DH & DS reading together - suggestions?

[bullseye]

Like many country boys his age, DS5 can talk nonstop about fishing. So DH decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and read him The Old Man and the Sea. He loved it...and so did DH, who didn't have much access to books growing up and had never read it before in school. Now they want to continue reading together. DH has asked for book suggestions, particularly adventure or survival-themed novels.

 

Here's my list so far:

 

The Jungle Book

My Side of the Mountain

Julie of the Wolves

Island of the Blue Dolphins

The Black Pearl

The Black Stallion

Old Yeller

Hatchet

Woodsong

Shiloh

The Great Brain series

Treasure Island

Kidnapped

 

 

Others I haven't read myself and would like commentary on:

 

Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Swiss Family Robinson

Sherlock Holmes? 

 

 

Stuff we've already done:

 

Little House series

Peter Pan

 

 

What else? Any comments on the above as far as age appropriateness? DH did a tiny bit of editing in The Old Man and the Sea - there was a reference to a fight with a Negro, and DH changed it to "a man." I recall one scene in Julie of the Wolves that would probably take some editing also. 

 

Thanks for any help!

[ScoutTN]

Little Britches

Narnia

Misty of Chincoteague

[bullseye]

Little Britches

Narnia

Misty of Chincoteague

 

We did Misty and he loved it. Maybe some of Marguerite Henry's other books?

 

Started Narnia with The Magician's Nephew and he objected to the uncle experimenting on hamsters and wanted to stop. He's quirky like that sometimes - no problems with killing for survival, came up with an alternate ending to Charlotte's Web where Zuckerman enjoys some delicious bacon, but experimenting on animals? Not cool. That was a year ago, though, and early enough in the story that he hadn't really gotten into it, so maybe we'll try again. Or maybe we'll start with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

 

I'm not familiar with Little Britches. Can you tell me anything about it? 

[Lori D.]

Working under the assumption that when you say "DS5", you mean a 5yo, not a 5th grader ;) ...

 

non-fiction on wilderness preparedness

Willy Whitefeather's Outdoor Survival Handbook for Kids (Whitetfeather)

Survivor Kid: A Practical Guide to Wilderness Survival (Long)

Boy Scout Handbook

Dangerous Book for Boys (Iggulden)

 

shipwreck survival

Baby Island (Brink)

Robinson Crusoe Reader (Cowles) -- abridged, simplified version of the original that is a fantastic fit for young boys!

The Cay (Taylor)

Heart of a Samurai (Preus) -- or, Born in the Year of Courage (Crofford) -- both tell the same true story of Japanese teen fisher in 1850s

Nim's Island (Orr)

Heroes of Isle aux Morts (Walsh) -- beautiful picture book of a real 1832 shipwreck and rescue

Thunder From the Sea (Harlow) -- Newfoundland rescue dog, Atlantic fishermen, rescue from storm

The Wreck of the Ethie (Hyland) -- based on true 1919 events; Newfoundland dog who rescued people from an Atlantic shipwreck

 

living in the wilderness

My Side of the Mountain -- and sequels (George)

Sign of the Beaver (Speare) -- child and Native Americans

Courage of Sarah Noble (Dagliesh) -- child and Native Americans

Sarah Whitcher's Story (Yates)

Incident at Hawk's Hill (Eckert)

Kildee House (Montgomery)

 

country or pioneer living

Mountain Born (Yates)

Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman (Henry) -- colonial times; the inventor as a boy

Hannah (Whelan) -- blind pioneer girl

Caddie Woodlawn (Brink)

Land I Lost, and, Water Buffalo Days (Nhuong) -- memories of childhood in rural, pre-war Vietnam

 

animal adventure

Billy and Blaze series (Anderson)

Rascal (North)

Ginger Pye (Estes)

Chucaro, Wild Pony of the Pampas (Kalney) -- this is an older, sweet book; DSs really loved this one when they were young

The Incredible Journey (Burnford)

Big Red (Kjelgaard)

 

talking animal adventure

The Rescuers, Miss Bianca, The Turret, Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines, Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharp) -- I can't recommend these highly enough; the writing is wonderful with terrific vocabulary, very engaging with a great mix of humor, adventure, peril and rescue -- these are treasures!

