Middle Grade March: 12 great reads for animal lovers

Adventures of a South Pole Pig... We love this cute adventure story about a delightful pig, two cats, and a slew of sled dogs! 

Charlotte's Web... This delightful classic takes place on a farm and along with our pig main character you'll spend a lot of time with sheep, geese, and Templeton the rat! 

The Chronicles of Narnia... This classic 7-book fantasy series features all kinds of animals (real and mythical) but I think Aslan the Lion and Reepicheep the mouse are the obvious favorites. 

The Cricket in Times Square... Chester the Cricket, Tucker the Cat, Harry the Pigeon, and a delightful story! 

The Green Ember... Rabbits with swords and a battle of good vs evil. Adore this one! 

Little House series... You'll see their good old bulldog Jack all the time but there's also plenty of time with Susan the Cat, Pet and Patty, a bear, a deer Pa just couldn't hunt... Delightful! 

The Mouse and the Motorcycle... We love this trilogy about a toy motorcycle-riding mouse, and often his mouse family. 

My Side of the Mountain... Sam Gribley moves into a hollowed out tree in the woods and trains a Peregrine falcon. One of my childhood favorites, and one of my dad's before that! 

The One and Only Ivan... A gorilla, a dog, and a baby elephant. My son has read this Newberry winner from Ivan the gorilla's perspective 15 times this year! 

Stuart Little... Another talking mouse, another favorite of my children. The cat, you should know, is not looked at with fondness in this one. 

Summer of the Monkeys... Another childhood favorite! I loved Jay Barry's search for escaped circus monkeys! 

The Trumpet of the Swan... EB White has such a way with animal stories! I do like Charlotte's Web more than i like this one but still, it's a good one! 

So you want to be a princess...

Maybe it's all the Disney movies or maybe it's wired into us but i think just about every woman was once a little girl who wondered, even if only for one fleeting moment, what it might be like to be a princess. A few books to celebrate that: 

Dogerella... My girls love this leveled reader about a princess who just wishes she had a dog and a Cinderella dog who just wishes she had a loving home. 

The Green Ember series... Rabbits with swords, action, adventure, and a bit of royalty make this Christian middle grade series such an absolute delight! 

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe... Four siblings who discover an enchanted world, a rich and powerful Christian allegory. Technically, the children are the kings and queens of Narnia... But I had already made the above graphic and I'm feeling lazy! So it stays!

A Little Princess... Fine, she's not really a princess. But this bright young lady is a wonderful storyteller and believes in her, erm, princessitude in such an inspiring way. I have always loved this delightful children's classic! 

Mary Engelbreit's Nursery and Fairy Tales Collection... This is our favorite fairy tale book! There are lots of delightful stories here but the princess stories included are Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Frog Prince, The Princess and the Pea, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty. 

The Nutcracker... The ETA Hoffman original features the story of Princess Perlipatt so i couldn't leave this classic out! 

Princess in Black... My children have all enjoyed this early chapter book series about a princess who secretly moonlights as a superhero. 

The Princess and the Goblin... I only discovered this classic adventure a couple years ago but I would have loved this story as a kid! Princess Irene and her nurse get caught in a wild adventure featuring, of course, goblins! 

Princess Parables... These early readers are all about faith messages and the illustrations have a bit of a Disney Princess feel. My girls are fans. 

Princess Penny Saves the Day... We love this Good and the Beautiful story that shows that everyone can make a difference! 

The Princess Twins... These Christian early readers are fun and sweet so what's not to like?

The Rescue Princesses: The Secret Promise... The truth is that I didn't mind this book but didn't adore it. One of my daughters was a huge fan though and is looking forward to reading book 2. 

The Salmon Princess... We read this picture book because we were looking for a good Alaska story. This is not your typical princess story! 

And for grownups...

In Search of a Prince*...  This contemporary Christian fiction is the story of a 25-year-old New York City native who is one day told shes actually the princess of an island in Africa... And needs to quickly take over the throne + get married! This one has fun Princess Diary vibes and will make romance readers happy. 

*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Middle Grade March: historical fiction favorites

Bicycle Spy... WWII resistance, always a favorite theme for me. I listened to this one as an audio book  

Caddie Woodlawn... I didn't like this Pioneer story as much as I liked Little House but many others prefer this one. 

Code Talker... This is like a fictional memoir about the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII. I forgot a few times that it was fiction! Ideal for your older middle grade readers. 

Echo... One of my very, very favorites! Multiple WWII stories that all the together in the coolest way. So we'll written! The audio book is awesome, too. 

Esperanza Rising... Set in the 1930s, this one is about a wealthy Mexican girl whose family is forced to flee into a much less affluent life. I adored this book when I was in middle school. 

Hunger Winter... WWII, 13-year-old big brother making a daring escape with his little sister. I was such a huge fan of this one! 

Lemons... This is set at the end of the Vietnam war but admittedly has nothing to do with that until basically the end. It's still a delightful story about some kids working through their pain and searching for Big Foot! A and I loved this one. 

Little House series... I've read these classic Pioneer novels so many times I've lost count! Be aware that Ma is racist against Native Americans. 

A Long Walk to Water... This was a powerful story about the Lost Boys of Sudan I liked so much more than I ever imagined I would! 

Orphan Train Girl... This is a young reader edition of the adult novel Orphan Train. I haven't read that one but I loved Orphan Train Girl! 

Riddle of the Prairie Bride... This is my favorite of the American Girl History Mysteries so far, about a mail order bride who might not be who she claims to be. 

The Sign of the Beaver... I really enjoyed this story about a pioneer boy on his own and the companionship he finds in a Native American boy. 

Sisters in Time: Emma's Secret... This is an interesting fiction about the Cincinnati cholera epidemic. I'm weird so I read it in March 2020. I look forward to reading more in this series, all set in different moments in history. 

Star in the Storm... All non-sheepherding dogs have been banned in 1912 Newfoundland. When a steamer is at risk of sinking, Maggie knows her secret dog Sirius could help. Does she dare risk his banishment by bringing him out to help? 

Toliver's Secret... A and I read this Revolutionary War story with his TGTB History 1 and we really enjoyed seeing this young girl's adventure as she attempted to deliver a secret message over enemy territory. 

Twenty and Ten... This is another WWII story, about a group of school children who have agreed to hide Jewish children and must think quickly when they're separated from their teacher and questioned by Nazi soldiers. 

Words on Fire... A Lithuanian girl and her family work to save banned Lithuanian books when Russia occupies their country and forbids the Lithuanian language in verbal or written form. 

Middle Grade March: children's classics

I read a lot of middle grade and love Middle Grade March! I thought today I'd talk about the children's classics I've got under my belt so far. 

Anne of Green Gables... A delightful, overly dramatic little girl who gets into all kinds of escapades. It's a lot of fun to see Anne grow and mature through the book and all four of my children enjoy Anne's story, too.

Black Beauty... I was never a horse-crazy little girl but this is a good one for those who can't get enough horses in their lives. 

The Chronicles of Narnia... One of my childhood favorites- a rich Christian allegory about four children and a battle between good and evil in a magical land. Delightful. 

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew... We all love this sweet story about the Pepper family and the children's activities. The siblings are all sweet to each other, something I always love. 

Heidi... We just listened to the audio book version of this book i loved as a middle schooler and my kids were fans. I can't wait to introduce them to the Shirley Temple movie version! 

Little Lord Fauntleroy... I only just read this for the first time about a month ago and was pleased, though it definitely isn't a favorite on this list. 

A Little Princess... I have loved this story since I was in second grade, though back then it was only because the protagonist is a fellow Sara. I also love reading the Little Golden Books version to my monkeys. 

Little Women... My first non-picture-book buddy read with my mom, this one will always hold a special place in my heart! My girls have a darling adaptation they just can't get enough of, too. I really need to curl up with them and watch the newest movie version! 

Pollyanna... Another favorite! The real story is set in England, not America like the Disney movie shows, so we like the Masterpiece Theater movie version better. 

The Prince and the Pauper... After years of only knowing this story through the Mickey Mouse version my son and I buddy read the Classic Starts adaptation of this for language arts a couple months ago. It was a lot better than I was expecting. 

The Princess and the Goblin... I adored this book! I remember thinking at first that I wasn't going to like it but then I was so glad I went for it! I still need to read the sequel though. 

The Railway Children... Another of my favorites on this list! I love how kind the siblings are to each other and I wrote down quite a few delightful quotes. 

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm... This book reminded me of a few others. I liked it fine but wasn't as delighted by it as I'd hoped to be. 

The Secret Garden... Another childhood favorite. I also love this pretty Little Golden Books version for my kiddos, too. 

Swiss Family Robinson... I love a good survivor story but it disappointed me a bit that everything they needed just kinda popped up. Still a good story though!

The Wind in the Willows... I honestly did not enjoy this story at all and really slogged through it but so many people have told me throughout my life they adored this book so I still thought I'd include it. 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz... The weirdest, weirdest book ever but still lots of fun to read! 

Christian fiction filled with cute children

I love children and I love seeing them make an appearance in the books I read. Sometimes their appearances help me see the world through their eyes and show my own children compassion for their child-sized struggles while other times they just delight me. If you like to see children in your fiction too, here's a list of kid-filled Christian fiction picks I've read. 

At Home in Mitford... Father Tim spends a lot of time fostering a boy in this book. I didn't really love this story the way so many others do but I did think this relationship was cute. 

Beneath the Seams... Our main protagonist here has a mommy-and-me fashion line so we see a lot of sweet moments between her and her daughter. We've got travel, fashion, ethics, and a life-changing new understanding of a pretty underrated issue. Love this one! 

The Haunting of Bonaventure Circus... This one is for my suspense fans. This gothic timeslip shows us the 1920s circus life of Pippa and the modern-day single mom attempting to balance motherhood with a job renovating the old circus depot... And a whole lot of mystery and intrigue in between. 

Karen Kingsbury's Baxter Family series... I love this series! I've linked book 1, which I don't think talks as much about the children, but we soon see a whole lot of the kids in the Baxter Family. My current favorite series. 

Life After... A young girl's mother was killed in a train bombing and now she is teaming up with the only survivor for a big project. The PTSD in this one felt very accurate. 

Over the Edge... Our heroine has been infected with Lyme disease as payback to her husband since he doesn't believe in its ability to cause chronic illness. He doesn't believe her, either and she's trying to balance motherhood with this mystery even while her body is betraying her. So good! 

Remember Me... I was so excited to learn about the Spanish civil war but my goodness! War atrocities, sexual child abuse, and suicide are all depicted in this novel. I felt no hope walking away from it! Still, the siblings' strong relationship was a beautiful thing to see. 

Rock Harbor series... This series is about a search-and-rescue worker and her dog but a child is also very heavily featured throughout each book. I think this is the first adult series I truly enjoyed and saw all the way through. 

Stories That Bind Us... This 1960s story is about a newly widowed 40-year-old and the relationship she begins to strike up with the young nephew she never even knew existed. This one is very sweet. 

Until Leaves Fall in Paris*... This WWII story has so many things I love in a book! We have a ballerina, a bookstore, secret resistance missions, and a big meaty moment of intensity! Plus the cutest little girl, Josie, who is a creative little storyteller herself. This was a good one! 

*I received a free copy of Until Leaves Fall in Paris from Netgalley. Opinions are my own.