Books for Pagan Children: Teens (M-S)

It can be difficult to find books for your Pagan children to read. You want books that teach them your values, and maybe something close to your beliefs and traditions.

I have compiled a list of good books by great authors. Many are outright Pagan. Some are Pagan in flavor or Pagan-friendly. I am noting when the author is Pagan to encourage support of Pagan authors and artists.

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• Mabon: Celebrating the Autumn Equinox by Kristin Madden (Non-Fiction)
  This book explores the history, legends, and traditions of the season that is honored from the Far East to the Celtic Lands, and from Scandinavia to South America. Create your own Mabon tradition with the help of the book's many recipes, magical workings, equinox rituals, and crafts for all ages.

• Mi's Search for Beauty by Kyrja (Fantasy) *PAGAN*
  In a time and land when death is regarded as the “Realms Beyond,” where surviving children are expected to offer their prayers and services so their ancestors may reach the “Golden Realm of Light,” spirits are known to cause havoc for their own means. Sooshay and Keylei, both disdainful of the stifling moors of their traditional culture have forgotten this lesson, so are caught painfully unaware when their sixth daughter, Mi, is born. Five daughters were foretold; no more and no less, with no sons. The terrifying changes this sixth daughter unwittingly brings with her touches each member of her family. Ignorant of his own role in the chaos that follows, Sooshay seeks the advice of a mysterious old family friend, placing Mi and all of her sisters in danger.

• Midsummer: Magical Celebrations of the Summer Solstice by Anna Franklin (Non-Fiction)
  Midsummer is one of the most ancient, widespread, and joyful Pagan festivals. The sun rises to the height of its power on the summer solstice, and Midsummer Eve is filled with fairy mischief and magic. Anna Franklin reveals the origins and customs of this enchanting holiday.

• Ostara: Customs, Spells & Rituals for the Rites of Spring by Edain McCoy (Non-Fiction) *PAGAN*
  Embrace Ostara as a point of balance in your life, a moment in time where both dark and light and night and day are in harmony before the light is victorious and carries us on to the bounty of summer pleasures. Ostara is packed with rituals, spells, recipes, crafts, and customs to celebrate the awakening earth.

• Price of Beauty, The by Kyrja (Fantasy) *PAGAN*
  Majo had been the Gatekeeper for more than 700 years, guiding souls into the Realms Beyond and keeping the demons from the land of the living, before tricking the young Mi into taking her place. Eager to earn entry into the Golden Realm of Light, five spirits of Mi’s long-dead ancestors had aided Majo in manipulating each of her sisters in turning her into a freak. Majo’s plan went awry, though, when the sisters used the terrible gifts of their ancestors’ power to transform Mi, but left her with a narrow way in which she might redeem herself.

• Sending of Dragons,A (Pit Dragon Chronicles) by Jane Yolen (Fantasy)
  Jakkin and his girlfriend, Akki, discover a primitive cult that sacrifices dragons.

• Serpent in the Throat, and Other Pagan Tales, The by Rebecca Buchanan (Fiction) *PAGAN*
  This anthology - the second following A Witch Among Wolves, and Other Pagan Tales - continues the tradition of Pagan authors writing Pagan tales for a Pagan audience. "Black Leopard" is a contemporary magical realism tale centering on Dionysus, while "Crossroads" finds a young girl voicing a heartfelt prayer to Hekate. "Hysthaany" follows a small community of Sekhmet devotees into outer space on a mission of mercy, while "Mr. West" finds Osiris paying a visit to a modern-day mortician. "Seeds" is set in a dystopian future of environmental degradation, while the title story, "The Serpent in the Throat," is an adventure-horror tale set in ancient Canaan.

• Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen (Fantasy)
  Legend foretold the child named Jenna, who was three-times orphaned before she could crawl, a fate that would leave her in the hands of women who worshipped the benevolent goddess Great Alta. In this world without men, Jenna comes of age, learning quickly the skills of close combat. But her most powerful gift lies elsewhere: a mirror sister who emerges only in the darkness—a twin named Skada—and shares the soul of the young, white-haired warrior who might well be the goddess reborn. But if Jenna is, in truth, the one whose coming is awaited, there is cause for great alarm among those who rule the Dales, for the prophecy speaks of upheaval and change, and a devastating end of all things.

• SpellCraft for Teens: A Magickal Guide to Writing & Casting Spells by Gwinevere Rain (Non-Fiction)
  Empower, bewitch, and enchant. Written by a teen witch with her own popular website, SpellCraft for Teens contains fifty-five chants and incantations. In addition, it provides a twelve-step guide to casting a magick circle, an in-depth look at the moon phases, and the magical properties of colors, herbs, and charms. From finding a craft name to performing the three types of love spells, SpellCraft for Teensaddresses issues specific to young adults, including telling parents about their interest in Wicca and dealing with gossiping classmates.

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Books for Pagan Children: Parenting (M-N)

It can be difficult to find books for your Pagan children to read. You want books that teach them your values, and maybe something close to your beliefs and traditions.

I have compiled a list of good books by great authors. Many are outright Pagan. Some are Pagan in flavor or Pagan-friendly. I am noting when the author is Pagan to encourage support of Pagan authors and artists.

Previous

• Magickal Crafts by Kristin Madden (Non-Fiction) *PAGAN*
  Make unique crafts for the eight Neopagan holidays and lunar phases. Craft sacred spaces, magical tools, oracles and altar pieces. Experiment with meditations, spells and other magical exercises. Create special gifts and mouth-watering delicacies for handfastings, baby blessings, adulthood celebrations and more. Design and wear ritual and fun garb, as well as body oils and henna body art. Contains dozens of photos to guide you through the projects. Perfect for crafty Wiccans, Pagans, Druids and all others who walk the Earth's path.

• Moonbeam: A Book of Meditations for Children by Maureen Garth (Activity)
  Maureen Garth′s popular meditations for children were born out of the author′s desire to help her three-year-old daughter sleep soundly. Developing ′the gentle art of going within′, her delightful stories helped her child - and many others around the world - to feel secure and to sleep peacefully. In Moonbeam, Garth invites her readers to accompany her on journeys into an imaginative world of animals, people and places. 

• Nature's Children: Celebrating the Seasons in a Pagan Family by Rachel Mayatt (Non-Fiction) *PAGAN*
  An excellent book on seasonal celebrations that include children. Rites of passage and seasonal celebrations are included as are thoughts on the wider aspects of bringing up children in a Pagan family. Ideas and suggestions can easily be picked out and adapted to suit particular situations.

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Books for Pagan Children: Middle School/Tween (G-R)

It can be difficult to find books for your Pagan children to read. You want books that teach them your values, and maybe something close to your beliefs and traditions.

I have compiled a list of good books by great authors. Many are outright Pagan. Some are Pagan in flavor or Pagan-friendly. I am noting when the author is Pagan to encourage support of Pagan authors and artists.

Previous

• Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (Non-Fiction) *PAGAN*
  This amazing book is an essential reference and permanent resource for every aspirant. It is illustrated with original art by Oberon and friends, as well as hundred of woodcuts from medieval manuscripts and alchemical texts--plus, charts, tables and diagrams.

• If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge by Marc Aronson (Non-Fiction)
  What are the secrets of the ancient stone circle? Were the carefully placed stones a burial site, an ancient calendar, a place of Druid worship...or even a site of sacrifice? World-renowned archaeologist Mike Parker-Pearson has spent the last seven years on a quest to answer these and many other questions. In If Stones Could Speak, award-winning author Marc Aronson joins the research crew and records their efforts to crack Stonehenge’s secrets. National Geographic helped sponsor the Riverside archeological team’s mission, and now young readers can journey behind the scenes to experience this groundbreaking story first-hand, through the eyes of the experts.

• Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton (Myths)
  The Mabinogion is internationally recognized as the world's finest arc of Celtic mythology; Walton's vivid retelling introduces an ancient world of gods and monsters, heroes, kings and quests, making accessible one of the greatest fantasy sagas of all time.

• Maid of the North by E. Phelps (Myths)
  A collection of twenty-one folk and fairy tales from around the world featuring clever heroines.

• Return of the Light, The: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Carolyn McVickar Edwards (Myths)
  Celebrating the solstices - particularly the moment of the sun's return at midwinter, on December 21 - is a nearly universal human urge, one that dates back thousands of years and has been identified in a wide variety of cultures. Now The Return of the Light makes an ideal companion for all who carry on this tradition, no matter what their faith. Twelve stories - from North America, China, Scandinavia, India, Africa, South America, Europe, and Polynesia - honour this moment, helping to renew our wonder of the miracle of rebirth and the power of transition from darkness into light.

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Books for Pagan Children: Elementary (M-O)

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It can be difficult to find books for your Pagan children to read. You want books that teach them your values, and maybe something close to your beliefs and traditions.

I have compiled a list of good books by great authors. Many are outright Pagan. Some are Pagan in flavor or Pagan-friendly. I am noting when the author is a confirmed Pagan to encourage support of Pagan authors and artists. If you know an author is Pagan, but they aren't marked as such, send me a message and I will correct it.

• Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager (Fantasy)
  Further adventures of Mark, Katherine, Jane, and Martha, who find their source of magic in a lake near which they are spending the summer.

• Magic or Not? by EdwardEager (Fantasy)
  When is magic not magic? Laura is a girl who goes out of her way to find adventure. So when her family moves to a house with a well in the yard—a wishing well, according to Lydia, Laura's opinionated, horse-mad, outrageous new neighbor—Laura is all too willing to make a wish and see what happens. Plenty happens. Thanks to the well, Laura and her new friends help save Miss Isabella's house from foreclosure, rescue the almost long-lost heir to a fortune, and even solve the mystery of the antique desk. But is the well truly granting wishes? Or is something else responsible for the adventures that engulf Laura and her friends that summer?

• Maia's Wheel of the Year by Dene Nelson (Activity) *PAGAN*
  Join 11 year old Maia and best friend, Rhiana, as they have adventures at Ggantija while learning the Wheel of the Year! An historically accurate story based on archeological findings by Dr. Marija Gimbutas and Native American and Celtic spiritual practices. According to Dr. Gimbutas, a peace-loving society of equals existed during the Neolithic period in Malta. Girls were powerful! How did they do it?

• More Unicorns by DarlaHallmark (Activity) *PAGAN*
  Twenty MORE unicorn drawings from this noted fantasy illustrator. Designed especially for both children and adults to color. The drawings stimulate creativity, and are fun inspiriation for story-telling time.

• Nature's Art Box by Laura C. Martin (Activity)
  Take your child’s creativity outside! Laura C. Martin offers 65 art projects that kids can make with materials found right in their backyard. There’s no limit to the imaginative possibilities as children mix paints from colorful flower blossoms, dig clay for molding elf-sized furniture, and craft functional twig baskets. Cultivating a respectful engagement with nature while developing artistic skills, Nature’s Art Box is an inspiring handbook for the next generation of expressive and conscientious stewards of the earth’s resources.

• New Beginning, A: Celebrating the Spring Equinox by Wendy Pfeffer (Non-Fiction)
  The spring equinox signals the time of year when the days are getting longer, the growing season has begun, and animals give birth to their young. With accessible, lyrical prose and vibrant illustrations, this book explains the science behind spring and shows how the annual ?rebirth? of Earth has been celebrated by various cultures throughout the ages and the world. Teachers will appreciate the simple science, the multicultural history, and the hands-on activities in this book.