Poppy (Avi)

Rikki Tikki Tavi (Kipling)

Trumpet of the Swan (White)

 

survival adventure

Call It Courage (Armstrong)

Li Lun, Lad of Courage (Treffinger)

 

adventure

The Adventures of TinTin (Herge)

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken)

The Twenty One Balloons (DuBois)

 

From your list… of course, every child is ready for different books at different ages, but due to older language or themes, but mostly because these are geared for older students and older students tend to enjoy and *get* more out of these -- and esp. if you have a child who is unwilling to ever revisit a book later that was read aloud earlier -- I'd probably wait on these:

 

Julie of the Wolves

Island of the Blue Dolphins

The Black Pearl

Treasure Island

Kidnapped

 

Old Yeller -- dog dies; don't know if that will bother your child or not; Shiloh, also on your list, the dog does NOT die

Hatchet -- maybe it's just me, but the main character seems to spend a lot of time dwelling on his parents' recent divorce (due to mom's infidelity)

 

From your question about:

Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Swiss Family Robinson

Sherlock Holmes

 

Again, I'd probably hold off on these 4 classics, as I think they would be appreciated a bit more later on... AND that way, you don't miss out on some of the fabulous books that are much more geared for pre-K and elementary ages. Check out the 1000 Good Books lists, esp the grade 1-3 advanced reader list and grade 4-6 book list, for ideas of read-alouds of wonderful books for your 5yo.

 

Or, if you really want to do some of these classics early, what about some modern children's versions -- or spin-off modern children's book instead? Examples:

Stepping Stones book: Robin Hood (Ingle) -- or -- Robin Hood for Children (Marshall)

Stepping Stones book: Tom Sawyer (Kulling)

Great Classics Illustrated: Swiss Family Robinson (Gatewood)

Basil of Baker Street series (Titus) -- the Great Mouse Detective

Edited July 4, 2016 by Lori D.

[ondreeuh]

I think your list looks great. FYI, in The Great Brain there is a part where a kid loses a foot due to tetanus, and begs another kid to shoot him & kill him because he doesn't think life is worth living if he is disabled. I shut the audiobook off right there. There is actually a lot of content in that book that is not remotely PC by today's standards. Like a part where a girl wants to wear trousers and is mocked and bullied until she agrees to wear a dress. I am not super sensitive to that stuff but I did so much eye rolling in that book (and checking in with my son: "You know that's ridiculous, right?" I wonder if that book has lost its relevance.

Edited July 4, 2016 by ondreeuh

[JudoMom]

It's not really survival themed, but Indian in the Cupboard was read aloud to me by my first grade teacher, and it's been one of my boys'favorites as well.

[nature girl]

I'm just scratching my head about 5-year-olds being able to comprehend many of these books. Of course they're wonderful, but I think my 6yo would be wandering away from The Old Man and the Sea or The Black Pearl within 5 minutes. What am I missing here?

[MerryAtHope]

Cleary's Mouse and the Motorcycle & sequels would be good too. Good list going here!

 

Love Little Britches, but there are some swear words that your husband may want to edit on the fly.

 

I adore Kildee House! 

[Lori D.]

I'm just scratching my head about 5-year-olds being able to comprehend many of these books. Of course they're wonderful, but I think my 6yo would be wandering away from The Old Man and the Sea or The Black Pearl within 5 minutes. What am I missing here?

 

Well, The Old Man and The Sea is do-able even with elementary ages -- Hemingway wrote it in very simple straight forward language, and the basic story is a very simple, focused conflict of the old man spending several days at sea to bring in a giant marlin fish. So, not too difficult to follow for even young ages. In fact, Call of the Wild (by Jack London) is similar, with a very straight-forward survival story written in plain language. However, young listeners/readers will miss out on the deeper themes and ideas within these works.

 

However, I totally agree with you about the majority of classics -- the older language and complex sentence structure, the mature themes, and "slow speed" of many 19th century classics make them a better fit for late middle school and high school, when the reader has more patience, experience, and understanding to click with the works. But, there are those rare extremely advanced little ones out there, whose interest and understanding is such that they have no interest whatever in children's books and skip right to older works...

 

But I do encourage people to at least try quite a few of the wonderful children's books out there first before switching to all older classics or adult books -- classic children's books and young adult books are a very large and very rich banquet that is not to be missed, if you can at all help it! :)

Edited July 4, 2016 by Lori D.

