Working on book list - pls. help

[Love Home]

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Edited January 14, 2016 by Sweetpeasmom

[Jackie]

There are so many wonderful books out there that it's impossible to come up with a "must read" list! One of my favorite sets of book lists is the Excellence in Reading list, found here: http://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/. I like it because it covers a wide range of topics, includes older and newer books, and is all quality literature. Maybe look to see if some of the K-3 list looks valuable, but concentrate on the 4-6 list? If it would be of interest to her, she could complete the 4-6 list and send off for a certificate and a t-shirt in recognition of her accomplishment.

[desertflower]

A Wrinkle in Time. 

[Mommy to monkeys]

Little House series

Chronicles of Narnia

Caddie Woodlawn

 

Those are definitely not to be missed.

[FloridaLisa]

The Newberry Medal books are a great list of books to read and many will still be good reads for a 6th grader. 

 

I would add:

 

Chronicles of Narnia series

Anne of Green Gable and series

A Scott O'Dell like Streams to the River, River to the Sea or Island of the Blue Dolphins

An Elizabeth George Speare like The Bronze Bow (she has others that are terrific as well) Actually, I think The Bronze Bow is a Newberry Medal winner

 

My dd was also not a bookworm at that age. I started a middle school girls book with a few of her friends and it was a huge help in getting her to love books!

 

[Love Home]

Thanks for the suggestions!!!  Jackie - great link.  I like that it's not overwhelming.  I'm addeding Caddie Woolawn to her list and I'm getting the audio for Anne of Green Gable from the library.

[TheApprentice]

Off the top of my head, my ds read these books last year as a 6th grader (and others, I just can't remember) and liked them. And he is not my "reader", but he was able to connect with the characters, so it went fine.

 

Shiloh

A Secret Garden

Where the Red Fern Grows

Summer of the Monkeys

Tuck Everlasting

 

[Farrar]

You know, I think views on this differ so much. I wouldn't go into it thinking you have to hit all the not to be missed books. For one thing, many kids continue to read those upper level middle grades novels in 7th and 8th grades so there's time. For another thing, if you try to hit "everything" with a non-voracious reader, you're bound to end up disappointed in her and yourself.

 

I would instead listen to others' ideas of the "not to be missed" books, but for yourself compile a list of books that are really for her. What will stretch her reading? What will speak to her? What titles will bring some diversity - in authors and viewpoints, but also in styles and genres?

 

The NPR Back Seat Book Club list for this age group is a pretty good one - some are on the upper end and others on the lower - it skews toward modern favorites and children's classics of the last fifty years:

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/05/207315023/the-ultimate-backseat-bookshelf-100-must-reads-for-kids-9-14

 

The Mensa lists are also pretty good - look at the 4th-6th grade one:

http://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/

 

We don't do a ton of required reading - I read aloud stuff and the kids read their own choices, though they often choose books I think are excellent (and ones I think are terrible). For fourth grade, I required Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and My Side of the Mountain. For fifth, I required Bridge to Terabithia and Island of the Blue Dolphins. This year for sixth, we'll be doing A Wrinkle in Time and The Giver.

 

 

[Soror]

What I'd do is look at all those lists and you pick out some for you to read-aloud and some for him to read but there are just so many good books old and new I think it is hard to go through them all. I strew a lot with books and rarely require them.

[aprilleigh]

I would definitely recommend the Mensa Excellence in Reading lists. Be sure to check the K-3 list as well as the 4-6 list because they have some books on the K-3 list that could go either way. We're just about finished with the K-3 list (we used it as summer reading before starting 4th grade), and I've divided the 4-6 list into thirds for the next three years. Quite a few of the books on the lists (there are four) are already listed in TWTM and TWEM.

 

Also, rather than trying to read each series that has been mentioned, read the first book in the series and THEN decide if you want to read the rest. If the first book didn't grab her attention, the rest won't either, but you've at least read the first one. There is more than one series that never got past the first volume in my house (Little House on the Prairie, for example - although we actually read the second book, the one for which the series was named). Your daughter may love a series that other have found rather meh.

[Momof1plustwins]

I'm. In the same boat with my 6th graders. They don't read for pleasure but I really want them to love reading. I don't want to force-feed them which will likely have the opposite effect on them.