14 Books to Read When You Don't Want to Be a Grown-Up (and it's not Peter Pan)

There are good childhoods and there are horrible childhoods. But I'm not talking about what happened in your past. I'm talking about who you were. You were a kid. And regardless of your past children all have one thing in common.

Wonder.

Everything is big and new and awesome when you're a kid. Do you remember when everything was so wondrous you just stood staring in awe?

14 Books to Help You Find Wonder

1. Snow Day, by Billy Coffey
So the first book I put up is about an adult. Ha. But this is a very good book regardless. I read it on a snow day, too, when life seemed all out of whack and it just reminded me that all I have to do is look at what's around me and see how wonderful it really is.

2. Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen

Be careful. It'll make you love owls just a little bit too much, and moonlit nights, and winter.

3. The Borrowers, by Mary Norton
You know all the times those little things went missing and then suddenly reappeared without any explanation? You might have Borrowers in your house. You'll go crazy with wonder and delight looking for them.

4. Now We Are Six, by A.A. Milne
I need more of A.A. Milne in my reading. 

A book of small poems from the perspective of a child.

5. I Heard the Owl Call My Name, by Margaret Craven
Yes, so, you've seen this one before. But truly, this is such a beautiful book. Full of so much loveliness it just makes you burst.

6. One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp

God and wonder and the beauty that surrounds us every day, good and bad, ugly and beautiful. If you want to learn how to really be an adult-kid, looking at the world through wonder-filled eyes read this.

7. The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read, by Imra Simpton Black
Probably one of the books that influenced my desire to read. And I love because it's a childhood memory.

8. The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

You've seen this one frequently, haven't you? A beautiful, wonderful tale of animals in jackets and suits and motor cars, written in such stirring language you'll never be the same after you read it.

9. Freckles, by Gene Stratton Porter
Oh, it's been years since I read this book. But Freckles is a kind, pure, wholesome boy who never thinks ill of anyone, who does whatever task he's asked with care and purpose. And he loves The Swamp Angel.

10. Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White

Remember when your lip puckered all up when you thought Fern's father was really going to kill Wilbur? Yeah. Remember that when you read this again.

11. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery
Oh, dearest Anne. You found friends in mirrors and kindred spirits in the sacred souls of the shy and quiet. Let me be like Anne, because a free spirit means letting beauty stir and fill you freely.


12. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
Aslan, the White Witch, Morgrim, four children called the Pevensies, Shasta, and lost princes, giants and castles, dragons and unicorns.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”― Albert Einstein

13. Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I might be a little too stuck on historical fiction, but not too stuck to say these books hold so much wonder and goodness in them they're just good for the heart. When I was a little kid I would just itch to death because I wanted so badly to be Laura with her rag doll Charlotte, to live in a cabin in the big woods, to go to Nellie Olsen's parties, to make homemade butter, and listen to Pa playing his fiddle.

14. Mary Poppins, by P.L. Travers

I'm also a huge advocate for the Disney musical if you're have a rough life and the weekend doesn't promise much help. Sitting all comfy in your cozy place and reading Mary Poppins will make it all better, I promise.

     Reading in general just makes life a lot better. Slipping away for a little while into a far off land where there are bad things, a little pain, a little suffering, but in the end everything is all right--helps you believe again. It helps you remember just a little bit more about how this world's going to end up. There's a lot of pain, a lot of suffering, but there's going to be a lot of  'all right-ness' and a whole lot of wonder. And there's still a bunch of good things yet to come. This world's just full of stories yet to be written . . .

     I guess I would have you know what Laura Ingalls Wilder wanted you to know when she wrote her books:

“As you read my stories of long ago I hope you will remember that things truly worthwhile and that will give you happiness are the same now as they were then. It is not the things you have that make you happy. It is love and kindness and helping each other and just plain being good. ” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is my book song:

Homecoming - Thomas Bergersen

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I believe Peter Pan to be the best authority on not being a grown-up, make sure you add it to this list.