need gentle readers for upper elementary reading level

[deerforest]

Hi all,

 

I'm going in circles pouring over literature lists, reading reviews at Amazon, etc.

 

My daughter is 7 and is extremely sensitive to challenging themes in books and movies. She has literally seen 4 fictional movies ever at this point because she rejects them after we describe the plots.

 

I don't even know what her reading level is. It's at least grade 4 or 5, but probably higher. I haven't been able to stump her in a while, but her fluency and comprehension is at least a solid grade 4/5. The themes above this level are even more impossible for her to handle so it's pretty much a moot point anyway.

 

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find gentle chapter books at this level?!

 

Non-fiction is easy. She loves biographies and science readers. But, fiction is an ongoing challenge. Chapter books have plots which typically involve a central conflict that gets resolved! That's kinda the point of them!

 

We need more things like Milly Molly Mandy, Keeker, Ivy and Bean, Paddington... gentle stories with minor or goofy (if any) conflicts. But, at much higher reading levels.

 

She loves animal stories but not if an animal is injured or scared. We are an adoptive family and themes involving abandonment or orphaned kids are really not acceptable to her (and that wipes out many classic books!). No kids being unkind to each other. Nothing scary. At all. Charlotte's Web, Pippi are all big huge NOs for us, as an example.

 

Some on my list right now (and please tell me if I'm making a mistake, either with content or level)

- Cricket in Times Square

- Phantom Tollbooth

- Plain Girl

- Rabbit Hill

- Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

- In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen (and also the Cobblestone Cousins)

 

I'm also considering Morning Girl and Pedro's Journal because we've done a lot of Native American studies this year, and I think if we did those two together, I might be able to get her through them. Are the conflicts and topics re: Columbus too much though? I think she would enjoy historical fiction if it was approached appropriately.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Critterfixer]

Phantom Tollbooth

This is our read aloud this month. It is essentially an adventure story, but if she's got a problem with the demons in the mountains (although they are pretty amusing) There is a lot of word play that she may not get at her age.

 

Rabbit Hill

Little Georgie is hit by a car in the book. He survives and is taken care of by the people, but just so you are aware of it.

 

You should be fine with A Cricket in Times Square, but I'd suggest you read it first to see if it would do.

Has she already read Winnie the Pooh? That's pretty gentle.

She might like The Borrowers series.

Five Children and It was pretty good, and I don't particularly remember it being scary.

If she likes nonsense, The Rootabaga Stories by Sandburg might be good.

[deerforest]

Argh.. thank you! I will have to pre-read Phantom and Rabbit Hill I think. She loves word play so was hoping that would overshadow the phantoms themselves!

 

Yes to Winnie the Pooh, and I've had the Borrowers around here and she has refused them so far. I think I'm going to try again.

 

It's so hard...

 

Holli

[EKS]

Maybe the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary?

[Wabi Sabi]

Maybe the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary?

 

Aren't they a family who deals with financial stress, unemployment and Ramona worrying that her parents are going to divorce?

[lexi]

I have no suggestions but my oldest is the same way!! We struggle at our house too. I have a hard time picking read alouds for us. Sometimes I appreciate her sensitivity but at other times it frustrates me. :tongue_smilie: So, just wanted to say that I understand! We enjoy Cynthia Rylant and Dick King Smith here.

[In the Rain]

Have you looked at the Betsy Tacy series?

[Critterfixer]

Two shorter books that still have a chapter feel to them that she might like:

 

Henner's Lydia-De Angeli (I first read a snippet of this in an Abeka reader as a child and was lucky enough to get the book as a library discard.)

 

Honk the Moose by Phil Strong is also good, but might be too easy for her.

[deerforest]

Betsy Tacy-- I went so far as to buy the first one but when I pre-read the infant sister died. Is that the only trauma? I put it aside but we might be able to work through it.

[Jay3fer]

I'm just wondering... and PLEASE forgive me for sounding insensitive (I sometimes am), but what happens if she IS exposed to a theme of conflict or a mildly upsetting scene?

 

No experience with this, really, because all my kids have been fascinated by blood, guts and trauma from an early age. But I'm wondering, if you introduce it in a totally safe context, maybe even reading together in bed, snuggled up and warm, or by a fire, or with a nice hot drink or snack... if it would seem a bit less threatening. You could also start with kind of cartoonish and silly scenarios, and work your way up to something more involved.

