I wouldn't worry about what seems "dumb" to you, but instead let her help pick out some of the early reader type books. Are you reading with her? One of the things we've been told over and over and over again by all of the teachers our kids' have had is that the best thing you can do for your children is to read *to* them, not just help them read themselves. When our ds was three (and younger) we read to him sooo so much. And reading to your child is where you can bring in the "not dumb" books - books that are challenging in concepts, books with vivid imagery, books that come alive when you read.
Another thought, "humps" aren't all that unusual (in my experience) - we all hit them every now and then as we learn new things. Sometimes a good way to deal with a hump is to ignore it and take a different path. If she's hitting some kind of block with reading at the moment, let it sit for awhile and instead focus on something else - art, cooking, music, pre-math skills, playing games etc. OR just having fun lol!
Take my advice with a grain of salt, but fwiw only one of my children was trying to read at 3. My ds didn't even know his alphabet at 3, but by his last semester of kindergarten he was reading advanced chapter books and by the time he was in 3rd grade he was reading college-level textbooks. Reading doesn't have to come early in life to be advanced
I'm also not sure ds ever really used phonics or sounding out words, yet he learned to read basically on his own - when he was truly ready.
Also, fwiw, my dds loved the Bob books when they were first learning to read. If your dd is feeling defeated, they may be a format that would work well because all the sentences in each individual book follow a pattern (-at, etc). My kids also watched a PBS show that was all about simple words - I wish I could remember the name of the show!
Best wishes,
polarbear
