advice on books for 5 year old bookworm please!

[tanzie]

DD1 is in Reception and is on Oxford Reading Tree Stage 6. Her teacher does not want her to go any further at present as she says the next stages up are for children of 7-8, and whereas DD1 will probably cope with the text, she probably won't cope with the plot. So we are now going backwards through stages 5 & 4. I am not "Pushy Mother" (honest!) but DD1 is clearly bored with the books she has. She reads Cat in the Hat at home, also Ladybird Phonics and Fairy Tales, her Angelina comics, and pretty much anything she can get her hands on. Can anyone recommend anything else that will grab her interest? And is it really true that she is unlikely to cope with the plot of the next stages?

[hercules]

My ds did the same scheme andthey simply carried on to the next book each time they finished one so that each child was on adifferent book depending how many they had read iyswim. Go to somewhere like WHSmiths where they set out the books according to ability. We let ds choose this way with a little guidance.
You can buy OR tree books individually from some book shops and m & s do large hard back books to go with this scheme that ds really liked with the same characters. Def worth a look.

[meanmum]

I don't know if this is for the right age or not so ignore it if it's too advanced but I loved the Enid Blighton books about all the toys in the cupboard that came to life. She might need help with some of the words but I remember reading them again and again even when I was too old for them. I just loved all Enid Blighton books to be honest.

Another thing I think is great in this country is that our library (central London)sells old books that they don't want anymore really cheap. I don't know if yours does this but it might be worth asking as you may get some cheap ones this way and even if they aren't all relevant for her age at the moment she will always grow into them.

[jmg]

DD was the same but there were lots of extension reading schemes. So she did 360 degree books and lots of others.

I think it was the 360 books that were particularly good for developing the expression in reading. Then after easter she moved onto ORT level 7 and then did extention reading after than.

There shouldn;t be any reason to re-read books. There are lots of suitable books whether from a reading scheme or not.

Have you tried her with some non-fiction books? My DD got really into these at around this stage!

[jmg]

BTW - the books Meanmum is talking about is Amelia Jane series. These are really good and will be testing for her - so she won't be bored!

[jampot]

Tanzie - my dd was the same as yours. She'd finished ORT by the end of year 1 and simply couldn't read enough. I bought her the Animal Ark books which she still has and the Magic Pony books (which I think are excellent for young age and older reading ability). The problem is that her reading ability will belie her maturity to handle complex storylines.

[carla]

Bllocks! DD1 is one of the youngest in her Year 1 class, and is middle of the road in reading. Last week we had a friend from school over, who Anna had already told me was reading 'chapter' books (ie, with no pics in them). Took all three to the newsagent to pick a magazine (ostensibly to colour in while we waited for our meal to arrive) to find dd1's friend actually reading it. DD1's friend's mother arrived later, with 7 yo son, and when I commented on it she said her daughter had actually overtaken her son. I'd encourage it as much as possible. I loved reading as a child, and if it's something they enjoy then sd the teacher and just take her to the library as often as she wants.

[mummysurfer]

dd was the same and still is..
she's 8 now, but story content has to be for a younger child with a high reading ability.
she loved
Dick King Smith's Sophie stories.
utterly me clarice bean -can't remember author but this was a BIG hit
Rahmona stories, can't think of author.
Enid Blyton - Magic Faraway Tree 3 in one book
Enid Blyton - Wishing Chair stories
Enid Blyton - Family Stories

last 3 currently available in cheap book shops like the Book Depot

she doesn't like Jacqueline Wilson, who I'd say would suit early teens but lots of her friends do.
she didn't like dick king smith's animal stories

[mummysurfer]

Oh, and what about Noddy?

[hmb]

Dd loved Horrid Henry. Not chapter books, but 3 stories in each book, still with some pictures.

[jampot]

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is by Lauren Child

DD has it and loves it still - ds's class read it as a whole class thing and they all loved it.

[hmb]

And the Dahl books.

I'd try to stay away from the school reading scheme, or she will be even more bored in school when she has to read them again. I'd go for anythingthat broadens out her reading. Dd went through 4 reading schemes at each level, which has done wonders for her vocabulary.

I'd hit the local library and let her choose. Then you can find out which styles she likes best at no cost to you.

[roisin]

I agree with hmb - stay away from 'reading schemes' and 'early readers' (they get enough of these at school, and even the very good ones get a bit tiresome after a while!) Encourage her to tackle anything and everything. She can re-read her old picture books, or things like Usborne Farmyard Tales. When you're reading a bedtime story, give her opportunity to read a sentence or a paragraph to you, and help her and encourage her if she gets stuck. The library is a great place to start, or Ebay if you know what you're looking for. Favourites in this house at that stage were:
Dick King-Smith - Sophie Stories, Dragon Boy, and the Cuckoo Child
Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox and The Giraffe the Pelly and Me

[WideWebWitch]

Charlotte's Web, Roald Dahl?

