I'm finding everything except what I'm looking for! Grrr!! Ok, here's the problem: I'm trying to find books that are on my son's reading level (2nd-4th grade, depending on the writer/content/publication date/etc.) but that are also on his content level (he's about to turn 4). I've always had great luck finding Christian review sites for movies, because they seem to go a little deeper - even with spoilers - to give me a good idea if something is age-appropriate, but I can't find any sites like that for children's books. When I google words like children's books, christian, review, etc., I get sites that only review Christian books. That's not what I want. I also find sites that say a book is appropriate for 3rd grade or age 8, but they don't say why it's rated that way. Is it because it uses words a 3rd grader can read, or is it because the content is something only an 8 year old can really understand? My son is still into things like Thomas the Train. He still enjoys watching PBS cartoons about things he learned 2 years ago. He's very much a "preschooler", but he wants to read books that are on his level, but with a similar interest in mind. I've tried places like Amazon, but unless I have a specific title in mind, I can't even find books to review. The publisher's comments don't always tell me much about the book, either. I'm seriously thinking about starting my own site. This is nuts. Help! :shock::cry:
Ooh, cool! I just found the leveled search on scholastic's site ... but ... that's only for scholastic books, isn't it?
a lot of scholastics books are othe rbooks redone, so check it out anyway, it will give you an idea of what you are looking for.
Link to 2008 book reviews for for kids ages 4-10. http://www.tonibuzzeo.com/2008reviewcompilation.pdf LR edited to add: There is 14 pages of books and reviews on this website.
You'll probably have better success in searching by typing in Reading Recovery Level. That should shoot you out a LOT of sites.
I wouldn't trust Scholastic! I really don't think such a place exists. The person to talk with is your librarian. There's plenty of "safe" books! Has he read any Junie B. Jones? I really like them, but many consider her a little "brat" and don't. Do you want chapter books? There's a series my son read...historical fiction...that were good. Let me see if I can find my list... Oh, here it is! The series is called "Once Upon America". They're fairly short, easy chapter books! Behlehem books are also very good; unfortunately, my library doesn't have most of them, and I need to get them interlibrary loan. May be a bit hard for him, though. Another good source Sonlight Curriculum. Get their catalog. It lists all the books they use for each grade. Be sure to check both under literature and history, because they list historical fiction under history! OH!!! Be sure to buy a copy of "Honey for a Child's Heart"!!!
thanks Jackie! I agree the library is the best place to go to with all of its lists and librarians you can find just the right book and not have to purchase it either! that is the best idea!
OH, OH!!! I forgot!!! But then I go upstairs to do something, an it's sitting on my dresser (where it DOESN'T belong, lol!) Thornton W. Burgess wrote a lovely collection of animal stories. The first one is called "Old Mother West Wind", and is a collection of short stories. Then there's a bunch of single-story chapter books with names such as, The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk, The Adventures of Bobby Raccoon, etc. Dover sells them inexpensively (ie: the Dover that makes those fantastic coloring books!). Check your library, but they ARE older books, so I won't guarantee you'll find them there, except for Interlibrary Loan! REALLY worth reading! Easy enough for a 2nd grader, and the story is "sweet" enough for a preschooler. VERY short chapters!
Thank you! Actually, I already tried the librarians, but they were clueless (two large libraries here). That's why I moved my search online. Ugh! I was told that they look at amazon or B&N to get book descriptions, but they use those descriptions only to place the book in the right area of the library. They have no clue what level it is, what the content is, etc. Helpful, huh?
I have found the Scholastic BookWizard helpful, even though not perfect. It's helped me dig up some additional titles and give a general idea of reading/interest level. Coupled with reviews from Amazon I can often get a lot of information before hunting up the book. http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do
I was looking for something on Phillip's bookcase, and found another series your son will love! Hank the Cowdog!!! Hank is SO great!!! He's "head of ranch security" somewhere out West. But he ALWAYS gets himself into trouble. Kids love him!!!
Mine loves the Dairy of a wimpy kid series. Maybe because he relates to him, but I heard some of them are not appropriate words in there... like bathroom humor boy stinky humor. We also loved Hank for a while! And there was another series similar I forget what it was called but how about Encyclopedia Brown?
