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Chapter book suggestions
- This topic has 15 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 4 months ago by
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my 6.5 yr old, now in first grade, needs a new challenge! She can read, rather quickly with retention, books like Mercy Watson, Poppleton, and even sat and read 2/3 of The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh, in one sitting, for the fun of it.
I was not a reader of children’s chapter books so I don’t know what the next level would be. Books like Charlotte’s Web and Paddington, she prefers Mom to still read those.
Any suggestions for in between?
Run, don’t walk, to get her Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace. 🙂 . I would follow that with at least the first of the Happy Little Family series by Rebecca Caudill.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Cobblestreet Cousins Series, The Lightning Family Series, Tales of Deckawoo Drive Series, Bed & Biscuit Series, Heartwood Hotel Series, Ramona Series, Ivy & Bean Series.</p>
I have a voracious reader and I allow my kids to read whatever since I want to instill a love of reading, so some are more twaddly than others. I’m also not a Christian so evaluate each series for the appropriateness for your family.Just looked at my daughters bookcase so I’ll add: Amelia Bedelia chapter books, Catwings series, Kingdom of Wrenly series.
That’s great! Short chapter books! We liked many from Sonlight’ s reading lists:
https://www.sonlight.com/2RP.html
https://www.sonlight.com/3RP.html
https://www.sonlight.com/4RP.html
Also series of Nate the Great, Cam Jansen, and The Boxcar Children (originals are the first 19 books)
She should be able to read to herself Beatrix Potter stories and many picture books you already have.
She may be an excellent reader, but make sure what she is reading is appropriate for her age and maturity. She still needs to practice reading out loud regularly so she doesn’t just fly over words she doesn’t know and to practice enunciation. The Pathway readers are great for reading lessons and character training.
Thank you for the suggestions!
wingsfly- she reads aloud constantly! She has amassed quite the vocabulary and it’s not too common to find words she doesn’t know up to about the 5th-ish grade level. It’s the maturity of the content that I’m most concerned with! And considering what is one many of today’s modern lists, I have trepidation walking into the library asking for recommendations.
So thank you, everyone, I’ll look more into these!
I dug out My Father’s Dragon and handed it to her. It was completed in just over 30 mins and she was able to give a very detailed narration. She loved the book. Now she’s sitting with a banana and a stack of magic school bus books including two of their chapter books. I have a feeling we will work through the above list rather quickly. Thanks again for the ideas!
The Happy Hollisters series by Jerry West, started in 1953 – travel adventures of a family with cats and a dog.
Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary
B is for Betsy and other children’s books by Carolyn Haywood.
Check the content and maturity level of Betsy-Tacy if they are a good fit, especially after the first book…the girls get older in each book of that series.
😊
she makes my heart melt! She’s so matter-of-fact, so able, yet still my snuggle-pie baby. My heart and soul is filled with wonder when I watch my children. I’m enthralled, blown away and enchanted watching how their minds work; seeing such distinctions. I wish there was something better than pictures and video to capture memories.
Thanks again for the additional recommendations. I’ll check out ThriftBooks to see what they have.
Julia,
I’m with you. I love all the subtle differences within each child. I love that we get to “study” them so well through homeschooling.
My current student would probably not be holding a banana, but she would be upside down in some fashion, or holding her cat. 🙂
Re: Betsy-Tacy – the first book begins when Betsy and Tacy are five or six, and I think that one is perfect for a six or seven year old. I have read only the first four (many times!) and I believe the girls are about ten or eleven in the fourth book. As I recall (it’s been a few years), there is nothing necessarily inappropriate in any of them, but some of the situations may be more interesting to a slightly older child. There is a theme of racism in the 4th book, in the sense that Betsy, Tacy, and Tib befriend a girl from a minority group who is teased by some of the boys in their school. This is handled well and is much less intense and “in your face” than it would be in a modern book. I love these books for the picture they give of life in a small town at the turn of the century, and how winsomely they depict the friendship and thought process of young girls. YMMV
And God bless Wings2Fly for mentioning Carolyn Haywood! Her books are IDEAL for this age.
I have been away from home while answering this thread, but when I return, I will take a tour of our shelves and see what else catches my eye.
There are two more books after My Father’s Dragon! Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland.
The Family Under the Bridge
The Hundred Dresses
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