 

I'm sure you've thought of all of this - so mostly, I'm just curious. Also, what about taking her to a library and just having her talk to a librarian herself? My kids always HATE to do this at first, but they are building so many skills by asking for books they will be interested in and then walking around with the librarian to find them. I also just turn them loose in the library to see what they'll come up with.

 

Also curious - when she reads non-fiction biographies, what does she do when the main characters face conflict or hardship (core elements in every interesting biography I've ever read!)?

 

So many questions - sorry!

[Laura Corin]

They are Dick King-Smith and pretty gentle. The worst that happens - I think - is that some insects that the little girl is 'farming' get trodden on. The insects don't have personalities. The Milly-Molly-Mandy books might be good too, as well as the AA Milne Winnie the Pooh books and Paddington.

 

Calvin was like this about films, but not books. We didn't push the issue and he came to films later and 'caught up' with his peers in what he was able to take. He's fine now with all the action movies his friends like.

 

Laura

[Cosmos]

Try Thornton Burgess. Very gentle animal stories.

[deerforest]

I don't know why she is like this with fiction... I truly do not. Range of reactions from crying, walking away, refusing to discuss it. She is an extremely self-aware kid and I do truly try to gently push her boundaries. She even admits that some of her favorite books are ones I knew were gentle and just started reading aloud without caring if she were listening. She also has nightmares and is just truly a very sensitive soul who just doesn't want to see others suffer..I think the biographies thus far have been quite tame.

 

We were electronic media free with her until age 4 so maybe that limitation had an impact. I don't know. For the most part, I love how kind and sensitive she is... innocent in many ways. But, I think she is limiting herself so I just seek gentle readers to help her to safely expand her fictional world. 2 years ago she wouldn't read fiction at all so we have made improvements!!

[Guest submarines]

I don't know why she is like this with fiction... I truly do not. Range of reactions from crying, walking away, refusing to discuss it. She is an extremely self-aware kid and I do truly try to gently push her boundaries. She even admits that some of her favorite books are ones I knew were gentle and just started reading aloud without caring if she were listening. She also has nightmares and is just truly a very sensitive soul who just doesn't want to see others suffer..I think the biographies thus far have been quite tame.

 

We were electronic media free with her until age 4 so maybe that limitation had an impact. I don't know. For the most part, I love how kind and sensitive she is... innocent in many ways. But, I think she is limiting herself so I just seek gentle readers to help her to safely expand her fictional world. 2 years ago she wouldn't read fiction at all so we have made improvements!!

 

My 9yo is still very much like this, and we face the same challenges with exposure to fiction.

 

She loved the Ramona books; She loved the Sophie and the Snail books.

There's a series called Pony Pals--she still adores these books, even if the reading level is not very high.

 

She enjoyed several of the Little House books.

 

She is crazy about horses, so this topic lead her to the Horse Diaries series, where there's more conflict / suffering, and she is dealing well with these books.

 

She is slowly expanding her horizons.

 

One thing I noticed is that most plot summaries on the book jackets sound much more intense than the actual plots. I guess it is done to entice young readers with mystery and suspence, but DD finds them too intense. "Will she ever find her home / be reunited with her family/ save her brother" and so on--errrrrr, not appealing to her. I try to pre-read and tell her about a story in my own words, rather than letting her read the jacket.

[Farrar]

How about the Melendy books or the Penderwicks or the Moffats? All basically gentle. If she's an animal lover, definitely try Ginger Pye, also in that vein.

 

If she hasn't done Mr Popper's Penguins yet, or hasn't done the Dick King-Smith suggested, those are good thoughts.

 

What about (while, honestly, the writing didn't do it for me) Toys Go Out? Very gentle.

 

What about something like the Tashi books - there's adventure and dragons and so forth, but it's all imaginary. They're short, but the vocabulary level is nice.

 

There's a gentle, sweet animal book on the tip of my tongue and it'll come to me...

[Hunter]

Some atypical [gifted,aspie, etc.] children just do not like fiction. Fiction is assuming that their minds are working in a way that they are not. That assumption can feel threatening.

