coloured book bands for 'real' books

[misshardbroom]

Further to the thread last week about the coloured book bands (pink, red, yellow, blue, green, orange etc) and how they relate to the 'levels' on different reading schemes, I wondered if anyone knows of any useful source to find out what band different 'real' books would belong to?

For instance, my DD can read this but she can't read this.

The summer holidays are approaching and I can't face 6 weeks of Biff, Chip and Kipper... I just can't. Obviously I want to keep her reading ticking over and I think it would boost her confidence to be able to read real books from the library.

[pollywobbledoodle]

my dd is at a similar level....she can read a range called tadpole books which they have at the library eg stroppy poppy ....our library will tell you which ranges will suit best

[gingernutlover]

probably a good idea to just go to the library and choose a selection, some for her to read to you, some for her to share with you.

The book bands book which schools should have, does (I think, was a few months ago i banded our books at school) list books other than reading schemes so if you ask very nicely at school they might beable to let you see it or photocopy the bits for you - it is massive though

also, the book people and bananas.co.uk do very cheap books. I got my little girl a set by jez alborough and they are all about the same level, got about 10 books for £10 i think. Also, I got some daisy duck books that are quite easy.

[gingernutlover]

book banding book

this is the book on amazon

not suggesting you wnat to buy it obviously, but so you know what it looks like

[zeke]

Whilst the book banding book is an excellent resource for schools, it bands lots of reading scheme books - not 'regular' books so probably isn't that useful for a parent like yourself.

What book band is your daughter on? I have some idea of how some 'regular' books relate to the bands, so maybe I/we can suggest some of that level/1-2 levels above.

[misshardbroom]

Great, thanks for this Zeke. She's reading green books, the school uses all ORT but varies between the Biff / Chip / Kipper stuff and Songbirds.

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

[SomeGuy]

Beatrix Potter has some very difficult words that many 11 years won't know. Thomas the Tank Engine is quite similar, they actually sell more dumbed down versions than original stories for this reasons.

There are some better books than that Biff&Kipper shite though, the Banana series are quite good. Here's an amazon affiliate that's done a nice job of presenting them:

astore.amazon.co.uk/readingscheme-21?_encoding=UTF8&node=60&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
www.bookswelove.co.uk/

[seeker]

I wouldn't bother about book banding and colours and so on for out of school reading. Just take her to the library and/or the charity shop and let her get piles and piles of books. Some she'll like, some she won't - some will be too hard, some will be too easy. It doesn't matter - she'll have a good time.

I think it's really important that they don't think of reading as a school only thing, if you see what I mean.

[noideawhereIamgoing]

Would just go to the library and choose books primarily based on interest and containing a similar number of words and size of text as the school books and progress from there - I agree with seeker, kids shouldn't see books as a purely school based homework activity.

[zeke]

I would check out the library before buying a load of books. I find it a lot easier to have a look for the right level books for him when he isn't with me!

Library books my son has at the moment:
leapfrog books (blue band ish)
Hopscotch books (green band + ish)

I think usborne first reading, level four would be about the right level, too. Same as the 'Ladybird tales' series. DK readers, too.

My son is on blue band at the moment and will read pages from harder books, if I share the reading. e.g. I read a page/paragraph and then he will. That way we enjoy books like the Mr men series, happy families (purple band ish), puffin young readers (gold band ish).

There are a lot of stand alone titles (e.g. not series of books as I have mentioned above), too, that will be appropriate. Again, though, I find going to the library and having a quick flick through the books give me a good impression of whether he would be able to read it himself or cope with reading pages of a longer text by shared reading with me.

I tend to get out 20 books each time I go (10 on each of our tickets!) - some a good for me to read him as a story, some are good as a shared read and some he will read himself. I cannot recommend the library enough for really getting a feel of what books will be right.

[zeke]

Forgot to add - green bananas will probably be about the right level for your DC and blue bananas a bit more challenging.

[singersgirl]

I used to do what Zeke says - either go without the children or leave them looking at books while I browsed the Early Readers section of the library for the 'right' level. I used to find in those early days that they would choose things quite randomly and just get put off or upset if it was too hard. They liked all the things that Zeke suggests - various Bananas, the Usborne Young Readers series, Happy Families and other Ahlberg books, Colour Young Puffins and Hippos (DS2 particularly liked some books called The Witch's Dog).

I do understand wanting to pitch it right when you feel they're just getting into the swing of things.

[singersgirl]

I used to do what Zeke says - either go without the children or leave them looking at books while I browsed the Early Readers section of the library for the 'right' level. I used to find in those early days that they would choose things quite randomly and just get put off or upset if it was too hard. They liked all the things that Zeke suggests - various Bananas, the Usborne Young Readers series, Happy Families and other Ahlberg books, Colour Young Puffins and Hippos (DS2 particularly liked some books called The Witch's Dog).

I do understand wanting to pitch it right when you feel they're just getting into the swing of things.

[karise]

Green Bananas (Jack's Bed etc)

Farmyard Tales (Usborne books)- have easy story at top of page, harder for parents or more confident readers at bottom. We had the CD too which DD loved! Audio books are great for this stage.

Dora the Explorer type books

Letterland are excellent if you want phonics based!

Better still, get an old leapPad & some books for it on ebay, your DD will be kept quiet and learning for hours and can press to be told any words they don't understand!