Inspired by the success of GSHE’s past reading challenges and similar programs offered by public libraries, GSHE is continuing its monthly Reading Challenge for 2026, created especially for New Hampshire’s homeschool community.
This challenge is designed to be simple, flexible, and enjoyable. Each month offers a broad reading theme that encourages children to explore new authors, subjects, and genres in ways that fit your homeschool style.
Families may choose any book that matches the monthly theme and feels appropriate for their child’s age, interests, and reading level.
There are no required book reports, projects, logs, or submissions to GSHE. If you choose to keep a record of your child’s participation, it may be included in your homeschool portfolio, but that is entirely optional.
Participation
GSHE does not collect reading logs, track participation, or offer prizes for the Reading Challenge. Families are welcome to extend the challenge in their own creative ways, such as offering a small monthly incentive, planning special library visits, or setting aside dedicated family reading time.
For children who are not yet reading independently, audiobooks and family read-alouds count. Readers of all abilities are welcome.
If you’d like encouragement and ideas for reading together as a family, you may also enjoy:
Read Alouds: Benefits, Research, and Favorite Books – Part 1
Read Alouds: Tips and Favorite Books – Part 2
Finding Books on a Budget
Your local library is a great place to start, including access to interlibrary loan (ILL) programs.
GSHE members also have access to a wide range of free book and audiobook resources through the GSHE Resource Directory. Create a free account at gshenh.org/join to explore options such as:
Libby by OverDrive
LibriVox (public-domain audiobooks)
NH Downloadable Books Consortium
Project Gutenberg
Storyberries (especially helpful for younger readers)
Ben and Me (free Kindle books for children)
January Reading Challenge: Read a Classic
These titles are suggestions only. Any book your family considers a classic fits this challenge.
Younger Readers & Family Read-Alouds
(Preschool–Early Elementary)
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Arabian Nights by various authors (traditional)
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Paddington Bear by Michael Bond
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
Elementary Readers
(Grades 2–4)
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Island of the Blue Dolphin by Scott O’Dell
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
Stuart Little by E. B. White
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
Middle Grades
(Grades 4–6)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Upper Middle Grades & Early Teens
(Grades 6–8)
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
White Fang by Jack London
Older Readers & Family Read-Alouds
(Grades 8+)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Folklore, Fairy Tales, & Short Classics
(All Ages)
Aesop’s Fables by Aesop
Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
