Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Need book recommendations for a 4 yo....

I am in desperate need of book suggestions for my DS, who turned 4 this summer. The problem is that I don't think there is anything that will challenge him with reading, at least not that he is able to comprehend. So at this point, any type of chapter book or series that is interesting would be good. If there was something like the Junie b. Jones series only for boys that would be good. Right now he is currently reading Runaway Ralph (our first big chapter book). Mostly we read it together but sometimes he reads a chapter on his own. He is also recently into Shel silverstein and reads those on his own as well (for some reason he never wants to read these ones together...unless he finds them particularly funny and then wants me to read them out loud). He likes books like Mr. Putter and Tabby, and Nate the Great, and Henry and Mudge...but we have read them all and they are Way to easy reading for him. He likes the magic school bus, and magic tree house sometimes. But unfortunately even though he can read them... I don't think he comprehends books made for 5th or 6th graders and the content is questionable. We have read a lot of the ones suggested from some of my best friends are books.

Any other suggestions?? We make regular trips to the library so I am up for anything.

Geronimo Stilton, Melvin Beederman. My DS7 loved Junie B. Jones - it's not really a "girlie" book. How about magazines? Highlights, National Geographic for Kids, Ranger Rick? We had a post about a month or so ago that asked this same question. You might search for it. Lots of great ideas there.

ETA: Oh, and we found some fun books by Brian Cleary. They're about parts of speech. One of them is "A Mink, A Fink, and a Skating Rink" or something like that. He has a whole bunch of them and they're all rhyming and silly.

Well, it's not quality literature, but DS loves the Secrets of Droon series. They are listed at AR levels from 3 to 4.

DD used to love Berenstein Bears books. They are not chapter books but the reading level is probably 3rd or 4th grade.

Definitely I will look for the other post. I figured someone must have asked that at some point. I will have to check Junie b. jones. He read a couple cam jansen ones and liked it and we got a Ramona book just for fun, so you never know.

I will have to check out the other suggestions as well. The Brian Cleary seems right up his alley. He practically came out of the womb interested in rhyming, LOL. Thanks!

never heard of secrets of droon. Is is scary? DS does like berenstein bear books. We have read a ton...but there are a ton more so I should get more of those.

Mrs. Pigglewiggle, and Captian Underpants.

You might try reading to him "A Phantom Tollbooth" and see if it holds his attention.

Smiles,
Grinity

There's nothing graphic, but DD thought they were scary at that age. DS5 doesn't seem to be bothered by them. It's of the good vs. evil fantasy genre.

Take a look at the Magic School Bus series and the Magic Tree House series. The first covers scientific adventures. And the second covers historical adventures.

Ah, good thread! A few chapter books that my DS5 enjoys and has for a while:

- Horrid Henry series (Francesca Simon)

- Worst Witch series (Jill Murphy): this is clearly for girls but he didn't mind, probably as the covers aren't pink :-)

- Flat Stanley

We find that fiction is not where DS gets his reading challenges, though: any fiction that's interesting and not too scary for him is easy for him to read. His challenges come from non-fiction reading, mostly science books/magazines/websites, some aimed at adults.

But also, the great thing about the library is that it's fine to get things without knowing whether they'll be hits or not, so I recommend encouraging him to pick things up and not putting him off if they're apparently inappropriate. We've had some surprising successes.

The most surprising perhaps was not from the library: I was reading Seamus Heaney's Beowulf translation - which is fantastic, btw. DS asked what it was, and on hearing that it was a story involving monsters and a dragon, wanted to hear some. We ended up reading the whole thing aloud to him, to his great delight (and ours: reading it aloud definitely adds something). Apparently scary things aren't scary if they're in poetry, or something.

Cap't Underpants- Pilkey 3-4th grade level- the cap't underpants is a little cheeky (no pun intended), they are about the misadventures of two boy who like to play pranks. They hypomtise there principal and he becomes cap't underpants and bad guys show up and the two boys, with the help of cap't underpants somehow always save the day.

Ricky Ricotta- Pilkey 2-3rd grade level A boy mouse and his robot fight bad guys and always save the day, usually learn a lesson.

There are about 9 books in each series.... they are pretty cheep, they have them at target.

DS7 Loved both of those at that age.

I'd second Flat Stanley. DS, then at the time just turned 5, loved them and read them all pretty much cover to cover in one week.

