Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Need more book suggestions for DS6

Yes, but only mentioned, not dwelt on - probably even less so than the mentions of Harry Potter's parents being killed etc. DD is pretty sensitive and had no probs

Max Axiom Science comic books? Might be a little difficult but could be good read-alouds if you're looking for those as well. Topics include volcanoes, electricity, light, food chains, adaptation, cells, magnetism, and lots of science topics.

It may be tricky to figure out what books are too sad or what will bother your child. My son was very sensitive to certain topics, and certain things scared and freaked him out. But I had a hard time figuring out what bothered him and what didn't. The main thing that bugged him was "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory", he wanted nothing to do with either of the movies or any of the books. He negotiated a deal with the 2nd grade teacher that he could be out of the room when the teacher read it out loud to the other kids.

Yet the kids loved Harry Potter and even was so fascinated by a picture ET that we showed him the movie around the same age. I really couldn't predict witch things would set him off.

I agree--it can be hard. DS seems to be upset by evocatively written sad scenes. If it refers to death but is not written to evoke sadness, it's okay. But it doesn't even have to be death to be bothersome--it can just be sort of sentimentally gloomy and sorrowful. I would say it wasn't such a big deal except that he has a tendency to dwell on/obsess over sad topics at bedtime anyway (we call it his existential bedtime depression).

-Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away
-The Green Knowe books (starts with The Children of Green Knowe; they might be a teensy bit scary)
-Maybe some of John Bellairs books (like The House with the Clock in its Walls, although they may be too scary)
-The Borrowers (and sequels)
-Little House on the Prairie series
-The Cricket in Times Square
-The Westing Game (and other books by Ellen Raskin, but I guess they are really mysteries)


Last year DS8 read George's Secret Key to the Universe (by Steven Hawking) and its sequels, and really enjoyed them.

Norton Juster's "The Phantom Tollbooth" - if that hasn't already been suggested? I read to/with DS when he was 5. He thought it was hilarious, and read it on his own at 6.

How about biographies for kids? DS enjoyed ones on Ben Franklin, Lincoln, and Washington.

And this is hardly literature, but the Beast Academy math books. They're written comic-book style, very engaging. DS began with the 3rd grade series at 6, now onto 4th grade (second book in 4th was just released). DS has read each one several times, and apparently it never gets old!

http://www.beastacademy.com

DS 6 is on the last of the Mysterious Benedict Society and he loves them. I have read 2 1/2 of the 4 and enjoyed them. He also loved Harry Potter and Geronimo Stilton books. Mr. and Mrs. Bunny Detectives Extraordinaire is also a great book, as is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making. A 6 YO will miss out on some of the linguistic nuances, but the stories are compelling on their own.

Ah, but not the sequel, Racso and the Rats of NIMH, I've just discovered! Quite a sad death and related angst at the end of the book. Luckily I happened to be reading that chapter aloud and (badly) edited it on the fly to take some sting out.

Thought of this thread and just had to update

Good to know. I'm happy to see this bumped because I am at my wits' end over here! DS6 recently flew through the first three Harry Potters (I stopped him there due to the sensitivity concerns). Seeing how easily he went through those, I got him some significantly harder library books next, such as this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Amulet-Samark...03123&sr=8-2&keywords=bartimaeus+trilogy

Well, apparently he found them too slow/hard/boring. So what was his bizarre reaction? He decided that because that was too hard, he had to go back to reading picture books. He told me he felt like he must not be ready for hard books and so he needed to read "little kid" books again. I found him dutifully paging through The Snowy Day, etc. When I kindly said that we all enjoy reading old favorites sometimes and maybe that made him feel good, he freaked out and indicated that no, it was some kind of self-flagellation maneuver. Ai yi yi yi yi!!! But then when I suggested that maybe if he found the ones I had chosen boring/hard, it would be good to switch back to the Beast Quest/Droon type books he had been eating like candy, he said "No, I read those too fast."

He has now retreated to Garfield and comic books.

What in the hell just happened? Never have run into anything like this with DD10, but DS is much more sensitive to expectations and has more fear of failure.

This was the other book that he deemed too hard:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cabinet-W...03823&sr=8-1&keywords=cabinet+of+wonders

I guess, looking at the reviews and age ranges (which I did not--just plucked them off the shelves), these really are too hard, most likely. It's so difficult finding him books! Urgh.