Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Need more books for 5yo book-eater

Stewart Little ( tho it's not my fav)
Abel's Island
Roahl Dahl
Sid Fleischman!
Despereux (sp?)
Lighthouse Family

Swallows & Amazons (if it's still in print)

Yes, yes, yes!
I also second the Boxcar Children.

Redwall?

the Hobbit (much tamer than HP or LOTR in terms of scare-factor)


You might try the Series of Unfortunate Events, too, though they may be just a little old still.

Why not try historical fiction? I found story books dead boring but historical/mythological fiction had me hooked from the first page, things like Greek Persian Wars, Jason and the Golden Fleece. His mileage may vary...

Oh, yeah, Madeinuk, you remind me: the D'Aulaires' books of Greek and Norse mythology. They're slightly bowdlerized, still weird but not unacceptable for a 5-year-old in our house...

DeeDee

Jean Fritz books also The Story Of... biographies by Margaret Davidson and others
Tornado by Betsy Byars
The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes
The Littles
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain and
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
How to train your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
The Bone series by Jeff Smith
Tales from the House of Bunnicula series by James Howe
Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

Definitely Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. I just wish the print were not so small. I worry about DD's eyes.

These are mostly "o" level (mid third grade) books because DD has not read anything much higher than that. She also really likes books with historical elements in it.

DD is also in love with The Boxcar Children and Pippi at the moment as well as Cleary which are also "o". She will read anything by Cleary but is not quite ready for Dahl (at least not completely independent I think.)

What about The Neverending Story? Is that too hard? In my opinion Cricket in Times Square and Mr. Popper's Penguins are pretty boring. It sounds like your DS likes the more exciting stories. DD was fine with the Hobbit. I also think DD is trying to memorize D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Mythology.

FTR We've read about 10 Famous Five so far as they're DD's faves and haven't yet come across any racism except for some disparaging remarks about gypsy folk/carneys. Of much more concern to me was the sexism - when I'm the one reading them aloud, I often skip mentions of Anne being the one to make all the sandwiches and being scared, and George really rather wanting to be a boy because they can climb trees and sail boats. Sometimes I say it was Julian making the tea and Dick being afraid and sometimes DD and I have outraged conversations about how unfair it all used to be and of course girls can do anything

I thoroughly enjoyed the Secret Seven and the Famous Five books as a kid. I think that they may be a bit dated now but they certainly were ripping yarns back in the day. My DD enjoyed them for a short while before Percy Jackson and Redwall entered her life.

DS5 loved Famous Five earlier in the year so we read plenty of them. He is still a little sensitive to scary things but the baddies tend to be buffoons so he wasn't worried at all.
Now it is the Indian in the Cupboard, How to Train your Dragon series, anything from Dick King Smith... hard to keep up really

I have to say that these book threads are my favorite. I have gotten so many wonderful ideas from these. So we will contribute now some of our favorites too. My 5yo book-eater (who definitely leans toward the comical or non-fiction isle) recommends:
Ms. Piggle Wiggle book series
Horrible Science box set
The Roald Dahl books - all
Murderous Math books
Secret Science Alliance
Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back - personal favorite
Charlotte's Web - it did bring tears, but that was okay. It brought me to tears too when I read it;)
Stewart Little
Ralph S. Mouse series (though these don't get as many stars as the others)

These above are straight from his mouth. I'm sure we heard about most of them from this forum, but now they are tried and tested and get a stamp of approval. Today he is starting the first book in the Percy Jackson Olympian series - which I pre-read first to make sure it was okay for him. Hopefully it doesn't give him nightmares, but I sure liked it. Happy reading!

Ones that I have stashed away for him to read that he hasn't got to yet:
Wayside School series
All the Horrible books series (Geography, Famous, Histories)
Oz books (done two of them so far)
Alice in Wonderland
Hobbit
Wrinkle in Time
Phantom Tollboth (This one we already read together - it is a great read aloud, because you need to explain a lot of the word play.)
Mrs Frisby