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Hey there! A Reading Log Chart printable has been added to the Freebie Library.
Contents of the Reading Log Chart Printable
The Reading Log Chart printable is a great way to record all the books your kids read. Write the date, title and author, number of pages read, and the amount of reading time in the provided spaces.
Also, record the totals, goals, and a name in spaces at the bottom of the chart. Perfect for summer reading programs!
Scroll to the Reading Freebies section and click on the Freebie: Reading Log Chart picture. (It looks the same as the picture at the top of this post.)
Print the reading log. Then fill in the space for the name and reading goals.
Complete the other spaces after reading time until the chart is filled. If desired, print more charts and store them in a folder or three-ring binder.
A prize could be offered when the chart has been completed or a goal has been reached.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may be compensated at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through a link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Hey there! A Reading Log: Build a Caterpillar printable has been added to the Freebie Library.
Contents of the Reading Log: Build a Caterpillar Printable
The Reading Log: Build a Caterpillar printable is a fun way to encourage kids to read. It comes with two pages of circles, which can be cut out with scissors or a hole punch (such as this one).
Choose a reading challenge for your kids and build a caterpillar as the challenge is completed. (I like displaying things on my wall for my kids to see, so I use a lot of painter’s tape like this. Just keep in mind that the paint may still peel if the tape is up for a long period of time.)
Scroll to the Reading Freebies section and click on the Freebie: Reading Log: Build a Caterpillar picture. (It looks the same as the picture at the top of this post.)
Print the pages with the circles. You may want to print multiple copies of the page with only circles if you want to build a really long caterpillar.
Cut or punch out all the circles, including the caterpillar’s head. Then display the caterpillar’s head on a wall or other visible space.
Choose your reading challenge and set a goal. Each circle could represent a book that has been read or a set amount of reading time (such as fifteen minutes or thirty minutes).
Each time a challenge is completed, add a circle to create the caterpillar’s body. For example, if you choose to have each circle represent fifteen minutes of reading time and your kid reads for thirty minutes, add two circles to the caterpillar display. If you choose to have each circle represent a book your kid has read, you could write the book’s title and the author’s name on the circle before adding it to your caterpillar.
Continue adding circles to the caterpillar until a set goal, such as twenty circles, has been reached. If desired, offer a prize for reaching the goal.
Books to Read
Below is a list of books about butterflies, moths, and caterpillars to match the caterpillar-theme reading log.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may be compensated at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through a link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Hey there! Reading Challenge Bookmarks have been added to the Freebie Library.
Contents of the Reading Challenge Bookmarks Freebie
The Reading Challenge Bookmarks are a great way to encourage your kids to read. Choose from the following nine animal options: beaver, elephant, koala, duck, fox, mouse, raccoon, pig, or zebra. Or choose them all!
Each animal has its own page, which consists of four bookmarks. Below is a picture of the raccoon Reading Challenge Bookmark page.
Each Reading Challenge Bookmark has ten books to color or punch a hole through when a reading challenge is completed. Additional space is provided at the bottom to record a name and goal.
Directions for the Reading Challenge Bookmarks Freebie
Scroll to the Reading Freebies section and click on the Freebie: Reading Challenge Bookmarks picture. (It looks the same as the picture at the top of this post.)
Print the bookmarks on card stock and cut them out. Then fill in the space for the name and reading goal. Laminate the bookmarks for more durability if desired.
Choose your reading challenge. Each book on the bookmark could represent a book that has been read or a set amount of reading time (such as fifteen minutes or thirty minutes).
Punch a hole through each book on the bookmark as the challenge is completed. For example, if you choose to have each book represent fifteen minutes of reading time and your kid reads for thirty minutes, punch a hole through two books on the bookmark.
A prize could be offered when all ten books have a hole punched through them.
Alternative option: If you don’t laminate the bookmarks, your kids could color the books as they complete the challenge.
Books to Read
Below is a list of books to get you started as you complete the Reading Challenge Bookmarks.
