Here's a question for you moms out there who have children with advanced reading skills.Zachary and Tyler love to read. I was happily surprised this morning when Zach and I were talking about his talents and he listed reading as one of them! He said he enjoys reading because he "finds out lots of different things." While I am thrilled that both boys enjoy learning and are reading well beyond what is normal for their ages, I am starting to realize that, especially with Zachary, books at his reading level contain material more mature than he is.
I require Zach to read 30 minutes every day, so he sails through a couple chapter books a week. In addition, each night before bed a parent reads a chapter or two out loud to the boys. Zach recently discovered the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. He loves these books, but lately I've been bothered by some of the things I've been reading aloud from them. The plots generally involve pre-teen or teenage kids who invariably have crushes on each other. Sometimes there is hand-holding or kissing. In two of the books we've read lately, two teenage brothers fight physically with each other and yell hateful things. My kids aren't babies any more, but I don't want them to be exposed to this stuff. Zachary is bored with The Magic Tree House and he's read nearly all of The Magic School Bus books, but every one of the new chapter books he has brought home from the school library has had something I find objectionable.
Can any of you suggest age-appropriate, yet stimulating reading material for Zach? I think he's reading around the third-grade level. I'm also not sure if and/or how to screen what he reads. I am anxious to feed Zachary's desire to read new things, and I want his books to be fun and exciting, but I need some direction! Avid reader mommies, you know who you are...and lots of you have kids who are probably in the same situation! Please help!
{A super-huge "thank you" in advance.}
21 comments:
I would love to leave suggestions for you since we have the same problems, but my girls are into fairy books, Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, etc. and I'm sure Zach would not appreciate that. They do, however, love the Fablehaven books and Zach would probably like those too. You might need to read those with him though.
Things I remember loving were Roald Dahl books, Boxcar Children, Freckle Juice, and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. Perhaps different for boys, and I don't know for sure on the grade level, but it seems like those were what I was reading in third(ish) grade.
OH-- MY FAVORITE EVER.... And boys would for sure love them. The Time Warp Trio books by Jon Scieszka. Awesome and SO fun.
We have the exact same problem here. Madelyn is reading around a 5th/6th grade level but I have the same protests with content matching maturity level. Unfortunately, I'm much more knowledgeable about girls than boys, so my first word of advice is to talk to your children's librarian. She should have a ton of titles just off the top of her head to recommend. Some series that he might like would be the Charlie Bone books, Encyclopedia Brown mysteries and even the Hardy Boys. It really depends on his interests. Dav Pilkey writes very boy-oriented books like the Captain Underpants or Ricky Ricotta series if he likes nonsense.
Author Jon Scieszka runs a website geared towards helping boys find stuff to read called www.guysread.com. Check that out too.
Hmm, that's all I got but I'll keep my eyes peeled.
Madelyn just told me to recommend the A to Z Mystery series by Ron Roy. She loves those even if they are an easy read for her.
Perhaps Zach and Tyler aren't as dorky as I am/was, but I have always preferred non-fiction - biographies, science books, etc., even as a kid. You might try a non-fiction book from this list and see how Zach likes it... ?
We actually had a discussion around this with our Zach's first grade teacher last year. She was an awesome teacher, the kind who goes out and teaches other teachers at the trainings. She said, not only can the material be inappropriate, it is beyond their sphere of experience, so it can be confusing too, but they won't say that to you, necessarily. Like having a first grader read Harry Potter, especially books 4 and up. They can read it, and think it is cool for them to read because older kids do, but may have a hard time with the content as far as their understanding goes. Because books written for older kids are meant for kids with a greater understanding of the world around them such as emotions and their causes, reality vs. fiction, death, betrayal, good vs. evil, when things aren't black and white, etc.
She suggested branching out to non-fiction. Here they don't test for comprehension of both fiction and non-fiction material, but in Washington they did. And that is a different kind of reading and can teach you a lot, as it seems is your Zach's reason for loving to read.
Beyond that, my Zach and I have been reading the first book of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole (about owls) together in the evenings, and so far it is a little odd, but not inappropriate and a longer chapter book, so it kind of opens him up to the longer books. And it is long series, eight or nine books I think. He read the first couple on his own, but now we are going back and reading them together. He loves them. Zach also loves Jigsaw Jones, Secrets of Droon, A to Z Mysteries, Bailey School Kids, Hank Zipper (written by the Fonz), Horrible Harry, and Shredderman (one of Zach's faves); those are all series so they have a bunch of books in each of them. They aren't long, but maybe a little longer than Magic Tree House, and will branch him off to other series that still have appropriate information for a first grader. Even the Flat Stanley series is clever, even though the books are super short, but they even have some science in them which I love. Some of these books deal with bullies, mean siblings or grouchy teachers or whatever, but nothing outside of what they don't see and hear on the playground every day, so not fist fights and stuff.
If you want some longer books, Avi is a great author, for a first grader the Poppy books are good (about mice). The Warriors series is good too, it is about cats, but not cheesy. Artemis Fowl books are funny, and full of boy humor as well as cleverly written.
These are my best ides for longer books (probably upper 3rd-5th grade reading levels), although, once again, because they are written for older kids while I don't think they are inappropriate, you may want to read them first or something, so you can talk about them with him in case they fall into that sphere of understanding category. Plus, if it is a book you have read first or are reading with him, sometimes the name-calling and stuff can be good (if it is mild), because then you can talk about what a good friend/sibling is, why acting like that isn't OK, stuff like that, good teaching moments. Or you can discuss why things are scary or confusing or emotions (like why Hermione is crying when she is happy).
