I am curious what books your kids are reading. Frannie really into Judy Moody. She has completed a book every few days. I am thinking her summer reading will include the little house series and maybe Nancy Drew.

Well, my DS7 is in 2nd, but since he's 7 I thought I'd chime in. Right now he is determined to read the entire original Hardy Boys mysteries (120+ books?) and is on the second book, after having read the new-fangled Hardy Boys series. Prior to that he read the entire How to Train Your Dragon Series, the entire Time Warp Trio series, and the entire Dragon Slayer's Academy series. OCD that he is, he loves series! He used to only read books that came in a series and had exactly ten chapters, but we've thankfully moved on from that!

Geronimo Stilton, Thea Stilton and any graphic novel that she can get her hands on. She always chooses books way way way under her reading level. I think that it's the content that appeals to her rather than complexity of language. Thanks goodness she's over the Fairy Books!!!!!!

A.

My 1st grader is into anything sciencey at the moment so he is rereading all the Magic School Bus books. Beyond that rereading Captain Underpants, Frankie Pickle, Magic Pickle, Secrets of Droon seem to top the list.

My Kindergartener is into a bit more variety and loves series - She has read all the Ivy and Bean books, I believe all Judy Moody, most Dear Dumb Diary, and most Disney Fairies. She is currently reading the Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew books but has asked about the bigger Nancy Drew books.

I think I'm going to see if she wants to read the Bobbsey Twins books as we have a ton of them before we get into Nancy Drew. She is enjoying the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books as well. There are a few easier series she reads (a few books a night if she has them) Arthur, Horrible Harry, Rainbow Magic.

Oh I forgot - she read and loved the Ramona Quimby books so I'd recommend trying those

Frannie is reading horrible harry n her guided reading group.... she absolutely HATES them. Yesterday she was in tears when it was homework time

My then first grader liked Magic Treehouse. It gave him alot of confidence since the writing style was repetitious. He moved now to the Spider Kane Mysteries, FYI.
As a child, I used to read a magazine called Cricket, which is still around. It had nice stories and interesting articles.
It seems like there are lots and lots of series books around. Just go to Borders and snoop around.

American Girl books, Spiderwick Chronicles, and plenty of comics, graphic novels. She's been quoting Calvin and Hobbes. The other day I asked her to come practice violin and she told me it was against her religious principals.

She started Harry Potter with her dad and now she's sneaking ahead in that.

LOL!! Love it.

DS7 just read A Wrinkle in Time, and now he's on to the next book in the series, A Wind in the Door.

DD will read a new Magic Tree house. She reads some Baily Kids and A-Z mysteries. Though she like non-fiction and gets these books about math, but they are descriptive, not workbooks. They discuss math concepts. And non-fiction about all kinds of other things. Had Judy Blume book that got left in Egypt. I had to pay the library for that. But it seemed to be well liked.

Hadn't started but were looking into Ronald Dahl.

Ren

DD6 loved "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl. I haven't seen her gobble up a book like that in awhile (she woke up at 5am to finish it). We followed that up with "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" which was also well received.

She raced through all 5 books in the Wimpy Kid series right around spring break. She loves a good series. It's the collector in her.

She also really liked "The Familiars" by Adam Jay Epstein (a recommendation I got from someone on this site).

I find if I let dd choose books herself, she will always select down from her reading levels (Ivy and Bean, Thea Stilton, graphic novels about various Super Heroes). While I don't mind some of that in terms of reading for pleasure, I do sometimes nudge her to try books I've selected (especially ones I've read about on this site). It's a fine line - because I want her to have some independence to choose what she reads - but I also want her to keep herself challenged.

We do shared reading to address this. She picks her own books to read at night, on Saturdays, etc. otherwise we share a book. She reads a page, I read a page. I am currently reading 'Some of My Best Friends are Books' which is very very helpful. Recently we shared the George books by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. We both loved them. While they are still technically below her reading level, they are a step up from Geronimo Stilton. I'm hoping she will learn to trust/enjoy my choices.

