Similar But Easier Book?

[MASHomeschooler]

In our book club, we let the kids each put in the name of a book and draw one from a hat. This time, The Bad Beginning (1st in Series of Unfortunate Events) was chosen. This will be too difficult for probably half of the kids in the group. Can anyone think of a book with similar themes, but at an easier reading level (2nd grade or so) so the kids who can't handle TBB can read it but we can have some discussion that applies to both? We're drawing a blank. TIA!

[Farrar]

I can't think of anything, honestly. There are a lot of books with a similar tone now, such as The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place or The Name of This Book is Secret, but different plots. And they're all older level anyway. I suppose you could find something about orphans? Maybe...

 

If you need to do a set of books that everyone can do, I'd just look for a different book as a starting point. I think there are a lot of other books that could go well together, like dog books - Because of Winn-Dixie and Tornado. Or kids having a mystery - Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and The Seven Treasure Hunts. I can think of a bunch of others... I just think Bad Beginning is a tough one.

[ocelotmom]

There are two ways I can see doing it:

 

1. Kids who aren't there yet do the book as a read-aloud or audiobook.

 

2. Instead of doing a totally random drawing, kids provide a list of books they'd like to see, and whoever is leading the club picks the books from those lists, with an eye towards books that will be most widely accessible.

[Farrar]

Yes, I agree. A book club has to work for everyone. Books should be chosen that are accessible and potentially interesting to everyone (or nearly) or they should be chosen with a paired book already in mind...

[Miss Tick]

I tend to defer to Farrar on child-lit related questions, but I wonder if "29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy" would work for you. It is also by L. Snicket and has the same oddly shifted perspective, leaving lots of things unexplained. Some humor, a few sinister sounding things. It is listed as a picture book at our library, hopefully that isn't too young (we all read it here).

[MASHomeschooler]

Thanks; you're probably right. The kids really wanted to choose, but there is a pretty big spread in reading level. It's worked okay when the easier ones get drawn; the kids reading at a higher level just read it quickly and have still enjoyed it well enough. Maybe we can go the read-aloud/audio book route this time, and make a plan with more adult involvement in future choices to avoid this issue.

[MASHomeschooler]

I tend to defer to Farrar on child-lit related questions, but I wonder if "29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy" would work for you. It is also by L. Snicket and has the same oddly shifted perspective, leaving lots of things unexplained. Some humor, a few sinister sounding things. It is listed as a picture book at our library, hopefully that isn't too young (we all read it here).

 

Thanks! I'll check that out.

[Farrar]

I tend to defer to Farrar on child-lit related questions, but I wonder if "29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy" would work for you. It is also by L. Snicket and has the same oddly shifted perspective, leaving lots of things unexplained. Some humor, a few sinister sounding things. It is listed as a picture book at our library, hopefully that isn't too young (we all read it here).

 

Oh, yeah, he has a few picture books. I was stuck on chapter books. Maybe you could have the kids do a little pack of them. There's a Christmas one about a lump of coal and there's The Composer is Dead. I had only vaguely heard of 29 Myths, but maybe it would pair well with The Composer is Dead for the younger readers...

[stripe]

I can't think of anything that's just like it for younger kids, but Arnold Lobel books are quite quirky in a way that is vaguely similar. Grasshopper on the Road strikes me as the oddest, and Owl at Home is also interesting. Uncle Elephant has a tragic air hanging over it, as the nephew is wondering if he's an orphan. His Fables book is pretty "different," but the book is, like Aesop's fables, composed of very short stories. Mouse Soup is all about a mouse trying to talk his way out of the cooking pot.

 

Shel Silverstein, perhaps? :lol: 

[raptor_dad]

Wow! ~2 grade levels easier... thats really tough. May be Roald Dahl's "The Witches". I was going to suggest Aiken's "Wolves of Willoghby Chase" but that is at a similar reading level. Gorey's "Gashlycrumb Tinies" is charming and much shorter but doesn't invite analysis ;) For a 2nd-3rd grade reading level I can't think of much but Dahl's books.

[ocelotmom]

Thanks; you're probably right. The kids really wanted to choose, but there is a pretty big spread in reading level. It's worked okay when the easier ones get drawn; the kids reading at a higher level just read it quickly and have still enjoyed it well enough. Maybe we can go the read-aloud/audio book route this time, and make a plan with more adult involvement in future choices to avoid this issue.

 

If you draw from a list that they provide, they're still choosing! It just isn't random. And that's even better, because you can eliminate the ones that are unlikely to have wide appeal or be good for discussion. You can choose some that lots of kids like and make a whole bunch of kids happy at once, or focus on unique books that will give more kids a new experience.

 

You can even still do the random drawing once you have a list of books that will work well, if that's a big part of the fun.

[MASHomeschooler]

Thanks. I hadn't heard of some of those before. "The Witches" might work well enough, and I bet a lot of the higher readers have read it (including my older 2) so that might help in the discussion. I'll check out some of the others, too, and discuss with the other parents.

