Children's Lit?

[toomanybooks]

I forgot to mention The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I still have my childhood copy and reread it regularly.

[rixte]

Most of these are seconds of other things, but I remember at that age I read (and some still reread):

The Little House books
The Secret Garden and The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
pretty much anything by Beverly Cleary (particularly the Ralph S. Mouse books)
The Narnia books
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Encylopedia Brown books by Donald Sobol
The Wizard of Oz books
The Doctor Doolittle books
Heidi

And pretty much any book about animals

[John F]

How about A Series of Unfortunate Events?

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by kazbates

Alcott and Montgomery are great suggestions. I think the Hobbit is way too mature for a 7/8 year old, though. The Lloyd Alexander books are good to, but also might be a little too mature. Of course, that's just my opinion.

I disagree, a bit. The first two of Alexander's Prydain books will work well for an 7/8 year old who is way advanced at reading. The later books in that series will probably be too mature for a bit, though.

Xenophon

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

I disagree, a bit. The first two of Alexander's Prydain books will work well for an 7/8 year old who is way advanced at reading. The later books in that series will probably be too mature for a bit, though.

Xenophon

It's been several years since I read the books with my older children and don't remember them as clearly as I would like, so I will bow to your better memory.

I was actually thinking about my own 8 year old who is an excellent reader, but not mature enough to handle some children's lit, particularly the Narnia series and especially the Hobbit. I was also thinking that it is better to find reading material to match the child's maturity level and reading level to help encourage reading comprehension based solely on the child doing the reading and interpreting the concept without an adult's explanation or intervention. If too much of the story has to be explained, then the book is not at the correct level for the reader. And along those same lines, if the child sight reads a book but does not understand/comprehend what they are reading, it does not really do them any good. After all comprehension is the main reason we read.

[hnoto]

As an elem teacher of gifted readers, you have LOTS of great suggestions here.

I would add: Charlotte's Web, The Secret Garden, Matilda, Ramona Quimby and Stuart Little.

http://www.teachersfirst.com/100books.cfm

My kids loved the Magic Tree House series, but also lost interest in Narnia as, although short, it has a lot of "old-time" language in it that was confusing. Be careful also with some of the classics for they too, unfortunately, sometimes give the younger kids trouble and are better for "read-alouds" than "read-alones."

[hnoto]

Originally Posted by kazbates

I was also thinking that it is better to find reading material to match the child's maturity level and reading level to help encourage reading comprehension based solely on the child doing the reading and interpreting the concept without an adult's explanation or intervention. If too much of the story has to be explained, then the book is not at the correct level for the reader. And along those same lines, if the child sight reads a book but does not understand/comprehend what they are reading, it does not really do them any good. After all comprehension is the main reason we read.

YES! I agree. As far as difficulty/comprehension level, I use the 5 finger test w/my kids. Have her read one page of the book, and put up a finger for every word that she reads that she doesn't know/understand the meaning of. If at the end of the page she has 5 fingers up, it is too hard. You want her to be able to read and understand what she is reading all by herself. If it is too hard, it is a "read-aloud," and someone reads it with her, stopping to discuss it frequently.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by hnoto

... If it is too hard, it is a "read-aloud," and someone reads it with her, stopping to discuss it frequently.

Some eight or nine year-olds may be perfectly comfortable reading Narnia, or Verne's Mysterious Island, or the Wizard of Oz, or Heart, while some 12 year olds may find them too difficult. It really depends on the individual ability.

And 5 words per page may, or may not be, a problem. Some children are O.K. using a dictionary, some are not. In any case, it's a good habit to form (and often it's more accurate than an adult :-)

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by kazbates

Oh, I just remembered, my older two children loved the Encyclopedia Brown and Boxcar Children series of books. I don't know if they are available as ebooks, yet.

I had the same thought.

There are some Encyclopedia Brown at fictionwise. They have 15 ebooks.