early reader - what to read?

[dsreaderwhizz]

Have namechanged so don't get accused of bragging, etc.

Although I've made a point of not teaching DS to read before starting school and not hot-housing him (I was taught to read aged 2 and hot-housed all my childhood), he's taught himself to read by just remembering the words from me reading to him - think he has a photographic memory.

As a result, DS has just started in Reception, and has already been put onto ORT stage 8 books and added to the school's G&T register. The problem is that many of the texts are too scary or unsuitable for him, especially as he's a deep-thinker and quite sensitive. Eg one non-fiction book he read, entitled "Shipwrecks", was great until half-way through when it started discussed bombed battleships (cue big discussions about war...). We've had a chat with his teacher and she's said that he will run out of books sometime before the end of the year due to the fact that he is reading so much above his age (2-3 years, I think) that many of the texts are unsuitable.

For those of you that have also had this problem, how did you resolve it? Did you go "off-piste" and do free-reading (and if so, which texts for boys?) or go down a level or two?

My ds loves Child's Garden of Verses - one of only 2 books I kept from my childhood. He's 4 and enjoys looking at the pictures!

Agree with Mabanana that Paddington is linguistically very difficult. I'd also point out that many youngsters find the original Pooh books quite heavy going. It's not the complex sentences as in Paddington, more the depth of it.

Dick King-Smith is great, particularly if your child likes animals; DS2 read lots of the shorter ones in Reception/Y1, and then re-read all the Sophie books at the beginning of Y2. He did read a Paddington novel in Y1, but it was out loud to me as a 'reading book', not independently for pleasure; the same with Winnie-the-Pooh.

Poetry? DC (age 4-9) hate poetry....
Mind, DS1 is 9yo and still reads Thomas-the-tank-engine annuals (on the sly).
I vote Astrosaurs series, cool collector cards, too.

IME boys love factual books and they would not be scary would they?

The more advanced Dr Seusses too - like Grinch, & Horton, & the Sleep Book. All of those got very dog-eared in this house. Again (plug plug) Book People is doing a bargain set - includes the simpler stuff too, though, which you mightn't be interested in now unless you've got a younger child too.

PS - a fluent keen re-reader is a good thing to try to encourage - ie, someone who is quite happy to settle down with a favourite again and again - doesn't have to be a whole fresh new book every time. Both of mine are enormous re-readers.

Yes, DS2 is a keen re-reader and often enjoys things much more the second or third time round. And he often dips in and out of things.

I forgot to say that comics are also a good way to go with fluent young readers. We've had great success variously with The Beano, DK FindOut, NG Kids, assorted TV linked things and, now they're older, The Simpsons.

dd2 has just started reception too and was assessed and given an ORT 10 as her first reading book. (not hot housed either - she's dc3 and has sn - in fact is statemented lol, but seems to have been memorising words as her brother and sister have been learning to read)
we actually asked if she could drop down a level or two for this reason - school were fine about it. i've got a meeting with her teacher this afternoon so will be asking a few questions along this line - i'll let you know if they have any professional opinion on the matter.
we did have the same thing with dd1 being given jacqueline wilson books about truancy and divorce at 7, but i had a quick word with the class teacher who took them out of circ. in the end i gave up - dd1 was fairly well-balanced and so read the harry potter books, at which point i couldn't really complain about unsuitable books at school.
dd2 is going to be another kettle of fish as she does have night terrors if she gets hold of anything inappropriate - so i'll let you know what the teach has to say...
it's tricky here - her brother and sister are 8 and 6, so we have all sorts of horrible histories and things to keep out of the way...

Have a look at some non fiction reading scheme books. For more exciting, but not scary fiction have a look at the olour young puffin type books - there are lots out there. Your local library will probably have lots - go and have a browse and make suggestions t school from them.

dd2 has come home with lots of books about doctors and dentists, and health visitors (as well as the ort book lol). her teacher just said they would let her choose what she wanted but they had to let her work through the scheme officially...
that said, she is currently reading some of the treetops stories, which seem fine!

Hi there

My older son (now 7) is a good reader too, and I agree there is a shortage of material for that young reader stage. Once your child gets to 6 years old it gets a lot easier. At the moment try short little books that can be read in one evening. From 6 yeasr, go onto books with several chapters and start losing the illustrations.

We have found the following really good (but many of these apply to 6-7 years):

Magic Tree House Series. Fairly easy. (Brother and sister, Jack and Annie go to a Tree House, every time they go they look in a different book and get transported to a different adventure, with some common themes running through the books). Mary Pope Osborne

Rascal the dinosaur series. Easy.(Paul Jennings?) These have very simple text about a pet dinosaur and his family adventures. The pictures look like they've been clipped from computer games - modern kids love these - but the stories have traditional themes and language.

Peter and Jane Ladybird Series. Easy.. progressively harder. Slightly stilted language but good for early reading skills.

Tashi series. 6+ years. Anna Fienberg. Stories about an elf like character who becomes part of a family. He tells stories of his life's experiences to the family's son and these form the content of the book (slight fantasy feel with a clever mini cliffhanger on every page to keep the pages turning).

Captain Underpants series. 6+ years. Dav Pilkey. Boys love this - silly stories and jokes about toilets, schoolboys and a headmaster who transforms into a Y-fronts wearing superhero.

Charlie Small series. 7+ years - absolutely brilliant series about a 400-year-old 8 year old boy (!) who has many adventures in far flung lands. My son will actually read these for an entire day without moving.

Zac Power series - 7+ years. Sci fi hero kid type stories that get read quickly.

Secret Seven and Famous Five. Enid Blyton. My son loves these , but due to the stilted language and long plot lines, he needs them to be read to him. There is a brilliant recent dramatisation of these stories on CDs (free in Daily Telegraph - might be able to buy them?).

Roald Dahl - 6+ years. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory etc. Still absolutely brilliant books.

I don't recommend Horrid Henry series - my child loved these books, but they gradually converted him into some horrid behaviour. Children just don't get the irony ... they just copy.

Happy reading.

The library gets really useful at 7+ years. It's just too expensive to buy 2 novels a week if you have an avid reader!

Thanks all for your replies, which are very helpful. I have now spoken again to ds's teacher and agreed that we will supplement the school's ORT books with some of our own books from home (which include many of those suggested above). Thanks all!