Back to School Backpack 2015

Back to School Backpack 2015

Here are some titles to inspire your students in the coming school year! We’ve collected a few of our favorite appropriate titles in the following categories: Something OLD, something NEW, something to BORROW from your local library and something TRUE for spiritual development. Books we have reviewed on Redeemed Reader are linked.

Printable version

Ages 0-4 (books on counting, colors, shapes, etc.)

• OLD: Mouse Paint by Ellen Walsh
• NEW: Countablock by Christopher Franceschelli
• BORROW: LMNOPeas by Keith Baker
• TRUE: Everything a Child Should Know About God by Kenneth Taylor and Jenny Brake (read review)

Ages 4-8

• OLD: Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
• NEW: Water is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin (read review)
• BORROW: The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles  OR With Books and Bricks: the Story of Booker T. Washington by Suzanne Slade
• TRUE: Daily Bible Reading Program for Children bookmarks (read review)

Ages 9-12

• OLD: The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins (read review)
  Summary: Middle-grade kids persevere through hard work and frustration to cultivate their own apple orchard in this engrossing tale that beautifully illustrates the work ethic.
• NEW: Somebody on This Bus Is Going to Be Famous by J. B. Cheaney (read review)
  Summary: A realistic fiction novel that brings together nine very different students on one bus with one school driver for one school year: who is going to be famous?
  Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel (read review)
  Summary: Absolutely Truly begins a fun and wholesome mystery series for middle graders set in Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire.
• BORROW: Wonder by R.J. Palacio (read review)
• TRUE: How God Used a Thunderstorm by Joel Beeke (read review)

Ages 12-15

• OLD: For girls: Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer (read review).
  Summary: Good-hearted Jenna Boller overcomes numerous obstacles to achieve her dream of becoming the world’s best shoe salesperson.
  For boys: Unstoppable by Tim Green (read review)
  Summary: A middle-grade boy’s football ambitions crash against a cancer diagnosis in this frank tale by NFL star Tim Green.
• NEW: Fallout (Lois Lane) by Gwenda Bond (read review)
  Summary: Fallout introduces Lois Lane as a hard-charging teenage reporter with a passion for justice, in this fun, clean YA adventure.
• BORROW: Pioneer Girl: the Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder (edited by Pamela Smith Hill) (read review)
  Summary: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s own account of her growing-up years shows how life became art and is a must for fans of the Little House series.
• TRUE:  Rise by Trip Lee (read review)
  Summary: Trip Lee’s Rise is a gospel-based, conversational book set to a hip-hop album soundtrack in which Lee challenges young adults to rise above low expectations and “get up and live” for God’s glory.
  Pilgrim’s Progress by Gary Schmidt (read review)
  Summary: Gary Schmidt brings to this retelling a novelist’s sense of plot and character development, ably abetted by Barry Moser’s watercolor illustrations.

BONUS for all ages:

• Art for Kids: Drawing: The only art book you’ll need to be the artist you’ve always wanted to be by Kathryn Temple
• 20 Ways to Draw… [series] by various artists (read review)

We welcome your suggestions in the comments! And don’t forget your printable copy of the list.