My dd fondly remembers reading these between 1st and 2nd:

Nate the Great mysteries
My side of the Mountain
The Doll People (series)
any book by Roald Dahl

My son is really into the Hardy Boys now, but Magic Tree House was big last summer. I think it was a great series for building his confidence in reading. He also recently discovered the Paddington Bear series. He also likes Harry Potter, but we usually read those together before bed.

DS6 loved everything and anything by Louis Sachar, starting with Wayside School stories and ending with Holes. He has read a number of R. Dahl books, Catwings by Ursala Le Guin, and is currently reading the Fudge series by Judy Blume.

Love Catwings, Rocky--aren't those books great?

Chico (still in K, but thought you wouldn't mind if I jumped in here anyway) has been reading his usual eclectic mix--right now, it's anything about hydraulics that he can get his hands on, plus a steady diet of Little Lulu comics! Funny bunny....

peace
minnie

PS If anyone has a child interested in French, we have been getting some Bayard Jeunesse mags--Pomme d'Api is pitched nicely at 5 or 6 year olds--Chico has been enjoying them a lot, and they are really helping with his French.

DS who should be in second grade has discovered Stephen Hawking. He was assigned the first book as a reading assignment in class and has now completed the second.

Neat, which book was he assigned? Reminds me of when DS10 was a little guy (1st or 2nd grade, I forget) He wouldn't brush his teeth before bed unless his dad read Hawking's A Brief History of Time out loud while he brushed (there was mega-OCD, stress/anxiety issues going on with the tooth brushing - this was one thing that worked for him. Thankfully we are over that these days!)

at that age DS mostly read adult weather books, almost exclusively non-fiction. He also liked to go to bed with a big calculator and work things out for about 30 min before going to sleep. He only got interested in reading fiction this past year in school. He did read the 1st HP in kindergarten but had more interest in fact than fantasy. He inhaled the entire HP series last quarter, reads a alot of fantasy now.

DD7 is in 2nd grade and is into Judy Moody, Wimpy Kid, Ellie McDoodle, Goonie Bird Greene, Clementine, Just Grace, etc

The original babar books always delighted me when I was a little kid; both my kids have loved the stories around age 5. (available in english or french)
Ds loved captain underpants, the timewarp trio and harry potter books ( mostly read to him at that point as he was not an early reader). Also, Frannie K. Stein books.

DS6 just discovered Catwings as well. He's also crazy about the Deltora Quest series.

Both of my DDs read Junie B. Jones books in first grade. *sigh* I absolutely could not stand them. (The books, not my girls.)

DD#1 also really liked books by Roald Dahl. During the summer before she started first grade, we took turns reading the Flat Stanley books. They were a bit too long for her to read by herself at that point.

DD#2 is a girly girl, and enjoyed reading the Yellow Princess, Pink Princess, etc. books in first and second grade. She also <shudder> read many of the Rainbow Fairies books.

At the time DD was reading the Rainbow Fairy books I was horrified. I know have more than one ranting post about them. Now in retrospect I understand why she read them. She could finish a 'novel' in about 15 minutes which was a huge confidence boost. I also think that they helped her to develop reading stamina. She read about 30 of them in the course of a month and then she played with them. She would stand them up all over the house and reenact the plot. I say plot because they are all the same! This past week she's become fixated on the Baby Sitters Club it's a bit d�j� vu. I think that I'm writing this post to remind myself to relax....

A.

Good point about the Rainbow Fairy books. My younger DD read them when she was struggling with reading comprehension and skipping words, and I think it helped that the books were all so similar.

Oh, and I forgot to add cookbooks to my list. Each girl has more cookbooks than I do. In addition to cooking, they read them for fun and as kind of a starting point for some of their games (e.g., if we were eating this, who/what/when/where would we be?).

That's so funny my DD also loved cookbooks for about a year... but she's never been interested in cooking or eating anything different or 'new'. She still loves to peruse them every so often.

I absolutely agree re the Rainbow Fairies. They became strictly read yourself books in our house because they bore me literally to sleep. But they really did boost dd's confidence with reading and she still picks one up every now and again when she just wants an easy read.

