Outside of a Dog Booklist

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"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
—Groucho Marx

We are frequently asked to recommend literature to kids, and while there's nothing better than taking the time to know what the individual likes and recommend for their tastes, we've definitely settled on a number of books that are our personal favorites. This list is meant to promote books that will branch kids beyond the latest pop-fiction, and beyond many of the curricular lists you'll find floating around.

The PDF version of Outside of a Dog offers a page of links helping you navigate the overwhelming resources scattered throughout this website. It includes recommended read-alouds for preschoolers and kindergartners and contains 50+ titles for grades 1-8, offering you summer reading aplenty for years on end. It doesn't promote a liberal agenda, cater to the lowest common denominator, or present books designed to make anyone look smart. We haven't limited ourselves to classics or "must-read" titles. There are plenty of those, but just as many are personal favorites that have kindled our own love of reading. These are books that will open the wide doors of reading to kids turned off by more than standard fare. Throughout the list, author names are links, often taking you to short biographies, links to more information, and a list of what we have.

It's also intended to challenge older readers, with two lists for high school students and two for adults:

150+ great literature and fiction titles
150+ non-fiction titles, containing history, biographies, basic philosophy, and titles that focus on spiritual matters and practical Christian living. We want to encourage you to be culture-changers for Christ

The printed version is a little different. It doesn't include the links, of course, nor does it have the preschool/kindergarten reading lists or the adult lists. It does include an "advanced" high school list, which is what was adapted into the adult lists. Also, in the digital version, the grade level lists have been tweaked, with some new favorites added, and some reading level suggestions adjusted.

This category on our site offers all of our recommended books in one place. We are working on adding an Exodus rating to every single one. Browse the list, or filter by grade with the sidebar.

Whether you're six or sixteen (or sixty!), whether you're a dog person or not, some new best friends are waiting!

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Outside of a Dog Booklist

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1st Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

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3rd Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

4th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

5th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

6th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

7th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

8th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist

9th-12th Outside of a Dog - Fiction

9th-12th Outside of a Dog - Nonfiction

Adult Fiction Outside of a Dog Booklist

Adult Nonfiction Outside of a Dog Booklist

34 Items found Print

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Hardcover

	Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey 1st edition 1st printing from HarperCollins Family Stories for 4th-9th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris from Houghton Mifflin Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris, retold by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney from Dial Press Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $50.00
	Fly Went By by Mike McClintock from Random House Rhyming Books for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB) $9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Fly Went By by Mike McClintock, illustrated by Fritz Siebel from Random House Rhyming Books for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Frog and Toad Are Friends An I Can Read Book Level 2 by Arnold Lobel from HarperCollins Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade 1971 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $11.89 (1 in stock)
	Harry and the Lady Next Door An I Can Read Book Level 1 by Gene Zion from HarperCollins Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Holes with Bonus Material Holes Series #1 by Louis Sachar 10th Anniversary Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 4th-6th grade 1999 Newbery Medal winner in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne from Dutton Children's Books Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $19.99
	If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff from HarperCollins Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $19.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
	If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff from HarperCollins Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $17.99
	James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot, illustrated by Ruth Brown & Peter Barrett Unabridged from Macmillan Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $25.99
	King's Stilts by Dr. Seuss from Random House Humor for 1st-3rd in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $16.99
	Mary Poppins Illustrated Gift Edition Mary Poppins Series #1 by P. L. Travers, illustrated by Julia Sarda from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jule Feiffer from Random House Satirical Fantasy for 5th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Piglet Named Mercy Mercy Watson #0 by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen from Candlewick Press for Preschool-2nd grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Pippi Goes on Board Pippi Longstocking #2 by Astrid Lindgren from Viking Press Humor for 2nd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Plague and I by Betty MacDonald from J.B. Lippincott Co. Biography for 8th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Restaurant At the End of the Universe Hitchhiker's Trilogy #2 by Douglas Adams Book Club Edition from Harmony Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Slant Book by Peter Newell from Tuttle Publishing Humorous Rhyming Books for 2nd-6th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Hitchhiker's Trilogy #4 by Douglas Adams from Crown Publishers Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting from Dover Publications for 3rd-7th grade 1923 Newbery Medal winner in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $14.95
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Tasha Tudor from Collins Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Robert Ingpen from Sterling Publishing Co. Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $24.95
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, abridged and illustrated by John Worsley from Lemon Tree Press Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wind in the Willows Junior Deluxe Editions by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Tasha Tudor Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Helen Ward from Borders Press Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by John Burningham from Viking Kestrel Books Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Nancy Barnhart from Barnes & Noble Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by James Lynch from The Folio Society Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $25.00 (1 in stock)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Charles van Sandwyck from The Folio Society Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Joanne Moss from Breslich & Foss Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Michael Foreman from Harcourt Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Helen Ward from Templar Books Humorous Animal Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)

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