Suggestions for books for 5 yr old boy

[GDG]

Ds1 loves his reading but is really only reading his school books atm. It'd be nice if he had some books to read at home but most are too easy/babyish for him now.

At school he's on the year 2 books even though he is only in reception - the book he brought home the other day was like a diary and I don't think he 'got it' iyswim - it was like a secret diary and on one page had (in all different types of writing) 'Secret coming up' 'Stop' 'Do not read on pain of death' and then it was like a tongue in cheek joke which I knew he didn't get.

So, looking for age appropriate books for a 5 yr old that can read books probably for 7 year olds (as far as i can make out!)

[lionheart]

What kind of stuff does he like? Fiction or Non-Fiction?

[CrocodileKate]

How would he do with the Roald Dahl books? Ds 5 loves these being read to him.

[WellKnownMemorablePeachyClair]

DS (6) is reading (or rahter beingr ead- not a competentr eader on his own) the horrible science book and horrible histories of the world. he also ike the Hairy MaClary books, and artoon books- he got Superman fromthe library yesterday.

Ds2 (5) loves the raibow Fish books, and anything that rhymes- we currently have Mr Magee Got a Flea.

I think the best thing would be to take him into Waterstones a nd let him choose- they tend to make very sensible selections for their ability and I think its good for them to feel at home in bookshops.

[keziah]

definatley agree about roald dahl. The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox are our favourites. I like the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel too, and how about the little wooden horse? You'd probably need to read that to him but its a great story.

[popsycal]

there are some great shorter books by famous authors - the finger eater by dick king smith for exmple - in a range that I reckon your ds1 could read on his own.....

let me see if I can find the name of the series...

[popsycal]

'sprinters'

there atre some by anne fine, jaqueline wilson etc too

ds1 (almost 4) LOVES the finger eater. about 4 short chapters obviously read to him though.
ds1 could read it to ds2...

[popsycal]

here you go
\linkwww.walkerbooks.co.uk/Books/By-Category/Young-Fiction-Walker-Sprinter\sprinters books}

[popsycal]

try again - sprinters

[popsycal]

or these
but may be too easy for him if he is reading pretty much independently....}

[TooTicky]

Libraries are fab. Go and spend some time there rather than dashing in and choosing quickly. Most libraries have lovely children's areas these days. It's a nice relaxed way for children to discover what they like.

[lionheart]

My DS 1 (4), says he's happy with any books, as long as they have fighting in them.

He's pestering me to read him 'Macbeth' 'cos of the picture of a man and a sword on the front. Humph!

[southeastastra]

the tiger that came to tea is a great book my ds(4) loves it because its so bizarre

[suzywong]

Maurice sendak did a fantastic collection of small, less than A5 books, one of which was Chicken Soup with Rice. Ds1 loves those, I think the rhyme element is very encouraging for them

[singersgirl]

DS2, who will be 5 at the end of August, likes a lot of the shorter Dick King-Smith stuff, though even that has got some concepts he doesn't quite get.

He's also read "The Enormous Crocodile" which is a good early Dahl. He still likes a lot of the Colour Young Puffins, which are easy for him, but have colour pictures which he still enjoys.

[ladymuck]

Would second the library for choosing.

Ds1 must be at around the same stage. M&S do some Early reader books in Hardback that go down well. He also likes the Mister Men books. But I usually find that some of the Ladybird books go down best (I've got a selection from a charity shop). Whilst his reading is good I find that he doesn't have to sticking power to mange to read chapter types books to himself that often(though we do Horrid Henry, Dahl and Narnia at bedtime). We have also bought a couple of joke books. Ds1 doesn't seem to "get" comics yet, though I suspect that that will change over the summer.

[roisin]

Loads of suitable sets from the Book People GDG. Try these:

Treetops
More Treetops
Dennis the Menace if you can face it
these Dick King Smith ones should be about right
even more Treetops books here
Fantastic Value from the Book People - don't forget to look at their poetry and non-fiction sections too; as many boys enjoy those more.

If you encourage him this summer holidays he'll soon be flying and will just read anything. He'll soon be ready for these - ds1 loved these stories, but ds2 never liked them!

Well, I could spend a fortune on your behalf
Have fun shopping!

[roisin]

If you are library members and are able to visit the library often look out for \link{http://www.readingmission.org.uk/The Reading Mission} this summer. It's a great way to encourage kids to keep up their reading over the hols, and challenge themselves to read more books.

[roisin]

Oops - sorry, try that again:
The Reading Mission

[singersgirl]

We have got that Dick King-Smith set, Roisin, and DS2 is working his way through them. DS2 likes Sophie as well, and his big brother (nearly 8) still does. We have the Dennis the Menace set too, but DS1 won't let DS2 look at them because they are 'his'!

It depends a lot on what his interests are, too, GDG - DS2 likes animals so Dick King-Smith is a good bet, but DS1 never liked the animal stories. DS1 at the same age was much keener on Transformers and science fiction stuff.

Your DS might also like the Magic Treehouse series - American but available from Amazon.co.uk. The first is called "Dinosaurs before Dark", I think. DS1 loved them, but DS2 isn't interested.

[GDG]

Wow, this is all brilliant - just what I was looking for! Good old MN!

Will have a good look through all these links and see what might be best! I quickly looked at popsycal's links and ds1 read all the book titles so looks like they could be good.

Actually, hadn't even thought about holidays - that's a good point. Definitely need to think about keeping him reading over the summer!

[popsycal]

just re-read the finger eater to ds1 at bedtime - it is great. Some tricky words in it at times so may need a bit of help here and there. But definitely would understand the story - ds1 isn't 4 until August and is fine with it being read to him. Sort chapters are great for emerging readers.

[fennel]

Horrid Henry is very popular with many of the 4-6 year olds I know.

[SoMuchToBits]

My ds sounds like he is at a similar stage too. He really likes the "My Thomas Story Library" series of Thomas the Tank engine books, not the original Rev Awdry books (although he likes us to read those to him), but the ones retold in simpler language. He can read most of the words in those, and enjoys reading them by himself.

[Marina]

If he is OK with Year 2 books to read (sounds like ds, who was lucky enough to zoom through acquiring reading skills GDG) he might enjoy some of the Usborne Early Readers - they do excellent volumes of Greek Myths, King Arthur Stories etc. Lots of illustrations, nicely produced.
Jason and the Argonauts had ds gripped so much on holiday he hid in a wardrobe to finish it in peace!

[GDG]

LOL @ 'hid in a wardrobe'! That sounds like the approach I should take to reading a book!

This is all great and I'm going to take ds1 out this Saturday to a bookshop - at least now I have some titles to 'target'!