We are coming to the close of our first year as a homeschool family! Hoorah! It is honestly hard to believe. We have had so much fun this past year. I dare to declare that I learned just as much, if not more, than my kindergartener! In preparation for the next school year, I reflected on the resources we have used the most this past year. Thus, this list of the top 15 books for kindergarteners in our Christian homeschool library was born.
The following list of books are the ones I have found invaluable in our first kindergarten year of homeschooling. They are the ones you will want to include in your Christian curriculum as well. These books have led to rich discussion about our purpose, our Creator, and the world around us. Some are Scripture-based. Others are simply books that have led to amazing conversations (mostly led, or at least prompted, by my five year old!) and character training. I have used these specific books in directing my young children toward character development that aligns with our family’s values. I hope they bring value to your child’s comprehensive Christian education as well.
This list only includes books we have used multiple times throughout the school year, either as requested by my children or because I find the information so valuable. My oldest daughter is capable of reading easy chapter books on her own, but we are still primarily a read-aloud family. This list reflects that.
Homeschool Philosophy
We follow a combination of the Charlotte Mason method and Classical Education homeschool philosophy, so we read a lot. Despite all of the books we have read over the course of the school year, these 15 books are the ones I would recommend to all Christian homeschool families. While we do not read all 15 every day, I am confident we open up at least one of the books on this list on a daily basis.
If you are new to homeschooling—or are curious to find out if the current homeschool philosophy you’re following is the best for you—check out my blog post “Choosing the Best Homeschool Curriculum for Your Family!” I have included a link to Eclectic Homeschooling’s Homeschool Philosophies Quiz that helped me to determine which homeschool philosophy and curriculum to follow.
The 15 Books We Couldn’t Make the School Year Without
The Ology by Marty Machowski
The Ology has been used as a resource guide and discussion-starter during our school days. It can be read front to back and perfectly makes sense, but I love to pick and choose what I want us to read based on what the Lord is speaking to our hearts in a particular season/situation.
This is also a great book for the entire family to use as a devotional. The reading written by the author is actually quite short, expounding upon truths in simple but thought-provoking ways. Then he includes multiple verses that we can reference to and read and discuss as a family.
The Children’s Bible by Rev. Joseph A. Grispino & Dr. Samuel Terrien
Admittedly The Children’s Bible is an investment, but it has been invaluable in our home over the years. Before becoming a homeschool mom, I was a pastor’s wife and Sunday School teacher at two very small churches. The children in my class ranged from 12 months to ten years in age. I used this Bible as a reference and as the main source for Scripture reading in almost all of my lesson plans and Bible studies.
The illustrations are immaculate and capture the attention of the reader at every age. Just look at these beautiful drawings! It makes the stories come to life. I also like how the stories are not watered down or lack detail for the sake of being “age-appropriate.” These stories are filled with God’s Word and context.
Now I use this Bible as part of our homeschool curriculum. Our specific curriculum has Scripture for every day and I love to pull out different books and versions to spend time meditating on God’s Word and what we should be gleaning from the specific passage. I use our homeschool curriculum as more of a prompt and allow an organic conversation to flow after reading from this Bible and other books mentioned here.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe from The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
One of the great insights I have gained in my first year as a homeschool mom is my child’s ability to understand complex issues and comprehend advanced reading. Though my six-year-old is not able to read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe independently, she loves to snuggle close to me and have me read chapter after chapter. The imagination of the world of Narnia, the beautifully written storyline, and the spiritual undertones of Christian values take us into a deeper knowledge of Christ and who He is as our Savior.
The Oak Inside the Acorn by Max Lucado
This year we have struggled a lot with our oldest putting her worth and identity in behaviors or performance rather than in Christ. We have had The Oak Inside the Acorn for a few years now but have pulled it out more often in this last year. I can relate, as I have been a chronic perfectionist and negative self-talker my entire life. It truly almost killed me last year. It breaks my heart to know my precious, chosen, and treasured daughter has a predisposition to struggle with the same lies that the enemy wants to plant in her heart. I pray by being more proactive and prayerful that she will have a solid foundation based on God’s truth to fall back on when she is tempted to entertain and believe those lies.
Tip: The Oak Inside The Acorn is a bit of a longer read, so I will read it during our breakfast/morning time before we start formal lessons for the day or half before nap and half before bedtime. It is entirely possible to read all in one session and we have before, but if there is not an immediate need and only a request to read this book, that is how we generally split it up.
Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus
My children and I read this book in two days. They could not get enough (and frankly neither could I). Hope for the Flowers is highly recommended by those with secular backgrounds, though I’m not sure if it was written with a Christ-centered worldview or not. Therefore, if you choose to only read specifically Christian-based books in your home, you may want to dig into this one deeper before purchasing.
For us, however, it was very thought-provoking and led to many conversations about our purpose and for whose glory we were made, the struggles of life that come from being disobedient to the plans and purpose set before us, and how to make things right through complete surrender of control (and a lot of the times our own preferences too!).
There is beauty in being exactly who we were made to be, even if the enemy’s lies try to distract us and discourage us from embracing and living out that truth. Many times, what we are shaped and molded into being is much more beautiful than we ever could have imagined for ourselves.
The Called and Courageous Girls series by Rachel Spier Weaver & Anna Haggard
Out of this series, we have personally read the following: An Extraordinary Teacher: A Story About Priscilla, A Fearless Leader: A Bible Story About Deborah, and An Unexpected Hero: A Bible Story About Rahab.
These books are inspired by the Scriptures but also set the scene by exploring how these women grew up and how they were molded, shaped, and formed into the vessels we read about in the Bible. All three of these have been great books to spark the imagination of what it would be like to witness these incredibly faithful women as children and how God directed their steps from beginning to end of their lives.
Though they are fiction, and I introduced them as such to my children, I love how these books have encouraged our family to build a foundation of truth on how God has created us with a specific purpose and plan since the beginning. We have a goal to focus on building an understanding of purpose and truth in our children from day one and these books lent themselves well to conversations that help us achieve that.
Johnny the Walrus by Matt Walsh
My three year old tends to ask for me to read it more but the kindergartener asks many questions. She also takes initiative to read this book to her younger siblings, so we get some reading practice in too! I often use reading and handwriting outside of the core curriculum we follow as part of our language arts. In fact, when my kindergartener’s birthday came around, she wrote thank you cards to everyone who attended and for an entire week the language arts portion of our curriculum was covered!
I love homeschooling. It is a wonderful blend of life skills, character development, and a great way to establish a Christian worldview and values through a quality education no matter the grade level. Amazing!
Now, back to why I would recommend Johnny the Walrus for the whole family. Homeschool parents, and especially Christian parents, are generally concerned by what their children will learn in a public or private school setting. Therefore, we like to be prepared to tackle tough conversations with great resources and tools. Though this book doesn’t highlight a specifically Biblical worldview, it does equip kids and parents alike with truth!
Bible Belles: The Adventures of Rooney Cruz, a series by Erin Weidemanne
Similar to the Called and Courageous Girls series, the Bible Belles: The Adventures of Rooney Cruz series is inspired by Scripture but elicits wonder and imagination from the reader to explore Bible stories and apply their lessons to today’s world.
In this series, we follow Rooney Cruz on her journey to becoming a powerful vessel for the Lord. In each book, she travels back in time and witnesses a woman from the Bible learning important lessons like patience, courage, and the power of prayer and applies these lessons to her own situation. We spent a lot of time reading these books to learn how to make great choices in difficult situations according to God’s Word.
The Contemporary Bible Series by Gustavo Mazali
The Contemporary Bible Series is a 12 book set that we have relied heavily on in our homeschool. While homeschooling multiple grade levels in the early years, it can be challenging for Christian homeschool moms and dads to find books and other resources that fit their needs. This book set has illustrations that are captivating and thought-provoking for our preschool aged children and also contains enough depth to lead into discussion with our kindergartener.
I generally use these books to discuss certain Bible stories that we have heard throughout the years in church and age-appropriate Bible classes with greater depth and context. While I do have to provide some of that myself, this book set provides a lot of detail in the story that lends itself well to those conversations.
Note: I have read the reviews where there is apparently the original series with CEV Scripture and another version that is titled “The Contemporary Bible Series Retold Edition.” The Retold Edition is relatively cheaper, about half of the price of the original box set, but the reviews say that it is best suited for younger children and potentially contains information that strays from Scripture.
Please be sure that you are ordering the correct edition before purchasing as this set is an investment. I do not want you to end up being disappointed in your investment, because the CEV translation set is treasured by our family for Bible study in the early years!
