Acadie Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Dd8 can read almost anything. She's read the first 3 Harry Potter books and is asking about Percy Jackson. I recently found a book she'd checked out of the library about girls in a group home, one of whom has plucked out all her eyebrows, and we talked about how she can read that book later when she's a little older, but not quite yet. She plows through books, so I need a long list of age-appropriate books to keep her bookshelf stocked! Her interests include animals (especially dogs and cats) and gymnastics. Though these are at various reading levels, recently she's loved Follow My Leader, The Cricket in Times Square, Dewey the Library Cat and The Invisible Dog. She's smitten by Harry Potter, but I want to hold off on the later books in the series, and other fantasy fiction written for a tween audience. She's read everything in the American Girl series, and we're working through the LIttle House books. Despite her interest in (and ability to read) the middle-grade lit her big sister and friends talk about, she's a sensitive soul. I love that about her and want her to plumb all the amazing 2nd-4th grade lit she can before moving on. Thanks, Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 What about the Dear America series? I haven't read these yet, but I wonder if they might be good for someone who has read and enjoyed all of the American Girl books. My kids love the Who Was series. We have recently enjoyed most of the Roald Dahl books, but if she's sensitive, you might want to preview them first if you aren't familiar with them. They are fantastic, imo, but they can be a bit...odd. We recently read and loved the My America books about a little girl named Sofia who comes from Italy. There were three in that series, and I saw that our library had other ones as well. How about Beverly Cleary? Ramona, Henry Huggins, Beezuz? My kids really loved those, and there are about ten of them, I think. Has she read "The Trumpet of the Swan"? Or "Stuart Little"? My dd is 8 and just starting the first Percy Jackson. I haven't read it, but I do think it's probably a bit over my dd's head. But she is enjoying it so far. We have listened to all of the HP books on audio though, and she's ok with the fantasy in them and doesn't get scared. We also listened to the Chronicles of Narnia. Again, those might be too mature for a more sensitive child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I just thought of two more... "Sara Plain and Tall" The Lighthouse Series by Cynthia Rylant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Good thinking mom. I was a voracious reader as a child and read things way beyond my maturity/need to know level when I was a child as I had such a high reading level. I would look at various homeschool catalogs online for literature based programs and get ideas from there. She could likely read the read alouds for grades K-3 to keep her busy for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 This can be a real problem. Sometimes, books written a while ago have more challenging and interesting language, and any problem seem further way. Titles like "Little Women" might fit here. Modern stories might include "Dragon Rider" by Cornelia Funke, or the "Catwings" series by Ursula LeGuin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I asked a similar question a few years ago. Here is that thread which had a lot of good ideas. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/187233-need-book-recs-for-just-turned-8-yr-old-animal-lover/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 the dark is rising series is good, no tweeny stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Penderwicks Eleanor Estes's books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 The Wizard of Oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Have you seen the 1000 Good Books List? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Oz books. Little House Books Little Women series and other by Louisa May Alcott. Maybe Anne of Green Gables. Mary Poppins series. Anything by Kate DiCamillo, Roald Dahl, Frances Hodson Burnett, E.B White, Enid Blyton and Astrid Lindgren. The Classic Starts series, or the Great Illustrated Classic series. There are over 100 books in the latter and the classics are well adapted but suitable for that age. Try and find good series or authors so that there are more books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Here are a few titles to get you started… Almost all have girl protagonists: REAL LIFE - Baby Island (Brink) - Betsy-Tacy -- series (Lovelace) - Understood Betsy (Fisher) - B is for Betsy (Haywood) - Moffats -- series (Estes) - Mountain Born (Yates) - The Hundred Dresses (Estes) - Ramona, Beezus, Henry Huggins books -- series (Cleary) - Homer Price (McClosky) - The Saturdays (Enright) - The Light at Tern Rock (Sauer) - Ballet Shoes -- series (Streatfeild) - Roller Skates (Sawyer) BIOGRAPHY - Helen Keller (Davidson) - Helen Keller's Teacher (Davidson) - Louis Braille (Davidson) - The Story of Thomas Alva Edison (Davidson) - Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman (Henry) OLD-FASHIONED - All of a Kind Family (Taylor) - Stories from Grandma's Attic (Richardson) - Emily's Runaway Imagination (Cleary) - Milly-Molly-Mandy (Brisley) - Two are Better Than One (Brink) - Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (Sidney) - Strawberry Girl (Lenski) - A Little Princess; The Secret Garden (Burnett) - Thee, Hannah! (de Angeli) PIONEER - Caddie Woodlawn (Brink) - Sarah Plain and Tall; Skylark; Caleb's Story (MacLachlan) - The Courage of Sarah Noble (Dalgliesh) - Sarah Whitchter's Story (Yates) - The Cabin Faced West (Fritz) - Hannah (Whelan) - Shadow of the Wolf (Whelan) - The Secret Valley (Bulla) - Calico Bush (Field) - Phoebe the Spy (Griffin) -- Revolutionary War - Toliver's Secret (Brady) -- Revolutionary War ANIMALS (real) - Dolphin Adventure; Dolphin Treasure; Dolphins and Me (Grover) - Nine True Dolphin Stories (Davidson) - Pioneer Cat (Hooks) - Star in the Storm; Thunder from the Sea (Harlow) - Stone Fox (Gardiner) -- WARNING! Dog Dies! - Along Came a Dog (DeJong) - Shiloh (Naylor) - Seven True Dog Stories (Davidson) - Daughter of the Mountains (Rankin) - Lad, A Dog (Terhune) - Ginger Pye (Estes) - Rascal (North) - Kildee House (Montgomery) - Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa (Kalney) - Misty of Chincoteague (Henry) - Seven True Horse Stories (Davidson) - The Black Stallion (Farley) - The Incredible Journey (Burnford) ANIMALS (talking) - Charlotte's Web (White) - Trumpet of the