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dolorsofmary
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Hello!
I am gearing up for summer reading and I asked my library to help me find classics (chapter books) that my son would be interested in (he'll be 6 in August.) I usually follow booklists and little saints book lists which are all books that are short, classic in some cases but not chapter books. I decided to try a chapter books and of course read them aloud for him.
They made many great selections including treasure island which my son really wants to hear. But my library has the opinion that I should start out my son with the retold shorter classic. Should I get the unabridged or the shorter version. Its not the disney version, thank God! What's your opinion?
Thank you!
Rosemarie
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guitarnan
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Honestly, I think you'll have to try each book and see how he reacts. I did lots of read-alouds with my children, who are six years apart, and my younger child usually enjoyed the unabridged versions...but sometimes, when the language was archaic, she had trouble following the plot and became bored.
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CrunchyMom
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I really like Jim Weiss CDs for introducing classic works to little one's. He's a storyteller, so it isn't quite the same thing as an abridged book.
I don't like to read abridged books to my boys. If the book is too much, there are plenty of unabridged works which are not.
There are lots and lots of chapter books which make really good read alouds at that age. If you have never read chapter books together, I suggest starting with classic children's lit rather than something heavier like Treasure Island. Listening to a chapter book with few illustrations is a discipline, and something lighter might make a better first chapter book, IMO.
Both my older boys have liked My Father's Dragon as a first chapter book to read aloud. A Bear Called Paddington was fun. They loved the Little House books. Mr Popper's Penguins is fun as well as The Story of Dr. Doolittle, though I probably wou ldn't make that my first since it takes a little longer to get into.
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dolorsofmary
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Thank you! I can see what you are saying. I guess what has prompted my question is that fact that Charlotte Mason herself always stressed using the unabridged version so I'm thinking of starting out that way but I totally see what you are saying.
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dolorsofmary
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Thank you! Anyone else have suggestions of 1st chapter book read aloud for a little boy who is almost 6 yrs old?
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Mackfam
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I started to post, but was redirected here. 
CrunchyMom wrote:
I don't like to read abridged books to my boys. If the book is too much, there are plenty of unabridged works which are not.
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My suggestion and preference is the same as Lindsay, though. I avoid abridged classics of literature because there is just such a rich variety of unabridged works that can be found and are suitable for your son's age for reading aloud.
I'll add a few suggestions of our favorite chapter book read alouds:
** Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
** Happy Little Family series by Rebecca Caudill
** Peter Rabbit Books by Rebecca Caudill
** Thomas the Tank Engine by Rev. Audry
** Charlotte's Web by EB White
** The Billy and Blaze books are fantastic, and they make great books to step into when they're reading independently, too. So we tend to move them them twice, once as an early read aloud, and then they're on the bookshelf to be read as a child's reading is progressing.
And do check out the Read Aloud thread that compiles all the favorite read aloud choices, especially the read aloud threads for younger children!
And, since you're asking....I thought this thread - What Books about Books Do You Have/Want (books that contain fantastic booklists) might be something you'd be interested in looking over. These books are among my favorite resources for finding ideas and inspiration on books...besides coming here!
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seeker
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CrunchyMom wrote:
...as well as The Story of Dr. Doolittle, though I probably wouldn't make that my first since it takes a little longer to get into.
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It may just be my copy because it's ancient... but I did have to change some language when reading this to my girls.
I also was going to recommend Charlotte's Web and the Little House books. Farmer Boy might be especially appealing.
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Mackfam
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Both by James Herriot:
All Creatures Great and Small
Treasury for Children
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JodieLyn
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don't forget eb white also did Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little.
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JodieLyn
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also the Little House books.. the older ones (Little House on the Prairie) but also the newer ones of Laura's female family members.
Kipling's Just So Stories?
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Dove
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dolorsofmary wrote:
Hello!
I am gearing up for summer reading and I asked my library to help me find classics .... Should I get the unabridged or the shorter version. |
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I cherish the times my mother read to us from the full classics. Years later I ran across abridged versions and found them shallower and less satisfying than the full versions.
I followed my mother's example and challenged my children from an early age in what I chose to read to them. The result is that they gained a strong vocabulary without a lot of vocabulary lists, and their reading comprehension always tested higher than usual.
While there is a risk that some classics are better at some ages than at others (I recall my second child did not enjoy Tolkien quite as young as did the eldest) but we never regretted choosing the full edition.
Ann Seeton
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Dove
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dolorsofmary wrote:
| Thank you! Anyone else have suggestions of 1st chapter book read aloud for a little boy who is almost 6 yrs old? |
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How about The Hobbit? My kids loved it at that age.
I wasn't much older than that when I first heard a Nancy Drew--so why not seek a Three Investigators or a Hardy Boys?
Lassie Come Home was one my mother read to us more than once; and the original Bambie and Bambie's Children both by Felix Salten (not totally sure about the spelling of that last name)--not the icky version by disney.
I think we read Carry On Mr Bowditch when the second child was six or seven and it went over well.
Ann Seeton
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stellamaris
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My boys all loved the Winnie the Pooh books at this age, and I had fun reading them, too! Around 7ish, they enjoyed the Narnia books as well as Five Children and It (there are a few books in this E. Nesbit series and one does include a scene where they "call up" a sand fairy which kind of was troubling to me...I sometimes edit as I read if I find any questionable content.).
Misty of Chincoteague was also a hit, as was the Burgess Bird Book.
This is a sweet age to enjoy many wonderful pictures books as well; you will not be able to enjoy those together for many more years, so don't skip them now to read "real" books. Reading picture books is the best way to cement a love of reading.
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guitarnan
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My son loved:
Homer Price
My Side of the Mountain
The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald
Charlotte's Web
The Boxcar Children
The Mitchells: Five for Victory and the rest of the series
When he was a bit older he really, really enjoyed The Lord of the Rings series and The Penderwicks.
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stellamaris
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Just want to add a comment here about the abridged vs. unabridged books question you asked. I myself prefer to use unabridged books. Even when reading a little "harder" book, I stick to the original. My problems with the abridged versions are:
1. I personally don't enjoy them and so I think I don't communicate the same level of enthusiasm to my children.
2. The story is often subtly, or not so subtly, altered so that important themes are compromised, especially Christian themes.
3. Abridged versions don't help the children learn to appreciate real literature with longer descriptive passages (which is the part of the text usually cut out).
4. The vocabulary is often much less rich.
That being said, I will sometimes "edit" as I read if I find a book is getting too long-winded or intricate for my younger listeners. I will also provide definitions for words as we read along and substitute words if the word used in the text is truly archaic. Usually I read the original usage and then provide a "translation".
I also have occasionally skipped over material I thought questionable or problematic in one way or the other. So, I do some tailoring of the material I read to suit the audience's level of understanding and patience, but I rarely have to do very much, whereas an abridged text does quite a lot of altering of the original.
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dolorsofmary
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Thank you all for your wonderful responses and suggestions. I LOVE your booklists and the reasons why you would stick with the unabridged. It makes such sense. BUT ...basically I need to either get a booklist of classics that is more honed for my son (who will be 6 yrs old in 1 month and LOVES swashbuckling, pirates, and such and anything to do with trains or penquins:)AND can hold his attention in the UNabridged format or get over my guilt of having now started to read the abridged versions.
My son LOVED Mr. Poppers Penguins (ok not a classic but he loves penquins) and it is unabridged:)
He loved the box car children #1, 2,3 and we are waiting on #4 to come it. Ok not a classic but he loves the idea of something being part of a train.
He loves Peter Pan and I searched my library high and low (we are ALWAYS on a tight budget so we use our library as much as possible) and I could only find the unabridged version on libravox and audio only through our library but he wants ME to read it to him and there is not any unabridged book versions so I settled for the abridged version that I own that my mother read to me with big pictures and such, (not the Disney version thank God)He loved it, The rich language and interesting subthemes were of course all missing.
I tried to get Treasure Island unabridged and I was successful but it was too heavy for him. So I found the abridged and I started reading to him and I was bored bored bored. I compared the two and I was amazed and I abandoned the quest and decided to wait until he is older.
I wanted to get the Narnia books out but they are checked out presently so we went for the Hobbit (the 1st of the Lord of the Rings) and of course unabridged and it was too heavy for him so I am waiting on this too.