(This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission if you click on a link and make a purchase. Thank you!)
I have enjoyed sharing themed book lists for kids on my website over the last couple of years, but I have never made a list as long as this one.
Who knew there were so many different biography series for kids available? And I didn’t even list them all!
In this post, I have listed more than fifteen biography series for kids to choose from and enjoy. Of course, each series contains multiple books, so this list includes over two hundred biography books for kids (and adults).
So many choices!
Some Considerations
I do have some caveats with this list that I’d like to mention before I share the book titles.
First, some books are categorized as biographies, but they don’t contain only facts about that person. I attended a picture book meeting with some other authors earlier this year, and we discussed how frustrating this can be. Sometimes, there may be just a small note in the beginning or at the end of the book that says something about the author taking liberties with the story.
This is especially true when it comes to dialogue since there may not be any documentation showing exactly what someone had said in specific situations. In one book that was categorized as a biography, we learned there wasn’t much known about the subject’s childhood, so the author invented that entire portion (which happened to be the majority of the book). So, with that in mind, the books listed here are categorized as biographies, but there may be some that would be better described as “based on the life of . . .”
You can’t really believe everything you read online or in books, I guess.
Second, everyone has a worldview. You have a worldview. I have a worldview. We all have a worldview. And, oftentimes, those worldviews are incorporated within books like these. Even if it’s unintentional. For example, consider two authors writing about the same person. One author is enamored by that person, but the other author has a strong distaste for that person. Even if they stick to the facts, the way in which they write and how they present the information may vary. It’s just something to keep in mind as you read about different people in books that have been written by different people and published by different companies.
Third, although my daughters and I have enjoyed reading many of these books, I have not personally read them all. So, I am not necessarily recommending all of these books. I simply wanted to share a list of some possible book biography series for kids. Please read them at your own discretion.
Fourth, if there is a particular person’s biography you are looking for, you may want to try using “cntrl” + “f” and type that person’s name in the search bar. I did not list all of the names of the people, though, so if you don’t find the name of the person you are looking for in this post, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the biography series I have listed don’t have a book about that particular person.
Fifth, affiliate links are included for your convenience, so you can easily find more information about many of the books. (I do make a small commission at no extra charge to you if you click on one of those links and make a purchase. I did spend many hours putting together this list, and the only compensation I make is from those purchases, so I do greatly appreciate it! Thank you for your support! Even if you don’t make a purchase, thank you for your support by visiting my website!)
Sixth, all of the Christian book series are marked with an asterisk.*
Seventh, since this post only contains biography series, I do hope to put together a list in the future of single picture book biographies (that are not part of a series). In the meantime, you are welcome to check out some of the other themed book lists I have on my website.
Finally, below is the list of biography book series for kids. They are listed in alphabetical order by series. The books within each list may or may not be listed in any particular order. Books that I saw were numbered were listed by number. Otherwise, I listed the books as I found them (or in order of how the pictures loaded). I may not have found all of the books included within each series. So, some of these series may actually contain more books than I listed here. I still hope this list helps in some way.
