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Topic: Book Suggestions for Older, "Late" Reader

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DeAnn M
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Posted: Sept 25 2008 at 11:33am \| IP Logged

Hi Ladies,

Any suggestions for some chapter books for my son? He's 8 and is somewhat of a struggling reader. He's not ready for regular novels yet and picture books and early reader books seem to be a little too, "young" for him.

These are the hardest books for me to find that are not, "twaddle." I can always find excellent picture books and novels but in between challenges me...especially with a reader who is moving at a slower pace.

Thanks,
DeAnn

Kristie 4
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Posted: Sept 25 2008 at 3:40pm \| IP Logged

You know DeAnn, two of my children have fit your bill. My dd11 was not very fluent until she was 10 at which point she devoured the whole Harry Potter series in a few months. My ds8, who has been reading well for years, finds long chapter books exhausting. At around his 7th birthday he read through heaps of the Magic Treehouse books (twadallish but he enjoyed them) and then the Spiderwick books, but after that he has mostly stuck to picture books and Asterix and Tintin.

I feel strongly that pushing kids into 'chapter' books is unnecessary (although at the moment I am encouraging my reader who has been at it for a long time to buckle down and finish one!). The language in the 'early' chapter books, and even the regular ones, can be easily dwarfed by good picture books.....ones like

-the Warwick Hutton greek mythology ones
-D'Aulaire's Greek Myths and Norse Myths
-D'Aulaire's East of the Sun and West of the Moon
-Barefoot Books compilations...like Animal Stories from around the World etc. These are a chapter per story with a few illustrations, without overwhelming the new reader with a WHOLE book to finish
-Demi's biographies and folk tales

And, I must admit, my ds8 has come a long way on Tintin and Asterix!!!

So stop listening to those voices that tell you it has to be chapter books (I am also trying to take my own advice

) and pull out some amazing picture books or compilations if they are more his pace! (You can read aloud any chapter books you think he might be missing).

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Kristie in Canada
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Mary Chris
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Posted: Sept 26 2008 at 12:10pm \| IP Logged

What about some of the Cynthia Rylant books? There is the Lighthouse Family series and also the High Rise Private Eyes.

Maybe you are past those. Other ideas are Nate the Great. The Magic Treehouse are twaddley, but they are also engaging. My early reader loved them and I am just hoping my 8.5 year old will be reading them by the end of this school year. My older son also liked the Adventures of Droon series, again, not great but they move on. Have you tried the A to Z Mysteries?

I think sometimes you need these familar formula type books to just move past this stage. Truly, I would be thrilled if I could get my 3rd grader past the super easy readers. He is just not getting it and I am losing my hair over it.

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DeAnn M
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Posted: Sept 26 2008 at 12:18pm \| IP Logged

We do like the Cynthia Rylant books. I love the Mr. Putter and Tabby books--more than the kids, I think. I think you are both right. I really just need to make sure that he is reading right now, whether it's picture books or the Magic Tree House series. Sometimes I get so caught up in trying find the perfect book(s) that I lose sight of my goal...to improve the child's reading and encourage a love of reading. To do that with good quality literature is ideal but I suppose there are stages where you just need to do what you can do and not worry about a finger wagging and "tsk tsk" from Charlotte Mason!

Thanks for the kids words of wisdom!

Any more suggestions would be great.

DeAnn

Mary Chris
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Posted: Sept 26 2008 at 12:55pm \| IP Logged

DeAnn,

I adore the Mr. Putter and Tabby books. We also love Poppleton.

I totally understand what you are saying about good quality literature. I have spent hours looking for non-twaddly readers. Hopefully we can talk about this more later.

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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92

Kristie 4
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Posted: Sept 26 2008 at 7:42pm \| IP Logged

I second the Nate the Great books as well. They got my daughter, when she was 8 or 9, enjoying reading. She loved to listen to books like the Lord of the Rings etc. so found it hard to like the books she could read herself. But the Nate the Great books are quirky and funny...

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Kristie in Canada
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A Walk in the Woods

ALmom
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Posted: Sept 30 2008 at 2:26pm \| IP Logged

For my sons, we simply had to get literature with read alouds and practiced reading with non-fiction in their area of interest, with an occassional exception - mostly oop finds at the booksales with larger print or a particularly lovely picture book.

Janet

Erin
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Posted: Sept 30 2008 at 4:30pm \| IP Logged

I would second the picture book idea. I found some of the 'meatier' picture books a great way for my later reader (9yr) I often used ones like Caedmon's Song (a Mosaic book) the illustrations helped and I believe he achieved a quicker sense of achievement as he 'finished' a book quickly.

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Erin
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