I apologize that this has probably already been covered on here. Can you make suggestions for reading books for boys? He's in the 3rd grade, but I WANT him reading about something a little meatier than say.. a lot of the garbage that's out LOL. I'm thinking.. Where the Red Fern Grows (a bit advanced, but meaty), maybe Hardy boys? (what's the age range on those?). He read the Boxcar Children books, but seems to have lost his taste for those. Has already done the magic treehouse, etc. Would also love suggestions for short stories for this age range. 'Just So Stories' is the only one I can think of offhand. He's into legos and Starwars. Not huge on anything else, really. Oh- ghosts. Looking for REAL stories with deep meaning.. he's a deep kid and lately the sort of stuff he's been subjected to would make better toilet paper (sorry author of that pathetic detective stories book... it was about the shallowest thing I've ever seen. And how about those books on how 'fun' it is to write a thesis paper? Even a 9 year-old ain't buying that.) No wonder he thinks reading is boring. Is Treasure Island too advanced? I think I was not much older than he is when I read it... my 4th grade teacher gave it to me. Ah.. and that begs another question.. is it better to go with something I KNOW he can read, or give him something that's a bit more of a struggle (not too much, mind you) so he can build his vocab and reading skills?
I think you can have him read any subject you know he'll like. If the reading level proves to be a bit much, get the CD and have him follow along. Libraries usually have a ton of unabridged books on CD. What about sci-fi? My son is also into Legos and Star Wars. I'm actually a little bit surprised he hasn't started digging through dh's collection of sci-fi yet. (His "collection" is really more like a library!) What about Narnia? We just started that one together with book & CD. The print is a little too small for both of us, but if we get a larger printed book, it'll be enormous and will overwhelm him. We love following along with the CD. Another one we both liked was the "My Father's Dragon" trilogy ... which is very old, by the way, so you may have to explain some of the language. Any of the "Great Illustrated Classics" would be good. What about "Time Warp Trio?" Encyclopedia Brown? Um... my son LOVES Kate DiCamillo books, but some of her writing is a little dark, and someone special almost always dies. What about letting him choose non-fiction books at the library? Here are some others: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html
I'm all for classics - they make "Children's Classic" versions of just about every fiction book out there! All the greats: Around the World in 80 Days Swiss Family Robinson Treasure Island etc. etc. Now...for reading that on the surface looks like recycled toilet paper but actually has some neat stuff in them: Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Series - LOADED with information about planets but imbedded into cartoon/chapter books. My son devoured these. Is he too young for 39 Clues? Lots of history info burried in them. My son also likes a series called "Time Flies", embedded historical information. You could also try just about anything from Jean Fritz. he's one of my faves. Books by Dick King-Smith are great too. (not really series, but he has quite a few things) My son loves the Flat Stanley series - they've come out with a new series called "World Wide Adventures" and they have information about other countries. The have 6 so far. Granted these are not "literature" but their a nice interesting way to sneak in information! Now...for things I've never read myself, and my kids have never read... I've heard the Geronimo Stilton series is clever. HTH. (I have a 4th grade boy who reads almost anything he can get his hands on...but I'm always looking for things that would help him learn info that might otherwise be boring to learn).
I have a 2nd-4th grade book list here designed for my son. Maybe some books on there would work? If your goal is to get him to love reading I wouldn't go with giving him a harder book to improve vocabulary. I would make sure the book is a topic he is interested in that he wouldn't have trouble reading. If your goal is to improve his vocabulary and reading skills I would choose a book that is a little harder.
Encyclopedia Brown series Stuart Little The Mouse and the Motorcycle The Little House on the Prairie series Cricket in Time Square Charlotte's Web Misty of Chincoteague The Railway Children Those are classics, but recently I discovered the Chet Gecko series. It's is about a detective Gecko and is written in the style of Dragnet. I thought it was hilarious, becaues of the Dragnet type references, but my son loved it too, because he loves reptiles, and he love detective stories. The first one is called The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse. Scholastic has a handy tool for finding books based on reading level. (I don't always agree with them, but it gives you a idea of the reading difficulty.) It's called Book Wizard, and you can look up a book by title or do a more do a more detailed search by level, topic, genre, etc. Here's the link... http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tb...=Any&Ne=1314&csh_int_lvl=Any&csh_gnr=Classics
Thanks guys!! Lots of great books I read as a kid, and new ones to check out!! Had completely forgotten so many of those. I'm actually not completely against toilet paper books as long as they are cleverly written. We loved Captain Underpants, for example, because even though the message wasn't necessarily deep, you DID have to pay attention to the jokes.. and the story built on itself. I think I'm mostly disgusted that it seems like anyone can sell a children's book these days.. just because the vocab needs to be readable for a kid doesn't mean it has to be shallow with a poor storyline. It also doesn't mean it has to be about Death, Divorce, Moving, or Cleaning Up the Planet. That scholastic link is wonderful as well! Found Treasure Island on it as well, and looks like a great fit. And ds liked the wonderful synopsis, so I think I'll dig it off my bookshelf. Was a bit disheartened at the books listed for 'third graders' but I think I expect a lot from literature. I also have a 3rd grader who was held back a year because his parents felt he needed a bit more emotional maturity before starting K. He's the oldest child, so he is pretty responsible, and usually fairly mature, which means maybe other 3rd graders really DO want to read about the adventures of a triangle... LOL. Just not mine. Thank you again everyone!!
My son loved--and still loves--Greek and Roman mythology. Someone suggested Percy Jackson earlier. My ds appreciates Percy Jackson so much more because he had a solid foundation in the "real" mythology. (hey, I think I just created a new oxymoron :lol: )
(Don't throw tomatoes if you aren't into Christian stuff) Frank Peretti has a series out for boys that I find interesting. It's not high-caliber literature, but it isn't childish drivel, either. It's also doesn't have the usual cheese-factor of most Christian fiction.
Get an e-reader, head over to www.manybooks.net and he can find a lifetime of reading there. How about Tom Swift? http://manybooks.net/search.php?search=tom+swift I think Oliver Optic would be appropriate. ?? http://manybooks.net/authors/opticoli.html
I just found James Patterson's project called ReadKiddoRead.com. The book lists are very good and they are broken down into categories for emerging readers, advanced readers, mystery, factual info, etc. Includes book reviews and such to really help you find exactly what you are looking for. Let your ds browse a particular category to see if something catches his attention.
Robinson Crusoe Gulliver's Travels The Three Musketeers The Railway Children (was mentioned) Around the World in Eighty Days (was mentioned) Homer's Odyssey The Narnia books
Call of the Wild Shilo (spelling?) series Left Behind Kids (Christian) I have a hard time with my son too. He's 2nd grade but reads at a 4th grade level. I have more of a hard time finding stuff that doesn't introduce him to stuff that a 2nd grader should be reading about (IMOO of course!)
A few my boy liked: Geronimo Stilton Boxcar Children Ricky Ricotta Capt Underpants Flat Stanley G-Book of World Records Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Esio Trot
The Hardy Boys (the original series) Sherlock Holmes series How to Train your Dragon (it's a series. The movie was based on it.) The old Nancy Drew (I know it's for girls but ds loved them.) On the Wings of Heroes- about a boy who's brother goes off to fight in WW2 Any book that is to advanced for ds to read by himself, I get the audio version and the book at the same time. He follows along in the book while listening to the audio book.
We got our oldest (also third grade) 3 books for Christmas in his stocking...all 3 he is enjoying, which for him is odd because he really isn't 'into' reading. We got him one of the Narnia series books which he is really liking...he's a Narnia fan. He also got a Star Wars book that is part of a series. We got him book #1, and we'll get him more if he likes this one enough. Another book he is REALLY enjoying is one of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. That one is probably by far, his favorite, as he gets to choose his own story.
Do you have more info on this series? Is there a name to the series? I am looking for something just like this for Tanner!!!
I wanted to mention a Star Wars Choose Your Own Adventure book that my DS is LOVING right now! He is also reading the Ralph Motorcycle Mouse books and just finished with Superfudge (he literally laughed out loud reading that one quite a bit!).... We have the Olive and Blue Fairy books, Viking Tales, Around the World in 80 Days, Just So Stories, Paddle to the Sea, and many others from the Ambleside Online list.
I have it in my hand It's the Cooper Kids Adventure Series. Book one is called The Door in the Dragon's Throat (all boy, huh?). http://www.christianbook.com/cooper-kids-adventures-volumes-1-8/frank-peretti/pd/69321 CBD says "recommended for kids 10-14," but DS is 8 and he hasn't had any troubles beyond a couple of vocabulary words. Mardel's had a sign up suggesting it for boys, ages 8-12, so.... Here's the back-cover synopsis for book 1:
