5 year old with reading age of 10 - book recommendations please

[LeOrange]

Evening all. We received my daughters reception year report this evening, which was lovely. They have carried out a reading assessment and she has a 10 year old's reding age. The school is relatively new and her teacher (whilst brilliant) is relatively inexperienced and has been unable to guide us in the right direction, but has suggested that we provide books for my daughter that are age-appropriate yet set the appropriate level of challenge. We are both English teachers, so you would think well placed to deal with this, but we are secondary specialists and a bit stumped here. I am going to ask to speak with the Head tomorrow about appropriate challenge etc, but would really welcome any advice. Thanks.

It doesn't matter what her reading age is. She should be reading books that suit her emotional development. She's 5. She needs 5 year old's books.

My 10 year old daughter enjoys the Claude books by Alex T. Smith - have a look at those, as I think the content would be appropriate and the stories are charming.

My ds enjoyed lots of non fiction books and also read most of the books(except for fairy ones!) in local library for ks1 age group at that age.

Early reading is just a "performing monkey" trick. One of mine was a ridiculously early talker. It was huge fun. But it made absolutely no difference- they all learned to talk and by the age of 5 you wouldnMt have been able to tell that dd gave a interview to local television about the new swimming pool at the age of 18 month while the others were still It really, really isn't a big deal!

I don't think OP is making a big deal out of it. I think she's just looking for some appropriate books that are a bit more interesting than See Spot Run.

Horrid Henry young readers books.
Winnie the witch young readers.
The worst witch.

That's what I offered my strong reader Dd at a similar age.

What's wrong with Dahl's The Witches for a 5 year old? It's DD's favourite book, she loves it.

Is "reading age" still here's a load of words, can you read them, we'll give you a score and randomly correlate it with an age? Or is there something actually more useful to it?

We had this "problem" with DD (now yr3) in yr 1 - it's really hard to find a balance between challenge and content. She did love the Rainbow Magic fairy series but they may not be challenging enough (and they're terribly formulaic). She also liked Roald Dahl and other classics such as Five Children and It, The Secret Garden and Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree series. Horrid Henry is also a favourite. She's now moved on to Eva Ibbotson, David Walliams, the Harry Potter series etc.and can cope better with the content. I'd second going to the library and trying a selection to see what she likes, and not to worry too much if she goes with the less challenging ones at present - DD got tired of Rainbow fairies after a while and was then ready to move on - the key is to keep her interested in reading at this point. And be prepared to "share" the reading with her, however tedious the story might be - DD still likes me to read a chapter to her at bedtime before carrying on on her own.

I think being a early reader is great and big deal. It opens up so many doors for learning.

My Naughty Little Sister - content will be ok, but the writing is not as simplified as some more modern children's stuff.

Mrs Pepperpot

Gobbolino the Witch's Cat

The Far Away Tree

The Little House in the Big Woods

Maybe a good anthology of poems and short stories. Look out for Michael Rosen's poems; A Treasury of Milligan; The Fantastic World of Terry Jones: Animal Tales. Or The Hutchinson's Treasury of Children's Literature (they also do one of poems and fairy tales).

Maybe try her on some non-fiction too, try the library or Usborne books to find out what interests her.

I was a good reader at a young age and absolutely loved story books, lots of good ones mentioned here. I seem to remember reading a lot of very old fashioned books. I loved Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (Rumer Godden).

Have you also considered non-fiction?

Agree with sirfred about The Witches. It was first Dahl book my ds read(at age 5), and he couldn't stop laughing about witches scratching their head under the wigs. But he loves scary stuff.

I agree, Irvine, it allows children to access the curriculum so much more quickly.

I would get some non-fiction from the library- animal encyclopaedias, history books, books about different environments etc.

I would also go for much older books- Heidi, Enid Blyton, Pippi Longstocking, Mrs Pepperpot, Paddington Bear, The Wombles etc.

The Claude books are fun, but expensive when they just whizz through them in fifteen minutes! Also the Dixie O'Day books by Shirley Hughes (and My Naughty Little Sister), Geronimo Stilton series too.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streitfield may be perfect - very gentle, innocent story and a good read without being complicated emotionally.

Anne of Green Gables also gentle, fun, good vocab.

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop is great. Sequel is as well - The Chocolate Phoenix. Magic, adventurous, but not scary as Potter can be.

Meg Cabot the Princess Diaries seems really popular with lots of little girls I know. I don't know much about the series, but Disney made a film of them, so presumably they are fine!

The St Clare school stories by Enid Blyton, also the Faraway Trees, as has been mentioned by others.

The Worst Witch is a lovely series for a younger good reader.

The Holly Webb series seem twee to adults but I know 7 year old girls who are obsessed by them, so worth a try?

Howl's Moving Castle is a lovely fairytale.

Rumer Godden "The story of Holly and Ivy" - be careful though as some of her other books can be surprisingly dark.

Black Beauty - sad in parts, but unlike Charlotte's Web, the ending is happy.

I bought The Tree That Sat Down on recommendation from another poster a few years ago, and while we've not read that one yet, it's been re-released (I bought an old copy via Amazon) so presumably it has a good market! Someone else suggested The Snowball, and ditto. Both written in the 1970s when a primary aged children's story had to be innocent to pass muster. Both were remembered with passionate enthusiasm by several posters once named. So I am namechecking recs so enthusiastic I have myself been impressed enough to track the out-of-print copies down for my own kids - now they are back in print, I pass on the love!

Seconding Little House In The Big Woods. I was completely obsessed with that series myself as a small child.

sleeponeday - I adored The Stream that Stood Still (I think it is no. 2 in the series after The Tree that Sat Down). Thanks for reminding me.

Ahhh got pipped to the post was going to suggest Little House in the Big Woods.

Little women. Absolutely the best. Challenging but engaging. Interesting historical everyday vocab telegram, things to do with et al., that make a child question and increase knowledge whilst widening vocab. I would say it was a necessity!

Rebecca of sunny brook farm

Of course Anne of green gables. Nothing naughty, everything nice in all of those.

When she's seven give her Jane Eyre. I read it at eight. Loved it, loved it loved it!!

Sorry just remembered there is a death in Little Women. That might be a bit too sensitive.

Maybe wait a year or so!!!

Things to do with decorum. Sigh.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark and all the others in that series?

Thank you so much - some amazing suggestions here. I was reading very early as well and there are things I read then, but have forgotten I read Bertrand, reading and comprehending is a big deal - the biggest deal - I see the impact of poor reading practice every single day at work. In DD's case, there is no performing monkey about it, thanks.

Well, my very clever 12 year old got bored reading little women - I would stick to enjoyable books like horrid Henry, worst witch and Winnie the witch chapter books to keep reading run and the books comprehendible.

I agree with the others who have suggested older books, as these tend to have more complicated language but still simple themes. Milly Molly Mandy could be ideal - harder language but stories a 5yo girl can relate to. Also second the 'My naughty little sister' books, which are more advanced than MMM.

I think you at far more likely to get "poor reading practice" if you give them books that are beyond their intellectual and emotional range.

A 5 year old is a 5 year old. A 5 year old who reads like a 10 year old is still a 5 year old.