Re the Baby Sitters Club, the principal at dd's school said she hated kids reading them until she realised that they're very grammatically correct and have well formed sentences and then she used them as a learning aid because they were so popular (I have no idea if they are actually grammatically correct and well formed as I haven't looked at them myself, but I took her at her word).

Love the cookbook story! That's really neat.

I forgot to mention a series Chico loves: "Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future." They're old British comics from the '50s which have been reprinted, and they're a hoot and a half, according to Chico (I haven't read any of them yet). They're the author's conception of what life is like around the year 2014--so very funny to read now, of course. There are a whole bunch of them (Voyage to Venus, Marooned on Mercury, Operation Saturn, etc.).

The second book was the Cosmic Hunt, can't remember what the first one was.

So a quick funny story...

This was a multi-day process for me. After reading several people mention "Catwings," I went to my library website. Ordered the first book in the series to be put on hold. Got a confirmation email. Went to the library. Saw how slim the book was and decided to go find the author in the stacks and check out all of the books in the series. Brought all 4 books in the car when I went to pick up my dd6 from 1st grade today.

DD6: "Oh, catwings! (teacher at school) mentioned that."

Me: "Here, read it."

No more than 15 minutes pass.

DD6: "Done. Now can I please have my Calvin and Hobbes book from xxx (fellow carpooler). He won't give it to me!!"

Me: "Done? Did you read the whole thing?"

DD6: "Mom! OF course! It's only 40 pages."

Me: "Did you like it?"

DD6: "Yeah."

Me: "Do you want the next one?"

DD6: "Not now. So will you make him give me Calvin and Hobbes??"

Now I still appreciate the recommendation and I have a feeling dd will read the other 3 books in the next day or so. But isn't this true of so many things? I complete 8 steps to bring her something I'm hoping she will like and she eats it up in a nanosecond. And then goes back to doing what she likes. These kids aren't easy, are they...

Oh no... I just bought the first four Catwings! $15.00 for an hours worth of reading!

Another quick read but a great story is Sarah Plain and Tall, not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet....

A.

Here are a couple of series/books that might appeal to grade 1 readers.

An Awfully Beastly Business

Puppy Place (very repetitive, easy to read, but good for DC who like animals)

Edgar and Ellen

Pippy Longstocking

Anne of Green Gables

1st grader went through phases this year of reading A to Z mysteries, Magic Tree House and Beast Quest books. His passion right now is Greek mythology thanks to the Percy Jackson series. He read all 5 of those, Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero (same author) and is now reading The Red Pyramid.

I bought a Geronimo Stilton book today for Frannie.. she knocked it out in about 2 hours... I guess we are on to Little House on the Prairie or Charolette's Web

I had not seen Geronimo Stilton books in the U.S. bookstores and saw a shelf full with them at a bookstore in India. I bought three of them yesterday. I love the books, wanted to read them myself. I so hope my son will love them as well.

DD is almost done with all the Ramona books. These are great for young advanced readers since the reading level is fairly high but the content is young.

For fairy lovers, the Fairy Realm series by Emily Rodda is more challenging and better quality than Rainbow Fairies.

Roald Dahl, Little House on the Prairie (you may want to discuss the attitudes towards Indians) and EB White have been much enjoyed here.

For dreck series, we have steamed through A to Z Mysteries, Puppy Place, Magic Puppy/Kitten. These are easier. She has also been reading Nancy Drew, which I am rather meh on.

She enjoyed the Indian in the Cupboard and The Fairy Rebel (same author).

FWIW, Anne of Green Gables would be too hard for her, although she easily reads at a 5th/6th grade level. It's got a lot of high-level vocabulary and moves fairly slowly.

My DS7 has another string of AR quizzes he needs to take, so what he's been reading is fresh in my mind:
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeline L'Engle
The Witches, Roald Dahl
The Horse and His Boy, C.S.Lewis
Star Wars, Attack of the Clones
Penrose the Mathematical Cat, Theoni Pappas

This is a very nice list that I have bookmarked--DD has enjoyed many of them.

http://www.examiner.com/gifted-children-in-national/info-101-book-list-for-young-gifted-readers

Oh, also, the Wayside School books are very funny. DD has also been reading Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes compilations. Peanuts is really quite deep, as is C &H! (However, she complains that Calvin is "a sexist.")

