What are your all-time favorite read alouds?

[Lorna]

I would love a good list for the times when it is my turn to choose a bedtime story for my twelve and ten year old. ;)

[JudoMom]

Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane are 2 of my favorites.

[sleepy]

The Hobbit
The Secret Garden
Heidi
The Wind in the Willows
Peter Pan
The Chronicles of Narnia
D'Aulaire's Greek Myths
Little House on the Prairie

I know there are many more, but that's all I can come up with right now:)

[sleepy]

Beowulf
and Padraic Colum's The Golden Fleece

[8FillTheHeart]

Princess and the Goblin/Princess and Curdie
Little Princess
Carry on Mr Bowditch
Secret Garden

[Mrs. Readsalot]

Gone Away Lake
Henry Reed Inc
Henry and Ribsy series by Beverly Cleary
Inkheart (read aloud so I could change a bit of the language)
Misty of Chicoteague and others by M. Henry
The Westing Game
The Shakespeare Stealer
Detectives in Togas and the sequel The Mystery of the Roman Ransom
we also really enjoy books be G A Henty

[battlemaiden]

We absolutely giggled through The Mysterious Benedict Society.

The Chronicles of Narnia are always fun! And the Hobbit flows nicely when read aloud.

We are only at 11 and 9yo for my oldest children, so I'm only mentioning the most recently enjoyed books. I'll have to watch and record some of the selections mentioned by others. Thanks for the post.

Jo

[Danestress]

I would love a good list for the times when it is my turn to choose a bedtime story for my twelve and ten year old. ;)

Rascal by Sterling North is what comes to mind right of the bat. We also loved Carry on, Mr. Bowditch and the Chronicles of Narnia. And Danny, the Champion of the World. That was the favorite thing anyone read to me when I was a child, and I loved reading to my boys, too.

[Michelle T]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach
Mr Popper's Penguins


Ummm, lots of others, but those came to mind.
MIchelle T

[Amy in Orlando]

Princess and the Goblin/Princess and Curdie
Little Princess
Carry on Mr Bowditch
Secret Garden

The Princess and the Goblin was my favorite, favorite, favorite story as a girl. I read and re-read that book so many times - I loved the book too, it was my grandma's copy from when she was a girl. I always swore if I had a little girl one day I'd name her Irene. :D The Secret Garden was a close second.

Two read-alouds my sons enjoyed were Peter and the Starcatchers and The Thief Lord.

[percytruffle]

The Golden Goblet
The Wheel on the School
The Cay
Johnny Tremaine

[Michelle T]

The Golden Goblet
The Wheel on the School
The Cay
Johnny Tremaine
Michelle ET

[Scarlett]

So far the favorite at this house has been Summer of the Monkeys. Hands down. My (then) 6 yo loved it and my best friend's then 9 year old loved it. Prepare to cry. Kids don't cry...but mother's do.

[Hikin' Mama]

we loved A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder (the sequel) by Richard Peck. All my kids, about 12, 9, and 7 at the time, loved them.

Kim

[Diann]

We really enjoyed The Phantom Tollbooth.

Diann

[prairiegirl]

My choices may be a little too young for your kids. We absolutely love The Tale of Desperaux by Kate (I can't remember her last name, but she wrote Because of Winn Dixie) and The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton.


Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[Carol in Cal.]

In addition to those already mentioned,
"Number the Stars"
"LOTR"
Generally, lots of stories of epics, myths and folktales--like "In Search of a Homeland", "Black Ships Before Troy", "The Wanderings of Odysseus", "Stories from the Silk Road", "The Sea of Gold, and other Tales from Japan".
"Half Magic"--this one is unbelievably funny. You will laugh out loud together.
"Tom Sawyer"
"Little Women" and others by LMA
"Ben and Me"--a very funny send up of Ben Franklin's life, told from the POV of a mouse who becomes his advisor.

And, lately I have been remembering how much SWB and also her 12 year old son love "The Once and Future King" so I started to read it to myself last night to see if I would like to read it to DD, who is 11 1/2. And all I can say is, WOW. I'm going to love this book, and then she and DH are going to love it, too.

