Classical Book List

The Beautiful Teaching Team has curated book lists to help you get started.

When anybody sits down to read, the author who made the book comes and leans over his shoulder and talks to him. -Charlotte Mason, Ourselves

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Check out Adrienne’s curated book list below!

Philosophy of Classical Education Titles

The top 20 books (no particular order) are the most important to understanding the philosophy of classical education. If you read at least three of these titles, you will begin to grasp the path of a liberal arts education. 

  1. The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education by Ravi Jain and Kevin Clark & published by CAP (For 15% off CAP products use discount code CEPODCAST15 at checkout)

  2. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

  3. Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper

  4. Norms & Nobility by David Hicks

  5. Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Liberal Arts Tradition by Karen Glass

  6. In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass

  7. A Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason  (OR the abridged version, Mind to Mind by Charlotte Mason and Karen Glass )

  8. Poetic Knowledge by James Taylor

  9. The Death of Christian Culture by John Senior

  10. The Restoration of Christian Culture by John Senior

  11. Beauty for Truth’s Sake: On the Re-enchantment of Education by Stratford Caldecott

  12. Beauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education by Stratford Caldecott

  13. Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodness & Beauty by Steve Turley

  14. The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being by Richard Gamble

  15. The Love of Learning and The Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture by Jean Leclercq O.S.B.

  16. The Republic by Plato (Translated by Allan Bloom)

  17. The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

  18. The Seven Liberal Arts in the Middle Ages by David L. Wagner

  19. Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy by Mortimer Adler

  20. Confessions by St. Augustine (translated by Maria Boulding)

Novels for Teachers or Homeschool Moms

Notable novels that capture the spirit of classical education, show us what bad teaching looks like, or models virtuous living for educators. Great for staff meeting discussions

  1. The Awakening of Miss Primm by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

  2. Hannah Coulter: A Novel by Wendell Barry

  3. Hard Times by Charles Dickens

  4. Agnes Grey By Anne Brontë

  5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

  6. Aesop’s Fables by Aesop, published by New West Press

  7. The Blue Fairy Book: With 139 Original Illustrations by Andrew Lang, published by New West Press

Books on How to Teach

These books are excellent for beginning to understand how to teach classically. They are great for both at home educators and classroom teachers.

  1. A Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason (Centenary Expanded Edition | Smidgen Press)

  2. Know and Tell: The Art of Narration  by Karen Glass

  3. When Children Love to Learn compiled by Elaine Cooper

  4. Something They Will Not Forget by Joshua Gibbs

  5. How to be Unlucky by Joshua Gibbs

  6. The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory

  7. Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination, 2nd edition by Vigen Guroian

  8. The Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart

  9. The Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto by Mortimer Adler

  10. The Giants of History Series by Classical Academic Press (For 15% off CAP products use discount code CEPODCAST15 at checkout)

  11. Lost Seeds of Learning: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric as Living Arts by Phillip Donnelly & CAP (For 15% off CAP products use discount code CEPODCAST15 at checkout)

  12. Common Arts Education: Renewing the Classical Tradition of Training the Hands, Head, and Heart by Chris Hall & CAP (For 15% off CAP products use discount code CEPODCAST15 at checkout)

  13. An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis

  14. The Educated Imagination by Northrop Frye

Short Readings 

These are short readings or essays that are online for free or in the public domain. A general search will locate these titles. 

A Short Introduction to Classical Education" by Joshua Gibbs (this pamphlet was discussed on the Classical Educaiton Podcast, Season 3 Episode 12.)

“So Your Parents are Thinking of Sending You to a Classical School” by Joshua Gibbs.

Notable Short Dialogues of Plato (esp. Georgias, Theaetetus, Cratylus, Meno, Apology, Euthyphro, Crito) or Middle Platonic Dialogues Collection

“Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God” by Simone Weill (the Lit Life podcast did an excellent episode on this essay, Episode 51)

“Reclaiming Childhood Through Poetry” by Anthony Esolen

"The Aims of Education” by Alfred North Whitehead

“Classical Schools Are Not Really Classical” by Jonathan Roberts (This essay was discussed on the Classical Education Podcast, Season 3, Epoisode 9.)

“What’s Virtue Got to do with it?” by Andrew Ellison

“Education by the Muses”  by Dennis Quinn

“A Defense of Poetry” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

“The Fantastic Imagination” by George MacDonald (this essay was discussed on the Classical Education Podcast, Season 3, Episode 8.)

“On Fairy Stories” by J.R.R. Tolkien

Educators of Young Children

Notable titles for teachers, home educators, or caregivers for toddlers-5th graders.

For The Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay 

Home Education by Charlotte Mason (Volume 1 of the Home Education Series)

A Thinking Love by Karen Glass

In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass

Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classical Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination (second edition) by Vigen Guroian

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen

Simply Classical: A beautiful Education for any Child by Cheryl Swope

Learning Virtue from Books

A classical curriculum is rooted in stories and beautiful literature. In these stories we learn to empathize with Heidi, to embrace long-suffering like Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place, walk the waves of courage with Odysseus in Homer, embrace friendship in Pooh Corner, and glorify God with Augustine in his Confessions. All of these stories give us a model from which to be inspired to choose a life of virtue.

Affiliate Book Suppliers

  • LIVING BOOKS PRESS

    A great place to buy exccellent books that you can read as a family whether you homeschool or not.

    Living Books Press reproduces quality reprints of living books affordable for everyone in a variety of formats.
    As an affiliate of Living Book Press, which means that when you purchase from livingbookpress.com we receive a commission which allows us to keep offering an ad-free podcast as well as continued work in curating beautiful resources.

    Thank you for your support.

  • CLASSICAL ACADEMIC PRESS

    CAP has some fantastic books to help us understand the foundations of classical education. I highly recommend the series of books in their “Giants in the History of Classical Education” as well as their titles in “Discover Classical Education” collection.

    For 15% off CAP products use discount code CEPODCAST15 at checkout.

  • JOSHUA GIBBS PAMPHLETS

    "A Short Introduction to Classical Christian Education" is available in two lengths (12,000 words and 7,000 words) as an easy-to-print PDF available in two formats: an 8.5 x 11 full-page document and a 5.5 x 8.5 folded booklet.

    This resource is perfect for schools to provide for parents and teachers who are learning about classical educaiton.

  • BEAUTIFUL FEET BOOKS

    A Great place to buy excellent books to give to or read to your kids! Excellent titles to enjoy together as a family whether you homeschool or have your kids in a school. BF Books has titles that are books every kid should read!

    Beautiful Feet Books curates and publishes the very best "living books" - timeless tales that help you learn through the power of story.