Adventures to Take When You’re Stuck at Home

When I was a kid, being sent to my room was the best form of punishment. All my favorite things were there, like my Breyer horses, my boombox with stacks of my favorite cassette tapes, and my shelves of beloved books.

Adventures to Take When You're Stuck at Home

I had discovered at an early age what American aphorist Mason Cooley put so nicely:

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

Within the pages of my books, I raced my horse across the desert sands of Arabia in The Black Stallion, I solved the mystery of The Secret Tunnel with Mandie, and I even fought in The Pushcart Wars of New York City.

Many of us are stuck at home this week, because of bad weather, viruses sweeping the globe, or financial reasons.

But we don’t have to stay stuck.

“That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”
– Jhumpa Lahiri

You don’t have to pack your bags or load the car. All you have to do is collect a book or two, grab your cozy blanket and your favorite drink, and you’re on your way to adventures anywhere in this world or in another world. 

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
– Frederick Douglass

But your library is closed? Try Libby or Hoopla through your local library (all you need is your library card number to sign up!). Get a free trial to Kindle Unlimited for 30 days of a fabulous selection of Kindle books. Or try a 60-day trial to Scribd for unlimited audio and Kindle book selection.

Not sure what grade level to look for? Remember that kids can listen to books at a higher level than what they can read on their own. My four-year-old listens to and loves books that would be more of a  3rd or 4th grade reading level if she was reading on her own.

“So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: they begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky.”
– William James

I have only listed the first book of the series, but many of these books are series or have many other great books by the same author. Make sure to explore the ones you love.

Baby-Grade 1

  1. How Fletcher was Hatched
  2. Bella’s Broken Leg
  3. Madeline Finn and the Library Dog
  4. There’s a Monster at the End of this Book
  5. Just the Way You Are
  6. The Pout-Pout Fish
  7. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
  8. Frog and Toad Collection
  9. Tumtum and Nutmeg
  10. The Fire Cat

Grades 1-2

  1. My Father’s Dragon
  2. Dolphin Adventure
  3. Treasures of the Snow
  4. Mercy Watson
  5. James Herriot’s Treasury for Children
  6. Begin (The Growly Series)
  7. A Grain of Rice
  8. Buford the Little Bighorn
  9. The Boxcar Children
  10. Paddington

Grades 2-3

  1. The Year of the Baby
  2. Owls in the Family
  3. Henry Huggins
  4. Twenty and Ten
  5. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
  6. Little House on the Prairie
  7. Billy and Blaze
  8. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  9. Beezus and Ramona
  10. Stuart Little

Grades 3-5

  1. Something Fishy at MacDonald Hall
  2. Danny Champion of the World
  3. The Mouse and the Motorcycle
  4. Adventures of Tintin
  5. Little Britches
  6. White Stallion of Lipizza
  7. Anne of Green Gables
  8. The Trumpet of the Swan
  9. The Littles
  10. Babe

Grades 6-8

  1. Big Red
  2. Banner in the Sky
  3. The Princess and the Goblin
  4. Flashes of Ember
  5. Toxic
  6. The Wind in the Door
  7. The Black Stallion
  8. Black Beauty
  9. The Lake Lights
  10. Jodi: The Mystery of the Missing Message

Grades 9-12

  1. Watership Down
  2. The Pushcart War
  3. Elephant in the Garden
  4. The Book Thief
  5. Shadow Slayer
  6. Black
  7. The Mask of Zorro
  8. The Three Musketeers
  9. Ivanhoe
  10. The Lord of the Rings

Adults

  1. The Poisonwood Bible
  2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Book Society
  3. The Robe
  4. Out of the Silent Planet
  5. The Eleventh Hour
  6. The Number of Love
  7. Can’t Steal My Joy
  8. The Printed Letter Bookshop
  9. Deadlocked
  10. Sirocco Wind from the East

Just like I found when I was sent to my room, you will find books make the walls disappear as the new adventures sweep you into faraway lands and new worlds. And the pages turn, being stuck at home doesn’t seem quite so bad.

What adventure are you on?

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *