Welcome, friend! Thank you for dropping in.
We’ve got a big stack of books to review for you today, read-aloud awards to announce, plus 4 PRINTABLES FOR READING FAMILIES you will not want to miss!
We hope you find a new title or three to add to your 2026 book shelf in this post, and we’d love to hear your recommendations as well! Please comment with your family’s favorite read-alouds from 2025. You will make our day . . .possibly even our year!
PLEASE NOTE: Today’s post is too long for most email servers. Click the link to see the whole post and access the printables mentioned above! 😀
Treasures & Teatime 2025
~what we read, what we loved, and one we didn’t~
It was an adventuresome kind of year, both in real life and on the couch. We took a couple of actual trips (something our homebody family doesn’t often do) but traveled parts of Europe, many great states, and even into the future with a truly wild robot −all from the seasonal frigates of a sunny back deck and blanketed throne by the fire. Sometimes icy, sometimes piping, tea was inevitably along for each breathtaking journey.
before we jump in . . .
Here’s a little peek at Our Family’s Reading Routine:
We have really been benefitting this year from more readers and more reading blocks. It is making a big difference in VOLUME(s)!
- To start the day, the early-rising Captain (age 10) first reads to himself and then aloud to little sister Goldilocks (age 7) as soon as she wakes.
- After school each day, the kids and I continue to relish our “Treasures & Teatime” as I read aloud a wide range of literature.
- At bedtime, Papa reads aloud to the Captain and I read aloud to Goldilocks.
These three daily reading blocks, in which we often divide and conquer, are allowing our family to travel farther through the seas of literature than we ever have before!
Our biggest reading triumph of 2025 was that we added a new, independent reader to the family. 😀
That’s right, not-so-little-anymore Goldilocks joined the Captain in solitary reading time, complete with a portable bedtime book lamp. In her exact words as she settled into her flannel sheets and many-pillowed book nook the other night, “this is lovely. This is bliss.”
And another book lover joins the ranks. How’s that for a benchmark?
first up for review . . .
Read-Alouds by Papa
Holes by Louis Sachar, read by Papa to the Captain (at age 9) and Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 9 and up
Why we read covers a wide and varied terrain. Sometimes we read when we need to escape or rest from a stressful day or season. Other times we read to liven up a dreary afternoon or monotonous summer.
I think most often, however, we read to try on the shoes of people we probably wouldn’t ever get to in real life; shoes that fly up and over our heads, just out of reach. And as far as “try-on-a-wild-life-for-size” books go, Holes is among the best that a child can get his or her hands onto to help alleviate a burdensome trunk-full of curiosity.
What would it be like to be convicted of a crime? How would it be to be off on my own for an entire summer? How would I manage a camp of troublesome teens? What would it be like to dig a giant hole in the desert in the dead of summer? Or be so thirsty I couldn’t think of anything else? Or crash a truck? Or nearly die from heat exhaustion? Or stand-off against a real-life outlaw? Or a gang of them? Or a whole pit full of venomous lizards? What would it feel like to climb a mountain and discover a natural wonder? What would it be like to find buried treasure? Or throw off a family curse and be named a hero?
This is the kind of book that liberates a child to seize all these coming-of-age adventures without consequence. It’s the kind of book you can’t put down, can’t forget, and can’t walk away unchanged for having read it.
*Parental warning: there are mild profanities and crass jokes throughout this book true to some rough, tough, and even nasty characters.
The Mysterious Benedict Society Series (books 1 & 2) by Trenton Lee Stuart, read by Papa to the Captain (from age 9 to age 10)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 9 and up
Review by the Captain: “A series of mystery, adventure, and action, The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey follow a group of kids who solve clues, tackle villains, and more. This series will make you appreciate suspense and action.”
*Parental warning: “Papa read these to me at night. In my opinion, this series is too disturbing for nighttime. Perhaps, so as not to wet the bed (no I do not wet the bed, thank you very much, it’s just a figure of speech), this would be better suited to liven up a lazy afternoon. WARNING: not suitable for children under 8.”