So right now we have the ABRIDGED version of Robin hood. He picked it out of the list of books that are available to us at our library right now. I saw that the unabridged version is in the young adult section of our library so I immediately went for the unabridged.
Any suggestions? Thank you!
So here is my list, you might benefit from it, it has your suggestions plus a few other peoples like from my library and a friend who taught school for many years, and whatnot. I have it arranged by what he likes and what is in our library and what we have read is swapped out, etc. etc.
Adventures of Robin Hood unabridged is in young adult section. my son loves this so I have the abridged which so far he LOVES.
Charlie & The Cho. Factory by Roald Dahl checked out 6/30, we have to wait
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White we own it!
Hardy Boys– I think some may not consider this a classic but many people have grown up with these so he should know them? - #1 is checked out 6/30/11, we have to wait
Homer Price
Just so stories by Kipling
Little House books. Checked out 6/30/11, we'll have to wait.
Misty of Chincoteague
My father's dragon checked out by someone, we'll have to wait
My Side of the Mountain
Nancy Drew – son has no interest since main character is a girl
Narnia books the lion the witch and the wardrobe is on hold for us, son really wants to hear this!! and he insists on hearing it in order.
Robinson Carusoe
Stuart Little by E.B. White library has it on order
Swiss Family Robinson checked out 6/30/11, the unabridged is considered young adult at our library so....hmmm...
The Boxcar Children story read book 1, 2, 3 and waiting for #4 to come in.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by B. Cleary -put on hold for us, waiting,someone else has it out
The Story of Dr. Dolittle
Trumpet of the swan
Winnie the Pooh books
Wizard Of OZ by L. Frank Baum
Special circumstances:
The Hobbit – too long - read it to him when he is older!! We tried it, too much!
Three Investigators – Library has it but cannot find it
The Tale of Despereaux – already read – loved it!
All Creatures Great and Small – in adult section –might be too much, maybe when he is older!
Treasure Island – unabridged version too heavy, son didn’t like it, maybe when he is older
Carry On Mr Bowditch – cannot be checked out – no circulation, read at the library only
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by R. Atwater – read and loved
Peter Pan- library only has abridged version and unabridged on audio books. I read to him the abridged version with nice big pictures from my childhood already.
Magic School Bus read a lot of this already
Magic Tree House read a lot of this already
On-line audio version only available
A Bear Called Paddington only on electronic on-line audio book
NIOL means Not In Our Library
Bambie – NIOL
Bambie's Children – NIOL
Burgess Bird Book.- NIOL
Five Children and It E Nesbit series - NIOL
Lassie Come Home - NIOL
Mr. Betts and Mr. Potts- NIOL
The Mitchells: Five for Victory and the rest of the series - NIOL
The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald -NIOL
Treasury for Children – NIOL
Vision books –NIOL (lives of the saints)
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guitarnan
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Does your state have interlibrary loan? (It should.) You may be able to get some of these titles through that program. (Ask, though, about fees for ILL. Some states charge up to $1 per book, ouch!, while ILL is free in other states.)
I think it's great that you and your son are willing to put some titles aside for later...you'll have plenty of time to read them when he's a bit older.
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dolorsofmary
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yes we have ill and it costs $2/book for 2 weeks or sometimes 4 weeks. I use it sparingly since it is expensive. Our governor had to get things back on track after the democrats spent us into debt, so the ILLs are costly now.
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The Indian in the Cupboard
The Borrowers
Stone Fox
The Wind in the Willows
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ekbell
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Something that I've found very useful with my children is picking up a few good anthologies of Children's lit., one with excerpts rather then retellings.
What we then do is treat the book as a sampler, if my child enjoys an excerpt from a book or story I look for the book or more by that author.
I've that this practice has led to reading books I may not have otherwise thought of while saving money on books my child isn't interested in and it has made my children's lit read-alouds easy to plan while still being tailored to the child. The best anthologies also have poetry, something I'm liable to neglect otherwise.
Be warned that it can take a year or more going though all the rabbit trails inspired by a good anthology and this can lead to a lot of book buying (I love the abebooks website)
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: classic or retold classic for an old 5 yr
