Have you continued reading bedtime stories to dc once they are fairly fluent readers, and if so, what books have they enjoyed?

I am currently reading Inkspell to DD1 who is 10 (taking rather a long time about it because we usually only get 15 minutes by the time the other two are sorted out). DH and I are often reading different books to DD2 (7) she has a special passion for those My Story history books so at the moment I am reading her War Nurse (educational but SO badly written) and I think DH is reading her Prisoner of Azkaban.

I hate reading aloud and also nobody bothered reading to me after I could read, so I don't really see why I should but thankfully DH is a bit more reasonable about all this! He has read all of Lord of the Rings to DS1 (now 8) and is currently reading the Harry Potter series to DS2 (6).

EB - BookPeople has a set of three poetry anthologies compiled by Anne Fine - called A Shame to Miss - which I have got in the Christmas stash. They look really good.

EB - as you can probably guess, I am a bit rigorous about poetry - it has to be Proper Poetry, and Good. None of that greeting-card formula stuff you get in supermarket collections ...

Good publishers = good anthologies, I think - so this Oxford collection is worth having (and that page has some good links, inc Read Me and Laugh, which we love). I also get lots of use out of my old battered Norton anthologies, which you probably still have from college days. Dd discovered William Carlos Williams for herself out of there (plums in icebox poem, of course). I'd also look around in your local library, as they're usually good for anthologies.

DS1 (7.4) is currently working his way through the Harry Potters. We read to him a few pages and then he finishes the chapter before lights out. We are currently on the 4th one. I think we need to stop for a while as the later ones are a bit more grown up, as Harry is, and a lot darker - probably too dark for a boy of 7.

We have also read Stig of the Dump, Charlottes Web and all the Jeremy Strong books which are funny. Some of the Roahl Dahls are aimed at older children, like Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

My SIL is getting him the Narnia books for Christmas too.

He also likes the Cressida Cowell books like How to Train a Dragon and How to be a Pirate which are good too. Depends how girly your DD is though as they might not appeal to some girls.

Well was going to say Land of Green Ginger but have been beaten to it (several times!)

The thing is, once they can read to themselves fluently, what you read to them needs to be something where the reading-aloud process adds value - LoGG perfect for this, as there are those among us who enjoy a right old pantomime camp-up of the characters.

Poetry is a good one for this, as it's a rare child who can make as good sense of a poem as can be done when it's read well. So that's my main thing - though I get competition now - dd & I had a little tussle the other day over who could do a more expressive "Ozymandias"

The Moomin books? Green Smoke and Dragon In Danger by Rosemary Manning.

Mine both loved them.

I still read to DS#1 who is 10 and occassionally to 8 yr old DD (when she lets me). I would really miss it.

Tom's Midnight Garden is a lovely book to read out loud.

Gah! Am now itching to go onto amazon and order yet more books for the dcs for christmas. They don't really count as presents do they

No, we stopped

Every now and then, if we can fit it in, they both jump into my bed and we all snuggle up and read an old favourite of theirs (like 'Wanted, Have you Seen This Alligator' or a chapter from a non-fiction book that they really enjoy especially Greek myths, they love those stories!).

Agree with Seeker. It's a lovely bonding thing for the child and parent - and a way to share their love of books.

Also you could use it as a way to introduce them to books they don't quite feel capable of reading on their own yet - books written a longish time ago, for instance, where the language may seem a little old-fashioned or over-descriptive.

I recently read Rosemary Sutcliffe's Robin Hood to my two older ones. They wouldn't have read this on their own - too much flowery description of Sherwood Forest at the beginning of each chapter! - but they loved listening to it.

Oh - I keep meaning to get the Little House on the Paerie books. My dd may like them too (we all like reading together sometimes).

Seeker that's lovely.

We still read to ds (7), then he has half an hour of reading alone in bed when he might continue with our book or read something else.

Things he has recently enjoyed:
Danny the Champion of the world
Tom's midnight garden
Lion, witch and wardrobe
The borrowers
Spydog

He loves all the Harry Poyyers we have read so far too (we are half was through Order of phoenix) but have had to abandon late night reading of them as he gets too scared - vv over active imagination!

I totally agree with you, and I think it is one of DS's lovely things still. Because his sister is either in bed or being read to by the other parent and we snuggle up in bed together and sometimes we also talk about things that have happened in the day. He also loves reading to me. When he was still learning to read I used to avoid doing it at bedtime, but now that it is just practice it is no problem and means that DD is not inserting herself between him/me/the book.

DS often rereads the harry potter chapter next day, but I think reading it with DH helps him take in the story more.

Yes - we always have a story in the evening, plus DD reading to me when its her school reading night (she's 8 and doesn't have to do it every day now).

Currently working through Atticus the Storytellers 100 Greek myths. She keeps begging for 'just one more' so we're getting through about 10 a night!

She chooses. Sometimes Dr Seuss for twisting my poor old tongue or things that benefit from silly voices - not necessarily anything that would be hard for her to read.

Also things like the Narnia stories (stopped short of the Last Battle as yet) and Roald Dahl eg Danny the Champion of the world

I like the idea of Little House on the Priory. Very Anthony Trollope.

(sorry - I'll get my coat)

I think reading and being read to are completely different things.

Little house on the prairy.

Marina's post has started making me think about what I read as a girl rather than what DS reads now. But I do have a DD as well but she is still stuck with princesses and fairies and Dora.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is a lovely idea, I loved those and re-read them loads of times

Land of Green Ginger! LOVE that. Most communication between my brother an I constits of quotations from it!

Ramona the Pest
Pippi Longstocking
Heidi

What Katy did.