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, read by Papa to the Captain (at age 10)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: ages 10 and up
Not every boy has the opportunity to fell a giant tree and prove he is becoming a man. But every boy can read this book. Even better, I think, is for a father to read this book aloud to his son. It’s like a secret handshake, hidden hideout, or some kind of chant around a campfire. There’s a bond this book seals into the hands of those who share its pages. I think a girl can enjoy this book just as much as a boy, however, I don’t think every boy can enjoy other books as much as he does this one. Or put the other way around: most girls, I would say, can enjoy both Little Women and Where the Red Fern Grows, for example. But I would not say the same for most boys.
Before the Captain was ever born, I read this book aloud to over a hundred boys and girls. There were smiles and tears for the girls, but that was nothing new in my classroom. What was new was the look in one of the boy’s eyes −a boy who’d hardly looked up from his desk all year, who’d rarely bothered to pick up his pencil, who’d made no discernible effort to listen or speak or smile or care. Suddenly, this boy’s head raised and his dead eyes were swallowed by the largest, wettest, most shining eyes I’d ever seen. What else was new was another boy who removed all his class-clown garb and makeup for all to see. This boy used up an entire box of tissues at my desk in front of all his classmates.
Newer still, no one ribbed the clown-turned-crybaby. Billy wouldn’t allow it. He’d taught all of us about determination, unrelenting faithfulness, and true love. Some tried to laugh it off, but the wind in the tops of the giant oaks pulled the air right out of them. A sacred bond, a secret handshake, a sort-of pledge around a campfire had dawned silently, even between enemies.
*Parental warning: Yes, there were tears anew this year over Old Dan and Little Ann. But there were scars, calluses, and pulled-back shoulders, too.
next up for review . . .
Read-Alouds by Mama
Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan, read by Mama to the Captain (at age 9) and Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉(4/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 7 and up
Although this book took place mainly while riding on a sled, we feel it our duty to report to you that it forged a pretty slow start for our 2025 reading adventures. The plot and historical context are indeed wonderful, but all three of us agreed: it just read aloud a little too slow.
Our personal opinion on this treasure-transporting, World War II adventure, is that it would be much more exhilarating when read the way you sled −independently.
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, read aloud by Mama to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 4 and up
I have officially lost count of how many times I have read aloud this yummy, orphan adventure. Every child and child at heart, I believe, wants to live vicariously through orphans caring and fending for themselves.
A lavish home has nothing in grandeur over a lowly boxcar when it’s discovered abandoned in the woods. An extravagant meal holds nothing in satisfaction over a foraged one cooked in a stumbled-upon pot. China dishes displayed in a hutch are mere trinkets compared to chipped bowls and plates gathered at an old dump. No pure-bred dog could rival the regality of an injured mutt who finds his way to you just when you need him most.
The Boxcar Children, now more than ever, is a summer picnic for a young child’s soul.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, read by Mama to the Captain (at age 10) and Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉(3/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: we don’t recommend this book, but if you must read it, we would advise waiting until your child is at least 8 years old.
The kids and I feel about this book the way my husband and I feel about cats, the beach, and saffron. We know we are supposed to like them, that they are amazing things, delights even, and yet we just . . . don’t.
Black Beauty was almost as slow as it was sad. The real dark horse of it though, was the endless, often ridiculous, mind-melting dialogue. It went on, and on, always in some incredibly hard-to-read cockney or Yorkshire, frequently while saying nearly nothing over the course of pages, like a pony prancing in maniacal circles around his horrid, little yard. Then, of course, there were real ponies in truly horrid, little yards, as well.
There was beauty, to be sure, only you had to dig pretty hard in the manure to find it.
One thing is for sure, though: Black Beauty is a classic that changed the face of literature forever! The influence that Anna Sewell had on animal literature is incalculable, perhaps even unmatched. For it’s social and literary impact, then, I am grateful for Black Beauty and even glad to say that we have read it. That being said, I am most glad to read the books that have since followed in the path trodden by such tragically deformed hooves and not return again to sit in the saddle of that unfortunate frontrunner.
*Parental warning: This book is somewhat traumatizing even for Mama to read. The treatment of the horses is painfully descriptive, often leading to permanent disability or even death of several horses and even sometimes their masters.
