I have always read to my kids, but typically it’s been me reading to one or two of them at a time, never the whole family at once.

It wasn’t until later that I started reading to everyone. It stemmed from a trip to Universal Studios. My two youngest wanted me to read them the Harry Potter series before we left (we bought tickets 6 months in advance). To my surprise, the whole family would come to listen each night, even my older kids. Instead of them playing video games or streaming their own shows on TV, everyone would voluntarily sit in the living room, while I read each book.

Little did I know, but we were starting a family tradition. Some of my best recent family memories are of us sitting together and reading.

This led to a problem: what to read after Harry Potter. I have an eclectic family so it took some time to decide. Below are the list of books that we settled on. If you’re in the same boat, hopefully it will save you some time.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

The adventures of the scruffy headed, bespectacled protagonist Harry Potter. If you’ve recently been rescued from a deserted island, Harry Potter is an orphan that discovers that not only is he a wizard, but he attending the magical school of Hogwarts.  Can he stay alive long enough to defeat the evil wizard Voldemort, you’ll have to read to find out.

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

This is series of five books, but they are much shorter than Harry Potter books. It’s set in a fantastical, medieval world with magic, swords, monsters, and pig that can see the future.

It follows Taran, an orphan farm boy that is pulled into a deadly battle against evil. He and his band of unique allies fight against the dreaded Horned King and ultimately the death-lord Arawn. The series is equal parts lighthearted, battle hardened, and tragic. We watch Taran rise from a lowly farm boy to a High King.

Disney made the third book into a cartoon, The Black Cauldron. While the cartoon is good in its own right, it is very different from the book. Don’t mistake the book for being cutesy like the cartoon.

The full set comes with a detailed map of Prydain. One of my kids used it as poster and tracked the characters movement across it.

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin

Before Harry Potter there was the young wizard Ged. Much like Harry Potter, he is gifted in wizardry and attends a school for magic. Like most kids, he is full of himself and has no real fear of mortality. In an effort to prove himself to others, he unleashing a dark evil from the realm of death. The series chronicles his various journeys through Earthsea to heal the wound he wound he made in the world. Others characters help him along the way.

This is a classic series that has influenced countless other books and authors.

The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques

Don’t mistake this series as being about a cutesy anthropomorphic medieval world. Instead, it’s 22 novels worth of animals fighting back the forces of dark evil. The forest creatures are continually banding together to defend Redwall Abbey from vicious rats, weasels, foxes, and stoats. The evil rats are brutal and violent as they decimate all that is good in the world.

This series of full of multilayered and complex characters. The first book is about a young novice mouse at the Abbey that is equal parts clumsy and heroic. He has to rally the forest to defend Redwall Abbey against the menacing rat Cluny the Scrouge. It’s captivating for both young and old. Some of the animals do die in the fight between good and evil. If you have very young children, you should know that going into it.

Don’t let the 22 books scare you.  They’re short and you don’t need to read them all, as most are self-contained stories.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

This book one volume that contains four different books, however it’s the length of one standard trade paperback. It’s the story of King Arthur from a lowly squire all the way to the fall of Camelot. The first book in the volume, is called The Sword in the Stone. It’s a great read full of youthful naivety, wonder, and drama. Merlin mentors young Arthur to grow into the king he is destined to become.

All the books in the volume are worth reading, however The Sword and the Stone is the most popular, since Disney made a cartoon movie based on it. Again, just like The Black Cauldron, the movie is good on it’s own right but the book is much better and not solely aimed at children.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Follow Bilbo Baggins’ adventure as he joins a band of 13 dwarves to reclaim their home in the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. While this book is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, it’s a standalone novel in its own right. It’s a charming tale of a straight forward quest that culminates into an epic battle.

This book is always a crowd pleasure, especially doing the all the voices of the dwarves.

There are plenty of others but the above should keep you busy for the foreseeable future!