As I said in my last post, which you can visit if you want to get more ideas about some really amazing books, my older son Finn and I love to read together. He also loves to read on his own and then boast about how he’d finished books without me.

Anyway, your mileage may vary, of course, but these next four books round out a total of 15 books that I think are awesome. I’m adding a purchase link just in case you get inspired to grab them and get reading immediately!

Enjoy!

See books 1 – 11 right here!

12.The Phantom Tollbooth

There’s something haunting and incredible about this book. The combination of math, riddles and surreal moments made it completely different than anything else I’d read at the time. It’s an adventure story, but within its pages you can find a strong message about love and education. Tollbooth‘s main character, Milo, confronts new experiences and finds himself part of a quest to restore a kingdom. I felt a kinship with him, growing up.

13.Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I know. I love a character named Charlie. Weird, right? My childhood identification with Charlie Bucket was strong and everlasting, like one of Wonka’s most famous candies. I want my sons to believe in themselves and that there’s also an opportunity waiting for them should they be the people they were meant to become. Anything is possible when you’re open to dreams and imagination.

14.Goodnight Moon

Nearly everyone knows this book, though there are so many new iterations of it. Goodnight Moon put me to sleep, despite my troubles at an early age with night terrors and insomnia. There’s something calming about imagining everything around you slumbering while you lay asleep in bed.

15.Harry Potter: Books 1-3

So, my son and I just finished Book Three (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). He was decidedly a bit young for it in some ways, but he’s my little wizard. Journeying through these books together give him confidence in himself, and allow me to teach him to be the ‘boy who lived’ in his own way. When we read of a character’s isolation, their loneliness, their victories and desires, we can’t help but weather our own isolation, find comfort for our loneliness, seek grander victories, and seek with a fuller heart our own desires.

The true power of books is not just found in how we while away the time, but how these stories support us in finding and writing our own.

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Tell me about your favorite books! What others should I have included here? I want to read them all with my son!