 

The children featured in biographies are usually gifted. They are more like atypical children, than the characters in fiction. Reading biographies makes atypical children feel "normal". Reading fiction sometimes makes atypical children feel like freaks.

 

There might be a little more going on here, than just a dislike of conflict.

 

My youngest son had an intense dislike for most fiction and wasn't sensitive. I do remember that he liked the Little House books and Pilgrim's Progress. He read Jurassic Park in the 1st grade, but I'm not recommending that :-0 He was in PS for the first few grades and book report time was pure torture.

 

The great thing about homeschooling was that we didn't have to do fiction anymore and he could read mostly the Bible and encyclopedias and biographies. His brother was only 20 months older, "normal" and in PS for much longer, so I did know exactly what "normal" children were doing...but I gave up and didn't really care. And after awhile I jumped on the bandwagon of his and saw fiction in a new light, and actually refused to assign much to his older brother as schoolwork when he started homeschooling.

 

It's only been the past couple years that I have rediscovered the importance of fiction.

 

Good luck! :-)

[deerforest]

Keep them coming! You all are suggesting some I had on my list to research--thank you! She LOVES all 3 of the Toys Go Out series! So I think you must be on the right track with those other suggestions. I have been trying to get her to try Mr Popper but she wouldn't, but my sister got her to try the movie so I think she will try the book (even though the stories are completely different...)

[Aurelia]

I remember Emily's Runaway Imagination being pretty gentle. How about Little House in the Big Woods or other books? They also have some others about Laura's mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and daughter. The Rose years series struck me as being pretty tame. (The first title is Little House on Rocky Ridge, and I recommend the unabridged versions if you can find them.) There's also Twig and other books by Elizabeth Orton Jones. Ariel really loved Big Susan by the same author. All of a Kind Family and the Betsy-Tacy books are good, too.

[deerforest]

Hunter--I agree... I believe it is partly gifted related and associated OE ...I love the insight about biographies.

[EKS]

Aren't they a family who deals with financial stress, unemployment and Ramona worrying that her parents are going to divorce?

 

That's in one of the much later books (I think it's called Ramona and Her Father). The first ones are mostly silly little girl stuff.

[Farrar]

If she liked Toys Go Out, then I feel like Ann M. Martin's Doll series is in that vein... but it has a lot more mystery and adventure.

 

Horse books... has she done all the Misty books or the others by Margaurete Henry? Maybe not gentle enough. I'm not sure.

 

Or how about something like The Wheel on the School or Along Came a Dog? It's been a long time since I read Along Came a Dog (the last time being about age 8, I think), but I don't remember it being too dramatic. There's adventure in The Wheel on the School, but the central issue is trying to find a wagon wheel for some storks, so it's hardly life or death... oh, but at one point, a girl gets caught by the ocean and it's slightly scary.

[Jay3fer]

That's in one of the much later books (I think it's called Ramona and Her Father). The first ones are mostly silly little girl stuff.

 

Re Ramona - the pp may be thinking of the movie, which is all about this and other stressful stuff. :-(

 

deerforest - thank you for your answer. I always think parents know their own kiddos best. :-)

[dragons in the flower bed]

Tumtum and Nutmeg! The stories are so sweet and the conflict so silly and gentle. There are three novels.

[scrapbookbuzz]

My 7 year old son reads at about a 5th/6th grade level so I DO understand the challenge of finding readers with appropriate content that aren't also "too easy" to read!

 

I also understand the "triggers" challenge as I have a relative who has three adopted daughters, all of whom have issues: fetal alcohol syndrome, one was a meth baby, and another one has something else. However, I also know that life is life. No, she won't like to deal with the conflict in the stories, but eventually she's going to have to in real life. What better place for her to learn than in a safe environment, at home with you by discussing what's being read, before she has to face them IRL? Yep, I know it makes for lots of drama and emotion in your household. I have a special needs daughter myself so I KNOW how that goes! But our job is to educate and train. No one said it would be easy!

 

However, to answer your earlier question, the books I can think of right now are:

 

Runny Babbit and any other Shel Silverstein books (mostly silly poetry).

