NJCanuk Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I was wondering if anyone can recommend some books for reading for a 4 year old. She's reading the Magic Tree House series, the first book in the series is very easy for her (she has a hard time with maybe 1 word per page), the ones closer to the end of the series are a bit harder... BUT, the problem is that it doesn't seem that she's finding them interesting... She thought Junie B. Jones was kind of funny, but again, didn't seem to be very interested in it (though it was easy for her to read)... I really am stumped, as I'd like her to keep going in her reading, and to develop a liking for reading on her own, but the books at her reading level seem to be out of her interest range :( does anyone have any suggestions :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chai Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 How about Dr. Seuss? Magic School Bus? Fairy tales? There are lots of picture books with higher level language and they are directed at young children. There are 3 books in the Catwings series that are absolutely precious. At that age, we also spent a lot of time in nonfiction books--especially books on nature, animals, etc. We didn't have any trouble finding easy readers on these subjects in the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanda7 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 What about the Little House on the Prairie series? That is the first set of chapter books my DD read on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCanuk Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thanks everyone for suggestions. I don't know why she doesn't like them, as she always says that she does... I just inferred that she doesn't by her behavior i.e. not reading them on her own. It seems that quite often she prefers to do/read things that are significantly below her ability (it took her over a year to admit that she could read, only when she was around 1st/2nd grade level of reading did she admit to it and was able to read in front of someone other than me or my husband)... similar situation with other activities... she seems to not want to do something (or at least not in front of anyone [sometimes I can be the exception, thankfully]) unless she's 110% sure that she'll succeed :( She likes the Magic School Bus series (we got some old books that are based on the TV series from my sister), and she was reading one by herself today... I also got her a MSB chapter book, and she was excited, but again, wasn't reading it on her own (though it was on her level)... maybe lack of pictures? or poor paper quality (compared to the "normal" book she's used to)... I'm also having a hard time figuring out what she's interested in specifically... we generally read non-fiction books, and only now are starting with fiction... but I can probably count only a handful of times when she said that she didn't like something or wasn't interested in something... she does seem to prefer things that have to do with bodies/anatomy to those having to do with, say, animals/dinosaurs, and she prefers pirates to princesses ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterbabs Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) There are so many books and so little time. LOL What doesn't she like about the books? Does she still like pictures? A lot of picture books are written at higher levels than the target audience since typically they are read to a child by an adult. That is one option. This is what we do. DD is reading at about the same level as your DD, but she HATES the early readers and first chapter books. She checked out a Magic Treehouse book from the library, but wouldn't even look at it when we got home. :001_huh: We look for really nice story (picture) books instead. They're usually written at a third grade or higher reading level, so are deceptively challenging for a beginning reader. Since they're generally relatively short in length, they can be read at one sitting. For my DD that's important because she HATES to not finish a book in one sitting. We have several antholgies and it drives her crazy to not finish the entire book, despite being told that she isn't supposed to or expected to do so. :lol: The best part is that there are some really great non-fiction picture books. One we recently (a few mos ago) read was about women during the Revolutionary War. It was written in a comic-book style, with bit of dialogue DD could read independantly, text I read to her, and a timeline at the bottome of the page for going into more depth for a more advanced reader. If I remember correctly, it was called "Independant Dames". Edited April 17, 2009 by skaterbabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCanuk Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 They're usually written at a third grade or higher reading level, so are deceptively challenging for a beginning reader. Since they're generally relatively short in length, they can be read at one sitting. For my DD that's important because she HATES to not finish a book in one sitting. We have several antholgies and it drives her crazy to not finish the entire book, despite being told that she isn't supposed to or expected to do so. :lol: I'm thinking that this may be an issue... maybe I am subconsciously trying to get her to read books that are more "real" :001_huh: She loved the Kids' Art series by Laurence Anhalt (I do believe we read it together, though), but our library only had 2 books from it, and I can't say I want to shell out $10 for each of however many books... though I am thinking about it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spetzi Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 My early readers enjoyed Great Illustrated Classics. These are abridged books w/ink sketches every so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 My early readers enjoyed Great Illustrated Classics. These are abridged books w/ink sketches every so often. My boys loved these, too. I think Oliver Twist and Swiss Family Robinson were their favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 At that reading level... Dick King-Smith, Jill Tomlinson (The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark, etc.), Thornton Burgess, Enid Blyton (Faraway Tree, Wishing Chair, etc.), the Jenny and the Cat Club Books by Esther Averill, Joanna Hurwitz' Riverside Kids books (starts with Rip Roaring Russell and increase in reading level as series progresses), and Astrid Lindgren's Emil, Lotta, Noisy Village, and Karlson books (the latter is sometimes spelled Karlsson... these are wonderful and only just back in print). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterbabs Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 My son is 7 now, but he has never liked the Magic Tree House books. I don't know why. He reads plenty of books without pictures and can read just about anything now, but he just never got into the Magic Tree House. DD just isn't ready for chapter books of any kind. Then again, she's "only" five and a half. :tongue_smilie: I figure she has plenty of time for that. lol I'm thinking that this may be an issue... maybe I am subconsciously trying to get her to read books that are more "real" :001_huh: ... That may well be it - there is a very real misconception that for a book to be "real" literature it must have multiple chapters, etc. And many picture books are indeed "fluff", but if you take the time to look though the library, talk with your children's librarian, etc, you can find some gems. For example, we read a book about a fairy last week. (IIRC, it was called "The Flower Faery.") The vocabulary in the story included words like "iridescent" and "translucent". :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Lynn Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Thanks everyone for suggestions. I don't know why she doesn't like them, as she always says that she does... I just inferred that she doesn't by her behavior i.e. not reading them on her own. It seems that quite often she prefers to do/read things that are significantly below her ability (it took her over a year to admit that she could read, only when she was around 1st/2nd grade level of reading did she admit to it and was able to read in front of someone other than me or my husband)... similar situation with other activities... she seems to not want to do something (or at least not in front of anyone [sometimes I can be the exception, thankfully]) unless she's 110% sure that she'll succeed :( She likes the Magic School Bus series (we got some old books that are based on the TV series from my sister), and she was reading one by herself today... I also got her a MSB chapter book, and she was excited, but again, wasn't reading it on her own (though it was on her level)... maybe lack of pictures? or poor paper quality (compared to the "normal" book she's used to)... I'm also having a hard time figuring out what she's interested in specifically... we generally read non-fiction books, and only now are starting with fiction... but I can probably count only a handful of times when she said that she didn't like something or wasn't interested in something... she does seem to prefer things that have to do with bodies/anatomy to those having to do with, say, animals/dinosaurs, and she prefers pirates to princesses ;) She sounds a lot like my dd. (We read a lot about pirates and jungles and boats, when she was into those pirates.) Our dd loved Calvin and Hobbes. There are a lot of pictures and the humor is both shallow and deep, depending on the comic. The vocab is wonderful. She liked some fiction certainly, but I think at that age she preferred nonfiction, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I'd say comb your library's picture book selections. They can be surprisingly rich, and the format is sometimes a burden off a young child's mind - it's not pages of solid words, so they relax a little. You might also just need to find her niche in encouraging chapter books - Becca loves ponies, so she really started reading longer books on her own initiative with The Pony-Crazed Princess series. Becca reads at a very high level, but is still so young that she doesn't consistently read at that level for enjoyment. Does that make sense? She's still newly six years old, full of energy, and just doesn't want to sit still that long. So I give her "quiet reading time" each day to specifically work on chapter books, but I don't mind her picking picture books off the shelf for fun. I hope that's helped some - even when our kids have great reading ability, they are still in a 4-6 year old body. :001_smile: Oh, and I do have one suggestion - how about the Mercy Watson books? They're beautifully illustrated with amusing little pictures. A nice step between picture books and chapter books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I don't think it's a problem if a 4 yr old only wants to read books below her reading level, she's 4. My 4 yr old wouldn't read to me for a long time and now he'll read me Frog and Toad and Amelia Bedelia, but nothing else, even though I've seen him when he decides to, read a higher level book to himself. I'm not going to push a 4 yr old, there is no hurry. Reading below level builds fluency, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterbabs Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 FYI, DD and I just read a really great non-fiction picture book. It's designed to be read by (rather than to) children, so the text is reasonably simple, but the authors note at the end gives more info AND extra references. Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane After reading it DD insisted on looking up John Coltrane and listening to several of his songs. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in SEVA Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 If she doesn't like Magic Treehouse stories, what about the non-fiction companion books? My boys enjoyed The Fire Cat, Little Bear, Francis, Mouse Tales/Soup, and other Arnold Lobol stories at that stage. Syd Hoff has several stories that you can buy as reader format or as large hardcover. There is a cute series about puppies that fits that in-between gap. http://www.amazon.com/Pugsley-Puppy-Place-Ellen-Miles/dp/0545034558/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240228612&sr=8-3 The Classic Starts series serves as nice intro to classics she'll read later (words nicely spaced on the page, plenty of white area). Many are only a penny on Amazon Marketplace. http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Starts-Anne-Green-Gables/dp/1402711301/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240228794&sr=1-4 I have a friend with an early-reading daughter who enjoyed Mercy Watson. I remember enjoying Ramona and Pippi Longstocking as an early reader, but it has been too many years to remember if they have appropriate content or not. :) Oh -- are Baby Sitter's Little Sister still in print? Certainly not great literature, but can be read in one sitting and geared for the younger crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicianmom Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Good booklists: http://www.amblesideonline.org/00.shtml http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000-primary.html I don't think it matters too much whether books are chapter books or not. One book that comes to mind is Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges. That's a picture book, but definitely on a higher level. (I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a 4-year-old even.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 How about Arnold Lobel books, like Frog and Toad, etc. Or Little Bear? My dd liked Dick King-Smith books at that level. Actually, she's 10 now and she still loves Dick King-Smith! She says that even though the reading level is very easy for her, she finds the stories interesting and funny, so she's determined to read all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I'm about to start going through the Caldecott Medal winners. These receive awards as the best picture books, but often the text is above preschool level (and of course, often it is not!). Some of Chris Van Alsberg's stuff is even at an 8th grade level. They are stand-alone stories so I am hoping my young reader (dd, also 4) will be interested in them one at a time. I have said before that I think the biggest challenge for young readers is putting things into context. They can decode some pretty stiff vocabulary, but they lack the life experiences to form a good frame of reference for what they're reading. I think that may be why certain books, though at an appropriate decoding-reading level for a gifted young one, just can't keep 'em on the hook. So, a plug for continuing with lots of read-alouds and field trips! Gotta expand that frame of reference! That's my theory, anyway (I am certainly no professional). That said, my other early readers have enjoyed The Boxcar Children book series. These were engaging without being too complex, I think that's why my kids found them enjoyable. Plus, everyone I know has confessed that they'd like to *be* a boxcar child, for at least one of their adventures! Personally, I want to move to the island in the second book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karenciavo Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 My ds6 has been enjoying what he calls "the bobble-head books." They are bios written at a 3rd to 5th grade level I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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