MommaOfalotta Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I have taken advantage of all the threads with reading lists.. but they seem to be mostly on read alouds, or books for older children who have been reading on their own for a while. I have a 1st grader, that reads pretty well but has no desire to read on her own. She only wants me to read aloud to her. I'm fine with that, believe me. BUT, I would like for her to discover the joys of reading on her own time, too. She is reading above her "grade level" even if we seem to be needing to review a lot after summer break. I know it will come back to her quickly. She amazes me with her reading ability, but she struggles with confidence. I figure we will try and build her confidence with books below her level, but I would like to begin challenging her within a few months. She is adamant that she will not enjoy reading to herself. I want to show her all of the doors that open up when you are able to read books on your own :) She has the makings of a real bookworm.. I want to encourage this with some books she will really enjoy. What were the first books/series your dc started out reading to themselves? I'm not referring to Bob Books, or readers, but actual chapter books/novels. (She seems to enjoy fantasy, but her interests aren't limited to that genre.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Disney Fairies A to Z Mysteries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Mercy Watson was the first series that my oldest read on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 mine went Frog and Toad to Nate the Great books and then Magic Tree House Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Mine were in later second grade when they started reading books like you are talking about. But here goes: (At least one of my boys has read at least 2 books from all the series listed below - and in some cases all the books in the series) Large Text. Short Sentences. Easy Reading Level Boy vs. Beast Pictures on evey page. Sort of like a picture/ chapter book Ricky Ricotta Franny K. Stein Mercy Watson Galaxy Zack Flat Stanley Pictures on most page spreads. Moongobble and Me Predictable story line. Some pictures. No need to read in order. No increase in ability. A to Z Mysteries. Dragon Slayers Academy The Littles Choose Your Fate: Superheroes (by Michael Teitelbaum) Geronimo Stilton Batman: Pick your Path (Tracy West) Magic School Bus Read in order. Not predictable story line. Roland Wright Droon (GREAT series. Increases in difficulty. Very long. Ask me more! I talked about it a lot on this board) Underworlds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 The first series my oldest read was the Little House books. Magic Treehouse was the first series that my second read. The Harry Potter series is the one that made him fall in love with reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Magic Tree House Magic School Bus Droon American Girl The Black Lagoon Series Calvin and Hobbes ( or any Graphic Novels) Great Illustrated Classics (Big words and lots of pictures) Lots and lots of Picture Books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 These suggestions are so helpful. I'm bookmarking this thread. Thank you all! The Harry Potter series is the one that made him fall in love with reading. This is really what I'm hoping will happen. I think she has got in her head to not like the HP books, because her momma loves them so much... :o I was planning on starting the series as a read aloud this year, but part of me wants to save it for her to read on her own (my reason being what you have said.) You can re-read HP a million times, but there is only one first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 These suggestions are so helpful. I'm bookmarking this thread. Thank you all! This is really what I'm hoping will happen. I think she has got in her head to not like the HP books, because her momma loves them so much... :o I was planning on starting the series as a read aloud this year, but part of me wants to save it for her to read on her own (my reason being what you have said.) You can re-read HP a million times, but there is only one first time. The Droon series was recommended as one of the top series for Harry Potter fans who were waiting for the next book to come out. It starts out easy and simple. (80 pages per book. Usually a picture every chapter. Then it just grows in all ways. The writting gets more difficult. The story line gets more confusing. The characters get back stories. The length of books increases... ) But his series is not for the faint of heart. It is 44 books long and should be read in order. These books are simple but well written. Eldest read the series to himself, then myself and my Dh the series out loud. So