• Ordinary Girl, a Magical Child, An by W. Lyon Martin (Fiction) *PAGAN*
  Take a joyful romp with Rabbit around the Wheel of the Year as she learns about herself and her Pagan Ways in the first fully-illustrated Pagan children's book to explore Pagan ethics, customs, and holidays from a child's point of view. Lavishly illustrated with original watercolors, the book is designed for school-aged children, whether they are being raised Pagan or are curious about a Pagan friend's religious path. This book explains in a clear and gentle voice just what a Pagan is, what a Pagan believes, and how a Pagan celebrates through the year.

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Books for Pagan Children: Preschool (M)

Previous

It can be difficult to find books for your Pagan children to read. You want books that teach them your values, and maybe something close to your beliefs and traditions.

I have compiled a list of good books by great authors. Many are outright Pagan. Some are Pagan in flavor or Pagan-friendly. I am noting when the author is a confirmed Pagan to encourage support of Pagan authors and artists. If you know an author is Pagan, but they aren't marked as such, send me a message and I will correct it.

• Matthew's Meadow by Corinne Demas Bliss (Fiction)
  
  Every year Matthew climbs the hill to his grandmother’s meadow. There, a red-tailed hawk teaches him to open his senses to the natural world. With poetic language and stunning pictures, this is an important fable for our times.

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (Fantasy)
  
  Barbara Cooney's story of Alice Rumphius, who longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful, has a timeless quality that resonates with each new generation. The countless lupines that bloom along the coast of Maine are the legacy of the real Miss Rumphius, the Lupine Lady, who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went. Miss Rumphius received the American Book Award in the year of publication.

• Mother Earth by Nancy Luenn (Non-Fiction)
  
  This is a joyful celebration of our Mother Earth, provider of all we need. With lyrical words and softly lit watercolors, we are reminded we must us her gifts well, and return them with respect and love.

• Mother Earth and Her Children: A Quilted Fairy Tale by Sibylle von Olfers (Fantasy)
  
  The incredibly intricate and vivid illustrations in this book are details of a modern quilt inspired by Sibylle von Olfers' classic storybook Mother Earth and Her Children. This vibrant new translation, in turn inspired by the quilt, explores the changing of the seasons and delicately touches upon the circle of life. When Mother Earth calls her children to prepare for spring, the earthly children yawn and stretch before they busy themselves with beautification. They dust off the bumblebees, scrub the beetles, paint bright new coats on the ladybugs, and rouse the caterpillars from their cocoons. Bedecked with new blossoms, the children emerge from the earth and become spring flowers that frolic through the summer and autumn, until the leaves begin to fall and they return to Mother Earth, bringing the weary bugs and beetles back to their winter refuge.

• Mountain Dance by Thomas Locker (Non-Fiction)
  
  Listen. The earth seems still and quiet, but constantly, silently, it is moving and changing. Mountain Dance takes readers from summit to shore, and into the depths of the earth, exploring the geographic forces it takes to move, build, and wear away the great peaks and valleys of our planet. Thomas Locker's poetic text and exquisitely detailed paintings reveal fascinating details of geology in this beautiful and inspiring introduction to earth science.

• My First Little Workbook of Wicca by Velvet Rieth (Non-Fiction) *PAGAN*
  
  Containing general educational exercises blended with basic Pagan concepts and symbols, this workbook presents a wonderful introduction to Wicca for young children. Originally produced as a teaching aide for her grandchildren, Reverend Rieth's textbook grew into a project, which was home produced in limited quantities and sold at Pagan festivals nationwide by only a handful of vendors--it very quickly became one of their best-selling items. Part grammar school primer and part coloring book, the activites within are designed for children to learn at their own pace without the need for direct supervision while still being fun and entertaining.

• My Mama Earth by Susan B. Katz (Fiction)
  
  Watch the wonder experienced by a small child journeying through the world and round the day taking in the many magnificent aspects of nature. This imaginative and lyrical picture book showcases the love between a mother and child, celebrating the ever-changing beauty of the natural world along the way.

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