Sarah, Plain and Tall

 

If I think of any others, I'll let you know! :^)

[nmoira]

the four Moffats books by Eleanor Estes

Arabel's Raven, etc. by Joan Aiken

the Jenny and the Cat Club books by Esther Averill

The Penderwicks and sequels by Birdsall

the Freddy the Pig books by Brooks (Freddy Goes to Florida is the first)

much of E. Nesbit

Elizabeth Enright

maybe the Moomin series by Tove Jansson (starts with Comet in Moominland)

Dick King-Smith (though Babe/The Sheep Pig might be stressful due to some sheep-worrying dogs: they kill one of the sheep and Farmer Hoggett almost shoots Babe, assuming the pig had killed the sheep)

* L.M. Montgomery -- Anne of Green Gables series; The Story Girl and The Golden Road (a bit is made of Cecily's weakness, and it's hinted that she dies young)

* Swallows and Amazons series by Ransome

James Thurber -- The Wonderful O and The Thirteen Clocks

the Shoes books by Streatfeild (Ballet Shoes is the first)

E.B. White

 

* these are a bit higher reading level than the others

 

Also:

Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma (these are manga, but please don't let that scare you off)

Asterix by Goscinny

Calvin & Hobbes

 

 

fairy tales, myths, folktales

[deerforest]

Thanks, all! We picked up a bunch to try at the library today!

 

I have no worries that she will be 13 and still be avoiding these things. In many ways, her giftedness presents itself as a maturity well beyond her age so it is honestly refreshing that she she still has such a younger/innocent side. She is only 7 (would be in 1st grade in public school) nd if her reading level were more age appropriate, it wouldn't be an issue. She wants harder books and I am quite happy taking the time to find ones she will love. She pushes herself so hard with perfection issues that this is really and truly not an area in which I feel she will benefit in anyway from me pushing hard. We are working through this at a very comfortable pace.

[Hunter]

Have you looked at the Pathway Readers? Often the Amish children in the stories are mocked for displaying the typical middle school behaviors that are encouraged and assumed to be normal in modern day middle grade novels.

 

Also look into the whole new push to use picture books, with older and older students, as mentor texts. The idea is that children should spent a large amount of time studying books written at their WRITING level instead of just their READING level.

 

If her reading skills are being challenged by lots of nonfiction, you could cover all of the fiction elements that needed to be learned, with books below her reading level, but at her writing level.

 

Scrapbookbuzz, I do not believe in pushing gifted/LD children to absorb FICTIONAL conflict that is above their sensitivity/disability level, never mind above their chronological age. They are just stories! Why torment a child over an art form? And if they were not "gifted" this wouldn't even be an issue and everyone would be content to let them play with age appropriate picture books and chapter books. Developmental delays can not always be "trained" away and considerable harm can be done from trying.

 

I think most mothers are good at sensing when to push and when to hold back and are NOT looking for the easy route. Most mothers are in a panic all the time, who are raising out of sync children, constantly beating themselves up and questioning EVERYTHING they do. I always err on the side of caution and assume mom knows best, because...she usually does!

[LaughingCat]

We've read some of these as read alouds recently:

 

The beginning of Sarah, Plain and Tall is the main character's (girl) talking/thinking of her mothers death after her brother's birth. It's not graphic or anything but my DD is sensitive too (not to the degree described though) and she did not want to continue the book.

 

In the Doll People the main story of the book is the search for the missing Aunt doll - the girl doll telling the story doesn't know where she is gone but there are hints the adult doll know more. Also the cat grabs the dad doll at one point and absconds with him. Neither of these were an issue here and the book was a winner for DD.

 

Ramona and Beezus didn't have anything about divorce/hard times. In that one, Ramona is quite young and I believe it's considered a Beezus book rather than a Ramona book.

 

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (all of them) was a winner here.

 

I loved Swallows and Amazons as a kid and it's on my list to read aloud :)

 

What about Gone Away Lake? I pre-read that maybe a year ago and don't remember anything?

 

LL

[nmoira]

 

Ramona and Beezus didn't have anything about divorce/hard times. In that one, Ramona is quite young and I believe it's considered a Beezus book rather than a Ramona book.

There shouldn't be any issues through Ramona the Brave. In the next book, Ramona and her Father, her father loses his job and goes through a spell of depression. However, her mother moves to full time work and the family holds together (thought money is tight). Things work out in the end, though not in a fairy-tale way.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Hi all,

 

I'm going in circles pouring over literature lists, reading reviews at Amazon, etc.