🏆Favorite Read-Aloud of the Year🏆
The Secret Garden unabridged version by Frances Hodgson Burnett, read by Mama to the Captain (at age 10) and Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 6 and up
We began it in spring and it swallowed our summer whole. Indeed, The Secret Garden and the summer of 2025 were and will remain one and the same forever in my mind.
The garden charmed it’s bloom over the walls of our days and weeks until suddenly we forgot there was any other season than summer, or any other place than the warm sunny porch in the sun-beaten mountains, or that we ourselves were anyone other than Mary and Colin and Dickon. We were simply lost in lush overgrowth, as you should be in any midsummer worth sitting under. When we came to the last page, we looked up and summer was waning, as if the very magic of Mary’s garden had escaped from the pages like pollen on the wind, flown over our heads, crossed the clearing, hurdled the wall of sunflowers, and landed to cast a spell over our own little, secret bit of earth.
At the end of it, we didn’t want to close the book or the garden gate. But magic, you see, has a mind of its own.
On the Banks of Plum Creek & By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, read aloud by Mama to Goldilocks (at age 7) and the Captain (at age 10)
🦉🦉🦉🦉(4/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 6 and up
The kids and I have read and reread the first three Laura Ingalls Wilder books more times than I can count. The stories of the Ingalls and Wilder families have become somehow also a part of our own stories in a way that only the best of literature can achieve. So much of what we do on our modernish Montana homestead has been inspired and influenced by these trailblazing families.
We’ve been so enamored with that little house in the big woods, that little house on the vast Kansas prairie, and that charming New York State family farm, that, quite unlike Pa Ingalls, our family staked claims in the pages of these stories year ago. This year, however, we finally heard the west calling again and followed Pa, a bit begrudgingly, into Minnesota and then up again to the Dakota territory.
It was loyalty to Laura only that tethered us to complete these new adventures, but none of us could deny: we were homesick for the woods, the prairie, and the farm. Something about the Ingalls’ continued adventures fell flat for us, perhaps only for the impossible expectations we had built up for them and the not-so-little bias our family has toward putting down deep roots and settling a piece of land for good.
🏆Our #1 All-Time Favorite Read-Aloud🏆
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, read aloud by Mama to The Captain (age 10) and to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 4 and up
How many times have we journeyed down to the cozy barn cellar and peeked in on Wilbur and his friends? It doesn’t matter how many times we read it, both the kids jump onto the couch whenever this book is opened, and they sit, eyes glowing, hearts hungry, and giggles at the ready. It’s a tough competition, but it may just be our favorite read-aloud of all time.
Our review from last year: Who am I to write a review for Charlotte’s Web? When a book continues to be a bestseller for seventy years, selling forty-five million copies, it has to be doing something right. And in my opinion, Charlotte’s Web does everything right! The Maine farmland setting is painted for you with a simplicity and warmth; it’s as if you’re transported to the very farm of Wilbur and Charlotte.
E.B. White moves his readers with such ease, you don’t even realize you’ve been snatched up until you feel the sun on your face through a south-facing barn door, smell the aroma of sweet hay as it encircles you, and hear the gentle chorus of farm animals greeting you by name. You meet them, each character as unique as he is believable, but twice as enchanting. Then the story begins to trickle out, then pour, until it flows over you like a buttermilk bath.
If you have yet to introduce your child to Wilbur and Charlotte, stop everything you are doing and curl up on a straw-covered couch under the south-setting sun of the world’s most beloved farm.
last but not least . . .
Read-Alouds by the Captain to Goldilocks
This is one of my husband and my favorite joys and triumphs in our parenting journey thus far; that our little girl will one day be able to tell how her big brother read to her not one book, not two, but fourteen in a single year. How will this reading bond, I wonder, forever affect their friendship? The answer on that one is yet unwritten, of course, but I can see it’s foreshadowings even here in the early chapters. So, read on, my cherished ones. And on . . .
