Chris in VA Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I am bogging down in the read aloud dept. for dd8 (3rd grade). She's a great reader herself, but we continue to enjoy our time sharing stories. Right now we are going thru an English Fairy Tale book, and we are going to do some Scheherazade tales. Our latest was Rikki Tikki Tavi, a short story. She likes mysteries, but I don't want to read them.Chasing Vermeer was a failure here, and we also didn't like Detectives in Togas. She reads Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden stories as "candy," and always goes back to the Little House Books, Secret Garden, and those kind of books. She is currently working thru Swiss Family Robinson on her own. All are unabridged. We've read Caddie Woodlawn, Betsy-Tacy, and lots of books like that. She doesn't like animal books of any sort, although Tale of Despereaux was pretty good. She's read Rascal, and will not let me read the Misty series from Henry. The very creepy Coraline was a huge hit, as were the Mary Pope Osborne Odyssey series. No Harry Potter yet, no dragons, no witches, and we are tired of Roald Dahl, tho we like him a lot. Not into the American Girl series--she reads some of them on her own. Our tastes run more to older books, less to contemporary books (not into Ramona-type). We avoid "issue" books, and I just don't want to read anything with kids dealing with divorce or abuse or anything like that. We have enough family trauma of our own and I'd rather read more light things, although for some reason books like A Little Princess are fine. Whew! Can anyone help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in CA Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 We are currently enjoying The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I know you said no witches but my two really enjoy when I read the Oz series of books. They also enjoy Raggedy Ann and Andy stories The Paper Doll series Robin Hood 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea The 5 Little Peppers and How They Grew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Oz would be fine. We've read some RA and A, and they are very sweet (my book is a first edition and falling apart! lol). I will look into Wolves. Maybe 5 Little Peppers? Thanks for the ideas. Keep 'em coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 We recently finished Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and my dds liked it a lot. I found the sentences rather awkward to read aloud (it was written in 1880), but they didn't seem to notice. I'm thinking of starting George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin next. Books we got dd for Christmas that could become read-alouds are Bound for Oregon (which she has read several times in the last week), Ballet Shoes, Ella Enchanted, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and a couple of shorter Dahl books. Your dd might like From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (I think I have her name wrong, but you get the idea). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 If you can check your library for the Lois Lenski series of books (Strawberry Girl is one of them) these are fun books for that age - they focus on a different area of the country for each book. My daughter also adores the Happy Hollister series. And Alexander McCall Smith has some delightful new series books for young readers (Harriet Bean series, Akimbo series, and others). If I may add, some of the best books ever written are the Winnie the Pooh series and I will never tire of reading them. Some non series books that we adore - Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink (she also wrote Caddie Woodlawn), Mandy (Julie Edwards/Andrews), and even a good translation of Pinnocchio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) My oldest daughter really enjoyed Alice in Wonderland and she loves The Boxcar Children. My oldest daughter tends to dislike most fiction so this is always a struggle for us as well. I will second the suggestion for From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This is my personal favorite book of all time. Edited December 31, 2008 by littlebug42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Anne of Green Gables Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Q Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Books by Edith Nesbit (The Railway Children and The Enchanted Castle, frex) and I second books by Joan Aikin (my favorite is Midnight is a Place). I'd also suggest books by Rosemary Sutcliff, but you'd have to preview them since they might be too mature content-wise for your eight-year-old. Have you read any Susan Cooper? The Boggart and its sequel are fun reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) My opinion as an avid Narnia reader is that you should start with "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and then read the rest of the books in the order in which they were published. That one being first is crucial--the prequel is not nearly as engaging, and works better if it's read afterwards with some prior knowledge to make it more exciting. "Ben and Me" is SO funny, and not 'issue' -y at all. "The Matchlock Gun" is another good historical fiction book. DD loved "Half Magic" at that age. You might want to consider the Shoes books--they are back in print. They are a bit formulaic, but are not a series, and reflect hardworking, independent kids in England during the 1940's. Maybe start with "Ballet Shoes" and see how you like them. This is a great age to read aloud "Black Ships Before Troy" and "The Wanderings of Odysseus"--they are both beautifully illustrated, which is a nice plus. Edited December 31, 2008 by Carol in Cal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Below are some ideas for read alouds. I put *** by the ones that were especial favorites of our boys. There are all "older" classics. For more ideas of older, gentler classics, try the 1000 Good Books List at: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html Also, many of the books used in the Sonlight (http://www.sonlight.com/) and Amblesisde Online (http://amblesideonline.org/) curriculums are very good. BEST of luck in finding some good matches! Warmest regards, Lori D. REAL