Now that your child has entered grade 2, they will want to read more and more on their own. Some of the below classics may still be good books to snuggle up and read together and others your kids might want to read by themselves.
Here are our top 10 classic books we think every second grader should read.
1. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
This classic from 1908 is sure to find the kindred spirit in your child. Shy, elderly bachelor Matthew Cuthbert sets out in his finest suit to pick up a young orphan boy from the train depot, he’s shocked to find a freckle-faced, red-headed eleven-year-old girl waiting for him. Despite the mix-up, Matthew and his stern spinster sister Marilla are charmed by the talkative and highly imaginative Anne who brings color and high drama to their otherwise mundane and routine lives at Green Gables.
2. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Animal-loving children have been devoted to Black Beauty since it was published in 1877. Although Anna Sewell's classic paints a clear picture of turn-of-the-century London, its message is universal and timeless: animals will serve humans well if they are treated with consideration and kindness.
3. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
Every big sister can relate to the trials and tribulations Beezus has to endure with her imaginative and naughty little sister Ramona.> In true Beverly Cleary style, this book will have your young reader laugh out loud at the antics Ramona gets up to.
4. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this the Second World War.
5. Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories were first published in 1930 by Grosset and Dunlap. The original 56 stories were written by various people under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. These classic mystery novels stand the test of time.
6. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Geppetto, a humble toymaker, carves a puppet which he names Pinocchio. Just as Geppetto adds to the finishing touches, however, Pinocchio springs to life and flees the cottage in search of adventure--only to discover that what he wants most of all is right back at home.
7. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
This is the first science fiction/fantasy book in the "Time Quartet" series by Madeleine L'Engle. No one has heard from Meg Murray's physicist father in more than a year — then Meg and her precocious brother, Charles Wallace, meet Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which. The strange women tell the children that their father is in danger, and it's up to the kids to travel through space and time to find him.
8. Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson
Published first as a serial in a boys' magazine in 1881-82 and then in book form in 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island is without a doubt one of the best-loved children's adventure novels of all time.> When an old pirate staying at his family's seaside inn dies, young Jim Hawkins discovers that he left behind a map showing the location of buried pirate treasure. When Jim shows it to the local squire, he buys and outfits a ship and, with Jim and the local doctor, they set sail to seek the treasure. But the dead pirate's shipmates, led by the charming and magnetic Long John Silver, want the treasure too, and will stop at nothing to get it -- including infiltrating the crew.
9. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
In Ransome’s young adult novel, published in 1930 as the first in a series, the Swallows are a group of siblings from the Walker family, two boys and two girls, who are staying at a lake for their summer vacation. The children leave their mother and youngest sister behind in the lake house and sail to a small island in the lake. They pitch tents, set up a “kitchen,” give each other titles and duties, and spend each night and day there playing make believe. It is a truly magical experience that these children create, and their mother and the other vacationers play along, acting as the “natives” while the children are fearless explorers.
10. The Adventures of TinTin by Hergé
If you're not familiar with Hergé's comics, The Adventures of Tintin, then you are probably not from Europe and you've missed out tremendously. But it’s not too late. Lively characters fill these pages and take Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy all across the world on journeys that will capture your child’s imagination and sense of adventure.
