Halcyon Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 I am trying to compile a list for my 5 year old who is going into 1st grade next year. He just finished Charlotte's Web, and I am trying to find books that fit a few criteria: 1. Not twaddle 2. Age appropriate yet also reading-level appropriate 3. Not-tiny font --this is a turn-off for him, and some books that might be appropriate in other ways only seem to be available with a tiny font. 4. He is a sensitive boy, and parts of Charlotte's Web were very sad for him, so definitely nothing too sad, aggressive etc. The books I am considering are the following (other suggestions more than welcome) Pippi Longstocking The Mouse and the Motorcycle Mrs Piggle Wiggle Harriet the Spy How to Eat Fried Worms (not sure this is appropriate?) Stuart Little The Littles Tornado by Betsy Byars I would appreciate ideas. Thank you. ETA: he has read all the Roald Dahl books already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Don't forget Beverly Cleary's Henry books. Also Homer Price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwg Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Thornton Burgess is wonderful! Winnie the Pooh is great, longer picture books and non fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Here's the list I made for this coming year (my son has read Charlotte's Web also). Some of these are a bit higher grade level, but they'd probably be doable at some point in the year: Detectives in Togas Henry Huggins Homer Price Mr. Popper's Penguins Mrs. Piggle Wiggle The Sword in the Tree The Minstrel in the Tower Follow My Leader Caddie Woodlawn The Happy Hollisters 101 Dalmations (by Dodie Smith) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Redwall The Phantom Tollbooth The Book of Three I haven't read ANY of these except Detectives in Togas, so I can't tell you about scary content. Amazon has samples for most of them so you can see text size. These are just suggestions I've picked up from here (I had a thread last week about this), Sonlight, HOD, VP, etc. Others we've read this year: Trumpet of the Swan My Father's Dragon (trilogy - he LOVED this, and it's not scary) The Chalkbox Kid Stone Fox The Boxcar Children series And we read Tornado, but you already have that on the list (it's not as advanced as Charlotte's Web, but it was a good "first chapter book" for DS... I think he read Charlotte's Web 2 books later). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 Thank you for these! My older loved Henry Huggins :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunriseiz Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Those are all great suggestions! Your son sounds a lot like my DD. These are some additional ones that she has enjoyed. The Wizard of Oz series Indian in the Cupboard series The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles The Black Stallion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunriseiz Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Here's the list I made for this coming year (my son has read Charlotte's Web also). Some of these are a bit higher grade level, but they'd probably be doable at some point in the year: Detectives in Togas Henry Huggins Homer Price Mr. Popper's Penguins Mrs. Piggle Wiggle The Sword in the Tree The Minstrel in the Tower Follow My Leader Caddie Woodlawn The Happy Hollisters 101 Dalmations (by Dodie Smith) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Redwall The Phantom Tollbooth The Book of Three I haven't read ANY of these except Detectives in Togas, so I can't tell you about scary content. Amazon has samples for most of them so you can see text size. These are just suggestions I've picked up from here (I had a thread last week about this), Sonlight, HOD, VP, etc. Others we've read this year: Trumpet of the Swan My Father's Dragon (trilogy - he LOVED this, and it's not scary) The Chalkbox Kid Stone Fox The Boxcar Children series And we read Tornado, but you already have that on the list (it's not as advanced as Charlotte's Web, but it was a good "first chapter book" for DS... I think he read Charlotte's Web 2 books later). FWIW, the Happy Hollisters are great as well as the Phantom Tollbooth! Oh, and she's read Mr. Popper's Penguins multiple times. On the other hand, DD cried at the end of Stone Fox. She said it was great except for the end, so you might pre-read that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 My Ds is that age and his current favorite books are The Castle in the Attic and Battle for the Castle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Here's the list I made for this coming year (my son has read Charlotte's Web also). Some of these are a bit higher grade level, but they'd probably be doable at some point in the year: Detectives in Togas Henry Huggins Homer Price Mr. Popper's Penguins Mrs. Piggle Wiggle The Sword in the Tree The Minstrel in the Tower Follow My Leader Caddie Woodlawn The Happy Hollisters 101 Dalmations (by Dodie Smith) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Redwall The Phantom Tollbooth The Book of Three I haven't read ANY of these except Detectives in Togas, so I can't tell you about scary content. Amazon has samples for most of them so you can see text size. These are just suggestions I've picked up from here (I had a thread last week about this), Sonlight, HOD, VP, etc. Others we've read this year: Trumpet of the Swan My Father's Dragon (trilogy - he LOVED this, and it's not scary) The Chalkbox Kid Stone Fox The Boxcar Children series And we read Tornado, but you already have that on the list (it's not as advanced as Charlotte's Web, but it was a good "first chapter book" for DS... I think he read Charlotte's Web 2 books later). You've gotten great suggestions. I wanted to add a cautionary note for "Detectives in Togas." My sensitive boy would NOT have been able to read that book at that age. And he got scared by "The Book of Three" when we tried to read it out loud. "Redwall" is wonderful, but there is