Funk Family Recommended Reads

Thanks to Covid-19, we are spending an unprecedented amount of time indoors, with no foreseeable end in sight. If you’re worried that you’ve already found the end of the internet in an effort to entertain your restless family, we’re here to help!

One way we can leverage all this extra “togetherness” is to share stories with our family. Stories over time give your kid a bigger perspective. Stories—even fictional stories—help kids process the world around them.

And with so many big changes happening—changes that are difficult for even us to process—stories are one of our greatest resources to give kids and teens context for a time when things won’t feel so strange or scary anymore.

To help get you started, we have reached out to the most expert experts we know - the Funk family - to compile a list for you. Pastor Dustin and Lauren have two teenage sons who have read - or have been read - every book on this list, and we think there are some gems that your son or daughter will love as well.

In case you don't know where to start, we asked Lane Funk, current grade 7 student at Collide, for his top 3 choices from the list and here's what he gave us: The Chronicles of Narnia, Where The Red Fern Grows (my personal favourite), and The Cay.

So whether you’re reading these books aloud together or reading them separately to talk about later, these stories can create meaningful discussions and ongoing conversations between you and your son/daughter.

Here's the list! (Bonus points if you can find the movie version of these stories to compare and contrast with the book!)
 

The One and Only Ivan by K.A. Applegate
 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
 Silas Marner by George Eliot
 Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
 Blue Willow by Doris Gates
 Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
 Treasure in an Oatmeal Box by Ken Gire
 Captain Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
 From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
 The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
 Billy Budd by Herman Melville
 Moby Dick by Herman Melville
 Little Britches by Ralph Moody
 The Day of the Blizzard by Marietta D. Moskin
 Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordoff and James Norman Hall
 Wonder by R.J. Palacio
 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
 Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
 Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker
 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
 Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
 The Cay by Theodore Taylor
 The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
 Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

-Darryl Janzen