Egg to Chick by Millicent E. Selsam
We probably wouldn’t have bought Egg to Chick for our kindergarten year if we didn’t have backyard chickens of our own (laying hens and roosters). But we needed something to explain what we meant by “fertilized eggs” and why we had to refrigerate our eggs after some were left out on the counter. I had a nice morning surprise when making scrambled eggs for breakfast and then had to explain the commotion when calling my husband over to look at what I found in the egg.
This was a great read for us to discuss how God has given us stewardship over our animals and how He created them to reproduce and grow. Our children especially liked the pictures of the book depicting the growth of the chicken in the egg. This book could also be used to segue into a variety of hands-on activities or crafts and for that reason it is one we value having in our homeschool library.
The King and His Hawk (public domain)
Our family discovered this short story as part of the first homeschool curriculum we used this year. My kindergartener requested to read this multiple times and we had great discussions about anger and the lessons we could learn from Genghis Khan and the death of his hawk at his own hand. What we do and say out of anger, although it can be usually be reconciled, it cannot be taken back.
When we use discouraging words when speaking to others and are only focused on our own preferences, we can spiritually hurt that individual in ways we will never see but they will carry with them. The hawk was literally killed because Genghis Khan’s understanding of the situation was limited and he allowed his anger to rule him. What harm do we cause when we allow our emotions to reign as king in our lives over the King of Kings?
The Berenstain Bears series by Stan, Jan, and Mike Berenstain
I love that there are so many options for the season of life that we are in and the problems we are facing. The children (5yo and 3yo) primarily enjoy Blessed are the Peacemakers, Honesty Counts, Count Their Blessings, Say Their Prayers, and Kindness Counts but we have read a lot of them time and time again. They are all good books to introduce practical tips for seeing and dealing with worldly concerns through a Christ-centered lens.
Joseph and His Coat of Many Colors by Rachel Elliot
Though I wasn’t too pleased with the other books from this author/publisher, Joseph and His Coat of Many Colors is a 10/10. It is a bit longer, but the gorgeous illustrations (and funny narrator voices from Mom) keep even the little ones entertained. The story of Joseph, his brothers, and the journey through his timeline in Egypt is a common Sunday School story. This book is different in that it includes a lot of Scriptural details generally left out of other children’s books.
While this may not be homeschool-specific, I tend to pull this one out when our family needs a reminder of the blessing of siblings and how we are brought together as a family for a missional purpose. We cannot allow the enemy’s deceptive tactics cause divisions between each other like Joseph’s family because God has a specific, ministerial purpose for our family that will last a lifetime even when the life stages and living situations change.
Our children need to learn now how to communicate effectively and work together to tear out any signs of roots of bitterness before they sprout. I use this book as a great testimony to how God can redeem even the worst of jealousy and hatred for one another and bring forth His glory.
The importance of building a quality homeschool library
While these may not be considered part of the “best Christian homeschool curriculum,” these are the tried and true top picks of our kindergarten homeschool year. They may not all specifically preach Biblical principles or tackle the core subjects for a homeschool curriculum, but they have been a huge help in shaping my child’s education in the first year of our homeschooling journey.
As a homeschool mom, I have been divinely equipped to love my children more than anyone else and speak to them on levels they would not receive in public school. Sometimes, though, I need a little help. That is where these books come in. They provide value to our homeschool because they assist me in providing my children with a comprehensive education that does not solely focus on material knowledge, but on spiritual principles. My number one goal is to equip my children with enough truth to walk in the darkness of the world as vessels of light with a Christ-centered worldview. The books on this list help me to achieve this goal and I pray they help you too!
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Love this list! We homeschool and follow an eclectic CM style, so we read a lot too! Pinning for later!
That is great to hear, Kelsey! Let me know if you choose to read any and what discussions they led to! Thanks for stopping by!
I love your book list! We have all the Berenstain Bear books also.
Vicky, Thank you! The Berenstain Bears are probably some of the most-read in our house as our middle daughter is constantly requesting to read them (and I am NOT complaining! I love our girls’ tenacity for reading. It will serve them well!) The series simply has a story for every situation it seems and speaks to the kids in a way I can’t!
We love The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and don’t live far from many Narnia visitor attractions
Hi, Jen! That is absolutely amazing! Our oldest has picked this book to read time and time again over the course of the last year. I can’t imagine how she would react if she were able to see the visitor attractions in real life! I hope you and your family have been able to visit. Thanks for stopping by!