a lot of fighting in it. Your son may be fine with these books, but you might want to pre-read or just check them out a bit. My son loved "Freddy Goes to Florida" and the other books in that series, but they might be a little more difficult in reading level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Socks Gooseberry Park (Cynthia Rylant) William Steig's chapter books: Dominic, The Real Thief, Abel's Island The Borrowers series Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Here's something I wish I'd known a LONG time ago! Don't discount books that have tiny print. Go to the library and ask if they have it in a large print version. I didn't realize our library had an entire wall of the youth section full of large-print books until my read-y child was past the "no tiny print" stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trelam Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 My DS sounds similar to yours. He loves to read...loved my father's dragon series and all of Roald Dahl's. Some others he loved: Half Magic Melvin Beederman Superhero George's Secret Key to the universe (by Lucy and Stephen Hawking) Akiko series Black Beauty Tale of Desperaux Magic school bus Chapter books The Secret of Platform 13 The Island of the Aunts Beverly Cleary books (Ramona, Henry, Ribsy, Ralph the Mouse, etc) Simon Bloom; Gravity Keeper Harry Potter (let him read up to book 3 - I think 3 starts to get a little too dark but he loved it) Hank the Cowdog series Encyclopedia Brown series Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe Indian in the Cupboard (and other books by same author) It's a constant battle looking for books that will challenge him a little, yet be interesting to him and age appropriate. best of luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Here's something I wish I'd known a LONG time ago! Don't discount books that have tiny print. Go to the library and ask if they have it in a large print version. I didn't realize our library had an entire wall of the youth section full of large-print books until my read-y child was past the "no tiny print" stage. Oh yes, I'd forgotten that I got some large print books for one of my dc. Also if you have an ereader, you can change the size of the print to make it easier to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 What's the process for getting a sticky post on a forum? I think it would be great to have a sticky with recommendations for young advanced readers - it's a topic that comes up a lot, and it really can be a delicate process to find books that are interesting and challenging reads but not too old emotionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kht2006 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I just found out you can enlarge the font on a kindle! Maybe that could help you? My DH is delighted and begging for one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Thank you for these! My older loved Henry Huggins :) The Eddie books by Carolyn Haywood The old Hardy boys and Bobbsey Twins ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Don't forget nonfiction. My 7yo's teacher believd that nonfiction books showed how well you could read since the vocabulary is larger. My daughter's reading is high but she's not always interested in reading older kid situations. There's a site I go to often to find books on her reading level and interest level in whatever format. I think it's with Scholastic. I'm not at my computer now to check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Don't forget nonfiction. My 7yo's teacher believd that nonfiction books showed how well you could read since the vocabulary is larger. My daughter's reading is high but she's not always interested in reading older kid situations. There's a site I go to often to find books on her reading level and interest level in whatever format. I think it's with Scholastic. I'm not at my computer now to check. We do non-fiction via history and science, though I often get that stuff a little below his reading level so it will be more interesting (there are a TON of great history/science books in the 3rd-ish grade level reading range). The Scholastic site you're probably thinking about is their Book Wizard. I love that site! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Loving this thread! :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Don't forget nonfiction. My 7yo's teacher believd that nonfiction books showed how well you could read since the vocabulary is larger. My daughter's reading is high but she's not always interested in reading older kid situations. There's a site I go to often to find books on her reading level and interest level in whatever format. I think it's with Scholastic. I'm not at my computer now to check. Oooh. I bet dd would love to start reading the Let's Read And Find Out series soon.... Magic School Bus has easy chapter books, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Boscopup, Thanks for reminding me of the name Book Wizard. :001_smile: I usually go right to Leveled Search when I want to get books at the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I just had someone give advanced reader an Uncle Wiggily book, and it's been a real find because it uses quality language and rich vocabulary to tell gentle, humorous stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 The sonlight lists are a great place to browse for ideas. You could look at both the read aloud and reader lists. The reader package for grades 4 to 5 is a nice collection of books that were largely new to me. The read alouds for grades one and two would also provide a nice list of titles that are age appropriate but more challenging than the grade readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Book wizard is cool, thanks! I like to borrow ideas from the ambleside booklists too. http://amblesideonline.org/curriculum.shtml#years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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