Hello LindaDi, my eldest daughter is 9 and is an avid lover of fiction. Some of her favorites include the following.
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. This is about a devout Jewish family on the East Side in New York in about 1913 onwards. There are five sisters who are eventually joined as the series progresses to include a new baby brother, Charlie. Very lively, girl centred, family centred. All the girls have very different personalities. We listen to this series on CD in the car and my 6 yr old and 3 yr old love it too.
The Melendy Family series by Elizabeth Enright. This starts with “The Saturdays”. My daughter absolutely loves the Melendys. This series is from the 1940s.
The Pendewicks by Jeanne Birdsall. A new book with a family of four girls and their widowed father. Again, huge hit with my daughter and she loves the second book even more than the first.
Right now she is making her way through the Narnia series.
None of these books are Catholic per se, but they all express Catholic values in their love of life and family, while the characters have to overcome personal weaknesses and other challenges. They have a reliable wholesomeness that still appeals to children with exciting and interesting characters and plotlines.
