My oldest DD is 4. She's not reading yet, but is ready to move on from picture books some of the time. We've read a couple Mrs.Piggle Wiggle books, Charlotte's Web (we skipped the sad ending) and just started Little House in the Big Woods (she loved the My First Little House Books). She loves them and has the attention span to let me read to her for hours if I would, but I feel like sometimes they're too advanced for her. I find myself wanting to skip over parts that I feel like will bore her or are over her head (eg, the technical descriptions of pa cleaning his rifle and making bullets), but I also kind of want to challenge her. Any suggestions for great titles that are more than picture books, but for a younger audience?
We enjoyed the "My Father's Dragon" trilogy at that age. You're right, though... a lot of really great chapter books have content that is difficult for 4 year olds to deal with. Even the Little House stories are sometimes scary (when they thought they lost the dog in the river and things like that). This site has a lot of good books on it, but not all would be 4 year old appropriate, of course: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/v2/index.php?page=440
Re the scary parts: I know! I somehow missed the Little House books growing up (I was an anne of green gables girl all the way) so this is a first time for me reading them too. I have to read ahead a few lines all the time, otherwise before I know it I'm reading her a story about someone almost getting killed by a wild animal or pigs getting slaughtered! Lol
Yeah, I didn't read it as a kid, either. I had no idea it would be that scary and found myself reading several lines ahead, too. :lol:
First of all, most children are very capable of reading the true ending of Charlotte's Web. I think you do children a disservice by not doing so. I am amazed at how well chldren that age are capable of listening, if they've been "trained" to do so. You might try Stuart Little, or the Borrowers. Wind in the Willows is another good one. And pick up Hank the Cowdog books!!! They are SO much fun, but the chapters are VERY short and easy. Also find Old Mother West Wind. We SO enjoyed that!!!
My 5 year old is really enjoying the "among the ________ people" books by Clara Dillingham Pierson. You can find them online for free and print them out or get them for the Kindle for free. They are wonderfully written and teach about different animals using a story format, so very educational as well as entertaining. You might also like Arthur Scott Bailey and Andrew Lang's Fairy Books Burgess Animal Book and Bird Book are well written and very educational as well-both my boys LOVE them, as do I!
You know, I really debated over what to do about the ending before we read the book. My mom read it to me when I was about 5 and while I loved the book, the ending absolutely devastated me. I was completely inconsolable. My DD is pretty sensitive too. We had a fish that died and it was really, really hard on her. It might sound silly to some, but I guess she's just a bit like her mom in that respect! Anyway, so I talked it over with my husband and he was in favor of just changing the ending completely, which I didn't feel quite right about. I wanted her to know that a book can still be good, even if it's sad. Some of my all time favorite books have had me bawling (little women, anyone??) Anyway, so what I wound up doing was when we were about 3/4 through the book I let her know that there was a sad part at the end and I left it up to her whether or not she wanted to read it. She chose to skip it. I didn't change anything, I just didn't read that part and we skipped to the last chapter. She then asked me what the sad part was and I told her that when she wanted to we could read it together again, or she could read it for herself and find out and she seemed satisfied with that. So, long story to explain all that. It's just funny that you brought it up because I really did think long and hard about it! Thanks everyone for the input! I appreciate it
Well, you know your kid best! And the fact that you let her know the ending would be sad and she chose not to would make a difference, too.
We started Junie B. Jones and Magic Treehouse books both at age 3. Dd loved them and now at 7 she loves reading them herself, along with nearly anything else she gets her hands on. We also read Charlotte's Web, although she didn't care much for it, and many others. She also liked amelia bedelia books and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. I say pick out something and give it a try. You can always stop if she doesn't like it. I am not a fan of changing words in the books or changing the story as kids learn to read from being read to. I realized this when dd was about 3 or 4 and was following along with my finger and asked me to go back to a word. when I did the word I had substituted wasn't even close to the actual word as far as phonics or spelling goes(it was something like stupid or a word that we consider a "bad" word and I changed it to something appropriate for us).