each book was read 3 times. We found only ONE mistake in the whole series. In one book a main character is accidently called Ned instead of Neal. Every other time we thought we found a grammar mistake the author would point out why his way was acceptable or correct. The author is also very nice and personally answers emails from fans. He even snail mailed us an autographed map of Droon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoZeeCo's Mom Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Mouse Gaurd! Graphic novels really helped to pull him in in the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggiemomof3 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Frog and Toad and the other Arnold Lobel books, then Henry and Mudge, Poppleton, Mr. Putter and Tabby books, and he is moving into Flat Stanley and Magic Treehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Ricky Ricotta. He *could* read things like Frog and Toad and Henry and Mudge, but he never just picked them up to read. He always wanted me there or I was the one suggesting. For my other ds, he read a lot of individual titles and no series until he found Bone. So that was probably the first thing he tore through on his own and read the whole series of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Ivy and Bean, Mercy Watson, Frog and Toad- we are just really starting with her reading on her own. I just bought a couple Cynthia Rylant books that look good. I can't remember the names, but they are series books, I think. They are beginner chapter books about a lighthouse and a couple little critters. I think she will love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 My oldest loved Rylant's Cobble Street Cousins. My son loved Nate the Great and moved to Encyclopedia Brown. My youngest hasnt devoured a series yet but reads a lot. I'm thinking Mercy Watson will be a hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amiesmom Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 My DD could not get enough of Magic Rainbow Fairies books they have about a million books, Pet Fairies, Season Fairies, Jewel Fairies, they are all basically the same story told over and over again with different Fairies. They drove me nuts, but she read them and read them and thought they were the greatest. She gained confidence in reading "real" books and then I was able to introduce books with a little more interesting story line. Now she is really a book worm, and I do credit a lot of it to those Fairy books. She has since read: Magic Tree House Books How to Train Your Dragon Books Nancy Clancy Books (Fancy Nancy in longer chapter books) American Girls Anne Of Green Gables The Secret Garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Zac Power test drive and the other beginner ones, magic school bus, magic treehouse, Aussie Nibbles, Horrid Henry, Non fiction, A to Z mysteries, Geronimo Stilton (he isn't 6.5 yet so he finds the harder ones too much and doesn't really have The stamina unless i read a few chapters here and there. The fairy books seem to fill the same place as the early Zac Power books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Magic Tree House Junie B. Jones The Boxcar Children (maybe this wasn't a "first" reader series, but it's the one that got ds8 reading for enjoyment) I don't consider any of these "great" literature, but they were series that interested them and helped them gain fluency in reading. Even more important, I think, is that dh reads high-quality books aloud that are way above their reading levels. It gives them an appreciation for great literature and fuels their desire to read, so they can go back and re-live some of their favorite stories on their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 These responses are wonderful! Thank you so much. I'm really excited to try some of these. I feel like all she needs to become an avid reader is a little confidence, and a great book to make her fall in love with reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Magic Tree House, Mercy Watson, Puppy Place :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juliegmom Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Oops! Double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juliegmom Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew Geronimo Stilton ...along with all the other wonderful suggestions previously mentioned! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Those history and science readers at the library sparked a love of reading in my son. He didn't really like fiction for a while. He did enjoy Nate the Great and Flat Stanley, etc. But when we got into novels and tried things like Charlotte's Web, he really would rather read Story of the World. :tongue_smilie: The other thing, which did happen to be fiction :D, that kicked him off into reading was Star Wars books. That may or may not be helpful to your DD though. ;) What topics interest her? What kinds of stories does she like? Go to the library and let her pick out some books. Easy picture books are great. The key to them enjoying reading is for the books to be 1-2 grade levels BELOW their current reading level. You want it to be easy. They won't enjoy a book that they're having to work at to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sobeknofret Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Magic Treehouse and then Super Diaper Baby/Captain Underpants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Magic Treehouse American Girl Betsy Tacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 What topics interest her? What kinds of stories does she like? Her favorite read alouds from K and 1st (so far) have been the Narnia books, and the Series of Unfortunate Events books. (She also enjoyed Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, and Junie B. Jones). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 1. VERY early, simple solo-reading books: by Dr. Suess - The Foot Book - Hop on Pop - Ten Apples Up On Top - I Can Read With My Eyes Shut - Wacky Wednesday - The Cat in the Hat - Dr. Seuss's ABC - Green Eggs and Ham - Thinks You Can Think - Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You by P.D. Eastman - Go Dog Go - Fish Out of Water - Snow - Summer - Are You My Mother more titles - What Spot? (Bonsall) - A Fly Went By (McClintock) - PJ Funnybunny books (Sadler) - A Big Ball of String (Holland) - Little Black, A Pony (Schucker) - The Big Jump (Elkin) - The King, The Mice and the Cheese (Gurney) - The Whales Go By (Galdone) - That Stump Must Go (Berenstain) -- Berenstain Bears Beginner Books 2. As confidence is gained, slightly longer solo-reading books: - Little Bear (Minarik) - Frog and Toad series (Lobel) - Mouse Tales (Lobel) - Owl At Home (Lobel) - Commander Toad series (Yolan) - Fox series (Marshall) - Three by the Sea (Marshall) - Four by the Shore (Marshall) - The Adventures of Snail at School (Sadler) - Wizard and Wart series (Smith) - Captain and Matey series (Laurence - Aunt Eater series (Cushman) - Nate the Great serise (Sharmat) - Amelia Bedelia series (Parish) - ".... Riddles" series (Hall and Eisenberg) -- Puppy, Ribbit, 3. "Stepped" Reader series are excellent for this stage -- probably the step 2 and step 3 levels: - Step Into Reading - Hello Reader - All Aboard Readers - Puffin Easy to Read - DK Readers - Green Light Readers 4. Early Reader Chapter Books (lots of illustrations): ANIMALS - Billy and Blaze series (Anderson) - Buddy, the First Seeing Eye Dog (Moore) - Barry, the Bravest St. Bernard (Hall) - The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (Standiford) - Balto and the Great Race (Kimmel) - Five True Dog Stories (Davidson) - Seven True Horse Stories (Davidson) - Nine True Dolphin Stories (Davidson) - Animals Do The Strangest Things (Hornblow) - Birds Do The Strangest Things (Hornblow) - Insects Do The Strangest Things (Hornblow - Fish Do The Strangest Things (Hornblow) - Reptiles Do The Strangest Things (Hornblow) - Thornton Burgess books FANTASY - Magic Tree House (series) (Osborne) - Toots and the Upside Down House (Hughes) - Moongobble and Me (series) (Coville) - Dragonslayer Academy (series) (McMullan) - The Littles series (Peterson) - Catwings (series) (LeGuin) REAL LIFE - Billy and Blaze series (Anderson) - Light at Tern Rock (Sauer) - Mercy Watson series DETECTIVE - Detective Dinosaur (and sequel) (Skofield) - Inspector Hopper (Cushman) - Aunt Eater Detective series (Cushman) - Nate the Great series (Sharmat) - A to Z Mysteries (Roy) - Jigsaw Jones (boy detective series) (Prellar) - High Rise Private Eyes series (Rylant) MYTH / FAIRYTALE - The Blind Men and the Elephant (Backstein/Mitra) - Sim-Chung and the River Dragon (Schecter) - The Warrior Maiden (Schecter) - A Grain of Rice (Pittman) - Flying Horse: The Story of Pegasus (Mason) - Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa (Spinner) - Monster in the Maze (Spinner) - Peach Boy (Hooks) FUN TALL TALE - The Dragon's Scales (Albee) - Fly on the Ceiling (Glass) - Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares (Murphy/Walz) - Flat Stanley series (Brown) - McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm (Fleischman) HISTORY ADVENTURE - Robinson Crusoe Reader (Cowles) -- adaptation of the classic story - Viking Adventure (Bulla) - The Sword in the Tree (Bulla) -- Medieval England - The Minstrel in the Tower (Skurzynski) -- Medieval England - Gargoyles (Dussling) - A Lion to Guard Us (Bulla) -- Jamestown Colonial - The First Thanksgiving (Hayward) -- Pilgrims - Small Wolf (Benchley) -- Native