🏆Favorite Read-Aloud Series of the Year🏆
The Wild Robot Trilogy by Peter Brown, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 6 and up
Review by the Captain: “Watch as a lovable robot is sucked into three different adventures. Roz is kind, gentle, sly, selfless, and protective. You may be thinking, “robots can’t have special qualities!” Roz does! Perfect for all ages, The Wild Robot Trilogy is heart warming and full of action. These books are in my top ten favorite series.”
The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Review by the Captain: “A great read-aloud for both the reader and the listener, this sequel to The One and Only Ivan has more of a storyline and is filled with funny (and often crass) jokes that are sure to get some laughs. Readers will enjoy how when Bob goes on an unforgettable journey, he learns about the world around him and himself.”
🏆Our Longest-Loved Chapter Book🏆
My Father’s Dragon Series by Ruth Stiles Gannet, read aloud by The Captain (at age 9) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 3 to 99
It must be eight or so years now since we first met the old alley cat who changed the landscape of our imaginations forever. And yet, I feel like I’ve always known the tale of the rhino brushing his tusk with toothpaste, or the lion combing his hair, or the tigers with their first sticks of chewing gum, or the alligators pacified with lollipops, just as I’ve always known the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Rumpelstiltskin, or The Princess and the Pea. Indeed, there is a nostalgia and a déjà vu to this book that I cannot put my finger on. It’s a story so cherished and retold that it’s become timeless somehow.
My Father’s Dragon is like a child’s first trip to the beach, library, and carnival, all in one. He can never remember life before these experiences, for perhaps these very experiences were what awakened his ability to remember in the first place.
There’s an Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 7)
🦉🦉🦉(3/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 6 and up
Review by the Captain: “A strange, somewhat disturbing book, There’s an Owl in the Shower goes back to the time when Spotted Owls were endangered. I do not think this book was Jean Craighead George’s best effort as I thought the book was a little redundant.”
*Parental warning: the father in this book is harsh and incredibly violent in the way he speaks about the owl. He comes around in the end, but it takes most of the book to get there.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Review by the Captain from last year: “This is a very funny and adventurous book that I don’t think kids who are overly obsessed with candy should read because your mouth can start watering and you may end up chewing the book.”
Esio Trot by Roald Dahl, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Review by the Captain: “As funny as its master, Roald Dahl, Esio Trot is about an old man who is quite jealous of a tortoise, of all things. Roald Dahl spun this tale for younger kids, I would say around six. And yet, this book makes quite a good and easy read-aloud that a younger sibling will be sure to enjoy.”
🏆The Most Repeat Reads of the Year🏆
The Twits by Roald Dahl, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Review by the Captain: “The Twits is a quirky, absurdly hilarious book that will make you chuckle and grin. This is another book that, although amusing to read to yourself, is quite a great read-aloud to share with someone younger. After reading many of Roald Dahl’s books, I’ve come to see that they often make better read-alouds than read-alones. Once again, Roald Dahl makes quite a footprint in the world of fiction.”
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Review by the Captain from last year: “This is another book by my most consistently favorite author, Roald Dahl. I really like how this book follows James on his grand adventure inside the giant peach and the story kind of goes on and on with a lot of small adventures along the way. This is one of those books that is ten times better than the movie. I like the story a lot and how the bad aunts (spelled a-u-n-t-s) are eventually crushed by the peach. Also, I like the funny songs that the centipede sings.”
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jannson, read aloud by The Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Review by the Captain: “My favorite of the Moomintroll Series, this tale is about fictionary little creatures that run all over their fictional little land. This book makes yet another great read-aloud. Younger listeners will find themselves overjoyed as Moomintroll, Sniff, and other characters encounter such things as hobgoblins and their hats, antlions, hattifatteners, and mysterious ships that wash into the dock. In my opinion, this book stands alone from the rest of the series as it is more quirky, better written, and easier to read.”
🏆Our #2 All-Time Favorite Read-Aloud🏆
Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant, read by the Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 6)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5)
*Age we recommend to read aloud to: 4 to 10
Our revised review from last year:
How do you know a great read-aloud? When it’s on the list every year.