Ooh, I've got to get my son into L'Engle. Right now he continues to read lots of comics. The Geronimo Stilton books look like they might be right up his alley interest-wise, and I have had "George's Secret Key" on my wish list for a while too. Lots of great suggestions in this thread.

The highest-level book he's reading right now is "Ender's Game", where he's a few chapters in (it's our bedtime book, which he reads to me). I have to find time to read ahead in that for him, since IIRC there are some challenging topics (e.g. animal torture) that I may not want him to read about. I'm surprised by how easy the vocab in that book is (making it a great one for learning spelling), although I think the content, structure and near stream-of-consciousness bits make it a plenty challenging read for him technically and otherwise. He's also enjoying the Narnia books right now.

DD is now deeply engrossed in The Penderwicks, which looks pretty great, from my brief scan. It's also an award-winner, and there are sequels.

At about 6 my older dd started what I call her self help reading, the first book that caught her attention was "the big book of girl stuff" by Bart King she walked out of the book store reading it almost bumping into things because she wouldn't look up from the book, lol next was an American girl book "the care and keeping of you" and many more very similar types of books... it's her favorite type of reading even now. She had to read Little house on the prairie for a school report last year (so she was 7) but hated it was just not her type of book.

The younger one who is now 6 likes "the puppy place"books "Perfectly Princess books" these really got her started on reading chapter books, and she also loves the Disney Fairy books, Bindi's Adventures, Roscoe Riley,and I can't forget about "inside the human body" she has read that about 10 times..it has plastic model of what the inside of the body looks like with a bunch of facts on each page...she loves these kinds of books.

My (just finished) first grader is reading The Mysterious Benedict Society. He loves the Rainbow Fairies, too.

My rising first grader is in a big Flat Stanley phase right now. He read the second one of those yesterday. He read the first and did a project, writing letters and sending his own Stanleys to people we know around the US. He loves anything with a "project" attached. He has read some Magic Treehouse, but he's not really a fan. He says he wants stories with more adventure and action in them. We ran across some Star Wars comics that he really liked. It was funny to see someone else mention Calvin and Hobbes earlier, he LOVES Calvin and Hobbes. We have 3 or 4 of the books and he's read them all and is re reading.

I think non-fiction might do more to grab him. He likes The Way Things Work. I haven't had much luck finding non-fiction that matches his reading level and his interest level, though. He still is intimidated by books with "too many words and not enough pictures."

Let's see. My 6 year old 1st grader is eclectic.

This summer we selected picture, short chapter books and longer chapter books from the library on a weekly basis because on a whim he could be off the short chapter books and only reading picture books or off picture books and only reading longer chapter books. And for some reason he sometimes would grab one book and ask me to select the rest (don't know what that was about).

We started with Jon Scieszka and read most of his picture books (not the truck town ones) Stinky Cheese Man, and others....read a few time warp trios (short chapter books) and a longer book Spaceheadz (or something like that).

We did a few Beverly Cleary. He liked Henry Higgins and Mouse and the Motorcycle so far. I plan to get more of her books. Generally, I will read the first chapter, we might take turns reading the second chapter and the next thing I know he has finished the book.

I checked out a large stack of Arnold Lobel and Tomie dePaola stuff (picture and short chapter books) that he tore through in 2 days.

He has started on all the Capt. Underpants books and the first Diary of a Wimpy kid and Herbert's Wormhole.

Our read aloud for bedtime is currently Freddy goes to FL.

I am heading to the library tomorrow to get a new stack for him.

Childhood of Famous Americans
Brains Benton
Alvin Fernald
Secret Seven
Mandie
X Bar X Boys
Submarine Boys

My Children are very graphic judgemental. I would suggest going to the books store for one of the newest versions of Childhood of Famous American before suggesting an older version. This is a great series.

If your son likes projects, you might read Library Mouse. That might encourage a little library or books creation.

My first grader read all of the Magic Pony Carousel books in a few days.

Now she's into the Magic Puppy series (which isn't as good imo).

Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows with The Moffats by Eleanor Estes in her queue.

There's also the classics--my son just found a copy of Great Illustrated Classics The Time Machine on our shelf. For about 2-3 days straight he kept darting up to his room to finish it! Thinking about picking up A Journey to the Center of the Earth for him next.

Any recommendations for science fiction/time travel etc.? He's read Franny K Stein, Magic School bus and some Time Warp Trio. I'm not sure what else to get for him he's still in K, so some of the subject matter might be too mature for him which makes it a bit tricky). Thanks!

What about Geronimo Stilton? Bailey School Kids.

so, after my DD finished reading all the Percy Jackson books, apparently she told some friends that God was "boring" and we should go back to worshipping the Greek Gods, as they are soooo much more interesting! lol!


I just let my kids read pretty much anything they can get their hands on. DD8 has more DH's taste for sci-fi and fantasy. She isn't interested in my old copies of Little House, Ramona, etc. I say just put a good assortment of things out or visit the library often.

I was usually allowed to go to the library unattended and spent MANY peacful and wonderful hours there, absorbed in stories. I started getting the "are you sure you're in the right section?" pretty early, but there's SO MUCH good stuff about how to make and do and discover in the "adult" section!

Also, if your child is a "tinker", you know, the kind who likes to collect and make contraptions, etc, a set of craft books and the DK books about how things work, with the cutaway views are just awesome, imo.

DD6 just gloated to me yesterday that she was able to devour an entire chapter book in two days. It was Captain Underpants.

Our nighttime reading right now is the Harry Potter series. We just finished Chamber of Secrets. Early in the series I had encouraged her to try reading some of it alone when she was having trouble trying to sleep, and she was frustrated that she hadn't made any progress whatsoever. Just a few nights ago I was late getting in for bedtime, she had read ahead a couple of pages already, and she was able to fill me in on what I'd missed. What a difference a few weeks makes, eh?

Now we've got Prisoner of Azkaban reserved for when it becomes available in the library, and in the meantime we're revisiting the Berenstain Bears books, because she still loves them, and hey, not everything needs to be a challenge. More importantly, she doesn't want to be in the middle of another chapter book when PoA becomes available.

DS4.5 is still obsessed with Zac Power books. He is also readinga Horrible Science book and has a coupld of Geronimo Stilton books he wants to start.

The Magic Treehouse series. My older boy read all 46 of them at this age, and his little brother has been WAITING to do it too! His brother has moved on to Enclopedia Brown.

We just started Encyclopedia Brown too.

DS liked the "Tales from the Odyssey" series by the same author as Magic Treehouse.

My 6 year old just finished Fudge a Mania and is going to read Fantasic Mr Fox and Danny, the champion of the world next. Probably I'll start reading to him Mr Fox tonight and next thing I'll know he will have finished the book on me on his own.

DD6 decided she wanted to explore the adult section of the public library, and she came home with three selections. She's currently burying her nose in the novel that inspired the movie, "Marley and Me."

Connor is in K but in 2nd for Reading. Right now he has been reading Encyclopedia Brown. We are also reading HP for bedtime. We are in the middle of Chamber of Secrets right now. I have been mostly reading that one to him but, like Dude, I found Connor sitting on the couch with the book last week. When I asked him what he was doing he just looked at me like DUH! and answered, "Ummm...reading Harry Potter..." and sure enough, that's what he was doing

vwmommy, he might like the old "Three Investigators" series of books too.

Thanks lucounu. I'll look into those, they sound fun. On the topic of reading does anyone have any suggestions for non-fiction/science books that are written around a third grade level but that are fiarly comprehensive/ in-depth/ accurate? Connor LOVES science but we have to walk a line between the information being advanced enough while keeping the reading level at the third grade level. His science comprehension is wuite high (he knows concepts that my middle and high school SS's are just learning)but gets lost if the writing is too technical/dry.

My son has enjoyed the A to Z mysteries.

Ah, memories.

When I was in first grade, I was reading Encyclopedia Brown and the Nancy Drew books. And some other mystery series that will come to me in due time because I got into a fight with the first grade teacher about my reading ability.