JB

At that age, Geronimo Stilton is a fun read (as someone already mentioned). So is the Capital Mysteries series by Ron Roy (some kids also like the A to Z Mysteries by the same author). Ruth Gannett Stiles' Dragon books are good. And, the Andrew Lost series by JC Greenburg is good and includes a bit of science too. Also, my kids have enjoyed anything by Kate DiCamillo (from the Mercy Watson easy readers to Because of Winn-Dixie to Tale of Despereaux). HTH

Jigsaw Jones is a great series of early chapter books.

I have to second the Magic Treehouse series. My dd loved them. They have so many that you can tailor them to his specific interests. One other thought is that many classic books have now been made into chapter books. Amelia Bedelia, Arthur, Little House on the Prairie, Hardy Boys etc...

I'd also recommend allowing the child to read any fiction and/or picture book that interests him, with your approval of course. But to increase reading ability, use short nonfiction books.

Also, DD at 4 enjoyed the Minnie & Moo series by Denys Cazet. The are the same level as the Mr. Putter and Tabby books.

We have had a similar problem finding things for our ds. Although he is older than your ds, here are a few selections which I think stretch down to the range you are trying to hit - Good luck!

Great Rhyming one for Halloween or anytime: - Frankenstein makes a sandwich - you and your ds will be ROFL!! (We were, and I don't think it's just because we're odd )

Also, for more poetry fun: Prelutsky's 'Pizza the size of the Sun' and 'It's raining pigs and noodles'. They are silly, silly, silly, and text and pictures are very cool too.

Calvin and Hobbes - you might find your ds sleeping with these - we have bought a few compilations and they are at the library as well. I think they have helped in ds quest to develop his sense of humor.

Riddle books, though I don't have a specific one I can recommend off the top of my head.

I second wholeheartedly Captain Underpants - my ds enjoyed hearing these over and over from ages 4-6 and then re-read them himself many times from 7-8. They are pretty thoughtful, hilarious and very supportive of that 'more imaginitive' child...fun illustrations which break up the text into bite-size chunks.

Throw into the mix Franny K. Stein, Little Girl Mad Scientist - DS loved these as well, nearly as much as C. Underpants.

DS also loved Shel Silverstein; The Missing Piece is a big fav; he still cracks up when he gets to the part which was 'too pointy'. Great simple, funny drawings.

Just curious if he goes for music, and if so, what sorts?

Thanks for all the recommendations. I am hoping that most of these are at our library, they sound right up his alley. He will love the rhyming and silly ones. I never thought of calvin in hobbes, I think DH has some sitting around here somewhere because he loved to read them as a kid.

Yes, DS is very into music. At 2 1/2 - 3 he was really into classical. He still is, but not as obsessed as he was. He likes listening to it and playing it on his electronic piano. We aren't really all that into classical, which is interesting. He started getting into it from baby einstein. Other than that he has a bunch of CD's that he likes that we think are okay as well. For the Kids (1,2,3), sandra boynton, and all sorts of they might be giants ones (no!, here comes the abc's, here comes the 1,2,3's). He likes whatever else we listen to as well. Right now he has been listening to more babyish stuff since his DD is 16 mo, she has a few favorites that he doesn't mind listening to at times.

I agree about the school ones, we have been trying to stay away from some of those but it seem like so many of these books are set in school (I guess because they assume school aged children are reading them). My DS has acted out some in the preschool setting and I don't want to give him any ideas about things that are comical but not so good (ie: letting a hampster out of it's cage or something). I would imagine he wouldn't do the stuff but I am not at all ready to risk it.

Mr. Putter and Tabby are good. DS still reads them. He still likes some of the easier simple stories. They are cute. The cardboard genius and cupcaked crusader look really neat, unfortunately my library doesn't carry them. I will have to check another local library on-line later when I get a chance.

About the movies, DS doesn't really watch them. I am not sure why, maybe we haven't exposed him to many movies. He has his tv shows he watches, and can make it through parts of movies at times, but that's about it. But I think we may start trying different disney movies.

If you're talking music, too, have you discovered "Trout Fishing In America"? http://www.troutmusic.com/

Their songs are the sort that make everyone laugh and sing along, but they're "real" songs, mostly in the folk tradition, not dumbed-down junk. They have a tango (!!!) called "Mine!" that is so funny! Using the "dance of desire" for a song about a toddler just works really, really well: "I know you want it/and I really can't blame you./You'd like to touch it/but if you do/I'll maim you..."

