sassenach Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Ds7 has just crossed over from early readers to beginning chapter books. He is currently reading a Magic Treehouse book and it's a good fit. I think he'll be good to go with this series for awhile, but I'd love to get some recommendations for other beginning chapter book series that are of similar quality. In contrast, dd5 checked out Junie B Jones for me to read to her and I HATE it. I never realized just how awful the quality of writing was in this series when my oldest was at this level. Honestly, I wasn't as involved in dd12's early education (she public schooled till 4th grade). I just thought everything was good as long as they're reading something. Any suggestions for a series that is at a beginner's level, but not terribly written? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Boxcar Children are a small step up, but not that complex. Have you thought about non-series books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 (edited) My son is not reading these independently yet (we doing them as read-alouds) but he grabbed "The Spiderwich Chronicles" off the library shelf the other day, and after marathon sessions reading Books One and Two we hustled back to the library to get 3, 4, and 5 and the first books of the "Beyond The Spiderwich Chronicles" series. These are a "gateway-drug" for things like Harry Potter, which could well annoy some people. Older sister Mallory seems to be required to say "cr*p" once in every book, which annoys *me*. [Edit] The backstory includes the fact that the (absent) father has walked out on the family, who have to move to a spooky old house. For any down-sides (including this not being my natural genre choice) we are finding this series quite fun, and real page-turners to see what happens next. Bill (who is looking forward to tonight's installment) Edited March 18, 2010 by Spy Car There are only two Os in books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Series books my dc have liked at that stage: Commander Toad (a bit easier, but really funny!) Bobbsey Twins The Littles The Borrowers Hank the Cowdog Betsy-Tacy Cam Jansen Encyclopedia Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Encyclopedia Brown I loved Encyclopedia Brown as a kid. And the "Henry Huggins" books. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Are the Magic Treehouse books good? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 You might take a look at this thread from yesterday. It asked basically the same question and there were quite a few responses. :) edited because yesterday's question was slightly different. It was about stepping up from Magic Treehouse book. I haven't had any caffeine this morning. Sorry! Bleh. My response: Look at classic children's books- Mr. Popper's Penguins The Cricket in Times Square The Mouse and the Motorcycle From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler The Phantom Tollbooth The Borrowers Stuart Little (my one complaint about this one is that it doesn't feel like a book, it feels like a collection of short stories) My Side of the Mountain Some of the Roald Dahl books would be fine for her, you might want to pre-read. Some of them are not scary at all, some are a little scary. I don't know how sensitive your dd is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Are the Magic Treehouse books good? Bill We have a bunch of these. Lots of people think they're twaddle, but that does not bother me. My dd and now ds has read through them as their first chapter books. I can't stand them as read-alouds, mostly because of the amount of dialogue. She also uses quite a few sentence fragments--which is how people talk. It doesn't seem to have affected my 6yo's ability to write correctly. I think MTH books may even be why he knows how to use quotes! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 I'm not opposed to non-series books at all. It just seems like the kids *really* like series! Ds7 has not been what you would call an enthusiastic reader, so I'm just thrilled that he has found something that he wants to read. I have previously pulled from the Sonlight catalog for both readers and read alouds. We always have a quality read aloud going. Thanks for the suggestions so far. I remember my brother reading the entire Boxcar and Hardy Boys series. Dd12 is a fantasy book lover, and I believe that she read The Spiderwick Chronicles awhile back. I have tried to read fantasy and sci-fi and I just cannot get into it, aside from a rare exception. I wish there wasn't so much crap out there. (Is that an acceptable use of the word, Bill?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Are the Magic Treehouse books good? Bill The grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure are abysmal, but other than that they are fine. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyNellen Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 All of my children have adored the My Father's Dragon series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 The grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure are abysmal, but other than that they are fine. ;) Oh, well that's not so good :001_huh: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 (edited) My son is not reading these independently yet (we doing them as read-alouds) but he grabbed "The Spiderwich Chronicles" off the library shelf the other day, and after marathon sessions reading Books One and Two we hustled back to the library to get 3, 4, and 5 and the first books of the "Beyond The Spiderwich Chronicles" series. I've read these a couple years ago, anticipating giving them to dd. I thought they were pretty good, but I still haven't had her read them (she's almost 9) because she's very sensitive. One of the magical creatures