In just a couple of weeks, when you tell your kids the family is giving up screen time for Lent, you’re going to need something to offer them instead to stop the whining. Our go-to activity? Reading.
For years, we’ve read books aloud, long past when my older ones could read for themselves. Of course, they’ve read on their own, too, and I can’t begin to keep up. The books below come primarily from our 5th grader, who reads at a 9th-ish grade level. If it has an asterisk, then I haven’t read it myself. If you have readers like mine, books are gobbled up faster than Costco pizzas, and far more expensive!
When Does Lent Start in 2025 Anyway?
Did you notice that we haven’t even passed Ash Wednesday yet this year? It is coming, but not until March 5, 2025. And, no, Ash Wednesday is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation. As my priest eloquently put it, though, it is highly recommended to attend a Mass or Liturgy of the Word Service “as a sign of desiring conversion.”
What’s Required During Lent?
Before you “go get your ashes,” the process of desiring conversion in your household should have already started. The Church, in her great wisdom, asks us to do a few things specifically, starting on Ash Wednesday:
- Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This fast is for people 18-59. That’s right, the kids don’t have to do it, and your parents are probably past the age of the requirement. The fast isn’t terribly intense, though, so it’s ok to encourage them anyway. We can have one regular meal and up to two small meals that, combined, do not equal another regular-sized meal. In my personal experience, when I fast for the right reasons, I am far more aware of the suffering of others, of my need for humility, and of all of the gifts God has given me.
- Abstain from meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday. Different cultures tend to define “meat” differently, often excluding poultry. The Church, though requires that we avoid any flesh that comes from a warm-blooded animal. Abstaining is meant to begin at age 14, a little earlier than fasting.
That’s it! Really! Everything else is gravy.
But . . .
Lent is meant to be a penitential season where we reflect on our relationship with God and draw closer to Him through works of penance and charity, in addition to Reconciliation.
So . . .
It’s also good to give up something and plan some service projects and take the family to Confession. However, falling into the trap of desiring more to loose weight than to be best friends with Jesus is a common pitfall. Choose things that will move barriers out of your life that are actually keeping you from Christ.
For a great resource to help you figure out those barriers and have a plan to move through them, we suggest you check out the Catholic Mom Bundle. It’s on sale until 2/21/25. After that, you can at least find our submission to it on Etsy. (We get a part of the profits if you buy from the Catholic Mom Bundle link.)
The Chapter Book List
Book Series (Because you can relax for two whole days when you find a good series for your kids!)
- The Mysterious Benedict Society: 5 long books, fantastic vocabulary, quick pace, excellent message, all with adventure, friendships, and humor all wrapped in one. Don’t worry, it’s nothing like the show! Though, it does come with a side of violence from the bad guys.
- Wingfeather Saga: 5 long books, Biblical allegory of sorts, middle school-appropriate humor with high school appropriate violence. Just know your reader for this one. It’s from a Christian author, though I didn’t see any specific deviations in beliefs that contradict our Catholic faith.
- The Penderwicks: 5 books about sisters who lost their mother right after the birth of the youngest. My kids enjoyed it especially because it was set in modern times – though not cell phone era, and the sisters’ adventures are hilarious. There are some tough relationship lessons in these, so again know your reader. In one of the last ones, there’s also a discussion about how the mother died right after childbirth because of cancer found during the pregnancy. This needs to be read together because it can be easily misunderstood.
- The Melendy Quartet: 4 books about four rather mischievous siblings, set in the mid-1900s. There’s no particular religion throughout, but the natural consequences and way of life of the time bring living out charity to the forefront of each story.
- Virtue Chronicles: This one is Catholic!! Paul McCusker, thank you so much for writing about Saints and the history of our Church in a way that kids are eager to digest. This three-book fiction series is chock full of non-stop adventure. It’s a time travel setup that has the characters (and your kids) diving into life at the times of some of the most popular Saints. I am personally so much more knowledgeable just from reading them.
- Narnia: of course.
- A.K.A. Genius and Genius Under Construction: These two books come from a Catholic Writer’s Guild author and follow a middle school boy through his day-to-day right after his test scores have labeled him a genius. Very funny, and a quick read.
- *Rangers Apprentice: I haven’t read this one, but my middle school daughter did, and it came highly recommended by a mom friend. Seems like more of a boy book, and it was written by the author for his son. In any event, lots of synopsis for this giant series can be found on wikipedia.
- *Will Wilder: It’s Catholic! Another boy book series. Lots of overcoming demonic activity, so know your reader. I only read the first few chapters with my son, but he enjoyed the first book. There are plenty more in the series.
- Douglings Adventures: It’s Catholic! With four books so far, this is another Catholic series that looks at our faith through the lens of kids and Saints. Each book keeps getting better. The first is a bit dark, but that’s to be expected when the Saint is Padre Pio.
- Sisters of the Last Straw: It’s Catholic! I think there are 8 of them now. These are extremely short, and better suited for a 3rd-4th grade reader, if not younger. They’re cute and silly and about an order of misfit nuns.
- *Nancy Drew: Not the Clue Crew and other renditions, but the originals. We’ve been borrowing them from a friend, and my 5th grader has been devouring them.
- Boxcar Children: The first ones in the series are best because they’re by the original author. After that, the quality is a bit questionable depending on the book. There are so, so many of them, though, that they’re great to hand to a third or fourth grader for a weekend.
- Encyclopedia Brown: Do you remember these logic puzzle crime mysteries? Each one has several chapters, and each chapter is a new, short mystery based on a logic mistake.
- I Survived: My youngest adores these fictionalized stories about real events in history. They can be somewhat gruesome, but they give great detail about life at the time that especially speaks to kids in 3rd and 4th grade.
- Hamster Princess: While I don’t recommend other books from this author, this series is fantastically engaging. Each book takes a look at a fairy tale, and reworks it with a ferocious hamster heroine. Very funny and creatively ridiculous.
- American Girls: The originals, plus Mary Ellen and Grace. I really wish there were comparable boy-centric books that promoted strength and perseverance and using your talents and being good to your friends and family (or apologizing when you’re not).
More chapter books!
Most of these, I have not read. I just know the kids really enjoyed them.
- *7 Riddles to Nowhere: From a Catholic Writer’s Guild writer (you should go look at their seal of approval list of books)
- *The Tale of Despereaux and *The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane: My kids have read many a Kate DiCamillo book in their public school classes and thoroughly enjoyed them.
- *The Phantom Tollbooth: Beats me. I just know our son liked it enough to read it, and it gets quoted from time to time around the house.
- From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: I did read this one. I have mixed feelings about it from a moral standpoint because the kids run away. But, so long as you know that’s the basis of the story, you can have discussions about it.
- *The Toothpaste Millionaire: I purchased this one after finding it on a booklist. My most prolific reader in the house thought it was good enough to offer to her sister. Probably a 3rd-4th grade book.
- *A Place to Hang the Moon: My book-iest kid enjoyed this one because it’s about siblings finding shelter in a library.
- *The Next Great Paulie Fink: Another purchase from a book list to fill out Christmas presents for my two oldest, who were middle school at the time. Both seemed to enjoy it.
What About Mom?
If you need some good books while the kids are reading because you’ve miraculously gotten the dishes and laundry done, prepped all the meals for a week, and gotten the baby to sleep – all in one morning, of course – we’ve got a great list to go along with the six weeks of Lent in our Catholic Mom Bundle submission. Our part even has 8 one-page mom reflections we know you’ll enjoy. Won’t you support us?
