TheAttachedMama Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Hi Everyone, My oldest is a struggling reader. He is 8 (turns 9 in November). He just started doing a 10-15 minute stint of silent reading** during the day using the High Noon books. (I purchased the Tom and Ricky High Noon Chapter books for him. They are High Noon Level 1 books.....at about a 1st grade readability according to their website. He is about to finish all ten books. He is reading at a higher level, but doing silent reading at a very low level has been working well. We have worked very hard to break a word guessing habit, so I worry about giving him a more difficult book where he will likely skip words that he has to decode (or guess!) In the High Noon Level 1 books, he knows almost every word. So it doesn't feel like work to him---reading at night feels fun! The Tom and Ricky books have been perfect because even though they are very easy to read, they are written for older kids. There is adventure, action, etc. The chapters are also very short, and they just feel like "grown up books". My problem is.... He is about to finish both sets of the Tom and Ricky Mysteries, and we have nothing else for him to read! I showed him samples of all of the High Noon level 2 books, and nothing is catching his fancy. He doesn't think any of the level 2 books look interesting. (And I sort of agree. I tried to sell him on the other mystery series, but he says it looks boring.) We also pulled up samples of the Scholastic Branches books. There were quite a few books in that series that he got excited about (Kung Pow Chicken and Notebook of Doom). BUT, when I had him read the samples, they just were way too hard for him alone. He was having difficulty with lots of words per page. So I told him that we would read those books out loud together when I can help him. SO.....I guess I am wondering if anyone has any book suggestions given where he is at in reading. He is a typical 8 year old boy....into things most 8 year old boys are into. :) I need something easy that still feels "grown up". ---------------------------------- **He still reads out loud to me each day from a more difficult book that I help him with. He also does some "word decoding" practice using AAR 4 durring the day too. The silent reading is not replacing his reading lesson. It is just a 'for fun' thing that he does at night after dinner. We all drop everything and read books together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Ugh, I don't know. My searches for books at the same level keep churning up Marvin Redpost, Polk Street Kids and Zack Files, but they look more difficult than the High Noon Books in the samples. There are definitely more words on a page. Have you tried ordering a book or two from Barrington-Stoke via Book Depository? My mind is completely blank. Hopefully, someone out there can help. When he gets there, The Stories Julian Tells series was a lot of fun for DD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Do you think he might be able to tackle Magic Tree House? Or have you tried Tashi? It's pretty decodable, and my DD loves those books, lots of adventure and they don't feel too childish at all. Also Tracy West has two series (Pixie Tricks and Dragon Masters) that are great for budding readers, really fun. (You might have to help him with words here and there, but the vast majority should be decodable at a 1st-2nd grade level. And it's exciting enough he'll probably want to keep reading even if it's hard work.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Magic Tree House is still too hard and so was Dragon Masters. I haven't tried any of the Tashi series yet. BUT, I really think that Pixie Tricks looks promising! I'm going to see if my library has it AND if I can convince him to try it. Would an 8 year old boy consider it too girly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 I remember reading something about "Woodland Mysteries" for struggling readers. My disclaimer is that I know nothing about them, lol....so you'll have to Google them and let us know :-) On a side note...yay! ...Just thinking about how far your kids (and mine) have come in reading this past year :-) Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 How about: the Commander Toad books (there are 4-5 in all) by Jane Yolen the Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo the Kingdom of Wrenly series (this might be too hard just now) Big Max, World's Greatest Detective (and its 2 sequels) by Kin Platt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Note the Marvin Redpost books are available on audiobooks, if you might like to have him listen while he follows along in a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Thank you all so much! I am typically a "book geek" but I know very FEW early chapter book series. I feel like I did when I first became a mama and had no idea where to start with children's litterature! So just even letting me know about some good series is helpful. Many of these books are going to be too hard. For example, we have tried Mercy Watson and he got stuck on too many words. (He LOVES those books though and listens to the audio version). The boy vs beast series looks really good! ----------------- And Rachel: YES! I can't believe how far he has come in reading this year. If you remember, this time last year he was reading books like: "I see a cat." It hasn't been easy for him. He has worked VERY hard because he definitely has some type of learning challenge when it comes to reading. But, all in all I feel like this year was a huge success. I am so grateful for everyone's support. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Boy vs. Beast by Mac Park. http://www.readingbattleover.com/winning-the-battle.html Trust me. This series is perfect. Large font, short sentences, high action, lots of pictures, battles, robots, beasts, fancy machines, .... The only bad thing is that after book 8 it is only available electronically unless you live in New Zealand or Australia. Youngest is struggling reader. We have share read several of the books mentioned in this thread and many others not mentioned. The Boy vs. Beast series is the only one he read by himself and stayed up late to do so. Question for you.... I'm trying to find these books on amazon, and I am not sure which is the right series. It is sort of confusing. First, I see that there are these books which have titles that match the titles of the link you posted. They are only available in kindle. :( For example, here is the first one: "Boy vs Beast: Water Beast" Then, I can find a very similar looking book in paper back called "Boy vs Beast: Aquatan" which has similar art work. (And Aquatan sounds like a water beast