Sorry, that was an incredibly long comment, but I love books and reading with the kids!
Oh that Time Warp Trio series your friend reccomended is great!
I have no experience with this, but just wanted to add that I loved The Great Brain. It's about 2 brothers growing up in pioneer times, (Salt Lake, actually), and the situations they find themselves in. I believe it's based on true stories. And, I think there are several books in the series, although I've only read the original.
Oh--one more that I KNOW my brother (Tommy) loved around that age was anything by James Herriot. The title that's coming to mind is "James Herriot's Dog Stories." He was a vetrinarian in rural England and has several collections of entertaining (and true) stories about animals he cared for. I still love reading his books! :)
Never read it, but I've heard great things about "Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians" by Brandon Sanderson.
As for the Artemis Fowl series, I have enjoyed them all (and have them on audio book) which he may enjoy listening to some time either before or after reading the books. Conceptually, I'm sure they would make him stretch, but I think he could enjoy them.
The Babysitter's Club?
[Claudia was my favorite.]
Hahahaha...JK.
Um...I was gonna suggest that you email Kaytie's mom. Kayt & her bros were all quite the readers...maybe she could suggest something? Mom {I think} has her email...if you are interested.
Yep, I got rid of Goosebumps books once I realized what was in them...and that was with 3rd graders. I have to second the suggestions for the Time Warp Trio and A-Z Mysteries series--my second and third grade boys enjoyed both. Also, they LOVED the Magic School Bus series....a fun mix of comics, non-fiction, and a narrative. They take a bit longer to read than the average picture book since they're packed with lots of interesting facts. However, most of the boys devoured non-fiction books--sports, animals, history, etc. They continually begged me to buy more and more of these.
Just realized your post said he'd read all the magic school bus books--oops!
My boys gobbled up non-fiction books. By the time he was in 5th grade, Dan had read the entire Time-Life series about WWII. Zach is too young for that, but perhaps books about the way things are made, books about airplanes, machinery, cars, science, animals, different countries,the universe, etc. I remember as a kid reading beyond my years. I loved biographies. I remember reading about Clara Barton and Benjamin Franklin. That's when Ben became my hero. There are a lot of great books at the library in the non-fiction area.
Judy Moody books have her little brother "Stink" in them. She also has a male pal. Zach might find some of them interesting.
Spiderwick was a HUGE hit with our kids when a first grade teacher read them out. In fact every library day in 2nd grade they brought home one of these books (there's maybe 5 total). The reading level is more like 3rd grade. The older sister has a crush on a boy, but they might be better than Goosebumps. I saw the movie which was too intense for our kids to see. The books have much more detail.
Here are some good titles I've read with my kids: Frindle, Hatchet (which would be better if you read together) and then Brian's Winter is the next in the series, Winn-Dixie, Box Car Children, So, You Want to Be President, lots of non-fiction, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Thank You, Mr. Falker or any of Patricia Polacco's books, How Much Is a Million and Summer of the Monkey's which I'm reading for the umpteenth time right now to my class. I'll keep thinking and let you know more later. Hurray though that they love reading.
A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet...and I can't remember the other one. I don't know if they are the time warp books referenced in the other comments...but I remember they were good. All in all, it is a good problem to have, but an issue nevertheless. I think the non-fiction options are a great idea. I've never understood why they put inappropriate content in ANY children's books....Arrrgh!
I didn't have time to read all the comments, but here's a few suggestions... Sarah loves the Series of Unfortunate Events - it's not a happy go-lucky series, but they are funny and her vocabulary has taken off since reading them. I have to admit, I've only read the first one though - I don't remember anything that was offensive. (However, I was reading it for my own enjoyment - not to scan for my child reading it.) There are sad things like the kids dealing with the death of their parents. And the kids get in pretty tense situations with Count Olaf, but I see her "reviews" she writes every day and haven't worried about anything she's written about the books. She's on book 11 now.
There are also the Judy Blume books I remember reading - Superfudge and all those...
Hope this helps...
Wow, you've really gotten some great feedback here. It's so nice to see that there are so many parents who ARE avidly involved in their little readers! Yea for them. My Zach's latest favorite is the Charlie Bone series. He can hardly contain himself when he is telling me about each chapter (which is how I kind of keep a check on his comprehension). Good luck!
Ruth Chew Books (have to buy on amazon or ebay, though) were my absolute favorites in about thirdish grade. I devoured them. They are out of print though, but a good website exists that lists places you can get them and info about them. http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~aahobor/Lucy-Day/Authors/Chew.shtml
They are magic/mystery type books.
Here are some of the titles:
Baked Beans for Breakfast (The Secret Summer)
Do-it-yourself Magic
Earthstar Magic
The Enchanted Book
The Hidden Cave (The Magic Cave)
Last Chance for Magic
The Magic Coin
Magic in the Park
apparently these books are for 9-10year-olds, but I'm not sure what that means exactly. Hope this helps! (in looking at them on Ebay, I think I might try to buy a few and save them for Alex - :)
haha i know it's diff for a boy... but i read babysitters club like Ang. boxcar children was good, lots and lots of junie b jones which is way funny but i'm not sure about the content, i don't really remember. i read harry potter in third grade.. the first one. i understood it for the most part, and i really liked it. but then again.. like your friend said it's like understanding the world around you i guess.
Post a Comment