[bullseye]

From your list… of course, every child is ready for different books at different ages, but due to older language or themes, but mostly because these are geared for older students and older students tend to enjoy and *get* more out of these -- and esp. if you have a child who is unwilling to ever revisit a book later that was read aloud earlier -- I'd probably wait on these:

 

Julie of the Wolves

Island of the Blue Dolphins

The Black Pearl

Treasure Island

Kidnapped

 

Old Yeller -- dog dies; don't know if that will bother your child or not; Shiloh, also on your list, the dog does NOT die

Hatchet -- maybe it's just me, but the main character seems to spend a lot of time dwelling on his parents' recent divorce (due to mom's infidelity)

 

From your question about:

Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Swiss Family Robinson

Sherlock Holmes

 

Again, I'd probably hold off on these 4 classics, as I think they would be appreciated a bit more later on... AND that way, you don't miss out on some of the fabulous books that are much more geared for pre-K and elementary ages. Check out the 1000 Good Books lists, esp the grade 1-3 advanced reader list and grade 4-6 book list, for ideas of read-alouds of wonderful books for your 5yo.

 

Great list, thanks! I appreciate the details. 

 

My own list was made up entirely of books I myself read and enjoyed in early elementary. When you say "geared for older students," how old are you talking about? 3rd grade? Middle school? 

 

Thanks also for the reminder about Hatchet. I don't think Old Yeller will bother him too much since there's a logical reason the dog had to die. 

 

On skipping ahead to the classics and missing out on elementary books, I generally agree. I just want them to be good books, and I only know so many myself. 

 

 

I think your list looks great. FYI, in The Great Brain there is a part where a kid loses a foot due to tetanus, and begs another kid to shoot him & kill him because he doesn't think life is worth living if he is disabled. I shut the audiobook off right there. There is actually a lot of content in that book that is not remotely PC by today's standards. Like a part where a girl wants to wear trousers and is mocked and bullied until she agrees to wear a dress. I am not super sensitive to that stuff but I did so much eye rolling in that book (and checking in with my son: "You know that's ridiculous, right?" I wonder if that book has lost its relevance.

 

Yes, I'm aware it's not PC at all. I loved that series though. My personal approach is to talk through it as we read. 

 

It's not really survival themed, but Indian in the Cupboard was read aloud to me by my first grade teacher, and it's been one of my boys'favorites as well.

 

Read it already. He loved it. 

 

I'm just scratching my head about 5-year-olds being able to comprehend many of these books. Of course they're wonderful, but I think my 6yo would be wandering away from The Old Man and the Sea or The Black Pearl within 5 minutes. What am I missing here?

 

In our case, the purpose wasn't to have him read a super impressive high school book, it was to support an interest in fishing. Hemingway just so happened to fit the bill. It didn't really hold my interest either when I read it, but my son was actually upset there wasn't a sequel. It was totally interest driven. And it just so happened to be the book he and Daddy bonded over. To each his own!

 

Well, The Old Man and The Sea is do-able even with elementary ages -- Hemingway wrote it in very simple straight forward language, and the basic story is a very simple, focused conflict of the old man spending several days at sea to bring in a giant marlin fish. So, not too difficult to follow for even young ages. In fact, Call of the Wild (by Jack London) is similar, with a very straight-forward survival story written in plain language. However, young listeners/readers will miss out on the deeper themes and ideas within these works.

 

However, I totally agree with you about the majority of classics -- the older language and complex sentence structure, the mature themes, and "slow speed" of many 19th century classics make them a better fit for late middle school and high school, when the reader has more patience, experience, and understanding to click with the works. But, there are those rare extremely advanced little ones out there, whose interest and understanding is such that they have no interest whatever in children's books and skip right to older works...

 

But I do encourage people to at least try quite a few of the wonderful children's books out there first before switching to all older classics or adult books -- classic children's books and young adult books are a very large and very rich banquet that is not to be missed, if you can at all help it! :)

 

 

Yes, the language is very accessible. DS tends to interrupt and ask for a definition every time he hears a new word, so that by itself discourages us from picking anything too hard. And he'll definitely get more out of it later thematically, although he's already had some good thoughts. 

 

I agree with not skipping all the wonderful children's books, but I also appreciate the way he'll stick with something tougher like Peter Pan that keeps his brain working. My goal is to find the right balance between challenging and entertaining. 

 

Thanks everyone!

[Caclcoca]

This is not a survival suggestion, but my ds7 loved the Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary.  He does go salmon fishing with his dad in one of the books.  I can't remember which one though.

[wendyroo]

DH is reading the Redwall series to my 5 and 7 year old boys and it is a HUGE hit just as it was when my father read it to me and my brother.

 

Wendy

[Guest]

I'm just scratching my head about 5-year-olds being able to comprehend many of these books. Of course they're wonderful, but I think my 6yo would be wandering away from The Old Man and the Sea or The Black Pearl within 5 minutes. What am I missing here?

Whatever you're missing, we are missing the same thing! Mine is about to turn 5 and still thinks The Green Pants with No One Inside is one of the greatest books ever. That's more our speed. :)