Edit: And I just found it. The Three Investigators - Alfred Hitchcock series. I remember really liking those books.

For the life of me, I have no idea why I was reading Nancy Drew. I didn't realize the Hardy Boys existed until years later.

I think you'll find that "fairly comprehensive" and "third grade level" are contradictions. If the books is written at a third grade reading level, it's also written at a typical third grade cognitive level, which means the book will be short, riddled with pictures, and not very deep.

What about the Horrible Science books? I don't know know the reading level off-hand, I'm pretty sure it's higher than 3rd grade, but there are pictures and whatnot, so they might work.

The Horrible Science books might be the perfect combo - the jokes are so juvenile which of course makes them hysterical - but the science is spot on and really good. My only problem with them is that DS is learning to spell English English not American English!!!! He is slowly working his way through the box of 18 we bought him, at breakfast he informed me that you can break a magnet by running a big electric current through it - I am a little worried he is now looking for a big electric current in the house LOL

We started with this one:
The stunning science of everything

its a stand along hard cover, separate from the smaller books, which covers a ton of stuff

and I always recommend the brainwaves!
brainwaves

and the basher books:
simon basher

sorry if I am repeating - didn't go back to check the thread!

DeHe

Horrible Science is wonderful. DS6 really liked the Cartoon History of the Universe, Vol. 1, and it should be accessible to someone with roughly third-grade reading skills. We also got him the Cartoon Guide to Physics for Christmas, but I don't know whether he's read it yet.

I found one of the Horrible Science books last week at a used book store in town. It is the Chaotic Chemistry one. So far he loves it! I think it is written around a 5th-6th grade level so he likes to read it out loud with me but he has really been enjoying it. So far we are only 50 pages or so into it because we keep having to stop for discussions or experiments. We'll definitely be ordering more of these. Thanks for the heads up everyone!

My DD6 is currently reading the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series.

I'm going to post this here because I think it's related and probably doesn't warrant a whole thread. My son will be going in to first however he has only just turned 5. He reads magic tree house, flat stanley, etc but we recently started on Ramona/Henry and similar things. My question is when do you allow them to read slightly more mature books? For example my son still thinks "stupid" is a "bad word" because he is not allowed to say it in prek so even some topics in Ramona or diary of a wimpy kid seem a little old to me. Do you just read with them and talk about it or should I wait 6 months or a year and then a little older books will be fine? Maybe I shouldn't worry about it being too old?

My dd6 read 40 rainbow magic books in the last two weeks. She will NOT read anything challenging. But that's okay. She loves to read!

When my then dd5 read junie b jones I just told her that it was okay to read someone else saying the words but it was not okay for her to say them. Her kindergarten teacher told me she was reading them so much over and over that she was starting to take on junie's personality. Lol!
I personally like them to know the words so they are not over sensitive to others who use them. I just like them to know that it is not classy to use those words and I tell my kids that if other parents hear them say bad words they may not let their children play with us. They know I am serious because I don't let my kids play with kids with bad mouthes. Anyway, I think that if you teach him well, he shouldn't say the word. Dd5/6 also read and re-read diary of a wimpy kid and I was sooo not okay with that. I quickly learned she won't enact it.

If there's any way to avoid Diary of a Wimpy Kid for these little guys, I'd do so. DD 8 read them all recently (her whole class is obsessed) and though they are funny, I'm glad she didn't read them in K.

My younger DS reads whatever is available in the house, which includes DOWK thanks to his brother. He says he skips over the rude words... and if he is reading aloud he leaves a gap, and truly won't say them. I think he'll be okay.

DeeDee

Right now she likes the Wolves of the Beyond series. Last year she liked the Magic Treehouse. She has liked Fairy Realm, Animal Ark, and many others. She is an avid reader and also reads non fiction in her interest areas.

I started this thread when dd was in first grade lol.. now my ds is in first! He LOVES George Brown Class Clown! He will also read any non fiction book you put in front of him. He is about a fll grade level ahead of where dd was at this point in his reading.

I'm so glad someone responded to this post today and bumped it up! I'm just loving these book posts! I've now got so many new titles to explore!