 

My daughter is 7 and is extremely sensitive to challenging themes in books and movies. She has literally seen 4 fictional movies ever at this point because she rejects them after we describe the plots.

 

I don't even know what her reading level is. It's at least grade 4 or 5, but probably higher. I haven't been able to stump her in a while, but her fluency and comprehension is at least a solid grade 4/5. The themes above this level are even more impossible for her to handle so it's pretty much a moot point anyway.

 

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find gentle chapter books at this level?!

 

Non-fiction is easy. She loves biographies and science readers. But, fiction is an ongoing challenge. Chapter books have plots which typically involve a central conflict that gets resolved! That's kinda the point of them!

 

We need more things like Milly Molly Mandy, Keeker, Ivy and Bean, Paddington... gentle stories with minor or goofy (if any) conflicts. But, at much higher reading levels.

 

She loves animal stories but not if an animal is injured or scared. We are an adoptive family and themes involving abandonment or orphaned kids are really not acceptable to her (and that wipes out many classic books!). No kids being unkind to each other. Nothing scary. At all. Charlotte's Web, Pippi are all big huge NOs for us, as an example.

 

Some on my list right now (and please tell me if I'm making a mistake, either with content or level)

- Cricket in Times Square

- Phantom Tollbooth

- Plain Girl

- Rabbit Hill

- Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

- In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen (and also the Cobblestone Cousins)

 

I'm also considering Morning Girl and Pedro's Journal because we've done a lot of Native American studies this year, and I think if we did those two together, I might be able to get her through them. Are the conflicts and topics re: Columbus too much though? I think she would enjoy historical fiction if it was approached appropriately.

 

Thanks for any advice!

 

Betsy Tacy

Boxcar Children

Books by Beverly Cleary

Homer Price

Freddie the Pig

[ZooRho]

Check out Honey for a CHild's heart by Gladys Hunt

 

What about Lois Lenski books.

 

and the B is for Betsy books

[hmschooling]

Hi all,

 

I'm going in circles pouring over literature lists, reading reviews at Amazon, etc.

 

My daughter is 7 and is extremely sensitive to challenging themes in books and movies. She has literally seen 4 fictional movies ever at this point because she rejects them after we describe the plots.

 

I don't even know what her reading level is. It's at least grade 4 or 5, but probably higher. I haven't been able to stump her in a while, but her fluency and comprehension is at least a solid grade 4/5. The themes above this level are even more impossible for her to handle so it's pretty much a moot point anyway.

 

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find gentle chapter books at this level?!

 

Non-fiction is easy. She loves biographies and science readers. But, fiction is an ongoing challenge. Chapter books have plots which typically involve a central conflict that gets resolved! That's kinda the point of them!

 

We need more things like Milly Molly Mandy, Keeker, Ivy and Bean, Paddington... gentle stories with minor or goofy (if any) conflicts. But, at much higher reading levels.

 

She loves animal stories but not if an animal is injured or scared. We are an adoptive family and themes involving abandonment or orphaned kids are really not acceptable to her (and that wipes out many classic books!). No kids being unkind to each other. Nothing scary. At all. Charlotte's Web, Pippi are all big huge NOs for us, as an example.

 

Some on my list right now (and please tell me if I'm making a mistake, either with content or level)

- Cricket in Times Square

- Phantom Tollbooth

- Plain Girl

- Rabbit Hill

- Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

- In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen (and also the Cobblestone Cousins)

 

I'm also considering Morning Girl and Pedro's Journal because we've done a lot of Native American studies this year, and I think if we did those two together, I might be able to get her through them. Are the conflicts and topics re: Columbus too much though? I think she would enjoy historical fiction if it was approached appropriately.

 

Thanks for any advice!

Have you checked the book selections at Heart of Dakota?

[kubiac]

Another vote for Elizabeth Enright's Melendys books starting with Saturdays. They are virtually conflict-free, although the mother is dead, so that might be a sticking point in your situation.

 

The death of the mom happens off-stage before the story begins and it's largely a non-issue, but at one point (I think in a later volume) the baby of the family Oliver [spoiler alert] laments that "I never knew her very well" and a sibling consoles sweetly, "Of course you did, you just don't remember!"

 

Good luck!