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You are here: Home / Reviews & Featured Content / Book Review Sites for ALL Kids

By Kristen 10 Comments

Book Review Sites for ALL Kids

How do I know if a book is right for my kids?

It’s a little overwhelming to stay on top of all of the books my kids want to read.  I want to encourage them to read; however, I do not want to expose them to a story-line that is violent, disturbing, filled with inappropriate relationships, and bad language.

This post is really meant for a reader who is self selecting books themselves.  If you’re looking for books on how to choose a book at an appropriate level, click here.  What do you do when your child asks you to request a new book from the library or purchase one from the new school book order?

You look at the titles and find yourself asking, is this book “safe” for my child to read?  

I’d love a system that rates books similar to the movies: G, PG, PG-13, R, and even NC-17.   While I haven’t found those types of ratings, plenty of sites have their own system.

I would like to stress that it is still important to screen reading material as much as possible.  Friends and knowledgeable librarians may have different standards.  Since it is nearly impossible to pre-read every single title for your voracious reader, try out the sites below and bookmark your favorite one!

Book Review Sites for ALL Kids (elementary – high school)

Book Review Sites for Kids Books

Books listed below contain affiliate links.

1.  Common Sense Media

My personal favorite book review site is Common Sense Media.  It is known for it’s movie, video games, and app reviews; however, it also includes books.  You can search by book title, age, topic, parent recommended, and award winners.  This is my go-to book review site!

Age Appropriate Rating System:  Green, Yellow, and Red circles (like a stoplight) to let you see if this content is appropriate for your child’s age.

GREEN:  Content is age appropriate for kids this age.

YELLOW: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.

RED: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning Rating:  Books are rated between 0-5 stars for learning.

book review sites

2.  Thriving Family

Christian Book Reviews for Parents

Background:   Review includes full plot summary, Christian beliefs, profanity, kissing, sex, and discussion questions.

Favorite:  Books are organized alphabetically and give a very thorough overview.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it,” warns Proverbs 4:23. God’s Word recognizes how critical it is to help our young children guard their hearts, especially during the school—age years when they are developing mentally, physically and emotionally.

3. Waking Brain Cells

Background:  Tasha is a librarian in Wisconsin.  She reviews everything from picture books to teen novels.  She only reviews books that she really enjoys.  Tasha also has a great Pinterest board with boards for all of the best early, middle, and teen books of the year.

Favorite:  She reviews books for Middle School and Teens.

4.  Good Reads

Background:  Good Reads gives you book summary, but not age appropriateness or level.  You can set up an account (free), but you can also browse without an account.

Favorite:  You can search for a title and see reviews.  They list the popular books from the past year, see middle school books here.

5.  Epic Reads

Epic Reads is a community for teen book lovers.  Discover teen books, authors, and join communities to share reading interests.  You can browse by genre.

Book Review Sites for Kids... is your child reading appropriate books?

 ………………………………………….

A great  resource for selecting books for gifted readers is Some of My Best Friends Are Books by Judith Wynn Halstead.

A thought provoking book about a teacher who awakens the inner-reader in the 6th graders.  The Reading Teacher by Donalyn Miller.

What would you recommend?

 ………………………………………….

More Helpful Resources

Pinterest Board:  Books for Boys  and Books for Girls

Books for 8 Year old Boys

Audio Books for Kids

Lego Books for Beginning Readers

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Filed Under: Reviews & Featured Content Tagged With: Books, middle school

About Kristen

Kristen is an Elementary Reading Specialist. She is the owner / author behind Busy Kids Happy Mom, a site dedicated to fun, practical, and purposeful activities to do with your kids. Follow Kristen on Facebook, Pinterest, and subscribe for updates.

What People Are Saying

  1. Jennifer@WhatMyKidsRead says

    October 21, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    Love your list! I have checked Common Sense Media and Thriving Family many times. I like to read several reviews because every one has a slightly different take on what is appropriate at the different ages.
    A few other sites I would add are Story Snoops (www.storysnoops.com), The Literate Mother (http://www.theliteratemother.org), and Sweet on Books (http://sweetonbooks.com/). Also (shameless plug!), I do thorough reviews of books on my blog. 🙂
    I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the websites on your list – thanks!
    Jennifer@WhatMyKidsRead recently posted…Book Review of Pippi Goes On Board by Astrid LindgrenMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kristen says

      October 21, 2013 at 3:12 pm

      Great sites too Jennifer! I need to go back and add these too!

      Reply
  2. gidgets bookworms says

    October 21, 2013 at 12:46 pm

    I have a kid lit book review blog and I might have to start rating the books with the movie rating’s at least for the tween and teen books. thanks for the post it gave me some ideas to add to my blog!
    gidgets bookworms recently posted…Halloween Chapter BooksMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kristen says

      October 21, 2013 at 3:12 pm

      Keep me posted!! I’d love to know if you do that to your site!

      Reply
  3. kristal says

    October 21, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    it’s impossible for me to pre-read every single book my kids devour and that’s why i so appreciate sites i can trust to help me make wise choices. my favorite is whatmykidsread.com. thank you for reminding us that books are an entryway into our kids’ hearts and we need to be watchful of what we let in.

    Reply
    • Kristen says

      October 21, 2013 at 3:10 pm

      Kristal – I LOVE your statement “books are an entryway into our kids’ hearts”. So true!

      Reply
  4. tricia says

    October 21, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    What a fantastic resource, Kristen! Sharing in our local education/schools forum! Thanks!
    tricia recently posted…Family Night No-Carve Jack-O-Lantern BarMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Crissy says

    October 21, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    Thanks for the great resources. I also like the reviews at this site: http://www.books4yourkids.com/

    Reply
  6. Sarah says

    November 5, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    I have a friend that has a review blog. It is http://cleanteenfiction.blogspot.com

    She does good thorough reviews as well as interviews and tours.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Just Right Books for Kids using the Goldilocks Strategy says:
    April 18, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    […] finding books.  That’s okay!  Not only do we need to look at the book level and if the material is appropriate, we need to make sure they can READ […]

    Reply

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