[MASHomeschooler]

If you draw from a list that they provide, they're still choosing! It just isn't random. And that's even better, because you can eliminate the ones that are unlikely to have wide appeal or be good for discussion. You can choose some that lots of kids like and make a whole bunch of kids happy at once, or focus on unique books that will give more kids a new experience.

 

You can even still do the random drawing once you have a list of books that will work well, if that's a big part of the fun.

 

You're right, and I'm sure we'll do something like that from now on. It's just a relatively new group and somehow we didn't think of this issue before setting it up this way (and the first few times, when easier ones happened to be drawn). Thanks for the ideas.

[Farrar]

Thanks. I hadn't heard of some of those before. "The Witches" might work well enough, and I bet a lot of the higher readers have read it (including my older 2) so that might help in the discussion. I'll check out some of the others, too, and discuss with the other parents.

 

The Witches is an RL 5.5 and The Bad Beginning is an (inflated, IMO, probably by the vocabulary words) 6.1. They're basically the same level.

[MASHomeschooler]

The Witches is an RL 5.5 and The Bad Beginning is an (inflated, IMO, probably by the vocabulary words) 6.1. They're basically the same level.

 

Oops; thanks for letting me know before I suggested that. It seems like a bigger difference to me, but I find it hard to judge, and my two readers read such a huge range they're not a good indicator.

 

I thought of maybe the Boxcar Children - more of a compare and contrast (thought guardian was good/turned out bad, thought guardian was bad/turned out good). That's more like second grade, right?

[raptor_dad]

The Witches is an RL 5.5 and The Bad Beginning is an (inflated, IMO, probably by the vocabulary words) 6.1. They're basically the same level.

 

I don't want to argue reading levels but if you use guided reading levels, my prefered system, The Witches is level R and TBB is level V. That is grade level ~4+ vs level 5-6. Neither are what the OP wanted but the Dahl books are usually considered easier. For a given kid these distinctions are meaningless but on aggregate they may be accurate...

[Farrar]

I don't want to argue reading levels but if you use guided reading levels, my prefered system, The Witches is level R and TBB is level V. That is grade level ~4+ vs level 5-6. Neither are what the OP wanted but the Dahl books are usually considered easier. For a given kid these distinctions are meaningless but on aggregate they may be accurate...

Actually, I think they're all basically junk. I don't really abide by them at all. Just trying to back up a point, that The Witches is not appreciably easier for most readers. It's just as long and the computer says so too.

[raptor_dad]

Actually, I think they're all basically junk. I don't really abide by them at all. Just trying to back up a point, that The Witches is not appreciably easier for most readers. It's just as long and the computer says so too.

 

So if I wanted a book about magicians at boarding school for a book club, I could pick between Jill Murphy's "Worst Witch" series, Guided Reading level P/grade level 3.70, and "Harry Potter", Guided Reading Level V/grade level 5.30. Of course not, that is absurd... some kids might like both but in the OPs case many would be overwhelmed.

 

The choices for things like Lemony Snicket are limited due to his tone. Trying to rank things within a

grade level or so are absurd... like splitting hairs.

 

These reading levels suck. A kid can move up or down not reading level but a full grade level based on what they eat for dinner. They can easily jump 1 or 2 grade level between books. However that doesn't invalidate them for groups. For any given kid, I think reading something like the "Worst Witch" before "Potter" before "The Hobbit" is the way to go. It is a blunt tool but the best we have... as with all tools use with judgement.

 

PS. If the OP want to have a book club with this range of ability, I think Farrar's idea to have multiple books on the same theme is the way to go...

[Farrar]

So if I wanted a book about magicians at boarding school for a book club, I could pick between Jill Murphy's "Worst Witch" series, Guided Reading level P/grade level 3.70, and "Harry Potter", Guided Reading Level V/grade level 5.30. Of course not, that is absurd... some kids might like both but in the OPs case many would be overwhelmed.

 

The choices for things like Lemony Snicket are limited due to his tone. Trying to rank things within a

grade level or so are absurd... like splitting hairs.

 

These reading levels suck. A kid can move up or down not reading level but a full grade level based on what they eat for dinner. They can easily jump 1 or 2 grade level between books. However that doesn't invalidate them for groups. For any given kid, I think reading something like the "Worst Witch" before "Potter" before "The Hobbit" is the way to go. It is a blunt tool but the best we have... as with all tools use with judgement.

 

PS. If the OP want to have a book club with this range of ability, I think Farrar's idea to have multiple books on the same theme is the way to go...

 

I don't understand your argument. All I'm saying is that I find every reading leveled system I've ever seen an evaluated - Lexile, RL, DRA, whatever - to be only the roughest of measures. They're all like trying to measure a kid's fever with the back of your hand. And one of the reasons I find them all to be absurd is that it doesn't take into account interest level, individual kids, the length of the book, the emotional level of the subject matter, etc. - which is part of what you're saying.