to one boy’s morning routine shows the range of author Dav Pilkey, best known for his graphic novel series Captain Underpants, Dog Man, and its spin-off series Cat Kid Comic Club.

Pilkey uses rich colors to evoke night turning into dawn, while his story follows a boy who rises before everyone else to carry out his daily responsibilities of delivering newspapers to every doorstep in town. It’s a soothing meditation on everyday life that you’ll enjoy watching your child absorb.

8. Dragon Girls #1: Azmina the Gold Glitter Dragon

The battle between good and evil gets a fresh spin — and lots of girl power — in Maddy Mara’s popular Dragon Girls series. Azmina, Willa, and Naomi are having a blast exercising their new powers as Glitter Scale Dragon Girls. 

But getting to soar above the treetops of the Magic Forest and breathe glitter-fire comes at a price: The three Dragon Girls must protect the Tree Queen and her realm from the Shadow Sprites, evil shapeshifters who want the forest’s magic for their own. Buckle up for an amazing adventure — including introductions to more Dragon Girls as the series goes on! 

Being a Dragon Girl comes with great responsibility, and it's a great series to help readers learn about and consider their own responsibilities whether that's at home or in larger communities. 

9. Cat Kid Comic Club #4: Collaborations

The heartwarming Dog Man spinoff series from writer-illustrator Dav Pilkey enters a new phase as the baby-frog members of the Cat Kid Comic Club find themselves heading in new directions. 

As Naomi, Melvin, and siblings each follow their purpose, they create the comic strips that make up the book. Pilkey uses a variety of techniques — including acrylic paints, photography, collage, gouache, and watercolors — to tell these stories-within-the-story. It’s a celebration of creativity and individuality as only this author can tell it.

10. The Bad Guys #1: The Bad Guys

Your upper elementary reader will love Aaron Blabey’s graphic novel series The Bad Guys, featuring characters who seem like bad but actually want to do good. The epic, incredibly hilarious adventures of this heroic team — Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, and Mr. Shark — will engage even the most reluctant readers.

The final book in the series The Bad Guys #20: The Bad Guys in One Last Thing will be on shelves on November 12th, bringing the New York Times bestselling series to a close. It's the perfect time to introduce the books (or read them all over again) and to laugh together and talk about the power of doing good. 

Plus, if screen adaptations of the books are a segue into reading for your child, check out the The Bad Guys movie based on the book series — then read the novelization of the movie!

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