Yes, we read all kinds of books like that, but have spent many years laying the foundation for recognizing the framework that setting creates in terms of normative beliefs that we may not share or espouse as "true" in our own home. A side benefit of this early exposure is greater tolerance and an automatic evaluation of author bias and motivation in ANY material; that skill is a treasure later in evaluating primary source material in high school and college. Just noting that.
Huck Finn is the classic challenging novel this way, of course. I find it ironic that the attempts to 'sanitize' this particular novel seem to miss the teachable moment there entirely. As Atticus Finch gently explains to Scout... "It's
common," which is a great introduction to what that word means, and how it is lovely in that context to have used it so ambiguously. But I digress.
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I think that the rubric used for 'AR' is full of baloney, myself, and interest is often the larger necessary component for a precocious reader (I second "Sideways School" and "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" by the way). Some other reading material at this approximate level and which is both more-or-less appropriate and interesting to 6-9yo kids:
Beverly Cleary's work
Edward Eager's work
Enid Blyton's work
L. Frank Baum's 'Oz' books
The Series of Unfortunate Events
Spiderwick Chronicles (series)
Mary Poppins books (again, older series, so some gentle discussion may be in order)
Little House books
The Boxcar Children (series)
The Great Brain (books)
Time Warp Trilogy (series)
Redwall
Erin Hunter's books (ugh... but my DD was
obsessed with them for years)
Most of these are series. There's a good reason for that. LOL. Voracious readers, especially young ones, seem to just devour individual books in such short time that it hardly seems worth the recommendation if there isn't at least a sequel. Series mean that at least you can just remember the author. I'll make an exception for a pair of books by Kate diCamillo--
Despereaux, of course, but also
Edward Tulane. Both are very appealing to younger kids, but are beautifully written.
Another place that I recommend parents look when they have a 6-10yo with a Lexile way beyond age-mates is the
ALA's Newbery award lists. These have the advantage that they are instantly recognizable to educators everywhere, and they possess a practically unassailable seal of approval as to 'quality' of material. (Yeah, I know-- but it's an easy way to get kids appropriate material without going through a lot of hoops with a teacher who is skeptical about out-of-level reading.)
There are now over 90 Newbery
winning books, and hundreds of honorable mentions since 1922! For kids under 10, it's probably good to preview anything nominated after 1975, since those can deal with more emotionally challenging and distressing content.
It's a challenge to keep a bibliophile child 'well-fed' and happy, but it's also completely worth it!