Ten Boys Who Changed the World:Brother Andrew; John Newton; Billy Graham; Eric Liddell; William Carey; David Livingstone; Nicky Cruz; Adoniram Judson; George Muller; and Luis Palau
Ten Boys Who Used Their Talents:Wilfred Grenfell; C.S. Lewis; James Clerk Maxwell; Ghillean Prance; Paul Brand; Johann Sebastian Bach; Samuel Morse; George Washington Carver; C.T. Studd; and John Bunyan
Ten Boys Who Made History:Samuel Rutherford; John Owen; Jonathan Edwards; George Whitefield; Robert Murray McCheyne; Dwight L. Moody; Billy Sunday; Charles H. Spurgeon; Aiden W. Tozer; and Martyn Lloyd–Jones
Ten Boys Who Didn’t Give In:Polycarp; Alban; Sir John Oldcastle; Thomas Cranmer; George Wishart; James Chalmers’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Nate Saint; Ivan Moiseyev; and Graham Staines
Ten Boys Who Made a Difference:Augustine of Hippo; Jan Hus; Martin Luther; Ulrich Zwingli; William Tyndale; Hugh Latimer; John Calvin; John Knox; Lord Shaftesbury; and Thomas Chalmers
Ten Girls Who Changed the World: Isobel Kuhn; Mary Slessor; Joni Eareckson; Corrie Ten Boom; Evelyn Brand; Gladys Aylward; Jackie Pullinger; Amy Carmichael; Elizabeth Fry; and Catherine Booth
Ten Girls Who Used Their Talents:Anne Lawson; Selina Countess of Huntingdon; Mildred Cable; Katie Ann Mackinnon; Sarah Edwards; Patricia St John; Helen Roseveare; Harriet Beecher Stowe; Mary Verghese; and Maureen McKenna
Ten Girls Who Made History:Mary Jane Kinnaird; Emma Dryer; Florence Nightingale; Lottie Moon; Ida Scudder; Jeanette Li; Henrietta Mears; Bessie Adams; Betty Greene; and Elisabeth Elliot
Ten Girls Who Didn’t Give In:Blandina; Perpetua; Lady Jane Grey; Anne Askew; Lysken Dirks; Marion Harvey; Margaret Wilson; Judith Weinberg; Betty Stam; and Esther John)
Ten Girls Who Made a Difference: (Monica of Thagaste; Katherine Luther; Susanna Wesley; Ann Judson; Maria Taylor; Susannah Spurgeon; Bethan Lloyd–Jones; Edith Schaeffer; Sabina Wurmbrand; and Ruth Bell Graham
In Trailblazers box set 3, you can read about the following preachers and teachers: John Stott, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, and Johnathan Edwards.
In Trailblazers box set 4, you can read about the following reformers and activists: John Knox, John Calvin, William Wilberforce, John Welch, and John Newton.
In Trailblazers box set 5, you can read about the following heroes and heroines: Corrie ten Boom, Brother Andrew, Richard Wurmbrand, George Müller, and Eric Lidell.
In Trailblazers box set 6, you can read about the following people in these books about arts and science: Michael Faraday, John Bunyan, Fanny Crosby, C.S. Lewis, and Patricia St. John.
In Trailblazers box set 7, you can read about the following American trailblazers: Jim Elliot, Elisabeth Elliot, Betty Greene, D. L. Moody, and Lottie Moon.
I included pictures for 48 books from the Who Was? series, but there are over 200 titles available. You can see the list of titles here on the Penguin Random House website.
There is also a What is the Story of? series (found here) and a What Was? series (found here) and a Where Is? series (found here) that offer even more information about a variety of topics and places.
I searched for a while but have had trouble finding box sets for the Who Was? series. The only box set I found on Amazon is this What Is? America box set, which includes the following twenty-five books (with a mixture of books from the Who Was? series, Where Is? series, and What Was? series).
Obviously, I did not include individual links for all of the books in this series, but I hope the links and pictures I did provide help guide you in the right direction if you want more information about them.
Please share any other recommendations for book biography series in the comments below.
(This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra charge to you if you click on a link and make a purchase. Thank you!)
I’ve come up with ideas for books while listening to my daughters, reading articles, watching TV, going for walks, talking to others, and on and on it goes.
I don’t have any problem coming up with ideas for books. No, I’ve got lots of ideas! My problem is Awesome Idea Syndrome.
Even though Awesome Idea Syndrome is a term I made up and diagnosed myself with, I’m sure I am not the only writer to suffer from it.
The main symptom of Awesome Idea Syndrome is I am content working on a manuscript until . . . (insert page turn here) I see or hear something that I think would make an interesting book. Then, I get so excited about that idea that I start working on a new manuscript until . . . (next page turn) another idea comes to me.
And on and on it goes. (As a side note, the ideas aren’t always “awesome,” but it sometimes takes me a while to figure that out.)
