What age for read-aloud classics?

[Sahmqui]

At what age do you read a classic to a child? Ex. Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, etc,

 

My kids (ages 2,4,6,8) love the Velveteen Rabbit and Peter Rabbit:bigear: They run off or start chatting to each other (not about the book), or draw and write letters; whenever I begin to read Mary Poppins or Alice. I do have to stop and explain words but nevertheless they do not seem interested (even when I use the voices). I stop reading both after 3 chapters and no one has ask to finish it :confused: They begged me to finish a Magic Tree House, Hansel and Gretel and Rumplestilikin (original w/o pics).

Is this the wrong age group to visit classics?

 

Should I just continue reading despite what is happening around me? They are hearing parts of the story but not the details, should I start questioning them after every chapter? My goal is to expose them to all the literature classic through quality time read a louds. They are free to self read anything they want, just as long as they read; DS despise self reading time.

 

Any suggestions?

[Jenny in Florida]

At what age do you read a classic to a child? Ex. Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, etc,

 

We read to our kids from the day they were born.

 

I started reading "classics" like The Secret Garden and Peter Pan to our daughter by the time she was about three. Our son has never really loved being read aloud to, but he does adore audiobooks. (So, maybe it's just ME reading aloud he doesn't like, I suppose.) Nonetheless, I was reading those kind of books to him by the time he was five or six. We just had to take them in smaller bites.

 

Some kids do better listening if they have something to do with their hands, like coloring quietly?

 

I will also say that my kids have very different taste in books. So, maybe it's a question of finding stories yours will love.

[~Kirsten~]

It's probably a matter of taste, as the other poster mentions. Or, it's possible that your youngers aren't ready yet, and your olders see them leave and take off to find more excitement.

 

FWIW, we read Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio this past year (my girls were solidly 6 and 4). My 4-year-old wasn't as interested, but I found some wonderfully illustrated versions, and at least she wanted to see the pictures. I tend to read those kinds of "stretching" books (stretching to my 4-year-old) over lunch, as she's much more captive. I also try to mix up what we read based on interest, so we'll read My Father's Dragon or Uncle Wiggly, both of which my 4-year-old adores and alternate with something aimed more at my 6-year-old, like E. Nesbit or the classics you mentioned. That might help a bit, as you do have a wide range there.

 

Oh, and Peter Pan has twice been a flop here, once with me reading and once with an audio CD. I'm not giving up; we'll try again in probably 6 months or so. But you know, there's such a long, long list of truly wonderful books that if one or two miss along the way, I don't sweat it too much. I used to panic when my oldest, who is now a voracious reader, completely rejected hearing any and all Beatrix Potter at about 3ish. Everyone always said it was perfect to read to preschoolers, and she wouldn't have anything to do with it. I thought there was something wrong with her. And me! :lol:

 

Just keep picking books and see what sticks!

[Mert]

My dh has read the first 3 Narnia books, the Winnie-the-Pooh books, the My Father's Dragon series, Alice and Through the Looking Glass, The Wind in the Willows and a couple of the Box Car Children books with ds. They started at 3.5yo or so. Peter Pan did not go over well, but everything else has been read at least once. Does ds understand everything that's going on? Nah, we've had to reread paragraphs and explain what's going on, but ds will sit through them.

[lindsrae]

I've started and abandoned some classics...I figure if the girls don't ask about them, they aren't ready for them :) We are reading A Little Princess right now, and they both ask to read it, even if the three-year-old wanders off to play with the cat or the baby periodically. But I know they are getting something, because they were playing "Lottie" the other day--she's the little girl who throw temper tantrums. ('Course, this was a fun way to have a temper tantrum too.)

 

If they aren't in love with Alice, try it again in a few months. There's lots of other things you can try in the mean time. I just went to the library and loaded up on read-alouds. Sometimes they should just be for fun...I picked up The Borrowers, Betsy-Tacy, The Cricket in Times Square. And DO get audio books...I love SWB's justification for continuing nap time long after they have grown out of the nap. My five-year-old isn't reading independently, but she will listen to an audio book for hours.

[Ali in OR]

My personal opinion is that Alice in Wonderland is not a great fit for little kids. It's just kind of bizarre. I had this assigned as a college text to study logic as a matter of fact. And it's still not a favorite with me. There are many more engaging books out there. As for age, I agree with others that you can start reading some classic books (kid lit) before kindergarten. You might check some of the many lists out there to find titles that work particularly well at early ages. We enjoyed the Little House on the Prairie series, My Father's Dragon series, Mr. Popper's Penguins, and Charlotte's Web around age 4-6. Check the Sonlight catalog, 1000 good books list, Ambleside, etc.

[Sherry in OH]

The Velveteen Rabbit and Peter Rabbit are classics. Read other Beatrix Potter stories (also classics). If they like fairy tales, read more fairy tales. If they like animal stories read the Just So Stories or some of the Burgess books.

 

It could be that your children are not ready for chapter books. It could also be that the chapter books you have chosen are just not to their taste.

[yvonne]

Mary Poppins and Alice were harder to get into. How about something like Swiss Family Robinson or Dr. Dolittle that your older boy might like? He might set the tone for the others to sit longer and listen? Not immediately, but gradually?