[tanzie]

Thank you! I was thinking of Enid Blyton - hadn't heard of some of the others. I'm not in UK - but I'm off to Amazon now!

[KatieMac]

My DD (6) is at just the same stage - she loves Enid Blyton and we bought the book & tape of Enchanted Wood and she read them after listening to them.
She also loves the Angelina books (no problem with plot there)
And I like her readin Beatrix Potter and again this is very suitable.
She also adores Pippi Longstocking - again the book & tape option (she only really struggles on proper names)
The Library can give advise on suitable books
The only problem I have is that she reads - when she should be cleaning her teeth, eating her tea, getting dressed, should be asleep etc

[tanzie]

Angelina, mmm, we have books, magazines, videos. She reads the mags and the books quite happily, but I have to say I am really sick of that mouse as DD2 (who is 3) copies all of Angelina's "strops!"

Think I shall go for the Enchanted Wood, which I enjoyed as a child...

[meanmum]

Another good thing is our local library has book sales of old books each month or two. They are generally selling adult books but often I find a heap of kids books on sale for things like 5p or 10p. I buy books that are too old for ds yet, or so I think, for when we can read them in the future. They're all battered and bruised books but I don't mind that as when he and his friends are together if they rip the pages (he's just 2) I don't get as stressed as for his good books.

Why not see if your library do book sales or suggest it might be something they want to undertake to make a bit of money for themselves and get rid of the really grotty children's books they don't want anymore.

This way, if they do it or start it you can take your dd down there to choose some books of her own to buy that won't cost you a fortune. Other thing is to take her bargain hunting at the charity shops who always have books very cheap. If she feels she is buying her own books she'll love them even more.

I have such a passion for books I want each child I come across to have the same.

The Magic Faraway Tree and the others are all favourites of mine to this day. I can still read them and have them remind me of the special times I had with them when I was young.

[Elvis]

Ds had finished all the scheme books for KS1 by the end of the first term in reception. The library has been our saviour. ds has always been a bookworm.
Current favourites are Horrid Henry stories, Harry the Poisonous Centipede, lots of Roald Dahl and the Beano.
I doubt the ORT will keep her attention anyway.

Good luck.

[Elvis]

Oh, he's 5 too.

[Marina]

Tanzie, ds adores the Arabel and the Raven books, by Joan Aiken and illustrated by the ever wonderful Quentin Blake. They have just been reissued by an independent publisher, she might like them when she is a bit older (ds is having them read to him at present).
If you are in Brussels there is an excellent children's bookseller in Tervuren who specialises in English language material. She would be glad to advise I am sure.

[tanzie]

Marina,

Treasure Trove???

[Posey]

I would agree with Roald Dahl.Dd loves them and so do we! We bought a slipcase of 10 titles from The Book People for £9.99 (worth about £50)
She also loves non fiction. Woolies are doing some great "encyclopaedias" on all sorts of subjects for £4.99. Dd loves her one on earth and space.
Enid Blyton also gets my vote.

[Cod]

Message withdrawn

[kiwisbird]

Take her to the library and let her choose, you cannot restrict a childs reading
We got told that our DS may be able to read the older kids books but he doesn't understand them.. BOLLOX how will he ever understand them if he doesn't get exposed to them?
He was reading Harry Potter at 7, he adored Roald Dahl and Dr Seuss at age 5, Dick King Smith too
There are so many just let her go on them!
Hell I was reading Dick Francis (I went through all the kids pony stories) when I was 8 yrs old!

[frogs]

Agree with all the book suggestions -- I know this situation as my dd1 was reading chapter books in Reception, but was being sent home from school with ORT level 2 books.

Would also recommend 'Mr. Majeika' books by Humphrey Carpenter. Greek myths and legends are also good, there are various editions of varying merit in bookshops. Also nonfiction books (Dorling Kindersley are good here).

Take no notice of anything the school tell you, they're trying to make life easy for themselves by minimising the spread of reading levels in the class. I've heard from a classroom assistant that there's a deliberate policy in dd1's school of keeping back her and another good reader 'so they don't get too far ahead'. FFS!

A good reader at this age will tackle a book even without being able to read all the words in isolation; they seem to skip across the gaps using the bits they can make sense of. This should be encouraged, not discouraged on the grounds of 'It's too hard for you, dear.' If the plot is complicated, you can ease her into a new book/author by reading it to her, or by listening to a tape version. I still use this technique to get dd1 into reading something I know she'd enjoy.

You may later encounter the problem we now have, with an 8 y,o. who has read pretty much all the children's classics and contemporary authors, in that the next stage on from 8-11 fiction tends to be aimed at a teenage market and major on sx, drugs and teenage pregnancy. Again the classics can help: we've listened to the Odyssey on tape (ds, 5yo enjoyed it too, although only listened to bits) and some Dickens.

Sd the school, and encourage her to keep going -- you and she are in for a great time!