I’ve been reading for almost my entire life. My taste in books has also changed incredibly since I was young. In this post, I will be talking about five book series that had me hooked as a young kid growing up in the early 2010s that I probably wouldn’t read anymore but that I can appreciate as someone who has enjoyed them in the past. There’s a little bit of research going into this post considering I haven’t read some of these in over seven years.

To those of you around my age, this could be a trip down memory lane. To older readers who are maybe looking for books to read to your kids, here are some great examples. To younger readers of this blog, maybe check these out on your own!

I was obsessed with this series growing up.

The Wind Dancer series by Sibley Miller is about a quartet of small, flying horses that come into existence when a young girl blows on a dandelion. She sees them for a split second before they all become invisible. The four horses (Kona, Brisa, Sumatra, and Sirocco) live in the trees surrounding the girl’s home, and named their little group the Wind Dancers. Pretty self-explanatory as to why… They almost seem to dance on the wind with their butterfly-like wings. 

Each book has a problem that needs to be solved (as do most novels for elementary schoolers). This was one of the books that sparked my interest and appreciation for horses. That interest has since faded, but not completely disappeared.

Each horse has a distinguishable personality as well. I don’t remember all of them, and it’s difficult to find any information on this series now as it seems to have lost its popularity, but what I do remember was that Kona was the de facto leader, and Brisa was the very stereotypically feminine type. I also remember that Sirocco was a guy, but that’s about it. 

This is a great read, and the series isn’t that long so it shouldn’t take a long time to finish reading (especially if you’re reading to your kids)!

This series sparked my love for history, now that I think about it. 

This series was both in English and in French as I was growing up, so I read it both in my spare time and in school. It followed the story of Jack and Annie, an older brother and a younger sister that are sent to different historical periods through their magic tree house. They often have to save someone, or something important. At the end, they sometimes meet with magicians Merlin or Morgana.

To teleport, they have to point to a book about that particular time in history and say something along the lines of ‘I want to go there’ and it happens. 

To give a bit of context as to what historical periods they go to, the first three books take them to the dinosaur times, mediaeval times, and ancient Egypt. I also distinctly remember one taking them to Pompeii. 

This is a great read for younger readers because not only is it fun and adventurous, it’s also informative and teaches kids about different cultures, eras, etc. 

I’m pretty sure anyone growing up around middle grade 2010s literature has heard of Geronimo Stilton, the slightly cowardly mouse that gets into all sorts of troubles with his dysfunctional family members and solves mysteries. I found it hard to get into that series because the character of Geronimo annoyed me more than I’m willing to admit. 

Well, his sister Thea had a series all to herself. She taught at a university called Mouseford Academy as a journalism professor, and there met the self-called Thea Sisters, five promising young students that saw her as a mentor as well as their teacher. They are the best of friends, each with their own distinct personalities and interests, and they also each came from a different part of the world, geographically speaking.

Nicky is from Australia and absolutely loves nature. She’s a very outdoorsy and resourceful mouse who hopes to be an ecologist.

Colette is from France (duh) and is well-known for her fashion sense. She hopes to be a fashion writer. While she is seen as a very feminine and beauty-focused character, she’s very kind, understanding, and helpful. 

Violet is from China, and she is definitely more introverted than the rest of the group. She likes to listen to classical music and play the violin, as well as reading, because who doesn’t like a nerdy character?

Pamela is from Tanzania in Africa and wants to be a car mechanic. She’s also very resourceful, like Nicky, and she’s also very good with her hands. She can fix anything, be it a car, bookshelf, or computer.

Finally we have Paulina, who comes from Peru. She’s very maths and tech oriented, and very logical, but still very friendly and warm. 

They solved mysteries all over the world, from Paris, France, to the red rock Uluru in Australia, to Tokyo, Japan during the cherry blossom season. I gobbled these books up like they were chocolate candies. I was hooked. 

These books gave me powerful women being independent and confident, and I feel like I owe quite a bit to these girls. My confidence, my random assortment of facts from places all over the world, my love for travel and history… and so much more. 

Also can we talk about the subtle representation in this book? The variety of countries’ cultures represented, either through the Thea Sisters themselves, or the countries they went to? We have one Thea Sister from every continent (Thea herself being from the mouse equivalent of the USA), and they’ve visited so many different countries to solve mysteries, from Europe to Africa, from South America to Asia, many times over. We don’t talk about this enough!

Definitely a great series for young girls (well, for everyone, but reading this as a young girl was so powerful and inspiring)!

These are some series that I read when I was younger that shaped me and that I loved and still do love! What do you think? Leave a comment down below if you’ve read these, or if you would like to read these! 

If you want to read about books that I discovered when I was younger but are still my favourites, click here!

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Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska