(Note: I originally published this on my blog, https://familyactivitylists.bl... )

I will confess: I don't really care for classic novels. They tend to bore me or annoy me. The ones I do usually like--such as "Of Mice and Men"--aren't really great for younger readers

However, there are a select few that I WOULD recommend wholeheartedly for a wide range of ages. These would be great read-alouds.

1. "Pollyanna" by Eleanor H. Porter. This is actually not as cheesy as people seem to think. I read it this summer and enjoyed it immensely. There are sad moments, uplifting moments, and redemption arcs galore!

2. Little House in the Big Woods--Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pioneers, living in days gone by. Cute moments of storytelling around the fire. After you read it, you could try making some of the handmade goods that the Ingalls family did.

3. The Witch of Blackbird Pond--Elizabeth George Speare. A clean, subtlelove triangle, a spunky heroine, and some good messages about not judging unfairly.

4. "The Secret Garden"--Frances Hodgson Burnett. Speaking of redemption arcs...also features the power of the outdoors on young minds. 

5. Anne of Green Gables--LM Montgomery. Pollyanna-esque, but with more power of imagintiation, and better descriptions. I'd suggest all of the books on this list, but if you have to pick and choose, this would be better than Pollyanna, honestly.