American - Pocahontas and the Strangers (Bulla) -- Colonial - Finding Providence (Avi) -- colonial US - A Lion to Guard Us (Bulla) -- Colonial US - Buttons for General Washington (Roop) -- Revolutionary War - The 18 Penny Goose (Walker) -- Revolutionary War - Sam the Minuteman (Benchley) -- Revolutionary War - George the Drummer Boy (Benchley) -- Revolutionary War - Phoebe the Spy (Griffin) --American Revolution - true story - The Secret Valley (Bulla) -- Gold Rush/pioneers - Chang's Paper Pony (Coerr) -- Gold Rush/Chinese immigrant - The Drinking Gourd (Monjo) -- Underground Railroad - Abe Lincoln's Hat (Brenner) - Snowshoe Thompson (Levinson) -- mailman to the pioneers of the west - Riding the Pony Express (Bulla) -- Pony Express, 1861 - The Long Way to a New Land (Sandin) -- immigrants - The Long Way Westward (Sandin) -- immigrants go west - Wagon Wheels (Brenner) -- true story of a black pioneer family - The Josefina Story Quilt (Coerr) -- true story of a wagon train - Hannah (Whelan) -- blind pioneer girl - Silver (Whelan) -- daughter of an Alaskan "musher" gets a sled dog puppy - Pioneer Cat (Hooks) -- pioneer girl and her cat travel west in a wagon train - The Big Balloon Race (Coerr) -- 1890s European hot air balloons BIOGRAPHY - Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (Roop) - The Story of Thomas Alva Edison (Davidson) - Helen Keller (Davidson) - Helen Keller's Teacher (Davidson) - Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Hurwitz) - Louis Braille (Davidson) - Brendan the Navigator (Fritz) - The Wright Brothers (Reynolds) - Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky - Christopher Columbus (Krensky) SCIENCE - Let's Read and Find Out About Science series - science books by Gail Gibbon - Greg's Microscope (Selsam) - Hill of Fire (Lewis) - Volcanoes! (Arnold) - Quakes (McMorrow) - Storm Chasers (Herman) - Twisters! (Hayden) - Lightning: It's Electrifying (Dussling) - The Animal Rescue Club (Himmelman) - Dinosaur Hunter (Alphin) -- 1880s dino hunters - Dinosaur Hunters (McMullan) -- modern dino hunters - Dancing with Manatees (McNulty) - Plants Bite Back (Platt) - Pompeii... Buried Alive! (Davis) - The Titanic: Lost and Found (Donnelly) - Tut's Mummy: Lost and Found (Donnelly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Wow. Lori D, thank you!! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staceyshoe Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Magic Tree House and Andrew Lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 I can't recall if they were the first, but my daughter enjoyed the Meg Mackintosh series of mysteries. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 The first two-Harry Potter at ages 5 and 8, respectively. For my 5 yo, Magic Treehouse. For my 8 yo...a bunch she's started but never finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Bad Kitty & Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He started reading them in K, but still won't really branch out. He's read them all several times. I'm all about building confidence, but this year for 2nd he'll be doing assigned reading, too in hopes he'll discover more books/authors/series. I have a Geronimo Stilton that he'll be starting this week. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macmom28 Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 My daughter (7) was not an early reader even though she could read above grade level, but this past spring really came into her own and "discovered" a love of reading. It took her a while but once she started, she really took off! She started with the Mercy Watson series, then read a scholastic series of "real-life" princesses /girls (something about colors designating each book--I'll have to find the titles for you), read individual books here and there, then discovered Beverly Cleary. She LOVED the Beezus and Ramona series reading every single one this summer. It was so much fun to see how much she loved them and was motivated to keep going. It was the key to her becoming an independent reader. Maybe it is just a matter of her finding her way.... with a little time, exposure to more themes (we spend a LOT of time browsing library shelves), she may get there just not quite there yet. Maybe she thinks she have to forfeit time with you if she reads on her own? She might really just be appreciating that time with you right now with your reading to her? (just thoughts being thrown out...) Good luck! Maryann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Dr. Seuss Magic Tree House The Littles Frog and Toad Courage of Sarah Noble Bears on Hemlock Mountain I've found my DC don't care to read on their own until 2nd or 3rd grade. Before that, they like to "read" I-spy books on