Advanced 1st - Need advanced reading level but young content

[mamaofredheads]

We are doing MFW 1st grade this year with my 6.5yo. He is a huge reader - he LOVES to read. I can't keep up with him as far as screening books. He's read the E.B. White books and loved them, the Mouse and the Motorcycle, etc. He recently started reading the Magic Treehouse books, which we were a little bit iffy about, but let him read anyway. He's around book #17 or so, and in our conversation with him this evening, he basically stated that - yes, he does believe that everything he reads is true. So when he's reading about evolution or magic or spells or ghosts or meteors hitting the earth when the dinosaurs were around, or Greek gods, he is more inclined to believe that than what we tell him.

Now, we knew this was a possibility. We've heard David Hazell say things about only teaching the children TRUTH until a certain age, rather than confusing them with "some people believe this, but we don't." For some reason, we didn't listen to that advice like we should.

So.....are there any good books from Magic Treehouse - Charlotte's Web reading levels that don't have scientific or mythological things we don't believe, and also don't have kids with bad attitudes in them?

Thanks,
Deb
Mommy to Isaac (6.5), Noah (3.5), Lydia (2), Micah (12mo)

Have you looked at the Boxcar Children books? My ds still loves them at 11. I only read a couple in the beginning to be sure they were ok. (ds is old enough now that he will let me know if there's something in them that we would consider wrong.) I like them because the brothers & sisters are all kind to each other. We skip the ones with ghost or haunted in the title, but there are only a few of those.

Our library has also recently started carrying some of the Trailblazer books. I'm not sure what reading level those are, but you might check those as well.

HTH!
Glenna

[Julie in MN]

Oooh, books! I love book discussions

Boxcar Children -- I like books 1-19, which are written by the original author.

Billy & Blaze -- nice series for this age.

And remember that even if he is "able" to read longer chapter books, he doesn't actually "need" to read at that level. He may plow thru picture books very fast, but there are lots of them out there. I never am afraid to give my kids books that "look young." They have plenty of adult years to read all the rest of the books! As you mentioned, he might not be ready for the kinds of jokes & conflicts & such that he will run into, since he's not in the target age group for regular chapter books.

Here are some previous ideas, too:
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3868

[hollybygolly]

I have all girls, so if these recommendations are too girly just disregard:

~Young Cam Jensen mysteries
~The Cul-De-Sac Kids
~Janette Oke's Animal Friends
~Encyclopedia Brown (I read these when I was little...can't remember if they're questionable...read through first)

[erikdeb]

Thanks so far!

Yes, I know he can/should read books below his reading level. He does. I could use good suggestions on those, too. He just reads so MUCH, that I can't possibly have enough books on-hand for him if they're all picture books. We get all of the math suggestions from the 1st grade TM. And you should've see how many books we got for each topic in K!!! We have a limit of 50 books at the library, and even with the Magic Treehouse books, we are at our limit and he's not exactly satisfied. But, anyway, thanks for the suggestions - and I'll take more - he's particularly interested in series, but he does like the picture books, too.

Deb
Mommy to Isaac (6.5), Noah (3.5), Lydia (2), Micah (12mo)

[BHelf]

I worry about what my daughter reads too. As a 1st grader, I wasn't sure if she can remember that everything in a book or on tv isn't always true and stuff. I had tried to preview every book (I mean every one) but I am not fast enough to do all of that. SO we have stuck to picture books for now. I sit in the library picking them out--if the title is questionable I don't even pick it up. Otherwise, I'll flip through the book (not reading every word) to make sure I think it's okay.

The good thing (well sometimes it's not so good) is that she still wants me to read most of these to her instead of taking books to read all by herself. Or she'll read a book outloud to me. She's not that into reading on her own even though she's great at it. Not sure how you got your 1st grader to do that--let me know!! She's a wonderful reader...just not as interested in doing it on her own like I was at that age. She does however really enjoy books...as long as someone else reads them.

Also, for picking out the picture books in the library, I finally decided on a good system for me. I started with the "A" authors and go down the shelves until I hit my 50 book limit. When I read them all, I start back with where I left off! I have done this probably 4 or 5 times now and I'm only on E or F, I think. My library is very small. But I figure I'll start all over again when we hit "Z". Never hurts to read something twice.

[cbollin]

Consider adding in non-fiction books.

Consider getting a magazine subscription to something like God' World News and getting it at his AGE level, not reading level. here's a link for that and you get a discount and MFW gets some proceeds from that link that go to Bible translation. https://www.gwnews.com/mfw/index.cfm?CF ... N=75173897

or maybe there are other quality magazine ideas for his age. Reading doesn't have to be the next grade level fiction book either.

and consider getting books that are about how to do various crafts and such so he can learn to do other things with his time as well. I've regretted letting my oldest read too much "older fiction" too early, but have never regretted letting her read how to crochet and cross stitch on her own.

-crystal

[erikdeb]

That is a GREAT idea of how to choose picture books. I have ALWAYS felt so lost going into the picture book section of the library. Like I said, he does like picture books a lot - he just reads them too fast.

I never intended for him to start reading these "older" books. I actually started with Stuart Little, as a read-aloud. We did one chapter a day. Well, at least that was the plan. What really happened was that I read the first chapter the first day, didn't think much of what would happen next, put it in the library basket instead of up on a shelf, let the kids have some free time, and before I knew it, Isaac was on chapter 6. Similar thing happened with Winnie the Pooh. so I started just getting books for him. I wasn't sure how he was comprehending them, but he just LOVED them so much. When he cried when Charlotte died in Charlotte's Web, I didn't feel so concerned about getting those books for him anymore. But I also really like the Magic Treehouse level of books - those are much more age-appropriate - I just don't know of many to give him.

I've wanted that magazine before, but have always been too cheap. maybe I'll give in now. We can get the pre-K-3rd summer ones, then 2ne-3rd next year, and maybe the younger one for his little brother, and he'll be able to read both. He does get the Ranger Rick magazine for his age level, and reads the whole thing in about 10 minutes.

He does do a little non-fiction, and really enjoys learning. I guess I just get a little hung up because I don't have a good way of choosing what to get books about. It was easier in K, when we always had a topic to focus on, I think.

Thanks so much! This is really helpful.

Deb
Mommy to Isaac (6.5), Noah (3.5), Lydia (2), Micah (12mo)

[my3boys]

We love love love Paddington Bear books - they are so fun!

The first books my ds read were the 'My Father's Dragon' trilogy which is a fantasy story but very much for young children and very innocent.

We also like Clyde Bulla's historical fiction.

I use the Sonlight reader lists - we start at the first level and continue working our way through them until we hit the grade 2 advanced readers - by then they are ready for books that go with their studies or for harder novels.

[doubleportion]

We love the Book of Matt series.We found them at Rainbow Resources. Great character building stories! They are Matthew and Goliath, My Shoes Got the Blues & Matt's Birthday Blessing.

[lyntley]

The Sugar Creek Gang series.