Swan (White) - Cricket in Times Square (Seldon) -- and sequels - Poppy (Avi) -- and sequels - Rabbit Hill (Lawson) - Ben and Me; Mr. Revere and I (Lawson) - Basil of Baker Street (Titus) -- and sequels - The Mouse and the Motorcycle (McCleary) - Black Beauty (Sewell) - The Lighthouse Family -- series (Rylant) - Catwings -- series (Le Guin) - The Rescuers, Miss Bianca, The Turret, Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines, Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharp) - My Father's Dragon trilogy (Gannett) - The Story of Dr. Dolittle (Lofting) - One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Smith) FANTASY - Wizard of Oz -- series (Baum) - Twig (Jones) - No Flying in the House (Brock) - The Witch Family (Estes) - Toots and the Upside Down House; Toots Underground (Hughes) - Moongobble and Me -- series (Coville) - Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet; Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet (Cameron) - The Littles -- series (Petersen) - The Borrowers -- series (Norton) - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (Betty MacDonald) - Half Magic; Magic by the Lake (Eager) - The Ordinary Princess (Kaye) - The Borrowers (series) (Norton) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Fleming) - Moomintrolls -- series (Janssen) - Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) - Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Wrede) - Dragon Keepers Chronicles (Paul) - Dragon of Lonely Island (Rupp) FUN TALL TALE - Pippi Longstockings -- series (Astrid) - Mr. Popper's Penguins (Atwater) - The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (Dalgliesh) - The Whipping Boy (Fleischman) - McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm (Fleischman) - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Cracking up--all set to respond,then I see dear Lori D. responded already, and I know you will be all set with her amazing lists!! :laugh: Have fun with your reader! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 You might like to look at my Amazon lists. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuzu822 Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I'm looking for my ideas for my seven year old son too. I let him go through HP4, and we are listening to #5, but I don't really want to let him finish the series yet. He's done Narnia, Oz, and most the others on the lists in this thread already. I had the same problem as a kid. My sister and I read very inappropriate titles as kids because there was so little in our reading level and we read fast. I saved a list from lewelma, and there are some titles there good for young, but high ability readers. It was in her thread about progressing to more challenging material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Biographies Several sets of hardcopy encyclopedias Bible storybooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I'm not sure which color picture book I had by Jane Goodall as a child. http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Goodall-50-Years-Gombe/dp/B004X8W72O/ref=la_B000APGLR6_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399223099&sr=1-3 Pathway Readers Drawing instruction books. In particular Ed Emberley Fingerprint and the Illustration School series. http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Emberleys-Fingerprint-Drawing-Book/dp/0316789690/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399223501&sr=1-3&keywords=emberley+thumbprint http://www.amazon.com/Illustration-School-Lets-Magical-Color/dp/1592539173/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399223534&sr=1-1&keywords=illustration+school Books about ants and bees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I've gotten some good ideas from the Sonlight and Rainbow Resource catalogs. Just skip Breaking Stalin's Nose. :lol: Many of the titles in these catalogs are available as free downloads from the Overdrive sites of many libraries. I have several cards at different libraries, and I have also learned that overdrive is often set up to allow patrons to request the purchase of ebooks the library doesn't own. My library often purchases and sends me links to book in less than 48 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlcc Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Wholesome Reading Suggestions by Exodus Books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 Thank you SO much, everyone! I feel like I won the kid lit lottery--such an abundance of riches. :) She loves to place holds with her own library account and we're going to have a ball exploring these titles. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 This can be a real problem. Sometimes, books written a while ago have more challenging and interesting language, and any problem seem further way. Titles like "Little Women" might fit here. Modern stories might include "Dragon Rider" by Cornelia Funke, or the "Catwings" series by Ursula LeGuin The Five Little Peppers and How they grew (This is a whole series, available for Kindle on Amazon for cheap or free. Probably only going to find the first book in a library) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Heidi Anne of Green Gables (And other books by the author. Though I'm not sure if you'd consider the books as she grows up inappropriate because they do deal with adult problems like who marries who, kids that die, etc) A Little Princess The Secret Garden Pollyanna From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basis E Frankweiler (and other books by E.L.Konisburg) Pippi Longstocking Caddie Woodlawn Pollyanna The Borrowers Black Beauty A Wrinkle in Time Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Shoes Books by Noel Streatfield (Ballet Shoes, Theater Shoes, etc) All-of-a-Kind Family books Betsy-Tacy books Elizabeth Enright books Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski Edward Eager's Magic books (Half Magic, etc) Eleanor Estes Moffat Books Encyclopedia Brown The Great Brain books by John Fitzgerald Cheaper by the Dozen Helen Keller The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall The Phantom Tollbooth Rats of NIMH Magic Treehouse (How is it that these lists are easier to come up with for someone else?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Is she ready for James Heriott? A number of his stories can be found as excerpted chapters that are made into illustrated children's books. Such a great question and great answers- we are in a similar boat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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