[Dawn]

Understood Betsy

The Trumpet of the Swan

[Natalieclare]

Here are some we've enjoyed that have not yet been listed:

Red Sails to Capri
Pollyana
A Wrinkle in Time
all the Jungle Doctor books
Shakespeare's comedies


I want to second:
Understood Betsy
The Princess and the Goblin/the Princess and Curdie

My older kids still gather 'round when I read Beverly Cleary to my middle boy; I find that even though the kids are *reading* above the level of the of the books we read aloud, they still enjoy a good story.

[Janet in WA]

Cheaper By the Dozen

[Staci in MO]

:)

[Just a Jen in Mississippi]

I haven't read all of your responses but I did see Little Princess mentioned. We are reading that now and my girls love it. But I recommend looking at the Sonlight read-aloud titles. We use Sonlight (cores 1 & 2 so far) and we've enjoyed every book and each time, my girls are sad to see that book come to an end. I have to assure them that another good one is to come!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Have you read them the Moomin books?! I love your avatar by the way. I grew up watching Moomin cartoons on t.v. (I grew up in Japan).

[carlita]

My boys, age 12 and 9 (as well as my dh and other sons age 7 and 4) have been loving this series. I think we are on our 6th book now.

[myfunnybunch]

Hands down, THE favorite this year for everyone. My review here: http://myfunnybunch.blogspot.com/2008/03/swallows-and-amazons.html

Also:

The Hobbit
Where the Red Fern Grows
Winnie the Pooh (of course!)
Peter Pan
Racketty-Packetty House

[Lorna]

Thank you so much for all the recommendations. We have enough to last us a year now! :D

[Liberty]

Our favs:

Island of the Blue Dolphins (we enjoyed this so much I've read it twice)
Sign of the Beaver
Indian in the Cupboard series (there's 4-5 books--all were very good)

[angela in ohio]

Swiss Family Robinson, Pilgrim's Progress

[periwinkle]

some of our all-time favorites:

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L Konigsburg
The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady
The Seventeenth Swap by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

[Jenny in Atl]

The Bartimaeus Trilogy would be great fun for your two, lots of humor and adventure.

[LaMere Academy]

Strawberry Girl
Understood Betsy
Johnny Tremain
A Little Princess

[Mrs. H.]

Check out 'Honey for a Child's Heart' by Gladys Hunt. It lists terrific books by age, and most are wonderful read-alouds. Great for those books you normally wouldn't think of.

[Lorna]

Have you read them the Moomin books?! I love your avatar by the way. I grew up watching Moomin cartoons on t.v. (I grew up in Japan).

Yes, the Moomin books are some of our all time favourite books and we have read them all as read-alouds. They really help me remember what a happy childhood is like (strange as they are!). Hence the avatar. I haven't seen the cartoons but I love the comic strip books too which they have re-released in recent years.
Our favourite was 'Comet in Moominland'.

[Lorna]

The Bartimaeus Trilogy would be great fun for your two, lots of humor and adventure.
Thanks Jenny! We haven't read those. :D

[Sasha]

I second (third?) Understood Betsy. We just finished reading it and I had the biggest lump in my throat.

Right now we're reading:

Harriet the Spy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I also remember loving:
The Egypt Room

[AndyJoy]

Summer of the Monkeys & Where the Red Fern Grows, both by Wilson Rawls.

[mellifera]

Owls in the Family - Farley Mowat
The Scarlet Pimpernel I forget the author. Last name starts with an "O"-something like Ozky?
The Phantom of the Opera I forget the author's name of this one also.
Father Brown - G. K. Chesterton
All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot

I have a 12 yo, a 10 yo, a 7 yo, and an almost 3 yo who doesn't usually listen but has learned to stay (somewhat) quiet so that the others can.:)

[Mom2jnb]

We love Shadow Spinner, The Second Mrs Gaoconda, Shakespeare Stealer Where the Red Fern Grows Wind in the Willows and Door in the Wall

HTH,
Alison

[Nancy in MI]

Owls in the Family, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Summer of the Monkeys.

:)
Nancy

[ravengal]

Meet the Austins
Amos Fortune, Free Man
Turn Homeward, Hanalee

[runningirl71]

My kids are 10 and 12 and some of their all time favorites that we've read aloud:

Detectives in Togas (hilarious, we laughed all the way through it!)
The Mystery of the Roman Ransom (sequel to Detectives in Togas)
The Westing Game
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
A Single Shard

[gardenschooler]

The Whipping Boy and Tuck Everlasting were two of our favorites. And anything by Edward Eager.