When Kids Are Too Old for Bedtime Stories: 7 Children's Books to Read Aloud

Reading aloud to your kids invariably ends. Children grow up, they move out and despite what the mother in Love You Forever does, you should never stalk your kids. The beginning of the end looks like this: You finish a chapter one night, and the next time you get ready to pick up where you left off, your ‘little’ boy says he’s already read that part. In fact, could you pass the book over? “I can read it faster on my own, Mom.”

But maybe you’re not ready to let go. If that's the case, there are ways of prolonging that special reading time as your child advances through the middle school years. By choosing the right books, he or she will continue to look forward to a bedtime story with you.

The trick is to choose a book that keeps your child engaged, but for one reason or another, doesn’t tempt him or her to keep reading when you’re not there. Maybe the language is arcane, or the print is too small. The book itself is heavy. There aren’t any pictures. And the plot is s-o-o slow.

Sounds like a yawn, doesn’t it?

Think again. What we’re talking about here is literary fiction. Children don’t often pick up this kind of book, but the classics cast spells that few children can resist once they get started. Check out some of the time-honored tales listed below and settle in for an entire season of sharing one really good book with your child.

7 Classic Children's Books to get you started:

The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien

Children’s books: Very few books create the sense of place that Tolkien does in the Hobbit. Even children who are impatient with too much description will be riveted by the magical places they go in this hero’s journey. And who can't fall in love with Bilbo Baggins? He speaks to the tiny, small self in each of us, that self that has such potential for greatness.

Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson

Children's Books: This powerful book will help your children engage with verse. A beautiful book that portrays what it was like for a young black girl born in 1963 and the impact of slavery on her growing up years.

Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame

Children’s books: If your child likes cozy places and talking animals, he or she will love exploring the countryside, meadows, caves, brooks, rivers and streams with this motley crew of colorful creatures.

At the Back of the North Wind
George MacDonald

Children’s books: Poor Diamond. So cold and miserable in his little loft, where the icy wind blows through cracks in the wall at night. The perfect setup for something magical to happen!

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte

Children's books: It was a dark and stormy night…this book is scary! A great love story, too. But keep your smart phone by your side. The vocabulary is so esoteric you will need a dictionary throughout.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain

Children’s books: A scrappy boy with an endless wit who is always in trouble. ‘Nuff said.

Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte

Children’s books: If your child is a hopeless romantic, the unrequited love between Heathcliff and Catherine will be sure to satisfy. English moors, lovers who can’t have each other and tragic deaths, this book has it all.