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How to find non-fiction at the right reading level?


silver
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My son likes non-fiction books probably as much as he likes fiction books. So I'd like to start getting some non-fiction from the library for him. I'm not looking to line it up with science or history, just some books on topics that would interest him. My problem is finding decent books. It seems most of the books I looked at on the shelves today were not really designed to be read like a book--they had snippets of information and were more for reference than for reading. Of the ones that were more for reading, many were really simple text that reminded me of the super simple beginning reader books--just one sentence per page and not much content.

 

I'm thinking that finding some series that are good and putting them on hold would be my best bet. Looking for books on the shelves today did not work well. He's read one book from the "Who was..." series and liked it. He's read some of the Magic Tree House fact tracker books and liked them. Both of these read like chapter books. He read a level 3 MathStart book, which reads like a picture book, and liked it. Any others that people can recommend?

 

Other than finding good series, does anyone have any suggestions for finding books for him?

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Part of the problem isn't just reading level, but readability. For example, most Magic School Bus books are what I consider readable. You can sit down and read it smoothly despite all the little sides notes that there are. Most Usborne Encyclopedias are not something you would just sit down and read like a normal book; the whole thing is little boxes and side notes. Another example are books about other countries. Some of them are interesting to read. Some of them are almanacs full of dry facts about the geography and political system. How do I tell when I'm requesting books online which is which? Many of the books my library has do not have previews available on Amazon.

As for topics that interest him, that can vary. He likes a lot of science books that I've gotten for him (it doesn't seem to matter the content). He's enjoyed several books on space exploration. He likes knights and the pioneer era for history.

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LOL!! I, on the other hand, consider Magic School Bus totally NOT readable due to all of the little speech bubbles and side reports. Hate them so much! Love the ones that have audiobooks.

 

But, to be helpful, have you tried looking for previews at Google Books (ISBNs work best). When Amazon fails, I try Google Books. Many, many more titles have previews there. I use it a lot when culling nonfiction books to request from our library. Also, OpenLibrary.org may have the entire book you're looking for available for free as an eBook. I use it a lot when previewing books too (just remember to return them after previewing, if you're not going to use the eBook right at that moment as a consideration to others).

 

 

Part of the problem isn't just reading level, but readability. For example, most Magic School Bus books are what I consider readable. You can sit down and read it smoothly despite all the little sides notes that there are. Most Usborne Encyclopedias are not something you would just sit down and read like a normal book; the whole thing is little boxes and side notes. Another example are books about other countries. Some of them are interesting to read. Some of them are almanacs full of dry facts about the geography and political system. How do I tell when I'm requesting books online which is which? Many of the books my library has do not have previews available on Amazon.

As for topics that interest him, that can vary. He likes a lot of science books that I've gotten for him (it doesn't seem to matter the content). He's enjoyed several books on space exploration. He likes knights and the pioneer era for history.

 

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The NTSA lists are good.

 

Has he read the Seymour Simon series about the earth and the body and so forth.  Those are basically fourth or fifth grade level...  maybe a little harder than a MathStart book.

 

Or maybe the Basher Books?  They are sort of blurby, but it's one text, not all over the place.  I totally know what you mean about that.

 

Easier than either of those would be the Let's Read and Find Out Science books.

 

For history, there's the Who Was and the What Was series.  Those are like chapter books and they're basically just above Magic Treehouse level.  But my boys will sit and read them if I assign them because they're quick and enjoyable, so they don't feel too young.

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The Cybils book awards have a good list of non-fiction (in full disclosure, I was a judge last year in that category). http://www.cybils.com/2013-nominations-elementarymiddle-grade-nonfiction.html  You can also look at past winners, and get ideas of series and authors who are good. 

 

For science we like Seymour Simon, Steve Jenkins, the Scientist in the Field series , Sy Montgomery, Loree Burns. 

 

For math, my kids l love the Sir Circumference books which are kind of a non-fiction/fiction cross, Greg Tang has fun math puzzle books (The Grapes of Math) for younger kids and Stuart Murphy's math books are fun for younger kids. 

 

David Adler has some non-fiction books that are good. Kathleen Krull is good for biography. Melissa Sweet is one of my favorite authors/illustrators and I'll read anything she is part of. Brian Floca has some really beautiful non-fiction picture books (Locomotive won the Caldecott this year). 

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Your child might like those little snippet books a lot more than you do and get a lot out of them.  I say that as a mom who feels exactly like you do.  My sons, however, really love those books that seem a disorganized mess to me.  They read them over and over and enjoy them (Horrible Science, Magic School Bus though not quite as much, Usborne guides, DK Eyewitness). 

 

Paula's Archives has a science books list:  http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/sciencebooks.htm

 

Another list that appears pretty good I found:  http://www.pennygardner.com/sciencebks.html

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