their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msk Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 We were in a similar place a few months ago. It seems like some kids leap from easy readers into "real" chapter books fast, but others need steps in between-- that is definitely where my daughter was! What worked here was just giving her a huge selection of books I knew were pretty easy for her, and then just being as hands-off about it as possible. Books with lots of pictures also helped as she could get through them faster and build confidence. For what seemed like a long time the only books my daughter would pick up and read unprompted were Elephant and Piggie and Fly Guy-- everything else was "work." For a few weeks, I just watched her race through stacks of those, the various Cynthia Rylant easy reader series, and the old Billy and Blaze books someone here on the boards recommended in other threads (which meant I was at the library several times a week, but it was worth it). After that she enjoyed moving up through the Dodsworth books (Tim Egan), the Commander Toad series (Yolen), the easier Kate DiCamillo series (Bink and Gollie, Mercy Watson), and Ivy and Bean (Barrows) to transition out of the easy readers. As other people mentioned, graphic novels are also really appealing confidence-builders at this stage. My daughter loved Babymouse and is just getting into the Mouse Guard and Amulet series. She will also devote enormous energy to reading anything with "Star Wars" or "Pokemon" in the title. I think this must be a really rough stage for kids-- it is hard to sit and struggle through Henry and Mudge or something like that when your taste in stories runs more to Watership Down or Lord of the Rings, especially at an age when a month seems like a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 DC1: Magic Tree House, Encyclopedia Brown, (older) Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes DC2: Magic Tree House, (older) Nancy Drew, Sue Barton DC3: (older) Nancy Drew, Sue Barton, Harry Potter, Eragon None of my dc found the Frog and Toad level books interesting enough to bother with and didn't start to read voluntarily til 3rd, 2nd and 4th respectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Young Cam Jansen was the first series my sons read independently. They have a lot of room between the lines of print, so easy on the eyes. After that JC Greenburg for one kid -- the Andrew Lost series. The other enjoyed Henry & Mudge . Young Cam Jansen was the first series one of my kids read independently, also. My younger kid read The Secret Hideout and Enemies of the Secret Hideout. That child, now a teen, just said, "Those books are so awesome!" I loved them too as a child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 My daughter was a hesitant reader through kindergarten and first grade. She doesn't like being wrong. AT. ALL. So learning to read, where she might sound it out wrong or say the wrong word was totally stressful to her. She is in second grade this year. These are the series she loved reading on her own last year: - Mr. Putter and Tabby books - Poppleton books - Dr. Seuss books - Junie B. Jones books (though she is really getting good at these THIS year) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 I would get something like The Magic Tree House and read together, each a paragraph or page. This will get her started. And read other books to her that are more difficult as well. She's young, it will come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Scooby Doo books. At the time I managed to find around 100 of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Besides the many others mentioned here, a couple of series that my boys loved when they were a bit beyond beginners were Asterix and The Wishing Chair\The Faraway Tree. Asterix is an English translation of a French graphic novel written in the early 20th century, and is a silly, funny, slightly historical story of an Ancient Roman named Asterix and his trusty sidekick, Obelisk. There is a lot of wordplay in these books (ie one Roman character is named Chrismus Bonus) and my 12 yo still rereads them often. The second pair is a serial book written by a British woman, Enid Blyton, and are very "young" childish fantasy stories about magical places that the children go to without their parents and have very simple, innocent adventures. I confess to wanting to run away after awhile when my ds asked me to read them AGAIN-they are a bit tiresome for grown-ups but he adored these books and read them again and again. Fortunately, the bound copies are very very long. It took him awhile AND made him feel extremely important to have read such a thick book at the age of 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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