One of my greatest goals of parenting was to train my kids in godly character. There are many ways our kids learn character, but one key component is the power of influence.
Character building books can be a positive influence on our kids by giving them Godly role models, and shaping their view of integrity, courage, obedience, etc.
There is also the negative influence that wrong books can have.
Many of the books written for kids (including Christian fiction) send the wrong signal to our kids.
For example, some convey that it is normal for kids to disobey or disrespect their parents, while others portray sibling squabbles as a normal everyday thing that is acceptable.
I don’t know about you, but my kids didn’t need any encouragement to be unkind to each other, or to be disobedient!
I would prefer they read books where the kids are obedient, kind to each other, etc.
Many of you have asked me for a list of good character building books for your family, so today I’m going to share some that our family loved.
We used these for reading aloud, or gave them to the kids as gifts, or even for assigned reading.
These are books that will help your kids learn character traits such as courage, dependability, honesty, persistence, purity, and self-control.
RELATED: My 7 Favorite Books For Christian Tweens And Teens
The Best Character Building Books for Kids
Little Journeys Into Storyland
The Secret At Pheasant Cottage
Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories – I absolutely LOVE all of this books in this series, and my kids loved them too!
Tiger and Tom and Other Stories for Boys
The King’s Daughter and Other Stories for Girls
Here are more excellent books for building character: 15 Books You Need To Help You Teach Character to Your Kids
What are some of your favorite character building books? Please share them in the comments.
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I’m gonna check these out! When I was a kid, we read Pig Will and Pig won’t by Richard Scarry and I’m reading it to my small children with success in their helpfulness.
The Boxcar Children are great books and many of them are set in modern times. They are kind to each other and respectful to adults and others. Our whole family loves them and they are great mystery books. Plus there are tons of them!
Growing the Fruit of the Spirit by Kris Cox and Kris Hage is a great family Bible guide with enjoyable activities for all ages. Fun ideas to help your children understand and grow in the godly character traits of the fruit if the Spirit. On Amazon or http://www.krismcox.com
Thank you for sharing the Kindle list for others to use! Very helpful!
I went through and found the ones from your list that have Kindle versions, and I made a public wish list of them on amazon, in case it is helpful to others. I didn’t add every book in the ones that are series sets, as I figure the sequels will be easy to find once you have a starting point. I hope this is helpful to some other travelers!
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Hi Ariana! I don’t have an age suggestion for these, but would say read them aloud if he isn’t able to read them yet. 🙂
Is there a place I can see what age these books are appropriate for? My oldest is 6 so i wonder if these are too old for him or if I can start reading some now. Thanks!
Hi Laura! How exciting to be traveling to Europe. At the time I don’t have a list for Kindle books — I’ll keep that idea in the back of my mind though.
Hi! We are traveling Europe this year so Kindle books work best for us to keep the bags light. Do you happen to have a list that indicates which of these might be available on Kindle?
Tiffany, thanks for suggesting those! I have never read them, but I have heard good things about them!
Titus 2 ministries has the Moody Series (10 books) which are written for children and point them to Christ. My son has all of them through Christmas gifts, Christmas or birthday money. They talk on a homeschool perspective and we really like them.
Many on this list we haven’t read and they look really good. Thank you!
Those are all great books. Thanks for sharing!
I loved reading “Anne of Green Gables,” “Little House on the Prairie” series, and “The Grain Brain” series. The later was written by John D. Fitzgerald. And of course “Narnia” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Thanks Wendy!
I’m commenting to let you know that this post was chosen as one of our featured favorite articles for tomorrow’s Hop post on Hip Homeschool Moms. In case you’d like to share it, the shortlink, which will go live when the Hop post goes live in the morning, is http://wp.me/p1swZe-bjz. We hope you’ll keep coming back to link up with us!
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I looked through your list and I noticed many of the books were published nearly 100 years ago and most of the stories are set in the 19th and early 20th century. I live and work in an urban setting and I would like to find books that demonstrate strong character in a modern setting. I have not lived on a farm, though my parents grew up farmers, but now my daughter will be two generations removed. I feel as though such focus on the past and agrarian life gives the impression that there was a golden age of morality and it is incompatible with Urban 21st century life.
I loved passing on some of my favorites to my kids!
Great list! I remember reading some of those as a kid. I’m going to have to find them for my kiddos, too. 🙂
Sara, glad to hear you got some new ideas. My kids were avid readers too, so I was always on the lookout for good books which promoted Godly character.
Great list! I have a bunch of avid readers and there are several on the list we haven’t tried yet.
Yes, Lamplighter and Rod & Staff have good wholesome books! Thanks for sharing your list too. 🙂
Great list! Some I’ve heard of, but some are new to me. I’ll have to check them out. I have had a fair bit of success with Lamplighter books as well as Rod and Staff Publishing. I’ve done a few book reviews on my blog if you want to see more specifics – we hold similar values in books.