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Outside of a Dog Booklist

"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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103 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Biographies, Trade Paperback
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Adventures of Richard Wagner
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Against the World
by Henry Coray
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
Along Came Galileo
by Jeanne Bendick
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Amazing Grace
by Eric Metaxas
from HarperOne
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.99
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $9.50 (1 in stock)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.99
Augustine
by P. de Zeeuw
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95
Bard of Avon
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Benjamin Franklin
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.39
Black Like Me
by John Howard Griffin & Robert Bonazzi
35th anniversary from Signet Classics
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Born Again
by Charles Colson
from Chosen Books
for 9th grade-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Bruchko
by Bruce Olson
from Charisma House
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Buffalo Bill
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Chance to Die
by Elisabeth Elliot
from Revell Publishing
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$22.99
Columbus
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Coronation of Glory
Reformation Trail Series #12
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.95
Cost of Discipleship
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Foreword by Eric Metaxas
1st edition from Touchstone
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.19
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$19.99
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Audio CD
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
$25.00 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Down and Out in Paris and London
by George Orwell
from Mariner Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Edward MacDowell and His Cabin in the Pines
by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 1st-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Egg and I
by Betty MacDonald
from HarperCollins
Biography for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
from Tyndale House
for 9th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Evidence Not Seen
by Darlene Deibler Rose
from HarperCollins
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Francis Schaeffer
by Bruce Little, ed.
from P&R Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99
Franz Schubert and His Merry Friends
by Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland: Early Years
by Opal Wheeler, illustrated by Christine Price
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland: Later Years
by Opal Wheeler, illustrated by Christine Price
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Christian Encounters Series
by Peter Leithart
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
George Washington
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
God's Smuggler
by Brother Andrew
from Chosen Books
Biography for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
by John Bunyan
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$15.00
Grief Observed
by C. S. Lewis, with a foreword by Madeleine L'Engle
from HarperCollins
Death/Grief for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Handel at the Court of Kings
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
from Dover Publications
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.50 (4 in stock)
Here I Stand
by Roland H. Bainton
from Meridian Book
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Here I Stand
by Roland H. Bainton
from Abingdon Press
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Herodotus and the Road to History
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Hitler
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.95
Homage to Catalonia
by George Orwell
from Mariner Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Hudson Taylor
by Vance Christie
from P&R Publishing
for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
2nd edition from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
from Quality Paperback Book Club
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
J. R. R. Tolkien
by Humphrey Carpenter
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Jane Austen
Christian Encounters
by Peter Leithart
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Biography for 8th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
$12.00
Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Ignatius Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.95
John Buchan
by Andrew Lownie, David R. Godine
Revised from David R. Godine
for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00
Jonathan Edwards
by Stephen J. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Joseph Haydn
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Lawrence of Arabia
Sterling Point Books
by Alistair Maclean
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
Leif the Lucky
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Leif the Lucky
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from University of Minnesota
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Letters and Papers from Prison
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
from Simon and Schuster
Biography for Adult
in Practical Christian Living (Location: XCL-PRAC)
$13.60
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99 $7.50 (5 in stock)
Lord of the Elves and Eldils
by Richard L. Purtill
2nd edition from Ignatius Press
for 9th grade-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
Martin Luther
by J. A. Morrison
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.50
Martin Luther
by J. A. Morrison
3rd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Morning Star of the Reformation
by Andy Thomson
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Morning Star of the Reformation
by Andy Thomson
from CreateSpace
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99
My Heart Lies South
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Ocean of Truth
by Joyce McPherson
from Greenleaf Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Omoo
by Herman Melville
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.95
Orthodoxy
by C. K. Chesterton
from Moody Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.99
Paganini, Master of Strings
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Peter Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
by Annie Dillard
from HarperCollins
Meditation/Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Poor Richard
by James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Presenting Miss Jane Austen
by May Lamberton Becker
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Primeval Saints
by James Jordan
from Canon Press
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Bible Commentaries (Location: XBI-COMM)
$14.00 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Road to Wigan Pier
by George Orwell
from Mariner Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Sebastian Bach
by Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Sergeant York and the Great War
by Alvin C. York
from My Father's World
Autobiography for 7th-Adult
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
$22.00
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
by Jennifer Armstrong
1st Pbk. Ed from Crown Publishers
for 4th-8th grade
1999 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.99
Stephen Foster and His Little Dog Tray
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 1st-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (3 in stock)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
Second Edition from Avyx, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of Peter Tchaikovsky
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Story of the Trapp Family Singers
by Maria Augusta Trapp
from HarperCollins
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Stout-Hearted Seven
Sterling Point
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Non-fiction/Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
Surprised by Joy
by C. S. Lewis
from Harcourt
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Surprised by Joy
by C. S. Lewis
Reissue from HarperOne
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Survival in Auschwitz
by Primo Levi
1st edition from Touchstone
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.00 $5.50 (2 in stock)
Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
from Mariner Books
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.95
This Was John Calvin
by Thea Van Halsema
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.95
Through the Veil
by Lisa Ohlen Harris
from Canon Press
for Adult
in World Religions, Cults and Sects (Location: XAP-WRCS)
$9.99
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
from Harper Perennial
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Travels with Charley in Search of America
by John Steinbeck
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.00
Trial and Triumph
by Richard Hannula
from Canon Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$21.00
Typee
from Modern Library
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.95
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