RainbowSprinkles Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 What is your opinion on those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My dd loves these. I haven't found anything objectionable in them. There fun reads only though, but great if you are trying to move up in reading level from Magic tree House Books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathymuggle Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 They are fun reads - very fluffy. They often take place in foreign locals - so there is a bit of geography in them. They contain some words in cursive, so that can be good if you want your kids to get the connection that sometimes people write in cursive and we really should learn it. ;) There are often other things going on in the book - maps, etc. They are meant to be visually engaging to keep interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawlas Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My son has listened t a few on cd but I don't think he was crazy for them . . . But maybe he's just a bit young as he's not yet 5. They are a step above magic treehouse, but only by a little. The mouse himself seemed like a bit of a wimp lol. What info are you asking for specifically? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My 5YO LOVES them! He listens to them on audiobook and often 'reads along' with the book in hand. I think they are great for beginning readers - the way they make some words 'pop out' visually, combined with the audiobook, has been very helpful for my beginning reader to be able to follow along in the text. I've noticed a significant jump in his reading confidence since he discovered these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ksol Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My son started reading these in K, and now in 4th grade- he still rereads them constantly. He loves them. I haven't found anything questionable in them, just a fun, simple read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My second grader hasn't read many, but he has enjoyed the Kingdom of Fantasy trilogy. These are thicker than the normal GS books. Flipping through the first in the series I saw some short versions of Greek myths and maybe some classic fairy tales. I'm not sure those continue to be in the 2nd and 3rd books. Anyway, while I wouldn't choose these books as books for him to read to me, I like them for independent reading. Honestly, there is not a lot at that reading level that is really fantastic. According to the scholastic book wizard the first Kingdom of Fantasy book has a GRE of 2.7 and the 3rd has a GRE of 3.2. (They don't have a GRE for the 2nd one for some reason.) If I search for classics with a reading level between 2.7 and 3.2 the results are mainly picture books. Here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I didn't like them much and my kids weren't interested when we tried the audiobooks when they were a little younger, so that was that. But I know kids who like them and they're sort of fun stories for them. Let them read what they like, I always say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splash Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My daughter loves them, these are the only fiction books she reads for fun. Otherwise she reads science books. She thinks they are funny. (she's 10 though) This is a child that can read anything, at any level since she was 6. My other kids didn't care for them when they were younger. Just thought they were okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My girls like them but I'm not a big fan. They aren't objectionable and do have good geography info but the books I've read have contained a lot of slang that my kids don't understand and I find them cheesy. My objection is just the writing quality and word choices. I prefer Ms. Frizzle and Magic Tree House for those level books. Magic Tree House has the same predictable stories and weak language but at least it doesn't have the slang and "romantic" episodes I saw in Geronimo. That said, I just put a Geronimo book on hold for our study on Kenya. I'm hoping the girls will read it on their own instead of forcing me to listen to it or read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainbowSprinkles Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thank you! We'll get some from the library to try for my 7 year old. He's interest in reading is very low, so hopefully these will be fun to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My twins enjoyed this series when they were younger. They especially enjoyed listening to them as audiobooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smcjoj3 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My 5 yr old LOVES these as read alouds. We listen to the audio books as well. He could probably recite the halloween book by heart.. I think they are fun reads & definitely have helped my almost 7 yr old up her reading level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I've thought about these books. How is the "language" and/or name calling? I dropped the "Ready Freddy" series quickly because of all the name calling between Freddy and his sister and the class bully. Also Freddy was very dishonest and "sneaky" with his mother (trying to sneak stuff into the house and his room). