Y1 niece losing interest in reading - book suggestions please

[fatfloosie]

My sister is concerned that her DD who is in Y1 is losing interest in reading and getting her to do any is a nightmare (reads a couple of words then goes to do a headstand etc). She is wondering if there are any reading books with more appealing fairy/princess type content.

DSis is not au fait with book bands etc. She says DN is on yellow but does not know if this is book band or ORT level. As DN is quite bright I'm guessing this is Yellow ORT (which would fit with the other thing DSis said which is that the class brainbox is on gold) and therefore green/orange book band.

Can anyone suggest any suitable books?

She could try the Rainbow Magic books. DD is also year 1, I'm sure she started reading them at around orange level.

Word of warning though - there are about a bajillion books in the series, they come in mini-series of 7 throughout, with a few one-offs thrown in (normally these have sparkly covers, and are eg Xmas/event related). They all have more or less identical plots and will drive you round the twist if you (or your DSis) ends up reading them aloud.

Other than that, DD has read some Felicity Wishes books (more fairies), Magic Pony/Unicorn/etc. There's a Julia Donaldson book called Princess Mirror-Belle which she enjoyed, too. If I think of any more I'll let you know.

I second rainbow magic though thankfully dd has grown out of them as they all had the same plotline and outcome!

Ellen Miles writes a series of books about dogs. Can't remember what the series is called (Puppy something?), but one of the titles is Goldie. These are very popular at my school.

There is also a series called Jewel Princesses, which the girls like.

There is a series called Secret Kingdom, which dd loves. You can join a club online and get sent some very nice bits through the post - www.secretkingdombooks.com/

The Usborne First Reader/Young Reader series have a bit of Princess books. Otherwise have a look at the Disney Princess books, not only the original tales but you get various Tinkerbell/Princess stories.

DD likes the Little Princess line. That's a series where a girl can travel through time and places and helps princesses solving a mystery or problem. A bit better than the usual "I faint if I break a nail" type of story.

If they have a decent stocked library nearby let the niece choose a couple and if she likes a particular line she can have more.

noramum those Little Princess books sound like something my DD would love but I've only heard of the Tony Ross A Little Princess books, obviously not the same thing! Do you know who the author of those ones are?

M&S do quite good children's books - they have a few sentences on one side and the most important line is repeated on the opposite page, so you can read one side and the dc can read the other. They have all the fairy tales, and mine love them still. They have an educational adviser so the language is suitable for young children.

I mean these ones

www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Princesses-Dream-Catcher-Katie-Chase/dp/0099488353/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353011832&sr=1-2

A couple of the Rainbow Magic books are now available as Early Readers. Easier on the eye for developing readers and with colour illustrations.

Hi fatfloosie:

The guardian did a lovely spread about how to build a classic children's library here: www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/building-a-children-s-library.

There's lots of ideas there.

HTH

How about the Lucky Wish Mouse by Clara Vullimy? Or Angelina Ballerina?

Incidentally, my DS is in Y1 and is exactly the same with reading. He loves books, loves writing but I really have to prod him to read anything. He's also on 'yellow' books. Our school seem to use lots of different schemes but the teacher showed me a chart which showed the colour banding. Yellow was low ish down the list and I think she said the average level shed like by the end of Y1 would be green (two away from where he is now). I really must pay more attention!

I'll have a look at the chart later from his book bag when he gets home.

www.battersea.org.uk/get_involved/shop/books/