No, you’re not experiencing déjà vu; this one was on last year’s review, and the year before, and the year before, too! The kids love this book so much, I’ve lost track of exactly how many times I’ve read it to them. I first read this aloud to the Captain a few times over some years back when he was maybe four years old. Ever since I had been trying to get my hands on a good hardcover copy and finally found one earlier in the year. The Captain snatched it up without hesitation and read the whole thing through in a few consecutive mornings as the rest of us normal people slept. When he was done with it, I picked it up to read aloud to Goldilocks thinking that the Captain would do something else with his time. But no. He plopped himself on the couch next to us and wouldn’t miss a morsel. Goldilocks was in love at the first glimpse of sweet Stumpy the squirrel and then once we met Murray, the world’s most side-splitting bat, it was all over.
I ended up reading almost the entire thing in one go a particularly awkward morning where we found ourselves stuck in the truck waiting for Papa to finish a lecture he was giving. I nearly lost my voice after reading about seven chapters without a break, but the kids didn’t complain all that time trapped in a stuffy car.
This year, it was the Captain’s turn to read this long-time family favorite to little sister, Goldilocks. I fell in love with Kona, Gwendolyn, Stumpy, and Murray all over again as I washed dishes and did the laundry, just for hearing the bouts of giggles coming from the living room.
As far as read-alouds go, Gooseberry Park is among the top of her class.
🏆The Most Repeat Reads To-Date🏆
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, read aloud by Mama and again by the Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 7)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
Age we recommend to read aloud to: 5 and up
Our revised review from last year:
This year, it was Mama’s turn to read out loud the fantastic adventures of our children’s favorite fox. But then the Captain went and read it aloud yet again, for which I am grateful as it is my considered opinion that this book, and indeed all the works of Roald Dahl, are best devoured among siblings, friends, or both. The Captain has read and reread this favorite over the course of a few years. It’s a delight to hear our son try on so many different character voices when he reads this aloud to little sister, Goldilocks.
Snickers and giggles come from the direction of the couch every time Fantastic Mr. Fox makes an entrance. It’s as if Roald Dahl writes in a language that only children can fully understand.
A Mouse Called Miika by Matt Haig, read aloud by the Captain (at age 10) to Goldilocks (at age 7)
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉(5/5 owls)
Age we recommend to read aloud to: 6 and up
Review by the Captain: “Matt Haig once again spins a tale in Elfland. This book is unique from the series in that Haig writes it from Miika’s perspective, which I enjoyed. Following the other books in A Boy Called Christmas series, A Mouse Called Miika involves sort of friendly sorcery dealing in “good magic,” but overall it had a pretty decent message. Along with trolls, pixies, and elves, Miika learns many things after he is drimwicked, not the least of which is to use your magic powers for good. “
*Parental warning: this book’s theme is centered around “good magic.”
Favorite Audiobooks of 2025
The Captain (age 9-10)
- Paddington Bear Book Series by Michael Bond
- The Freddy Books by Walter R. Brooks
- Barbara Robinson Books (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Best School Year Ever, and The Best Halloween Ever)
- The Van Gogh Deception by Deron R. Hicks
Goldilocks (age 6-7)
- The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Series by M.J Thomas
- Thornton Burgess Animal Stories
- The Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
- Beverly Cleary Books (Socks, Ribsy, The Mouse & the Motorcylce, etc.)
- Arnold Lobel Books (Frog & Toad, Mouse Tales, Owl at Home, etc.)
“This is a great book to read at Christmastime. There’s magic, candy, reindeer, and the story of how Nicholas becomes Santa Claus. “
Four Printables for Reading Families!
PSSST! We’re not done yet! Stay tuned for the Captain’s Independent Reads & Reviews from 2025, posting soon! We’re dictating fast over here, my friends. Keep the hot tea coming. 😆
Thanks so much for popping in today. May many beautiful books bless your home this year!
Love, ~Candace Arden~
Oh cool, my family and I enjoyed reading The Mysterious Benedict Society! I also love how kids books can let them experience different adventures/situations all from the safety of home. I’m definitely going to have to check out some of these titles (especially The Wild Robot since I’ve been hearing such good reviews for it.)
P.s Thank you so much for the free printables!
Oh you are so welcome, I hope you enjoy them! And YES. The Wild Robot is precious. Watch the movie with a box of tissues!!