Favorite literature at the 4-6 grade reading level

[sdobis]

I'm going to focus on literature more this coming year with my dyslexic 12 year old daughter. We already read living history and science books together, so I'm not looking for that. I want good books!

 

She loves manga right now. She also loves non-fiction books with the soft heavy pages. Regular chapter books are not her favorite. I may let her choose audio books if that makes it more enjoyable.

 

She will hate books like Ann of Green Gables, but would like Narnia. I don't want to force too many unlinked books on her since my goal is to improve her reading skills and love of books.

 

Thanks for any and all ideas!

[Bluegoat]

Things that might appeal to a kid who likes Narnia:

 

the Wrinkle in Time series

The Dark Is Rising sequence

the Earthsea Chronicles

Gregor the Overlander series

Mrs Frisby and the rats of NIHM

possibly somthing by Roald Dhal - Danny the Champion of the world, or Boy (which is biographical.)

 

I wonder if she might enjoy some mysteries as well?  Maybe something like THe Ruby in the Smoke or The Graveyard Book.

[rutheart]

My oldest's favorite books in 4th grade were: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Island of the Blue Dolphin, The Maze of Bones (first of a series that she read the entire set), The 13 Story Treehouse, 11 Birthdays (sequels were not as enjoyable), Chocolate Fever, and Frindle. She started the year hating books and reading, and by summer time, she declared herself a bibliophile.

 

Ruth

[sdobis]

Such good choices! We are listening to Gregor the Overlander now. I'm not sure how she feels about it. The narrator is a little annoying, so that may be a reason for not loving it.

 

How do you prefer to check comprehension? Narration, something written, quiz, nothing at all? My son was always a fabulous narrator, but my daughter is not. She likes something maybe more creative. Hmmm.

[rutheart]

Honestly, for a lot of the books we just chatted about what we did or did not like, very informally. Some of the books were part of a lit class I was teaching at a co-op, so we did group activities for those. Sometimes, we'd watch the movie based on the book, and with minor prompting, she'd start complaining every time the movie didn't match the book. If she didn't notice a change, I might ask how it went differently in the book. It was always pretty obvious she'd actually done the reading. I think the lack of worksheets helped make her realize reading could be fun.

If you make 4th grade literature more about habit-forming, it doesn't have to feel like schoolwork. During the fall and spring, literature was often done out on the fort of our swingset. In the winter she'd curl up in bed or on the couch under a blanket, sometimes with a mug of herbal tea or cocoa. It may also help if you read a fiction book at the same time. If you have never read a particular title yourself, your kid may get a kick out of seeing you read that book as well. I spent a lot of time that year making sure she saw both me and her father reading for pleasure.

Ruth

[Tanaqui]

Do you know what she likes most about Narnia? Is it the fantasy aspect, or the adventure, or the fact that it's a family story? (Or, in comparison to Anne of Green Gables, the easier dialog?)

[Farrar]

Such good choices! We are listening to Gregor the Overlander now. I'm not sure how she feels about it. The narrator is a little annoying, so that may be a reason for not loving it.

 

How do you prefer to check comprehension? Narration, something written, quiz, nothing at all? My son was always a fabulous narrator, but my daughter is not. She likes something maybe more creative. Hmmm.

 

If she likes creative stuff, for looking for comprehension...

 

* make a timeline for the book

* write a different ending

* retell a scene from a different character's perspective

* make a comic of a scene

* act out a scene

* make a diorama

* make a character map

* make a map of the setting

 

She also might like creative questions about the book. Which character would you rather have dinner with and why? Stuff like that.

[sdobis]

Do you know what she likes most about Narnia? Is it the fantasy aspect, or the adventure, or the fact that it's a family story? (Or, in comparison to Anne of Green Gables, the easier dialog?)

She probably likes the fantasy aspect. She doesn't like a whole lot of realism in her readings. Right now she is reading through manga books almost faster than I can get them for her. Before that, she loved mythology, Adventure Time, and My Little Pony.

[sdobis]

If she likes creative stuff, for looking for comprehension...

 

* make a timeline for the book

* write a different ending

* retell a scene from a different character's perspective

* make a comic of a scene

* act out a scene

* make a diorama

* make a character map

* make a map of the setting

 

She also might like creative questions about the book. Which character would you rather have dinner with and why? Stuff like that.

