Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school James and the Giant Peach-like books

Hi I need some book suggestions for my preschooler. He's 5 and will be entering Kindergarten next year. He is reading independently. I bought a book to read to him, but a couple of chapters in he said he wanted to read it to me, and to my surprise he read the rest of the book to me quite well, only asking about 2 or 3 words a chapter. He loves to pretend to be the different characters in the book. This book is perfect for him because it is fanciful. Also it is not full of historical references that I need to explain to him and that may be hard for him to wrap his head around. He's been reading the book over and over and he's asking for another book like this one. Does anyone have any suggestions. He has picked up on some of the not so nice phrases in the book like "you miserable beast", "shut-up" and "a**" but he's smart enough to only use those phrases with the appropriate character when pretending at home and I've told him to never talk like that at school and that saying those things to someone else can be hurtful. I don't want him reading any 4 letter words in any books for sure. I'm not necessarily looking for a series, just fanciful books that like James and the Giant Peach that will be easy for him to read. Suggestions?

How about more Raold Dahl books? My kids all started loving those around age 5. He could also try My Father's Dragon. Look on Scholastic Book Wizard for more ideas. James and the Giant Peach is around 6th grade level, but I would look around from 4-6 for good ideas.

Thank you for the Scholastic Book Wizard suggestion. I didn't know this existed and it is awesome! I will definitely take your suggestion of looking at 4th-6th grade reading levels as well! Syoblrig - What did you do about school for your children? My child will be going into Kindergarten next year and he's so advanced I'm not sure what to do. He goes to a Montessori preschool now. He could continue on through Kindergarten (their 3rd year) but the school doesn't go any farther than that. We'd have to move to go to a Montessori elementary school. The public magnet for the high-achieving kids follows the same curriculum as the regular public schools here, just with some enrichment mixed in. I'm afraid he will be extremely bored. So how did you approach school with your children? Thanks in advance!

Anna-- there are lots of threads, some just this past week, with ideas on what to do going into K. It's always a dilemma when they're so far ahead. But they don't really fit in with older kids either. When my oldest was starting K, even though he was reading at that level, I honestly didn't know how different he was from all the other kids. I was just so used to him and I really thought those age-guides were not real because they had never applied to him or his brother (or his sister, later).

It was only when he went in for the beginning-of-the-year assessment and the K teacher's eyes were popped out of her head, that I realized we might be facing an issue. Fortunately, the school also hosts the HGT magnet program so the teacher was able to consult with the gifted teachers. Still, my son didn't learn anything in K and was very frustrated. They tried putting him in older reading classes, but he was just so young and little it wasn't a good fit. He didn't' have the life experience of the older kids, nor did he have the writing stamina necessary for the older reading classes. So his teacher basically assigned books (Like Mr. Popper's Penguins), and he read them in class and at home and she would discuss them with him. I gave him math workbooks at home to satisfy his desire to learn (he thought they were fun).

Once he started in 1st, he was finally challenged. That worked until 4th when it wasn't enough, but now in 5th, he's has a different curriculum, some online classes and he's happy and challenged again. Next year in middle school, we're already in contact with the principal and coming up with a new plan.

I think every kid and every school will present with a different set of needs. And what you'll find you need to do is be as knowledgable as you can be about options and needs, and advocate respectfully to get your son's needs met. I found that independent data-- IQ & achievement testing-- was most valuable. I'm late to the game, and I wish I would have tried to get that around age 6 or 7. I didn't do it until 4th grade, when he was dreadfully unhappy in school (even though he was already accelerated).

This site is a great resource for families with kids like ours, and I think you'll find a lot of support and ideas as you read through different threads.

All the Dahl books are great, but my 5yr old also picked up a lot of insulting vocabulary from Dahl. He is also reading the Wizard of Oz, Murderous Math Series (which is full of British humour, some of which I am not so fond of for a 5yr old), and I have picked up for him, but he hasn't started yet..the Beverly Clearly series, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and EB White stuff, Mr Popper's Penguins, oh, and I just grabbed the Hobbit yesterday! He is starting to go through books like hotcakes, so I'm always looking for good reads that are content appropriate.

We plan on homeschooling , at least until we move to an area with more options. We live very rural, and there are no gifted programs, and reportedly, very poor schools. We approach school by just letting him do whatever level he can, and then try to push it slightly higher so he understands how to deal with failure and challenge.

DS5 loves the Dinosaur Cove series as there is plenty of information about dinosaurs within the stories but the books aren't too long (all about 2 boys that visit dinosaur times...) At least no disrespectful language to learn in them

How about Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swans?

Some Judy Blume (Fudge, SuperFudge, etc.)

Avi has some nice books. Poppy is one, and Ragweed. Animal stories. Very gentle for young readers but still a proper chapter book.

We loved the Ralph the Mouse series by Beverly Cleary and Henry and Ribsy also by Cleary when my son was in Preschool / Kindergarten. They were long enough and boyish and keep him engaged. I don't remember many problems with phrases that would be inappropriate. It definitely continues to be a challenge to find content appropriate literature as their reading levels continue to progress beyond their age/experiences!

Thank you for the suggestions, some of which I had never heard of so I can't wait to look into them. I'll have to find the school threads to get some insight into Kindergarten. Thank you again!