Seriously hilarious! We play their stuff over and over on long car trips.

They also do a fantastic version of "18 Wheels on a Big Rig" by Heywood Banks.

i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii....

(get the CD and you'll understand )

JB

I will have to check out those CD's. They sound good, that is the kind of stuff we like to listen to. Music that is entertaining for the whole family. I must confess that often times I listen to DS's music after I drop him off and don't even realize it. Especially since For the Kids stuff actually has good artists. And I listened to TMBG as a kid, so don't mind listening to it as an adult.

Ah, JBD, you speak my language!

My dd3 *loves* the little house on the prarie series. At first, I did not think she understood very much of it, but now I think she really does. She was fascinated by the fact that Mary was blind and for a few days that is all she would talk about. It's great b/c its clean, and for the most part, not violent. (Although, there is a bit of talk about guns and hunting for food.) It's also good for those munchkins who are into geography, since you can show the child on a map where the family has been and where they are headed.

I can't remember if Time Warp Trio was in this thread or another, but thanks to whoever recommended them. DS4 loves them! And he just picked up roman numerals from one of them. There was one - "summer reading is killing me" that I would recommend that is apropos to this thread. The Trio gets sent into the summer reading list that includes books from K-8 I think. (It's quite hilarious - the bad characters are trying to eliminate all the good characters, so you find things like dracula dragging peter rabbit somewhere, Mr Twit breaking Harold's Purple Crayon, etc.) The end of the book has the entire book list, by level, which I now realize i should have copied as a reference. So these are books that Jon Scieszka liked. It was especially funny for DS when he recognized the characters, like Ramona or Encyclopedia Brown or the Twits...
summer reading is killing me

Oh - and mom123, Little House on the Prairie gets special treatment in this book as one of the most terrifying books (for the boys, who hadn't read it).

I was a big fan of the Little House series as a kid. But the stuff about Native Americans is worth a conversation. The attitudes in there are pretty bad a lot of the time...Not a reason to stop reading them, I don't think, but definitely worth noting and discussing.

Yes, yes, that is very true - I forgot about that - most of the references to native americans *are* totally offensive- since I usually read the book to her I can skip over those parts - and the parts about killing animals. Now that she reads over my shoulder and says "mom, you did not read this part" - I'm not sure how much longer I can get away with that. If they are reading on them totally their own, some of the books in the series are better on that than others... you might need to skim first.

I completely agree with the Geronimo Stilton books. They're fun! Our DD enjoyed them quite a bit. You might consider stopping by your local elementary school and asking the librarian there for some suggestions. Perhaps he/she would have a list of appropriate level books that then could be highlighted with the books that were felt to be of a more appropriate level for your son's sensitivities.

Good luck! It won't be long and most of your concerns over content will not be quite so concerning.

Ditto to all the books mentioned here. DS has read most of them around that age +/-. Esp. the Magic Tree house series. Another one I have to mention is these books by Louis Sachar:-

Sideway stories from Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

They are hilarious! We had fun reading them.

When they are older and if they love Math, they will like Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School too!

LOL, anytime I skip a word my
DS lets me know. I could never skip a sentence. It's awkward when I am reading something that I don't think is appropriate or says things like "stupid" or whatever. If I skip over it it will draw more attention to it in his mind.

He was in his pre-k class the other day and I decided to observe. The teacher read "10 apples up on top" to the class. She kept skipping the word "up" and DS kept saying "it's UP on top...UP" He must have said it 5 times, not sure if anyone heard him. He eventually gave up.

Thanks, we regularly go to the library and talk to the librarians there. They know him now so don't do the whole "why are you getting these books for your 4 yo?". Geronimo Stilton is good, we just got a few of those. He loved flat stanley, read it a few times. A few of the other ones we got were a little advanced for him. he would sit there through it while we read, but he had no idea what it was about, I could tell. The Pizza the Size of the Sun is great too. He is really into the Magic School bus stuff, I got a magic tree house one that I will try with him, just not sure how he will like it yet. It's worth a shot.

Found another great one - it is called "Toys go Out" by Jenkins - it is about the secret life of toys...very cute and very creative - I would guess the reading level is about upper first grade, lower second grade. Another resource I would recommend for young kids is the "Brightly Beaming Resources" website.. they have really great recommendations for early readers.