lives in the walls of the kids' home and plays mean tricks on them while they're sleeping. I can imagine DD starting to worry about what might be living in our walls (esp. when we've got squirrels running through the attic) and I just don't want to have her in my bed after reading some of those scenes. I think my DS(6) would be fine with the books if he were ready for chapter books. So, you might want to pre-read (they're very short so it'll be easy to do) and gauge whether they'd be appropriate for your own kids. BTW, I actually thought Junie B was pretty funny. I don't think I could stand to read more than one, but the one I read made me laugh. Magic Tree House drives me up the wall. It was halfway through the 1st one that I set dd loose so that she could read independently. They really helped her gain fluency in reading, so I can't complain too much about them. Edited March 18, 2010 by bonniebeth4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Here are some more: A-Z Mysteries Gooney Bird Greene (Lois Lowry wrote these) Cobble Street Cousins (Rylant wrote these--I haven't read) Sarah Plain and Tall and its sequels Non-series we liked Roald Dahl books like BFG, and esp. Fantastic Mr. Fox The first Little House book in the series is actually a pretty easy read--Little House in The Big Woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 There were a lot more replies while I was typing. Thanks for all of the suggestions! Are the Magic Treehouse books good? Bill I think for what they are, they're good. They have historical settings, which ds seems to dig. There is a lot of dialog, but the writing is simple. Maybe the contrast between Junie B and MTH was just so severe that I fell in love. I need ds's readers to be simple and interesting, without being garbage. That's not an easy combination to find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Are the Magic Treehouse books good?As read alouds, absolutely not. As high interest beginning readers, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I wish there wasn't so much crap out there. (Is that an acceptable use of the word, Bill?) Yes :D Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 The grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure are abysmal, but other than that they are fine. ;) Really? I'm not seeing it. :huh: I don't think they are works of art or anything, but not that bad. But I'm more of a math girl, so what do I know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 As read alouds, absolutely not. As high interest beginning readers, yes. OK. What else do you like? Bill :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 The Young Indiana Jones books are well-loved here, as are the Boxcar Children and Encyclopedia Brown. But the books that are absolutely a riot are the Hank the Cowdog books. My little guy reads aloud to me all the time, as he just can't bear to let some of the story go unshared. I also remember the Henry Huggins books. If you can find any, the Dolch story books are nice. I remember reading through all of the books, especially the books about stories of different countries. The Bear Stories book has been a winner here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in WA Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Do you have Gladys Hunt's Honey for a Child's Heart? Such a great book - the first half talks about the importance of beautiful books. The second half is a priceless book list. This is my always my starting point for the book hunt at various levels, from board books to young adult novels. Honey for a Child's Heart is how I found out about books such as The Little White Horse, which is for more intermediate readers. I bet it's been suggested, but Beverly Cleary books are excellent for 7-8 yo readers. My children love her books. Did you know that you can write to her and she'll write back! It's a form postcard; however, my dd never knew the difference. That was thrilling to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 What else do you like?When DD the Elder started to read, things took off so quickly we didn't spend a lot of time on these books. But there are some off the top of my head: Jill Tomlinson: The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, etc. Johanna Hurwitz, especially her Riverside Kids series (starts with Rip Roaring Russell) Dick King-Smith -- has beginning books as well as longer chapter books: Triffic, etc.; it's impossible to overpraise King-Smith Time Warp Trio Cam Jansen Encyclopedia Brown Astrid Lingren -- Noisy Village, Lotta, Emil books Dahl -- Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, The Enormous Crocodile Esther Averill (Jenny and the Cat Club series) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 The Julian, Huey, and Gloria books by Ann Cameron (The Stories Julian Tells, More Stories Julian Tells, etc.) Anything by Clyde Robert Bulla Donavan's Word Jar by Monalisa DeGross Anything by Dick King-Smith The Betsy books by Caroline Haywood Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Yes, Carolyn Haywood! I read everyone of her books as a child. The Eddie books are great for boys too. Yep, the Bulla books are great as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 When DD the Elder started to read, things took off so quickly we didn't spend a lot of time on these books. But there are some off the top of my head: Jill Tomlinson: The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, etc. Johanna Hurwitz, especially her Riverside Kids series (starts with Rip Roaring Russell) Dick King-Smith -- has beginning books as well as longer chapter books: Triffic, etc.; it's impossible to overpraise King-Smith Time Warp Trio Cam Jansen Encyclopedia Brown Astrid Lingren -- Noisy Village, Lotta, Emil books Dahl -- Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, The Enormous Crocodile Esther Averill (Jenny and the Cat Club series) Thank you! Quite a few of these (including King-Smith) are completely unfamiliar to me. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punchie Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books? (I can't recollect if these are chapter books or not. It's been a long time since I've read them) The Magic Pudding For your DD who loves fantasy - Wise Child by Monica Furlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 "Arthur" (the PBS show) has a whole series too. We are reading some of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 When DD the Elder started to read, things took off so quickly we didn't spend a lot of time on these books. But there are some off the top of my head: Jill Tomlinson: The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, etc. Johanna Hurwitz, especially her Riverside Kids series (starts with Rip Roaring Russell) Dick King-Smith -- has beginning books as well as longer chapter books: Triffic, etc.; it's impossible to overpraise King-Smith Time Warp Trio Cam Jansen Encyclopedia Brown Astrid Lingren -- Noisy Village, Lotta, Emil books Dahl -- Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, The Enormous Crocodile Esther Averill (Jenny and the Cat Club series) DD liked a lot of the books on this list, especially the Cam Jansen, Dahl, and Averill. I loved Jenny and the Cat Club as I child so I was excited to share those with her. And I cannot say enough good things about the Catwings series by Ursula LeGuin -- lovely little chapter books. Those are what I buy as gifts for beginning readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 (edited) Really? I'm not seeing it. :huh: I don't think they are works of art or anything, but not that bad. But I'm more of a math girl, so what do I know? I don't see it either. I don't like them as read-alouds but that's because of the dialogue. Reading dialogue aloud is hard to follow unless you do voices or something. These books are no worse than many others suggested here. I just read one of another series, the Time Warp Trio books (Your Mother Was a Neanderthal) recently with 6 yo ds and it had a lot of the same so-called "sins" as the MTH books. There are sentence fragments--and one boy even calls another a jerk. If that were all he wanted to read, I'd worry. Since it's not, I don't. I look at them as fluency builders. Most of the time, books with a lot of dialogue will have some incorrect grammar and "trendy" speech. I figure the times he curls up with better books more than make up for it. Edited March 18, 2010 by darlasowders subject/verb agreement :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 My son is not reading these independently yet (we doing them as read-alouds) but he grabbed "The Spiderwich Chronicles" off the library shelf the other day, and after marathon sessions reading Books One and Two we hustled back to the library to get 3, 4, and 5 and the first books of the "Beyond The Spiderwich Chronicles" series. DD currently has all five Spiderwick books checked out of the library. She *loves* these books. They have much better grammar than the Magic Treehouse books. I am not as happy about the "Beyond Spiderwick" books, though. I think DD isn't mature enough for them, as I find the protagonists of the second series morally questionable, and I'm not one to normally quibble about such things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 And I cannot say enough good things about the Catwings series by Ursula LeGuin -- lovely little chapter books. Those are what I buy as gifts for beginning readers. Thank you so much for this recommendation! They look wonderful, I just ordered all 4 for DD7 ~ they're 4-for-3 at Amazon. :D Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaissezFaire Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Boxcar Magic Treehouse Encyclopedia Brown A to Z Mysteries Nancy Drew (the old ones) My Father's Dragon Anything Beverly Cleary Junie B Jones was just horrible. My MIL gave us one and I donated it. Spiderwick is also enjoyed here but not until a little later. For First graders we usually do the series above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 DD currently has all five Spiderwick books checked out of the library. She *loves* these books. They have much better grammar than the Magic Treehouse books. I am not as happy about the "Beyond Spiderwick" books, though. I think DD isn't mature enough for them, as I find the protagonists of the second series morally questionable, and I'm not one to normally quibble about such things. Thanks for the heads-up on the "Beyond" books. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtney.byrum Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 We're just entering the chapter book realm but DS has read the first 4 Franny K Stein books and loves them. We have a bunch of the other ones listed so I'm hoping when he finishes the FKS books he'll just gravitate to the other ones but we'll see I guess. All I know is the Franny K Stein books certainly got him past his dislike of chapter books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 YMMV on what is quality. Books that I saved for my youngest reader include: Jigsaw Jones Encyclopedia Brown Boxcar Children Horrible Harry The Littles Geronimo Stilton (this is probably the easiest of the bunch) Magic Tree House I think that around this level my kids were also reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle and then The Castle in the Attic Hank the Cowdog is highly recommended but we just never got into them I can't wait to get these books out for my youngest. We're just not quite there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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