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmMusa Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Oh gosh my kids read them like crazy, put them on hold at the library, and would devour three books a day at times. It's fun reading, cute writing (like big fonts, squiggly lines, colorful words) at times, and easy going to read. To me it is a nice balance to their 'structured reading' time in school. Also, there is often travelling involved, so they read about different places. My 5th grader is done with them now, but I think he must've read every single book in the series, some more than twice or three times too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I've thought about these books. How is the "language" and/or name calling? I dropped the "Ready Freddy" series quickly because of all the name calling between Freddy and his sister and the class bully. Also Freddy was very dishonest and "sneaky" with his mother (trying to sneak stuff into the house and his room). These aren't like that at all. Geronimo is an adult and his friends are adults so there is none of the childhood name calling and sassy talk. Instead, you have Geronimo's thoughts about his crush on a female mouse (innocent, but annoys me), you have the girl mouse's brother pushing Geronimo around in a way that an obnoxious, over confident, oblivious man may treat another guy that he thinks is not so manly, but there's no malicious intent, and you have adult sayings and idioms that the kids may not get. These are not in any way offensive, but if you have a literal kid who doesn't get phrases of speech he might not get it. Things like, "Put my John Hancock on the line," or "Going to Davey Jones's locker." I appreciate that the main characters are grown ups and it's good to have books that feature and respect adult characters rather than having the children the focus and being so much smarter than all the adults around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) Geronimo Stilton fills a unique niche. They are absolutely amazing transition books for young readers who fluent and capable readers, but have a psychological aversion to reading even early-elementary chapter books or full text picture books because they find the "wall" of text on a page intimidating. My youngest reached a point very early on in K where I knew she was perfectly capable of reading early-level chapter books or picture books, but would exclaim "NO! That's WAY too hard!" looking at a paragraph of text. She wouldn't even TRY. BUT, she would read Geronimo Stilton. SAME level of content. Geronimo Stilton basically *are* early-level chapter books, but the text is visually broken up with whimsical cartoony words and mini-illustrations. It made ALL the difference in the world. After a couple months of devouring dozens of Geronimo Stilton books, I was easily able to persuade her to move on to easy chapter books and regular picture books, and then regular pictureless chapter books from there. Now if we run across a new one at the library, both my kids will read it for fun. At this point, they don't offer anything of literary substance, but they are fun, and I will always have a fond place in my heart for Geronimo Stilton for helping my youngest get over her fear of reading paragraphs. :lol: Edited January 7, 2012 by zenjenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Geronimo Stilton fills a unique niche. They are absolutely amazing transition books for young readers who fluent and capable readers, but have a psychological aversion to reading even early-elementary chapter books or full text picture books because they find the "wall" of text on a page intimidating.The series also provided my kids with a fluency in pop culture storytelling and genre conventions they were otherwise missing. It feels good to be able to get in-jokes. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My youngest loves reading them out loud. Because of the different fonts, she likes to read words the way they look (if that makes sense). So, she may whisper, shout or sing some words. She's a bit on the shy side, so I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa H. in GA Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 My son who is now 10 read lots and lots of them when he was 7 and 8. He really loved them. They really do seem to help the kids be able to transition to chapter books. Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskra Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Old thread, but I just wanted to chime in and say that these books have an amazing amount of cleverly placed geography info in them. The kids retain it very easily because it is weaved into the plot of the story. I think they make an excellent elementary self-teaching geography curriculum. They would work really well in a home where geography might not get covered at all otherwise, or as a fun supplement to a serious study of elementary geography. I can't believe that people compare the writing to Magic Tree House books though. First of all, Geronimo Stilton books are definitely harder to read, and secondly the writing is of much higher quality imo. I consider this series a step or two up from Magic Tree house reading-level-wise and certainly quality-wise. It is a completely different genre/style so it might not appeal to all Magic Tree House fans, but don't confuse genre with quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 My sons loved these. I just wanted to chime in and say (if you like audios) the narrator of the earlier ones, Edward Herrmann, is great. I enjoyed those almost as much as the boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 ds6 has read a couple but I think they are a bit long for him and he doesn't get a lot of the references. I don't like reading them aloud because I hate the font changes. I think I prefer child or teen characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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