Gwenny Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Is there a list somewhere out there of beginning readers (about 2nd grade level) that are quality literature? I have just been browsing the shelves at the library and picking anything on her level that might be interesting to her. She likes the books we pick, but I want books that will naturally lead to reading more classic, great literature. What do you read that is good for the stage between Frog and Toad and The Secret Garden? Everyone seems to warn against reading "twaddle", but what is out there for 2nd grade level? She is not ready for long chapter books (she's 5), Mercy Watson chapter books are the only ones she has read and each chapter is only a few pages long. Picture books would be great for her, but with so many to choose from, it is overwhelming. Just hoping someone out there knows of a list that has already been put together. Thanks, Gwen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 At this stage, I'd be more concerned about the quality of read-alouds than that of beginning readers. There are a few gems out there: Dick King-Smith has books covering a range of abilities; Jill Tomlinson (The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, etc.) is another favourite in our house; Thornton Burgess' animal stories and Old Mother Westwind; Astrid Lindgren's Noisy Village, Lotta, and Emil books are at a relatively easy level; Ester Averill's Jenny and the Cat Club books; and, simpler Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, The Enormous Crocodile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 :bigear: Also interested in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmroberts Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 We are using the Elson Readers from Lost Classics Books and they are great. The teacher's manuals are an excellent supplement with questions (similar to WWE) for narration, activities, etc. HTH. Gretchen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristiana Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I love the chapter books by Cynthia Rylant--The Lighthouse Family, Cobblestreet Cousins, The Blue Hill Meadows. We also love Astrid Lindgren, Dick King-Smith, Thornton Burgess, and The Borrowers books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhondaM. Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 You should find plenty of ideas here.... http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000-primary.html Also check out SL and Ambleside Online suggestions. I think when mine were around that age they were reading the Burgess Books, My Father's Dragon, The Littles and Billy & Blaze. RhondaM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alana in Canada Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 This is a really difficult age. The kids need lots and lots to read to develop fluency: and yet the quality out there seems a bit iffy, doesn't it? SoTW AG2 is chock full of picture book recommendations for that age range. It was wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferB Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) I had trouble picking books between, as you say, Frog and Toad and The Secret Garden. I went with Sonlight, and my daughter had great advancement in reading that year. The Readers 2 Intermediate is the next stage after Frog and Toad. There are some great books at that level. There are probably some in the Readers 2, which include Frog & Toad, but there are others that are a bit more advanced in that same section that you could also use for readers. I used the catalog and just got the books on loan at the library. A few weren't available at my library, which I ordered from Sonlight. I was very pleased with all the readers, in content and quality. One more resource you might want to check out is Yesterday's Classics Literature Readers, under the Literature section on their website. The Primer is equivalent to 1st grade, and so on. I hope you find a good fit. Edited February 11, 2009 by JenniferB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Reading Strands-Understanding Fiction has pages of grade level reading lists in the back of the book. Veritas Press also has good suggestions for literature by grade level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieF Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Just look at the Elson readers and they are great! Has anyone used the teacher's guide to go with them. Wondering whether it would be overkill as we do LLATL or if it could be done fairly quickly? Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch at Home Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I second the Cynthia Rylant chapter books. My daughter really likes the Flower Fairy Friends chapter books by Cicely Mary Barker. They are somewhat twaddle but combined with one of her poetry books, it is a great introduction to poetry and plants. For a little more advanced I like the My America series, great historical fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The Free and Treadwell Readers are also nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ummto4 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 If old readers are your cup of tea, have fun browsing google books. My son (just turn 7, 1st grade) is also at a stage between Frog and Toad and Secret Garden. For school time, we use books from google books as follows: -ELSON Reader 1 & Summer Reader 1 - same difficulties as Frog&Toad, short stories -A Primary Reader by Louise Smythe, Beacon Introductory Second Reader (Animal Tales) & Free and Treadwell Reader 1 (Free & Treadwell is from http://www.mainlesson.com) - highly recommended, longer stories, a bit more difficult than Frog and Toad. We're finishing them off and next week, we're going to read: Horace Mann Introductory Second Reader which contains even more longer stories. After that, we're going to read second readers till the end of first grade to gently build up his reading fluency and comprehension. I encourage you to browse google books as there are many graded readers from old time which contain many delightful classic stories. For spare time, he reads his Five in a Row books and other picture books we have at home. I also have some readers from the 70's which I got from library sales. They contain silly stories and the reading level is about the same as what we get from google books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 This is the trickiest stage. I keep abridged junior classics around the house for just this stage. The suggestions you've had so far are good. I also recommend Catwings series by Ursula LeGuin and Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson. Moira's suggestion is dead on, too. It's the read-alouds that will foster the vocabulary, comprehension of advanced sentence structure, visualization skills and patience to handle those classics later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.