SKL Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I don't agree with her of course, but have any of you seen this? Do you think a gifted kid is ready for older topics sooner? Just curious, because I don't see her as being any more mature than others her age. FTR, she has hundreds of good kid-friendly books at reading levels that are above her school grade level. The Samurai series, Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, Judy Blume, Jack London, lots of nonfiction etc. etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I don't agree with her of course, but have any of you seen this? Do you think a gifted kid is ready for older topics sooner? Just curious, because I don't see her as being any more mature than others her age. FTR, she has hundreds of good kid-friendly books at reading levels that are above her school grade level. The Samurai series, Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, Judy Blume, Jack London, lots of nonfiction etc. etc. I don't think she will be ready for "adult" topics earlier. She may be advanced educationally, but still have the maturity for a 7 yo to process difficult topics. So yes you are wise to hesitate. I see many parents mistake the ability to read difficult material for the maturity to handle difficult material. She probably wants more complexity in her story lines. Nancy Drew, Judy Blume, etc are quite simplistic and predictable. Has she read James Herriot? Not all of his books would I hand a 7 yo because of the antics of one of his apprentices, but if she can handle sad parts of life (losing animals) then she might enjoy them. Also, books like Cheaper by the Dozen, Little Women (the real one, not abridged) The Hobbit, Caddie Woodlawn, Anne of Green Gables all might interest her. She also might enjoy a Paul Harvey anthology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 BTW, my advanced kiddo *could* read difficult books by the time she was at the end of first grade. I was so excited! She's reading REAL books, hard books. I am an amazing homeschool mommy! But for 2 years she'd pick up a book read a chapter or 2 and then put it down, never to finish it She told me that she liked the books, but it took too long to get to the end of the story. She didn't want to take several days to get to the end. So she had the cognitive ability to read a long book, but not the emotional maturity to wait for the resolution to the story. And so it has gone her whole academic career. Cognitive abilities, advanced, but hindered by emotional immaturity to stick to a difficult thing till it's done. Unless it was her idea. Then she was all over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistiDelaney Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I was that way and so is my youngest son. I have followed my mother's lead with him. Within reason (No Silence of the Lambs or Lolita) he can pick up anything that interests him and read as much or as little as he likes. My mother was fond of saying that if I understood it, she trusted that she had raised me well enough not to be damaged by it and to ask questions if I needed to. If I didn't understand it, it probably wouldn't interest me long enough to be damaged by it. (First expressed, to my knowledge, to the librarian, when I wanted to check out Dr. Zhivago when I was in 1st grade. I read a page or two and decided it was boring. :p) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I agree with the last poster. I was that child. I remember fighting to read Anna Karenina in 3rd grade. In my case, it was because I was a fast reader and bored in school. So, I would more than one Judi Blume, etc. book during one school day. So, I just looked for the book with the most words in the school library. To this day, I still sometimes choose books on a # of words per dollar basis. There are lots and lots of adult books that don't have heavy topics. I've been working through a box of Star Trek books, for example, none of them have anything a 7 year old couldn't read. If you are worried, I would steer her towards classics, staring with the ones that were aimed at teens. Nice thing about them is that the e-books are free and a really complete synopsis is easy to find. Also, the language is also more complex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Seems sad for a good reader to skip over all the great kids' books, though. I am 47 and I still enjoy some of those books. :) I myself mostly switched to "grown up" books around age 10, but I didn't stop enjoying good kids' lit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Seems sad for a good reader to skip over all the great kids' books, though. I am 47 and I still enjoy some of those books. :) I myself mostly switched to "grown up" books around age 10, but I didn't stop enjoying good kids' lit. I don't think it has to be all kids' books or all "grown up" books, though. After she sinks her teeth into something meatier, she might find Nancy Drew a nice, relaxing change of pace. Has she read the Wrinkle in Time series? That has some very interesting, deep ideas. Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 My sister at age 6 had her heart set on reading one of my mother's college books - it was totally unsuitable for numerous reasons. My other told her she could read it when she read Oliver Twist in its full version. Oliver Twist is not suitable for a 6 year old either but the print size was very small and the book was thick and I think my mother knew she would not get very far in it at that age. She moved back to books for younger children - the Narnia series is deep enough that it can be reread many times. You could also try certain classics - I know I read The Water babies very young in a version that had a hardcover old look to it and was a very thick book and the feel of the book itself made me feel like I was reading an adult book. Maybe ask your child which books specifically she wants to read and see if there is a pattern in what she is picking (and don't look for patterns in content - look at what the book looks like from the outside as this may give you ideas about what she is seeking - is it longer books, more adult looking covers, hardcovers, books with photos rather than cartoons etc. You could also give her Born Free and other books by Joy Adamson - they are aimed at adults but quite suitable for children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheriwe Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I really mix it up with my DS8. A trip to the library is interesting. A few books on physics, a little Harry Potter, some JRR Tolkein, a book on Big Foot, and then a little Diary of a Wimpy Kid and a book on cute kittens. That way he gets his urge to read at a higher level and still get some fun kid reading in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Have you looked at the Great Illustrated Classics? DD was gifted with the Little Princess one. They are slightly abridged and you always have a black and white illustration to look at. The expected audience seems to be kids who want grown-up books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Has she given you a specific example of what she means by "grown up" books? Does she mean longer books, non-fiction, romance novels...? :D I would skip the Judy Blume and the series fare, which are pretty predictable and not terribly challenging, and head toward books like a pp suggested, books that give you something to think about... Little Women, The Hobbit, Anne of Green Gables, etc. My little guy went from picture books to Dickens at about that age, mostly because his sisters were reading "real books" and he wanted to, too. :) We weren't big on series books or more modern literature anyway, so it worked out okay, but he did read all of the good books that some consider children's classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I just read whatever was round. Usually if something is too hard it gets boring and you stop. Also there will be a time when she feels she is grown up enough to read kids books. Help her get a stack of books of varying difficulty you don't actually find offensive and just leave he to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenmama2 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Have a look at the Ambleside lists. Also I second the idea that she may get a kick out if something that "looks" adult (e.g. dusty, thick hardcover), even if it's actually a children's classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Try Dickens, I know one of my sisters read through a whole shelf of Dickens at about that age. The themes weren't too heavy for her, but you have to judge for your child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Agree with Maize, try Dickens. You might also look at Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. I loved those, although some went a bit over my head at that age. They are not your typical fairy tales of today. They were written in the late 1800's to early 1900's, IIRC. Been years since I read them but I had to read some several times to get all the layers of meaning. And they were intended for children, so I don't THINK there would be objectionable content. Can't guarantee it, though. And I just checked on the Fairy books. They are available on Kindle for free if you have a Kindle, but one of my favorite things about those books was that each book was a different, unusual color. It seemed more exciting and special to see all those colors on the book shelf and know that each color represented another set of stories.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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