Why We Should Read Classic Children’s Literature As Adults

Authored by: Laura Bray 

As a child I loved to read. Like many women in my generation, I devoured all of Judy Blume’s books, idolized Jo March in Little Women, and was inspired to make maple candy whenever it snowed-just like Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie books. Then I grew up and left my childhood books behind.

It wasn’t until one summer when my daughter was about five years old that I decided I would revisit my favorite childhood books and spend the summer reading children’s classics with the thought that I would have a list of books to recommend to her over the next few years. 

While I did discover a treasure trove of books to read with my daughter, what surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed returning to the classics of my youth and how the books changed when reading them through the eyes of experience and adulthood.

Here are a few reasons why we should read children’s books as adults:

1. You Find New Themes in the Books:  One of the things that make books magical is that the stories transform with every reading. This is especially true if your last experience with the book was in childhood. Remember, most classic children’s literature is written by adult authors, which means there’s going to be a level sophistication hidden in the text that children often miss but adults understand. 

When reading the Little House on the Prairie books as a child, I was close in age to Laura, I only saw how much fun Laura had playing with her handmade dolls and riding in covered wagons.

As an adult, I see the hardship that the Ingalls family endured. The stress the parents felt as they prepared for long, lonely winters. Knowing that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House series when she was in her 60s and 70s, I deeply identify with her need to romanticize the past, recognize how the events of her childhood affected her life, and understand the hardships her parents endured for the sake of their children.

2. You Discover New Characters to Love: The stories aren’t all that change when you read children’s literature as an adult, the characters do too. Ma Ingalls was only a secondary character to me the first time I read the Little House books. As an adult, she bursts forth and feels like the main character.  Now I marvel at how much physical labor she did to keep her family alive. It makes me appreciate modern conveniences and realize that there are some things about motherhood that are universal, even across time.

3. You Discover New Hobbies and Interests: When I was a child I loved reading about the crafts that Laura, Mary and Carrie made and that hasn’t changed when reading these books as an adult. I love reading the food descriptions in the books and am often inspired to find recipes and make them myself. From doll-making, to hand stitching, to entering jams in the county fairs, you can find any number of new hobbies to try when you read children’s classics.

4. You can Reconnect with Your Inner Child: As we grow older, as our children leave home, and we retire, many of us find ourselves with added time on our hands. We struggle to find a new identity. One of the best ways to start over is to look back in time and reconnect with your inner child. Reading the books of your childhood remind of you the things you enjoyed doing when summers seemed to stretch on forever and you didn’t have to be home until the street lights turned on.

There is nothing better than finding a quiet corner in the local library curled up with a good book, just like when you were a child. Losing yourself to reading will help you forget about the troubles in your life and the world, it will make you feel carefree, especially if you are reading a children’s book. Try it and see.

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Prairie Pages is ModernPraire.com’s virtual book club. Each month, we pick a book to read then meet online to discuss it. 

We read children’s classic literature a couple of times each year and in February 2026, our book is Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Join us and discover how reading children’s literature as an adult can be more fun than you imagined. 

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