LIFE - A Little Princess; The Secret Garden (Burnett) - Paddle-to-the-Sea, Tree in the Trail, Seabird, Minn of the Mississippi (Holling) - Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell) - Mountain Born (Yates) - The Hundred Dresses (Estes) - Kildee House (Montgomery) - The Toothpaste Millionaire (Merrill) - Understood Betsy (Fisher) - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Konigsburg) - Little Britches series (Moody) - In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (Lord) *** - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson) - Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery) - Two Little Indians (Seton) FANTASY - Land of Oz; Ozma of Oz (Baum) -- lively sequels; skip Wizard of Oz (dull/long) - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (Betty MacDonald) - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) *** - Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) - Half Magic; Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle; Time Garden; Seven Day Magic (Eager) *** - Five Children and It; The Phoenix and the Carpet; The Book of Dragons (Nesbit) *** - The Father Christmas Letters (Tolkien) *** - The Ordinary Princess (Kaye) *** - The Princess & the Goblins; The Princess & Curdie (MacDonald) *** - Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid) FUN TALL TALE - The Great Turkey Walk (Karr) - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) *** - Hitty, Her First Hundred Years (Field) - Holes (Sachar) - The Twenty-One Balloons (DuBois) HISTORICAL FICTION - Adam of the Road (Gray) -- Medieval England *** - The Door in the Wall (de Angeli) -- Medieval England - The Master Puppeteer (Paterson) - 1700s Japan *** - The Sign of the Beaver (Speare) -- Colonial US/Native American - The Great Wheel (Lawson) -- building of the first Ferris Wheel in 1893 *** - Twenty and Ten (Bishop) -- WWII French children hide Jewish children - The Little Riders (Shemin) -- WWII occupied Europe - Number the Stars (Lenski)-- WWII Dutch girl helps her Jewish friend - Snow Treasure (McSwigan)-- WWII Norweigan children hide the country's gold - Winged Watchman (Van Stockum) -- WWII Nazi occupied Denmark BIOGRAPHY - Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman (Henry) -- inventor of steam engine as a boy - Land I Lost; Water Buffalo Days (Nhuong) -- memories of pre-war (rural Vietnam) - Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (Latham) early US man who improved naval navigation *** - Naya Nuki: The Shoshone Girl Who Ran -- friend of Sacajewea - Behind Rebel Lines (Reit) -- teen girl disguised as a boy / Union spy in Civil War - Born in the Year of Courage (Crofford) ANIMALS (real) - Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa (Kalney) - Daughter of the Mountains (Rankin) - Ginger Pye (Estes) - My Side of the Mountain (George) - Summer of the Monkeys (Rawls) ANIMALS (talking) - Trumpet of the Swan (White) *** - The Mouse and the Motorcycle (McCleary) - Ben and I (Lawson) *** - The Rescuers, Miss Bianca, Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharpe) *** - Basil of Baker Street (Titus) - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (O'Brien) - Wind in the Willows (Grahame) - The Reluctant Dragon (Grahame) - Rikki Tikki Tavi; The Jungle Book; Just So Stories (Kipling) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Your criteria seem rather ad hoc, so I don't know whether this suggestion will help at all, but have you considered The Hobbit? Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AprilTN Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 We are reading The Mysterious Benedict Society and so far we love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 1, 2009 Author Share Posted January 1, 2009 Those are great recommendations! FWIW, we've read (or she's read): REAL LIFE - A Little Princess; The Secret Garden (Burnett) - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Konigsburg) - Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery) FANTASY - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (Betty MacDonald) - Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) - Half Magic - The Princess & the Goblin (MacDonald) - Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid) FUN TALL TALE - The Great Turkey Walk (Karr) - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) *** HISTORICAL FICTION - Adam of the Road (Gray) -- Medieval England *** ANIMALS (talking) - The Mouse and the Motorcycle (McCleary) - Ben and I (Lawson) *** - The Rescuers - Basil of Baker Street (Titus) - Rikki Tikki Tavi; The Jungle Book; Just So Stories (Kipling) All the Narnia books, Railway Children, Winnie the Pooh, and many others! I'm just laughing here, because I am pleased that you all think we have chosen some good ones! Thanks for the rec's. You can tell we have much left to read!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 You might want to consider the Shoes books--they are back in print. They are a bit formulaic, but are not a series, and reflect hardworking, independent kids in England during the 1940's. Maybe start with "Ballet Shoes" and see how you like them.We've liked all that we've read so far, but Circus Shoes is a particular favourite, even more than Ballet Shoes -- which is probably the best of the lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Are Half Magic by Edward Eager and The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit. They are both older with the second actually being referenced as a favorite story by the children in the first. The stories are richly complex. The characters are wonderfully real to life but nicely old-fashioned because of when they were written. They are both about simple magic with rules that happens to the real-to-life children and helps them to appreciate the wonderfulness of their actual lives. My dd is a great reader, but loves to share read alouds with me. I struggle to find books challenge her listening level and these two authors deliver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 1, 2009 Author Share Posted January 1, 2009 Yep, dh read The Hobbit to her this summer. Such a great book! We can't wait for the movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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