Lists of Recommended Books

Booklists Prepared by the Benicia Library Librarians 

• Award-Winning Children’s Books
• Books for different grade levels
• Recent Dial-a-Story Books
• Recent Storytime Books
• Books About Starting School 
• Books to Read That are Like Harry Potter Books
• Urban Legends and Ghost Stories
• War and Peace Booklist: A List of Books to Help Children of All Ages Understand the World’s Conflicts and Seek Resolutions
• Gift Ideas
• Books Recommended by Benicia Teen Volunteers 
• Booklists from Other Sources

Sites that include reviews of children's books:

Sometimes, reading a review of a book before reading the book might let you know whether it's a good choice for you or your child.  Here are some websites that include book reviews:

Amazon.com is a great resource!  It provides both editorial reviews (from standard book review magazines) and reviews from parents.

Common Sense Media's website includes not only book reviews, but also reviews of movies, TV, music, and video games.  I like this website because it gives a rating and an age recommendation with the sections describing "the good stuff" and "what to watch out for".

Story Snoops are reviews provided by parents.  Nearly all of the books featured are fiction for children and teens.

Parental Book Reviews focuses on teen fiction, but a few books for older children (such as Eragon) are included.  The reviews aren't very descriptive, but they'll give some idea about the book.

As you might guess, the website from Focus on the Family is rather conservative.  The focus is on fiction.

The Tumble Book Library is a collection of TumbleBooks (animated, talking picture books) and TumblePuzzles.