Black beauty (adapted), Heidi (adapted), wind in the willows (adapted), boxcar children, Narnia series, Winnie the Pooh originals.
We have enjoyed the Thornton Burgess books (such as Old Mother West Wind, mentioned earlier). The one we giggled through was The Adventures of Prickly Porky...my dd, who was 4.5 at the time, absolutely could not wait for me to read the next part to find out the "mystery!". We also liked At Paddy the Beaver's Pond! Currently we are doing some of the boxcar children mysteries, after having read the first classic one and loving it. There are some "scary" parts, but I think they could be easily edited to fit the child! Happy reading!
Why would you use an "adapted" version? Kids REALLY ARE capable of listening to the originals. All three of those books are absolutely beautiful AS WRITTEN. Allow a child to LEARN to appreiciate the beauty of the language. It's really an aquired skill. When Phillip was a preschooler, he listened to Black Beauty, The Little Princess, and Treasure Island, because that's what I was reading to his older sisters. Sure, I'd let him color while I read, but he listened and he learned to appreciate them. Now we did do the Wishbone version of The Red Badge of Courage, but that's because Phillip was reading it on his own.
What I suggest: The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook and More Milly-Molly-Mandy. They are very sweet. What I don't suggest: Junie B. Jones. I think she is far too sassy. I had gotten a stack of them at a garage sale and let me dd take one to read. When she told me that Junie called her mother names behind her back, I didn't appreciate that. I read on another homeschooling forum that the other JBJ books have a lot of sassy attitude too. So, I got rid of the books.
AGREED!!!!! I always look for & buy original versions of books & I get comments all the time on how large my boys' vocabularies are. They stop me often to ask what a word means&later I catch them using it (correctly) in play or conversation. I got attacked once on a message board when I suggested Swiss Family Robinson for a 1st grader as a read aloud. I was using it as a read aloud for my K son so.... I edit for content sometimes based on our religious beliefs but not for much else...if its too bad I just scrap the book & find something more appropriate. That is why I love using older books so much though they are often well written with rich vocabulary and have Christian morals sothecontent is ok for young children while not being dumbed down or babyish. Forgive the typos I don't usually do wordy post on the kindle
I think I'm probably on board with you guys, but I think one good reason to use adapted versions of a classic would be if the original is way ahead of the child and you want to incite interest. For example, before starting the Little House series, we read the adapted "my first little house" books. My 4yo loved them which made her really excited to read the chapter books and learn more about the story. We're also reading the young ameilia bedelia books, which are really cute.
I've not seen the "young" Amelia Bedelia, but can't imagine them. The originals are written on such a basic level to begin with! Did you try reading the original Little House out loud to your 4yo? I'm guessing she'd be just as excited as what you DID read. And I know they've come up with some Little House books that carry a specific theme (such as Christmas), which takes chapters from that topic from all the books. They are much thinner, and therefor "kid friendly" for the beginning reader, but the chapters are still the original language. I thought they were very well done! (Maybe those are what you're talking about, I don't know!) I also know that there are some "classics" such as Tom Sawyer and the Three Musketeers that have been put into a series of easy readers. I think there were three or four small paperback books for each classic tale. I'm OK with those, too, because the beginning reader is reading it himself. But if you're going to read aloud, go with the original! I remember having a friend give me a list of possible Christmas presents for her daughter. One was a "young adult" version of Christy. YOUNG ADULT!?!? I read the original in 6th grade, and I don't think I was particularly unusual for doing so. So why the heck do they consider a "dummied down" version "young adult"?
Paddington Bear books might be a good choice. They are cute and funny chapter books with a few pictures. Winnie the Pooh too. A. A. Milne has some great poetry books too. That said, when my ds was 4 he would climb the walls when I tried to read aloud anything chapter-like. He didn't follow the story as he was climbing the walls either He wasn't able to follow a story in a chapter book until around age 7 and that was with lots of work and baby steps in that direction. I'm reading a selection of great picture books to my 4 year old. I haven't even attempted a chapter book with her yet. Maybe next year. Paddington Bear will definitely be one of the first ones on my list. Winnie the Pooh too.