name....although harder to decode. lol) BUT, I am wondering if the kindle version is a simplified language version of these other books? Why the different titles? Do you think they are the same books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Kingdom of Wrenly is enjoyed here. I assume your son is beyond the Arnold Lobel books (also the James & Edward Marshall or Cynthia Rylant books). The Nate the Great series might fit what you're looking for. Young Cam Jansen? Both of those have the mystery aspect, if your son particularly likes that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nart Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 The Ricky Ricotta series about a boy and his robot battling aliens is below Magic Tree House level. It is a chapter book with lots of pictures and the font isnt too small. Fly Guy is a series that is below Ricky Ricotta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Another option is the Henry and Mudge series! All funny and cute, with a real storyline. Fox and Friends is also pretty good, and we also really liked all the Splat the Cat books, which should be at around that level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Kingdom of Wrenly is enjoyed here. I assume your son is beyond the Arnold Lobel books (also the James & Edward Marshall or Cynthia Rylant books). The Nate the Great series might fit what you're looking for. Young Cam Jansen? Both of those have the mystery aspect, if your son particularly likes that. Yes, we have read all of the Arnold Lobel books. He LOVED those. I own Nate the Great, and I tried to get him to sit down and read them to me. I probably need to try again. I am off to google the other books. I don't think I have tried those yet. Again, assume I know nothing of early chapter books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Kingdom of Wrenly is enjoyed here. I assume your son is beyond the Arnold Lobel books (also the James & Edward Marshall or Cynthia Rylant books). The Nate the Great series might fit what you're looking for. Young Cam Jansen? Both of those have the mystery aspect, if your son particularly likes that. Kingdom of Wrently is too hard. Need something easier. Gosh, finding a book on level is REALLY hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 How about using Scholastic Book wizard to find similarly leveled books? "If he likes X, then he might be able to read Y" sort of thing? http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/ The James & Edward Marshall books are similar to Frog & Toad level (all the different Fox books, 3 up a tree, 4 on the shore, 3 by the sea). Cynthia Rylant has the Mr. Putter & Tabby books, as well as Henry and Mudge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahM Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 How about using Scholastic Book wizard to find similarly leveled books? "If he likes X, then he might be able to read Y" sort of thing? http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/ The James & Edward Marshall books are similar to Frog & Toad level (all the different Fox books, 3 up a tree, 4 on the shore, 3 by the sea). Cynthia Rylant has the Mr. Putter & Tabby books, as well as Henry and Mudge. I have never used the book wizard! It's great! Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Dav Pilkey is about the level you're looking at. Of course, you may not be open to Captain Underpants (my kids haven't read any, LOL) -- and I'm not terribly familiar with his Ricky Ricotta series -- but the Dragon books by Pilkey were enjoyed here (Dragon gets by, A Friend for Dragon...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Here's a good thread on these types of books (ignore the K reference) : Which books are appropriate next for my Ker? However these types of books are so variable in vocabulary -- you will probably have to test each series out. The advantage of High Noon is the controlled vocabulary so I would look pretty seriously at whether you can't make one of the High Noon series work -- although that is speaking as someone who couldn't get DD interested in any of the High Noon books I have. One work around that helped here was to have her listen to the audio version while she read along with the book (still had to work hard to find the right level with this though). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Sounds like your son is needing books at a simpler level to Youngest. I know it's hard since almost all the books people suggest would be a no go for him. His major problem isn't decoding (for the most part) but not losing his place. That is why the Boy vs. Beast books were perfect for him since the font was so large and the amount of words per line, and lines per page was really small. I'm hoping to try out, "Zac Power: Test Drive" or "Zac Power Spy Recruit" for him next, if I can get the library to buy them. :p I wish I could peek inside one online and see sample page spreads. All the peek insides I found on amazon just let you see the table of contents and the first chapter heading. So I'm not willing to buy them since I'm not sure they will work. Note the Zac Power series I mentioned above aren't part of the main series. These, for lack of a better term, these starter series have 2500 or less words per book and I'm told have short sentences and easier to read words. But since I can't look inside I don't know for sure. I hear what you are saying about the library! I feel like I am about to spend a fortune buying easy chapter books for my son. I don't mind buying books, but a lot of these are books that I'm not sure I want to own. We will probably just read them once and then move on. We have a pretty great library in town too. They have a (normally) great selection of readers and read alouds. But they don't have any of the series that my son is asking to read. They don't have boy vs beast, they don't have kung pow chicken, they didn't have the pixie books (although ds said those didn't look good anyways ???). I actually own all of the Sonlight grade 2 readers. So part of me is thinking that I just assign him reading. I bet if he gave some of those books a try he would find that he ends up really like them. (Nate the great, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 FWIW DD was not able to read the Pixie Tricks books at the level you are describing for your DS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Zac Power Spy Camp and Test Drive series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Not sure how helpful this will be, but there's a section on Hi-Lo books. http://www.readingrockets.org/books/aboutkids#hilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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