Can you recommend some good reading books for dd - she is saying reading is boring...

[TrisMas]

Dd is a summer born in y1 and has just been moved up to white band (level 10) at school. She reads with the top set in y2 and seems to enjoy the reading sessions and is doing well, but when I tried to get her to read her book at the weekend (boring book about rice) she said that she finds reading boring. I love reading and I know that dd loves books but I'm worried that the school books are putting her off.

I've bought a set of the rainbow fairy books from the book people for xmas for her, but can anyone recommend any others? I just don't want her to be bored...

[TrisMas]

MrsCakes that is a brilliant idea!!! I help in the school library and they have about 10 copies of that book because it's so popular. Amazon here I come!! Thank you.

[MrsCakesPrecognition]

I hope you have as much fun reading it as we have over the years

[flexibleworkinghours]

mr majaika. amelia badelia. ivy and bean. clementine. anna hibiscus. secret seven (easier than famous five), the magic faraway tree, fancy nancy, all the daisy books. jeremy strong. anne fine.

[PastSellByDate]

If your DD likes history - Roodica the Rude series is great fun - more info here: www.margaretryan.co.uk/roodica.htm

Winnie the Witch is quirky and funny: winnie-the-witch.com/

If your DD likes fairy tales - these are new twists on old favourites with lovely illustrations (so still a bit of picture book fun!): www.sallygardner.net/books/early-readers/

The guardian has a great list of books for 5 - 7 year olds: www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/12/best-childrens-books-five-seven-years - certainly Sheep pig (BABE) by Dick King-Smith is a great read & Roald Dahl books are a lot of fun.

HTH

[Asleeponasunbeam]

My DD is the same age and is reading quite well. Like yours, she is reluctant to read school books sometimes. We're having a lovely time at the moment reading through the vast collection of picture books she had, that I have read to her for the last five years. Yes, some of it is from memory, but that really helps with her flow and expression. I don't let her guess and she still has to sound out some words she doesn't know automatically.

[TrisMas]

Pastsell, I like the look of the sally gardner books so have orderd a sample to be downloaded to my kindle so I can check it out. They are all available on kindle and being able to read them on there will be a novelty for her aswell, so I will see how she gets in with that later.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and assistance.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Mrs Cakes' suggestion looks absolutely fantastic.

TrisMas, I think absolutely things will change and there's no point in worrying unduly. Reading is still very hard work at that stage in learning, even for a kid who picks it up quickly compared with her peers. I don't think it's fair to even consider her not wanting to read as being lazy - maybe her brain just needs a break.

If you carry on reading to her - things YOU really enjoy, so not the Rainbow Fairies, though that will come in useful at some point when she wants to read independently - she'll carry on viewing books as fun things not boring things. Some of the recommendations of this thread are fabulous fun to read aloud but even they would feel like hard work if you were still at the stage where you had to try really hard to decode them.

[GoogleyEyes]

Similar issue here, but dd's school doesn't believe in mixing year groups so she has always just read in a group of one with her teacher. That works well, as the book is right for her. Only issue is the whole class reading book is currently terrifying her, but there's not much I can do about that.

[GoogleyEyes]

Sorry, that was a response to the OP's 12.14 post - issues posting on a moving train!

[MillionairesShortbread]

Ours doesn't mix year groups either, Googley. I actually prefer that. We're in a low achieving area but there are still a couple of others on level 9 and as it is a 3 form entry there are enough to make a "top set" when they mix up for reading. That works really well, and in her reading session they also get read to (things like fairy tale news and the jolly postman book) and learn about poetry that is age appropriate. I had no idea that would equate to a top set in year 2 in other areas!!

I guess we are really lucky about that side of things! It's more the books she brings home aren't so age appropiate. Like the OP I'd like picture books that are fun and interesting to a young 5 year old but that she can read at her level.

I think we will have a library trip and look for Dr Seuss and similar.
(Our girls sound very similar!)

