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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9th-12th Outside of a Dog - Fiction

9th-12th Outside of a Dog - Nonfiction

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5th Grade Outside of a Dog Booklist,

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	Augustine Farmer's Boy of Tagaste by P. de Zeeuw from Inheritance Publications Biography for 4th-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $7.95
	Black Cauldron Prydain Chronicles #2 by Lloyd Alexander from Henry Holt and Company Fantasy for 4th-8th grade 1966 Newbery Honor Book in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Book of Three Prydain Chronicles #1 by Lloyd Alexander from Henry Holt and Company Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Castle in the Air A Companion to Howl's Moving Castle Howl's Castle: 2 of 3 by Diana Wynne Jones Reprint from Greenwillow Books for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Castle of Llyr Prydain Chronicles #3 by Lloyd Alexander from Henry Holt and Company Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Children's Homer Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany from Aladdin Paperbacks Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $10.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Diamond of Darkhold Book of Ember #4 by Jeanne DuPrau from Yearling for 4th-7th grade in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI) $8.99
	Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke Deluxe from Chicken House for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke from Scholastic Inc. for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, translated by Anthea Bell from Chicken House for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Dragon Rider: Griffin's Feather Dragon Rider #2 by Cornelia Funke Deluxe from Chicken House for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Grim Reaper Shadow Series #3 by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.95
	Hatchet by Gary Paulsen from Aladdin Paperbacks for 4th-8th grade 1988 Newbery Honor Book in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $7.19
	Hideout in the Swamp Shadow Series #2 by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.95
	High King Prydain Chronicles #5 by Lloyd Alexander from Henry Holt and Company Fantasy for 4th-8th grade 1969 Newbery Medal winner in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Holes Holes Series #1 by Louis Sachar from Yearling for 4th-6th grade 1999 Newbery Medal winner in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $8.99
	Horse and His Boy Chronicles of Narnia Book 3 by Lewis, C. S. from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $12.99 $7.00 (4 in stock)
	House of Many Ways Howl's Castle: 3 of 3 by Diana Wynne Jones Reprint from Greenwillow Books for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Reprint from Greenwillow Books for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Reprint from Greenwillow Books for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Incident at Hawk's Hill by Allan W. Eckert from Little, Brown & Company Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1972 Newbery Honor Book in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Journey to Topaz A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation by Yoshiko Uchida from Heyday Books Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Journey to Topaz A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation by Yoshiko Uchida from Heyday Books Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $12.00
	Last Battle RUC Chronicles of Narnia Book 7 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade 1956 Carnegie Medal in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Chronicles of Narnia Book 2 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $11.99
	Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen Taylor from Moody Press Allegorical and Moral Stories for 4th-6th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $11.99
	Lonely Sentinel Shadow Series #1 by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Magician's Nephew Chronicles of Narnia Book 1 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $11.99
	Mitchells Five for Victory Mitchells Series #1 by Hilda Van Stockum from Bethlehem Books Family Stories for 4th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $16.95
	Partisans Shadow Series #4 by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
	People of Sparks Book of Ember #2 by Jeanne DuPrau Reprint from Yearling for 4th-7th grade in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI) $8.99 $3.50 (2 in stock)
	Pilgrim Stories by Margaret Pumphrey from Beautiful Feet Books for 2nd-6th grade in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL) $11.95
	Prince Caspian TOS Chronicles of Narnia Book 4 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton from Puffin Books for 3rd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Sabotage Shadow Series #5 by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.95
	Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance 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
	Silver Chair Chronicles of Narnia Book 6 by C. S. Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Star-Spangled Banner by Peter Spier from Yearling American History for 2nd-6th grade in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER) $10.99
	Taran Wanderer Prydain Chronicles #4 by Lloyd Alexander from Henry Holt and Company Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Voyage of the Dawn Treader TOS Chronicles of Narnia Book 5 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	We Were There on the Oregon Trail by William O. Steele from American Home-School Publishing Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)

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