Fun, seeing how the school book fair opened today.

DS~7's current reading list:
Another Whole Nother Story (active)
Perfectly Perilous Math (active)
Club Penguin - The Inventor's Apprentice (in queue)
Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and Rule the World (in queue)
NERDS 2 (in queue)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (partway through, set aside)
Melvin Beederman Superhero (partway through, set aside)
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (partway, set aside)
Magic Tree House #14 (recently finished)
The 39 Clues, Book Two (partway, set aside)
The 39 Clues, Book One (recently finished)

My dd6's first grade teacher is fabulous at picking titles.

She recently read: My Father's Dragon, Helen Keller, Pee Wee's Tale, House at Pooh Corner

She just finished: "The Trumpet of the Swan"
and now she's reading: "The Five Children and It"

When first grade started, I knew my dd could read at a high level, but she just really didn't want to. But her teacher is picking such wonderful books that she comes home every day and tells me what happened in the chapters she's read!

This made me laugh..when my oldest DD was 6 she tattled on another student because the other student had said the "s-word" at recess. To DD "stupid" was the "s-word" because we didn't like our daughters using that word. When she heard that word being used she felt compelled to tell the teacher. If I remember correctly the other student had to sit out at recess or something and when DD got home and told me what happened I had to call the teacher to explain.

Right now DD7 (1st grade)is reading some Junie B, some Goosebumps, and some Puppy Place. She hasn't really found her reading niche just yet, but only wants chapter books now, nothing else.

Mine started out the year with Ivy and Bean and Dumb Kitty, progressed onto Magic Tree House, and finished her 1st grade year reading Wimpy Kid books. Now that she's in 2nd grade, she's really into the Dork Diary books.

My guy just finished The Foundling: And Other Tales of Prydain http://www.amazon.com/Foundling-Other-Tales-Prydain/dp/0805080538 - He LOVED it.

I highly recommend The Secret Science Alliance by Eleanor Davis. It's a graphic novel targeted at grades 3 and up. It's about 3 very different genius kids (Greta, Julian and Ben) who form an alliance to invent amazing things (and have to protect their inventions from a rival adult scientist). The message is great and the images are really fun. Here's a review: http://graphicnovelreporter.com/content/secret-science-alliance-and-copycat-crook-review

DS 6 LOVED secret science alliance. We are so bummed there hasn't been a sequel!

PS 238 is another set of graphic novels about super hero kids which DS has enjoyed.

DeHe

When we go to the library, DD is currently checking out a combination of baby board books and YA Time Life books on weather, wildlife, health and safety, etc. For Christmas, she's getting Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, 100 Facts About Space, and a set of Solar System books, because she's still really into planets and such. She's an odd dichotomy of silly little kid stuff and science.

I really must check out this Secret Science Alliance thing.

DeHe, we are also bummed! Thanks for the heads up regarding PS 238. We will definitely check them out.

ds7 is now reading Bunnicula...

DS7 received a new book for Christmas:
Math Dictionary for Kids

Maybe not a bad tool for parents to brush up on topics, too.

My DD6 is into Guardians of Ga'Hoole now and it seems a little intense. She likes it and does not find it distrubing, but some of the content seems a little deep for a first grader. Is anyone reading this series?

My older one read all of the Magic Treehouse series but my younger one is bored by them. He is reading the Bailey School kids- they are more advanced anyway. They are cute.

my DD7 is re-reading the second Harry Potter and also reading Dragon Wing - which is an adult fantasy novel. She likes my husband to read with her at night and it didn't take him long to balk at 'boring' books. They read the whole Harry Potter series together then dabbled in a few other books. Now he decided she can read some of his books, so that's what they are working on now. I am a little apprehensive about it, because I haven't read it myself, but DH has and he thinks it's fine. I caught her awake reading it at 3:30am a couple nights ago, so I guess she is enjoying it!
I also recommend Alex and the Ironic Gentleman - DD devoured that one and I found myself enjoying it too when she read out loud to me. I am going to try to get her to move on to the Percy Jackson series though, and that Science Alliance one.

We are enjoying Toys Go Out. Nice sense of humor, funny characters.

DeeDee