Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Book Alternatives?

We just got the reading list for DD8's class this year, and she's already read a number of books on the list. I'm looking for some suggestions on other books she might read in place of the ones the class will be hearing (yes, hearing--the teacher will be reading these books to the class). I like how her teacher is using the books to relate to multiple aspects of the curriculum, so I want to be sure to pick books that illustrate the same concepts the teacher will be emphasizing. Anyway, here are the 3 books I'm trying to find replacements for at the moment:

1. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, in the context of friendship, the salmon life cycle (journeys), and making predictions.

2. The Tale of Despereaux, to illustrate problem solving, comparing and contrasting, and similes and metaphors.

3. The City of Ember, while covering the electricity unit in science and studying sequencing and cause and effect.

So I'd like to come up with books that could relate to the same topics, the same reading level or higher, that could potentially be turned into independent projects of one form or another.

Thanks! I'm plowing through the ultimate book thread for ideas as well.

Hi Trillium,

Just wondering, is your DD a child who enjoys re-reading books she has enjoyed? My DD is a voracious reader, but is also a big re-reader--and enjoys listening to books she has already read. The books you've listed are all fantastic, multi-layered books, and it is likely that she will find new meanings in them hearing them again. Last year two of the books I read aloud were already favorites of my strongest fifth grade reader--and he was always the first one to the carpet, listening with rapt anticipation of favorite parts he knew were just around the corner.

If these were the books being used for instructional reading (or if it was a read along while the teacher reads situation--about which I have nothing positive to say), then re-reading books would be a definite concern. It's important that a child not be in a group in which they have read the book and others haven't, because then they are silenced in the discussion/learning so as not to "give anything away".

That said....here are a few ideas on the themes that you mentioned:

Friendship/predictions:
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (which would get at lifecycles too)
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost (this is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. However, it might be a bit much for a sensitive eight year old. My just-turned-10 DD was anxious with worry about the outcome as she read it. It has a poetic structure for much of the book, which might not appeal to a younger child)

Maybe if you are looking at independent project option, instead of replacing the book, she could read/re-read the Velveteen Rabbit and look at it in relationship to Edward Tulane--it would be an interesting compare/contrast.


Figurative Language/Problem Solving:

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster


(Again though, unless your DD read Tale of Despereaux looking for figurative language the first time, the re-read would be valuable. Since she already knows the story, she would be better able to listen for a purpose beyond wondering about the plot)


Electricity/Cause and Effect/Sequencing:

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (although beware--the first book is pretty unconcerning, but there is a whole series and books 3,4 and 5 get increasingly intense in the depth of evil involved. For a sensitive child, read ahead--esp. book 4)


Hope that helps...if I think of anything else later, I'll add another post

A good salmon life cycle book is Margaret Craven's "I Heard the Owl Call My Name." It's for adults, but I read it as a young child, and I think it would likely be fine for a mature eight year-old. A couple of caveats: the main character, a priest named Mark, dies of cancer at the end of the book; his death is beautifully compared to the return of the salmon. Other adult themes to be aware of (as far as I can recall, anyway) are the decision of one character to bear a child out of wedlock, and the government taking First Nations children away from the village to a residential school.

There are other salmon stories in Christie Harris's Mouse Woman books; these books are meant for children.

Hope that helps a bit--

peace
minnie

We read that in our bookclub - and, though I've forgotten many of the details of the book, I do remember that we adults found the book disturbing (scary, sad), and that quite a bit of our the discussion was about its status as children's book. I'd recommend reading it oneself before giving it to any child, however gifted.