Read aloud suggestions - other than fantasy

[Pintosrock]

My husband recently pointed out that we've been reading a lot of fantasy read alouds to dd9. Do you have suggestions for read alouds of other genres?

For reference, we've read:

Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone

Harry Potter 

Ollie's Odyssey 

The Mapmakers

Ogre Enchanted 

Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans

Marvelous Land of Oz

Five Children and It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HomeAgain]

I like to start with relatable ones, with children about the same age.  Anne of Green Gables would work.  So would the Royal Diaries series or Catherine Called Birdy.  She might like Heidi, too, or Tom Sawyer.  Maybe The Secret Garden?

More recent, you could check out the books that start with Because of Mr. Terupt.  Each chapter is told from a different point of view from a child in the class.  You may want to preread - it's been a few years since I've read it and I'm not sure if there is any sensitive material.

[maize]

My family enjoys historical fiction by Cynthia Harnett. Some of her books were published under different titles in the US than the UK; I mostly know the UK titles but if you search for her you can probably find US titles. Some my family has enjoyed include A Load of Unicorn (not fantasy--it involves paper with a unicorn watermark), Ring out Bow Bells, and The Wool Pack.

[ScoutTN]

Books my kids Enjoyed at that age:

Little House
The Penderwicks 
The Trumpet of the Swan (funnier and not sad like Charlotte's Web)
Rascal
My Side of the Mountain
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
The Shakespeare Stealer
The Wheel on the School
A Single Shard
The Door in the Wall
Adam of the Road
Big Red
Wonder
Treasure Island
Miracles on Maple Hill
Strawberry Girl
Baby Island
Because of Winn Dixie
Robin Hood
Swallows and Amazons
 

Seconding Anne of Green Gables and Tom Sawyer
I'd save The Secret Garden for an audiobook or just free reading. Lots of dialect makes it a challenging RA, imo.
 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by ScoutTN

[Brittany1116]

Strawberry Girl

The Hundred Dresses

The Family Under the Bridge 

[HomeAgain]

I just thought of a few from when I was a kid:

Zilpha Keatley Snyder books: The Velvet Room, The Changeling, The Egypt Game, and The Headless Cupid.  There's a little weird, a little suspense, but mostly a story about imaginative children.

Also: The Blue Willow Plate, My Side of the Mountain, and Gone Away Lake (plus the sequel).

[Ellie]

Here is the 1000 Good Books list.

[Red Dove]

A Long Way From Chicago

[Sarah0000]

You can get a lot of the classics like The Secret Garden as graphic novels now, too.

Science fiction? The Last Human, We Are Not From Here

Imaginary (deals with loss and grief)

The Minecraft books (the actual novels not the guides) are surprisingly deep.

[goldenecho]

A Little Princess and The Secret Garden are two other books I loved at that age.   Especially A Little Princess.   Both are in England in the 1800s.  

If you're ok with Christian books, Patricia St. John books are wonderful.  I especially love Treasures of the Snow (a good one for around Christmastime).  I can honestly say that story had more impact on my life than probably any other (themes of forgiveness and redemption and change...it follows two characters that start off hating each other, and changes perspective from one to the other, and is just such a beautiful story...but has adventure too).  Oh, and one of the little girls in the book was homeschooled briefly (and it's presented positively), which is always a nice thing to find.  It's another historical one set in the Swiss alps I think in the 1800s or early 1900s.

Wonder is another great one.  It has some heavy themes but handled well for kids and I think most 9 year olds would be ok with it.   The story is great...another one where they change perspective a lot.  Also, the child was homeschooled for a little while (though before the story starts).  This one is set in modern times.

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by goldenecho