I like the comic strip idea. She would probably love to change a book into manga and practice her anime. Asking creative questions would be great! Edited April 14, 2016 by sdobis

[sdobis]

Honestly, for a lot of the books we just chatted about what we did or did not like, very informally. Some of the books were part of a lit class I was teaching at a co-op, so we did group activities for those. Sometimes, we'd watch the movie based on the book, and with minor prompting, she'd start complaining every time the movie didn't match the book. If she didn't notice a change, I might ask how it went differently in the book. It was always pretty obvious she'd actually done the reading. I think the lack of worksheets helped make her realize reading could be fun.

If you make 4th grade literature more about habit-forming, it doesn't have to feel like schoolwork. During the fall and spring, literature was often done out on the fort of our swingset. In the winter she'd curl up in bed or on the couch under a blanket, sometimes with a mug of herbal tea or cocoa. It may also help if you read a fiction book at the same time. If you have never read a particular title yourself, your kid may get a kick out of seeing you read that book as well. I spent a lot of time that year making sure she saw both me and her father reading for pleasure.

Ruth

I read constantly and have my own book club. She wants to have a book club, but she's too picky about who she wants in her club. It wouldn't work.

 

I think I may choose some books with movies based off of them to let her analyze it from that aspect.

[lizlatorre]

My son (13, but only reading at 4-5th grade level) absolutely LOVES all the Roald Dahl books, and they all have an element of fantasy in them. And there are some good movies for those books. Matilda is probably our favorite Roald Dahl movie.

[Tanaqui]

She probably likes the fantasy aspect. She doesn't like a whole lot of realism in her readings. Right now she is reading through manga books almost faster than I can get them for her. Before that, she loved mythology, Adventure Time, and My Little Pony.

 

Okay! I didn't want to head running off in wildly the wrong direction :) Does she like sci-fi as well, or straight fantasy all the way?

 

Try these books:

 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

 

A Tangle of Knots

 

Bliss

 

Zahrah the Windseeker

 

Cuckoo Song

 

Akata Witch

 

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

 

Cat Girl's Day Off

 

Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister

 

Shadowshaper

 

The Goose Girl

 

Earthsea

 

Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore series)

 

The Goblin Wood

 

The Inquisitor's Apprentice

 

The Conch Bearer

 

The Dalemark Quartet

 

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (the fantasy element is very understated)

 

Dust Girl

 

Spellbinder

 

So You Want to Be a Wizard

 

The Apothecary

 

Darwen Awkwright and the Peregrine Pact

 

The Savage Fortress

 

Un Lun Dun

 

Breadcrumbs

 

The Path of Names

 

The Real Boy

 

The Healing Wars

 

The Nine Pound Hammer

 

Hammer of Witches

 

Ella Enchanted

 

The Winding Circle books

 

There! There has to be at least one in this list that she will like! Some of these are set in the real world, despite being fantasy, so I hope that's not a complete dealbreaker.

 

Edit: BTW, if she *is* willing to read sci-fi, I can make a new list. Also, I may continue to edit this list until either the OP makes a new comment (responding to me or not) or upvotes. Because I hate spamming.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Tanaqui

[LMD]

I haven't seen anyone mention the Fairyland series by Valente, DD and I loved it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1250010195/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1460607006&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=girl+circumnavigated+fairyland&dpPl=1&dpID=51TrpzPLP5L&ref=plSrch

 

Alice in wonderland?

Phantom tollbooth?

Edited April 14, 2016 by LMD

[TriciaT]

If fantasy with talking animals is a big draw:

Guardians of Gahoole

Redwall

Warrior Cats

(My daughter is devouring all the books in these series!)

 

If you want some creative questioning ideas, you could have a look at "Suppose the Wolf were an Octopus" books from Royal fireworks press. They give really fantastic discussion questions, plus a long list of books to choose from.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[UmMusa]

The War That Saved My Life

[Tanaqui]

The War That Saved My Life

Is a great book, for sure, but it's not fantastical in any way, shape, or form. It is extremely realistic and kinda depressing at parts.

[zoobie]

Have you tried a Kindle? My dyslexic 12 year old vastly prefers it to any paper books. The new open source Dyslexic font is fabulous. She can control font size, white space, font type, and contrast.