I have suffered from Awesome Idea Syndrome for quite a while now. (I have a bin full of partially finished manuscripts to prove it.)
Thankfully, I have found a remedy that has helped me cope with Awesome Idea Syndrome. It’s my “Idea Box.”
I created my “Idea Box” last year with an old shoe box, some decorative card stock, glue, tape, and scissors. It’s not a complete antidote, but it has helped significantly reduce the complications of Awesome Idea Syndrome.
Now, whenever I have a new idea for a book, I write that idea on a library checkout card. Sometimes, I add additional notes to the card, but I limit the amount of time I spend on the new idea. Then, I insert the card into my idea box.
Of course, I could use pieces of paper, but I like the fact that library checkout cards relate to books (and I had been given over 100 of them for free, so I had them on hand already).
Too Many Ideas
There are definitely benefits to having an idea box. I haven’t started numerous random manuscripts over the past year. I have actually finished more writing projects. And I can see how “unawesome” some ideas are after having them sit for a while. (As another side note, idea journals are also helpful!)
A con to my idea box, though, is that I now have a box full of random ideas. Too many ideas for me to ever use in my lifetime!
So, just like I sort through and donate items in my home I no longer want, I have recently sorted through my idea box. And I am “donating” the ideas I no longer want to you.
You are welcome to use any of the following ideas in your next book project. Please keep in mind, I have not researched these ideas any further than what is listed below. As a result . . .
. . . they may not actually be awesome.
. . . they may have already been written about before. (But maybe they could be written in a new format/genre or from a different angle.)
. . . they may not be 100 percent accurate.
. . . they may not end with a book deal.
. . . they may or may not make sense.
And now, without further ado, here are 20+ book ideas you can use in your next book.
Nonfiction Book Ideas
Engineering design process compared to the writing process
Inventions or other things commonly thought to be created by someone or some place that didn’t actually create it first
Noodles were invented in China (not Italy or some other place)
Fortune cookies were invented in California (not China)
The year of 2 Thanksgivings
Canada and USA have two different dates for Thanksgiving
Grandpa could tell a story of when the USA had two Thanksgivings (1939)
Walter Hunt
Inventor
He owed a man money, so he created the safety pin (which he called a “dress pin”) and sold the rights to it for $400
Parachuting beavers
Beavers were transplanted by airplanes and parachutes
Across the river was a meat packing plant (called Sinclair Packing House) that is now gone
Sewage treatment plant build in 1936
Educational Fiction Idea
Wizard of Oz fractured story
Takes place entirely underwater
Good witch could be angel fish
Dorothy could be Dorothia the mermaid
Toto could be Tortellini the dolphin (or spiny dogfish)
Tornado could be a whirlpool (maelstrom)
Yellow brick road could be yellow coral and/or yellow kelp
Monkeys could be flying fish
Sea stars and jellyfish have no heart or brain
Octopus have more than one heart
Heart reef – Great Barrier Reef
Two creatures with symbiotic relationships
Brain coral
Lion fish
Teach about underwater creatures and habitats (without feeling like being taught)
Fiction Ideas
Monsters telling campfire stories to each other about kids
First hair cut
Child’s hair grows just like he is growing
“snip, snip,” “clip, clip,” “buzz, buzz”
Feels like flying in chair – (going up and down)
Wearing a cloak so equates self to a super hero
Finished Manuscript
It’s amazing to me how one idea can be written in so many different ways. Different characters, different genres, different writing styles, different POVs, and the list goes on. That’s the reason ideas aren’t copyrighted but your actual stories are. I’d love to see your story if you use one of these ideas!
I still have more ideas in my idea box than I will ever use, but I’m not ready to pass them on just yet. Maybe I’ll get around to writing at least a few of them someday.
What About You?
Do you suffer from Awesome Idea Syndrome? If so, maybe this list wasn’t what you needed right now. Have you found anything that has helped you stay focused on your current writing project?
Will any of these ideas make it into one of your future manuscripts? I’d love to hear from you!
Brigitte Brulz 