Thank you so much for encouraging us to read above the level you think your child will understand. Recently we began to read Charlotte’s Web with our 5yo son because the play is coming to our area and we needed to know the story since we didn’t read it as children. To our surprise and amazement he is really enjoying it!! No matter what he’s doing, if I say “Let’s read some Charlotte’s Web” he jumps up enthusiastically and runs to the couch to read. This is such a fun adventure with him. My question is, what other chapter books would be appropriate for his age? Since he’s still young, are there unabridged versions with a few more pictures than the junior book we borrowed from the library? Thanks for your wonderful work and ministry.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Strohmeyer, Gilbert, Iowa
How about these:
The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds
books by Marguerite Henry
books by Will James
books by Lois Lenski
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Blind Colt by Glenn Rounds
My kids loved Wind in the Willows and the books by Thornton Burgess when they were younger.
I read the Dickens history to my kids too. It’s a great book and makes English history interesting. I consider it one of the best pieces of curricula I used in homeschooling.
My dad read “A Child’s History of England” by Charles Dickens when my youngest sisters were probably around 5ish in age.
We had a bit of the spread of ages and as he read it after dinner while we were still all at the table, it had to appeal to all of us to a greater or lesser extent.
You can proof it for free at various public domain sites such as Project Gutenberg.
My own memory of it is that it was engrossing, entertaining and enlightening for most of us around the table at each our various levels. And it probably contributed greatly to my enjoyment of Dickens to this day.
Our kids first book that they read aloud while learning to read (after the Bob books) was The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe – this was when they were four. They all LOVED that entire series. I’m a huge fan of reading original texts such as the Iliad and the Odyssey instead of “children’s versions” of the books.
My 8 yo old who reads at second or third grade level and likes to read OK, but loves to listen was sick yesterday. I sat and read some, but when I had to be up with the little people, getting lunch etc. she listened to The Door In The Wall by de Angeli and just loved it. Whole book in one day. Of course I normally have to limit her listening as she would do nothing else!!