[ZeViteVitchofCwismas]

Twits is good for young reader but I love the Ottoline series, I think they are amazing, and got my DD reading independent, stunning illustrations...


www.amazon.co.uk/Ottoline-Yellow-Cat-Chris-Riddell/dp/1405050578/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418739626&sr=1-1&keywords=ottoline&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

there are three and he is writing goth girl too, which are fun....fun things in books too like glasses postcards etc.

[ZeViteVitchofCwismas]

check out the actual book section on here, its called childrens books or something, some brilliant ideas there.

[ZeViteVitchofCwismas]

ps mine finds enid boring and i must admit some stories are very flat.

i asgree if she is good reader not to force her.

I built up huge libabry for DD and she looked at me despairingly asking when she would have time to read it all ...and didn't read anything, I got the ottoline series for xmas, just left her to it, and she got the hang of it, with short chapters too, and after that went to pick up other books...

[LittleMissSparklyGreenTinsel]

DS3 is one of the oldest in year 1, he has only recently (some time during this term) discovered an actual love of reading for pleasure. He is a fan of Dr Seuss. Last night he was looking at the DK Star Wars graded level books - would imagine they do similar in different themes than just star wars. I don't think he has the stamina yet to read chapter books like Mr Gum on his own although he likes to listen to them. He has read some of the shorter Roald Dahl by himself e.g. The Enormous Crocodile which has lots of colour pictures in our version. He is only on turquoise level books though. I think sometimes that children who are capable of reading at a high reading level (thinking about DS2 now who was also reading with top year 2 when he was in year 1) get given too hard books for pleasure, especially in terms of length. DS2 didn't get good stamina in reading to a fair way into year 1 if I remember correctly, even though he could properly interpret and understand high level reading books.

[Quangle]

My children are obsessed with You Choose and have been for years. I have to ban it some nights as I just can't take any more!

How about funny, silly books? Humorous poems - there's a few where there's a poem for every day. My children love reading the new one for the day and then reading the one for their birthday, their cousins' birthdays, my birthday etc etc. It's reading without really realising it.

[BertieBotts]

Tip with You Choose - set up your phone to voice record discreetly while you read it, do it every 6 months to a year and you can look back and see how they have changed :)

[MrsCakesPrecognition]

Love the idea of recording You Choose. Some nights we limit it to only two items per person per page.

[BlueChampagne]

Second Worst Witch, Winnie the Witch and Sophie & the Shadow Woods.

Dick King-Smith's "Sophie" books might also hit the spot.

[TrisMas]

Everything I am reading here makes perfect sense. Thank you so much. Dd is in a very small school (the mixed yr1/2 class has only 28 children) andi do get a bit frustrated that they don't manage more 1-1 reading sessions considering that there are 2 members of staff in the class, but hey ho. Dd is also very young maturity wise aswell so you're right, trying to get her to trawl through books on rice and such when her favorite past-time is playing with her dolls and her playmobil does seem crazy. Shes our only one and sometimes it's hard to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

Thank you all so much. I will take a look through all your suggestions in more detail this evening and get some more things in order, although 'you choose' is already winging it's way to me.

[Quangle]

And Bel Mooney's "Oh Kitty" series. About a girl who keeps getting into scrapes. Each chapter is really short - they are all short stories really. And it's funny.

[BertieBotts]

Oh yes, there are short read-it-yourself Winnie the Witch stories too, a bit more grown up than the big picture books but nice and familiar, funny and they have pictures. DS got some from the library the other day.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

my Yr1 5 year old has recently enjoyed reading The Lighthouse Keeper (can get them in chapter book size now - still with full colour pictures), Laura's star early readers, various fairy ones, The Wishing Chair New Adventures (bigger print, much less text, shorter stories), some of the Colour First Readers, Usborne First Reading Series 1 books, I have just bought her some mermaid ones which look nice for Christmas, www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1907152245?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 She also likes to read books which are easy for her so whilst she could reader harder books she doesn't want to. So she will generally do one longer one and then for a week or so just read lots of shorter books or her usual picture story books. A balance is much more likely to keep their interest.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

The Quick Brown Fox Cub and The Wrong Kind of Bark by Julia Donaldson, The Kitten with No Name. they have colour illustrations still.