Okay, I put this in the homeschooling forum because I figured it'd end up being a good reference for hsing stuff. My purpose for starting it, though, is CHRISTMAS! I'm swapping some of my old books on Paperbackswap for Christmas presents this year! My boys (and family!) are getting BOOKS this year! DS8 - Magic Treehouse series Does anyone know what level these are? What is the educational value? Should they be read in order, or can one pick and choose and read any book in the series without missing anything? Boxcar Children series What about that same info on these? Apparently, at some point, the series changes authors and the character setup is a little different. Also, does anyone know how the "specials" fit into it all?? Other books I'm considering for him, so any info on these is appreciated: Horrible Harry, Encyclopedia Brown, Hardy Boys, Bailey School Kids Open to suggestions as well!! Going to try and get several of the classics.... Also. Besides Jan Brett and Eric Carle, are there any books you'd recommend for my 3 and 4 year olds? Whether they be easy reader types (we aren't there yet, but soon), or books mommy should read, I'm kinda clueless as to where to start with them. The classics are above them, and I have no idea if they'd care for a series or not. We have several Dr. Suess books and they seem to enjoy those. I think I may look into the Berenstain Bears alphabet books. "The A Book" "The B Book" etc. What is of good value for this age?? :? And I know there's a ton of recommendation threads, but, if anyone cares to add theirs and the ages they recommend them for here, once again, maybe this can be our "holiday season book recommendations" thread. LOL For dh, who loves murder mysteries, he's introduced me to a series by Sue Grafton. There's one for each letter of the alphabet. We just finished "F is for Fugitive" and have started "G is for Gumshoe". I plan on getting some of these for him. We both enjoy Agatha Christie, and I like LIlian Jackson Braun ("The Cat Who..." series) and Nancy Drews. Any more adult book recommendations? (Other than classics, as I plan to work on those as well.) What are some of yours/dh's favorite genres?
Dh said my mil called tonight and asked me if I had the "T" Sue Grafton book. I didn't even realize it was out! So I am thinking and hoping I am getting that under the tree! Jack (3) has gotten really into the Henry and Mudge books by Cynthia Rylant. They are very short, but are divided up into 3 sections. We read them in one sitting. I would like to find a longer chapter book to spread out, but he wants to listen all at once or not at all! The only thing I have gotten him to listen to over time is Captain Underpants (high art, I know!) but even then he kept wanting me to start at the beginning every time. The concept of putting it down without finishing is still a little beyond him, I guess. I have a friend who gives me the book orders from her son's pre-k class (Scholastic wouldn't send them to me since ds is not in K) and I usually find some pretty good deals in there. An order just came in today and we had a TON of winter books--including a H&M 3 pack! Hooray!!! He also loves the Berenstain Bears (you can usually pick those up at WalMart fairly cheap) and Froggy. He likes series books since they are familiar and he usually wants me to make magnets of the characters and he will play with those. I'll have to look through the baskets tomorrow and list some more. I LOVE to read, so please share, ladies!!
And how could I forget Mrs. Wishy-Washy?? I think some of them don't rhyme, but Mrs. Wishy-Washy and Mrs. WW's Christmas (I think those are the two we have) do, and Jack cannot get enough of these. He will do fill-in-the blank reading with them and can recite a lot of them. There is a felt set I saw online I need to get him. They are great! And Arthur!!! And Franklin!!
About Arthur - there seem to be several (hundred? :lol: ) different series of books featuring him. Does anyone know the titles of all of the series? I know there are chapter books (early to mid elementary?), and then there are those that are not chapter books and are geared more towards the younger set. And more, I'm sure. Can anyone help me organize my Arthur brain file??? And, Henry and Mudge! We have a couple of those; I may look for more! Good one! Thanks! Hmmm... I may go browse the Scholastic site by age, and maybe BookAdventure too. Anyone know any other good sites to browse for title ideas? And, really, some books geared towards adults would be nice. The romances are popular on the paperbackswap site, but.... :lol:
Nate the Great, too! We have not read any of the Arthur chapter books, just the picture ones. Arthur Goes to Camp is his all-time favorite. Last Christmas dh surprised him by having the cover framed and hung in his bedroom. He freaked out! I have only been reading "school" books lately. Nothing that entertaining. Give me some suggestions!!
At our library, the Arthur chapter books are in a different area than the Arthur picture books & early readers. I haven't looked for them at stores, yet. There are also ones featuring Buster (from Arthur) & his travels. I'm pretty sure they're based on Postcards From Buster. The Magic Treehouse Books are at a 3rd grade level (I believe). You don't have to read them in order. They are basically historical fiction. These 2 kids found a magic treehouse, full of books, that travels in time. They have to go to different time periods to find certain things that the librarian who owns the treehouse needs. Some of the books also have research guides that give actual historical info about the time period. My ds3 loves having the Magic Tree house & Magic School bus books read to him. He's also really into the Berenstain Bears, the Arthur books, and Winnie the Pooh books. Everything else he likes in phases. He really enjoyed Over in the Jungle. Frog & Toad books (Frog and Toad together, etc.), Puff the Magic Dragon (we still have some of my books from childhood). Last year (when she was 8) dd read the Encyclopedia Brown Books. She started with the Boxcar Children Books, but didn't stick with them long. She really enjoyed the Series of Unfortunate events, but I have no idea what reading level those are. I know she read the Captain Underpants books, I think those are 3rd grade.
Hunter age 4 loves sandra boynton books, which are very very simple, anything by dr. seuss, magic school bus and darn near anything I am willing to read to him.
Oh, yes! Frog and Toad are so sweet. A short chapter book series I liked as a kid was the Cam Jansen Mysteries. Also, Jack has been obsessed with Corduroy lately. Don't know how I forgot that one!!
Series of Unfortunate Events is one I've wondered about as well. What's up with that one? I've seen the Cam Jansen ones - a girl detective, right? Are they girlie? Is anyone familiar with the Jigsaw Jones books?
BTW, if you guys haven'tseen this site you should really check it out www.bookcloseouts.com They've got really good prices. They don't have all the popular books, but the selection isn't horrible & you may find some books you've never even heard of (I know I have).
What about the Animal Ark books, or... there's another A to Z Mysteries or something. Anyone know anything about those? Level, content?
The Series of Unfortunate Events is about 3 kids who are orphaned. Each book in the series is about a different person they go to live with & the stuff that happens while they're there. There is one person who is trying to get custody of the kids, because he wants the fortune their parents had left them. So he kept causing all these bad things to happen to everyone they went to stay with.
The Series of Unfortunate Events should be read in order. It took dd a while to read them because we were borrowing them from the library & we always had to wait for the next one to be there.
For adults...anything by Francine Rivers. She writes christian fiction (don't let that put you off ). She writes a variety of styles - historical, adventrue, romance....they are all different, and all wonderful.
We have enjoyed the Cleary books with Beezuz, and Ramona, and I forget the boys name. We also did a few of the Tree House books but they got old fast. We might revisit them later.
I almost forgot about Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing & Super Fudge. I know there's more of them, those are the only two I remember though. I used to love those books & I know dd enjoyed them, too.
my 10 yr old was hard to pick for until I got him pegged- he didn't like Boxcar children or Magic Treehouse (said they were "boring" and frankly, I thought so too) He liked Island of the Blue Dolphins, Sign of the Beaver, Little House, Sing Down the Moon, Buffalo Kill, stuff like that. I can't just order a book for him, I have to put my hands on it or have read it myself to know if he'll like it.