 

Also, not a classic, but something more boyish like Summer of the Monkeys?

 

Or even Grimm's Fairy Tales. Those are pretty short. Your youngers might like Old Mother West Wind and the whole Tales of... (Reddy Fox, Prickly Porky,....) Those were the first real books I read to mine when they were 3-4. Each chapter is pretty self-contained. Gentle, sweet stories with enough adventure to keep my boys listening when they were very young.

 

I also try to stop at a suspenseful spot if they don't seem too interested in the book. Sometimes it just takes two or three chapters to get into a book. (I think Mary Poppins falls into this category!) Oh! How about Nurse Matilda, the book that Nanny McPhee was based on?

 

Also, always stop while they're still wanting more! Don't wait until you're all worn out to stop.

[In2why]

I think a lot of it has to do with vocabulary. My kids loved Wind in the Willows, Doctor Dolittle, Charlottes Web and more, but there are some books that they just can't get involved in because I have to spend too much time explaining the vocab. "Ben and Me" was a book like that. I loved it, I thought they would, but it seemed there were 5-6 words on every page to explain and they couldn't keep up with the context of the story.

I will wait till they are older since it is more important to me that they love the story then to just chack it off the read list.

[Aurelia]

It really depends on the book. The original Alice in Wonderland is going to be too much for those ages, typically, but my then-4-year-old adored Black Beauty. Sonlight and AO do a good job of assigning mostly age-appropriate books, although they are not all classics. If they like animal stories, consider The Wind in the Willows, The Jungle Book, The Adventures of Dr. Doolittle or Winnie the Pooh. They might also like The Wizard of Oz or Nurse Matilda (similar to Mary Poppins, but my daughter liked the story better).

[Ellie]

Mine were about 5yo. I read to older dd while younger dd was napping.

[Skadi]

I wouldn't ask you to keep reading Mary Poppins or Alice, either -- I just think they're weird.

 

My favorite classic read-alouds for youngers: Watership Down, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, An Old-Fashioned Girl, and Heidi.

[Crispa]

Whenever they're interested, and then again a few years later so they can get the stuff they'd missed the first time around. :)

 

I'm not a fan of expecting or asking for comprehension when we do fun reading! It makes it laborious instead of enjoyable. We have other exercises for comprehension and summarizing and all that good schooley stuff. For the fun reading (which I think includes "classics"), we just read and enjoy. Or stop in the middle, if DS isn't enjoying the book.

 

DS is 8, and we've read the Winnie the Pooh books, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, part of Mary Poppins. We started Charlotte's Web a year or so ago, but he wasn't enjoying it, so we stopped. Might be a good time now to try again, I suppose. :) We're starting the Magic Tree House books now. (Not classic literature by any stretch, IMO! But, I do think there's a place for pulp fiction in the repertoire. ;) )

[Aurelia]

Oh, I just remembered a couple of others that were really enjoyed around here. The House Above the Trees and The Wind Boy, Mio, My Son and The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook.

[sewpeaceful]

I agree with other posters - it depends on the book. What we have found VERY helpful regarding classics:

 

Read a simplified version more appropriate for their age level. If you hit a big word, don't hesitate to stop and explain the definition (consider it a vocab lesson - lol).

 

 

• Classic Start Series
  
• Mary Pope Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey was FABULOUS retelling of the Odyssey. The kids kept begging for more and frankly, I was happy to humor them.
  
• Step Into Reading 4 and Stepping Stones Classics has several watered down versions that may be easier for the kids to comprehend and enjoy also.
  
• Bruce Coville, as well as many other authors, have wonderful and beautiful child friendly retellings of Shakespeare's works.
  
• Don't hesitate to remember that childhood books like the Ramona books and Superfudge are classics in their own right and will inspire a love for storytime.
  

SWB recommends to do exactly this - read age appropriate versions of the classics and as they get older, read a slightly more complicated version so by high school, it is no big deal for them the read the original work.

 

Good luck and I hope a few of my suggestions are helpful to fellow hive members. :)

[EJCMom]

You know, it must just depend on the child. My kids are 6, 5, and 3, and we just finished the original Mary Poppins book. They loved it so much they begged me to check out one of the subsequent books from the library. We watched the Disney movie the other day for the first time, and they actually said that even though they liked the movie, they liked the book better. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I actually prefer the movie. :tongue_smilie: The book was very different from the movie. And not in the normal "the book is different from the movie" kind of way. It was like Mary Poppins' whole disposition was different.

[Meredith]

The craziest thing I ever did was read Pride and Prejudice to my three oldest when they were 7, 5, 3. :tongue_smilie: They saw me reading it and wanted to hear it, so I figured, "Why not?" I read the whole thing aloud to them. How could it be wrong for them to express interest in the classics at young ages?

[Sahmqui]

Thank you all! I truly thought I was failing some how. First thing Monday we will start anew and shelf Mary and Alice for now :)

[texasmama]

My littles have all loved Charlotte's Web.:001_smile: I think of it as a classic. That said, I wouldn't expect a two year old to be still or have much of an attention span. I don't ask comprehension questions for literature readalouds. We discuss as we go, spurred on by my kids' questions.