 

Has she read Harry Potter? That series sucked my girl in to reading like no other had.

 

If she likes mythology, Rick Riordan has multiple series of books. The main character has dyslexia in the Percy series. A few have graphic novel versions. DS loves those. He's burning through the Artemis Fowl series now, which has a few graphic novel complements too.

 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

[sdobis]

Okay! I didn't want to head running off in wildly the wrong direction :) Does she like sci-fi as well, or straight fantasy all the way?

She is a huge Dr. Who fan, so she may like sci-fi. I'd be willing to give it a try.

[sdobis]

If fantasy with talking animals is a big draw:

Guardians of Gahoole

Redwall

Warrior Cats

(My daughter is devouring all the books in these series!)

 

If you want some creative questioning ideas, you could have a look at "Suppose the Wolf were an Octopus" books from Royal fireworks press. They give really fantastic discussion questions, plus a long list of books to choose from.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! I'm gonna go check this out!

[kitten18]

Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. The audio is great for both series.

[kitten18]

Have you tried a Kindle? My dyslexic 12 year old vastly prefers it to any paper books. The new open source Dyslexic font is fabulous. She can control font size, white space, font type, and contrast.

 

Has she read Harry Potter? That series sucked my girl in to reading like no other had.

 

If she likes mythology, Rick Riordan has multiple series of books. The main character has dyslexia in the Percy series. A few have graphic novel versions. DS loves those. He's burning through the Artemis Fowl series now, which has a few graphic novel complements too.

 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Doh, I missed your post. I couldn't believe that no one had mentioned Harry and Percy.

 

Oh, and Artemis too.

 

My dd loves mythology too and these are all at the top of her list.

Edited April 14, 2016 by kitten18

[Tanaqui]

She is a huge Dr. Who fan, so she may like sci-fi. I'd be willing to give it a try.

Okay :)

 

The difference in sci-fi and fantasy is often just the framing. If you're traveling in the sky in some fantastic manner, it's fantasy if you're on a flying carpet, but sci-fi if you're using an anti-gravity belt, even though those are equally non-scientific.

 

For whatever reason, my sci-fi picks do tend to skew slightly older - more kissing, some more violence. It's not 100%, but as always, it's on you to pre-read if you have things you're concerned about your kid reading.

 

Mars Evacuees

 

Ambassador

 

Space Case

 

The Lunar Chronicles

 

Stranger

 

Powerless (superheroes)

 

Leviathan

 

Sky Jumpers

 

The True Meaning of Smekday

 

Airborn

 

Mortal Engines

 

House of the Scorpion

 

Tankborn

 

Salvage

 

Tin Star

 

Starglass

 

Ship Breaker

 

A Confusion of Princes

 

I'll see if I can find some more :)

Edited April 15, 2016 by Tanaqui

[sdobis]

Okay :)

 

The difference in sci-fi and fantasy is often just the framing. If you're traveling in the sky in some fantastic manner, it's fantasy if you're on a flying carpet, but sci-fi if you're using an anti-gravity belt, even though those are equally non-scientific.

 

For whatever reason, my sci-fi picks do tend to skew slightly older - more kissing, some more violence. It's not 100%, but as always, it's on you to pre-read if you have things you're concerned about your kid reading.

 

Mars Evacuees

 

Ambassador

 

Space Case

 

The Lunar Chronicles

 

Stranger

 

Powerless (superheroes)

 

Leviathan

 

Sky Jumpers

 

The True Meaning of Smekday

 

Airborn

 

Mortal Engines

 

House of the Scorpion

 

Tankborn

 

Salvage

 

Tin Star

 

Starglass

 

Ship Breaker

 

A Confusion of Princes

 

I'll see if I can find some more :)

Thank you so much for both of your lists! I have a lot of research and reading to do.

[Tanaqui]

I do try :)

 

Listen, I carefully only listed books that I know are still in print in the US. There are more I'd list if out of print was an option - and really, most out of print books can be bought off ebay or amazon on the cheap - so if literally none of these work, poke me again.

[Bluegoat]

For SF, she might like some Monica Hughes novels.  They aren't really literary, but nice stories and very accesible, and also fairly short.

 

One I enjoyed as a young person was Devil On My Back.

 

I also enjoyed some of Anne McCaffery, particularly The Ship Who Sang.