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.

Dd2's reading comprehension was assessed at 12yo in yrr (reading15yo) but this is just a snapshot from whatever testing scheme was used. (Her test was some non-fiction thing about tree types in Africa or some such). Obviously it's a bit hit and miss, but it's usually pretty obvious whether a kid is reading competently or not.
We were lucky in that we had a ton of books around the house anyway (older bro and sis) which is presumably how she had taught herself to read early. She started yr r being able to read, and at that point loved stuff like the lion the witch and the wardrobe, and Michael morpurgo. It was interesting as we didn't really bother to direct her reading - we took her to the library/ let her roam the house and she read what she wanted to. She was also at a nursery where the policy was NOT to read, as that was a school skill. Interestingly, she went through a phase where she read literally every rainbow bloody fairy, and magic pet book in existence, each taking about fifteen minutes, as well as her brother's awful beast quest series. (As an aside, I later ended up working with Holly Webb in a completely different context and she thought that was hilarious). She was like a machine. She loved the dragon series, and in yr 1 started on Percy Jackson. She eventually read the hunger games at about 8 or 9 and went through a phase of accounts of children living through wars. She started writing her own stories at about 7 or 8, and one of her IPP targets was to publish.
Anyhoo - ultimately we have let her be - I was way more invested in dd1's reading a few years earlier and had even approached the school about the suitability of books a few times (dd1 didn't read until 4 or 5, but then picked it up v quickly so was similar by about 6 or 7). In my head it was important for a parent to guide reading, so I did spend some time thinking about it. Dd2 was dc3 and by that point it was rather more 'ach, whatever, she can read what she wants to'. (Probably as a result of ds1, who reads hard and fast, but for four years, as soon as he had finished a book, turned back to the front page and started again. Weirdo. I blame Rick Riordan).
So, all of this stuff is great for ideas, but none of it is really necessary. Just let her choose what she wants, head for the library or the bookstore, and hang out while she browses.
In a bizarre aside, I caught her reading Virginia Woolf over my shoulder at about 3 or 4, (hate people reading over my shoulder) and from that point dh asked discreetly if I wouldn't mind moving some of my books, notably the one called 'big black penis', from the bookshelf in the living room. (It's about masculinity, not porn lol, but I don't think dh had bothered to open it...) Either way, it was kinda weird that he was just worried about the 3/4 yo - apparently the 5 and 7yo were ok to read them all...

Be careful with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books - first few are lovely, The Long Winter is scary for an imaginative child (months of starvation, hypothermia and general desperation). I'd second whoever said find a library and let her choose - my 5yo is currently getting through about 15 chapter books a week and it's much cheaper to borrow than buy!

BTW, I've noticed that Bertrand has an agenda about gifted children / selection by ability / early readers that is intellectually interesting but not entirely helpful on threads like this.

The earlier Laura Ingalls Wilder books are also rather racist. They show the characters as products of their time and are fine to read with parents pointing out what life was like then, but maybe not for younger and more literal readers on their own.

I have a DC with a similar reading age. Agree with PP that ability does not equal maturity though. DC gets upset at death or mild terror. DC likes Mr Men books still and devours information books (100 great inventions, Junior Geography etc).

dogdrifts I know that feeling.

Strangely enough, I've moved a lot of my teen books (Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, etc.) onto higher shelves so DD1(7) can't reach them ( she's only 3rd centile for height so I can still do this). But none of my grown up ones, murder mystery, fantasy, science fiction and other books full of gore. Shows what funny things we worry about...

I read the amazing secret diary of pig by emer stamp to my year 2s this year and they loved it, plenty of interesting language to discuss but not too advanced story line.

What's she going to read when she's 9 if she reads all this stuff (understanding a quarter of it) when she's 5? It's just bonkers!

I think bert's comment seems quite sharp and blunt sometimes, it does hold some truth in it IMO, comes from experience of having slightly older children and being a governor, I assume.

As for what they read when they are 9, my ds is re-reading books he read before, with more understanding and enjoyment. (He is not 9 yet though.)

Bertrand Like irvine's dis, my dd1 isn't 9 yet, but she does a lot of re-reading, getting something more / different each time, and enjoying it immensely. She sometimes finishes a book and then starts it again straight away. I can't see how reading widely, at her own instigation, for her own pleasure, can be anything but good.

DD enjoyed the borrowers,
She also liked rainbow magic books (although not really for 10 year olds they would appeal to a 5 year old)

To be honest reading should be a pleasure not a chore. Let her read what she wants, the last thing you want to do is turn her off reading because she doesn't enjoy the books that are aimed at 10 year olds.

I haven't read all the suggestions but mine were very good readers at that age (we didn't get reading ages though) but like you say they were still little in so many other ways so favourites in our house were Holly Webb animal ones, original Paddington chapter books, Worst Witch, Enid Blyton, Mulberry, Humphrey the Hamster and others like that, aimed really at about age 7-8ish I think on the whole but the fact they were good readers just meant they read them quicker whilst the books still appealed to them at that age. I personally would avoid Noel Streatfield and Harry Potter and Roald Dahl purely because I think they get a different level of enjoyment from them if they wait a bit longer to read them, some of Roald Dahl to me are also a bit too old.

oh and forgot Dick King Smith - his books are great fun.

Another Dick King Smith fan here, my DD was a similar reader and loved the Sophie series of books (Sophie's Snail, Sophie's Tom, Sophie is 6 etc) and The Owl who was afraid of the dark. Also My Naughty Little Sister books she found funny.

DS at 5 loved Horrid Henry and Captain Underpants!

Yes yes Yes to Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf (Catherine Storr). I see someone has already suggested it, but it's perfect.

We really enjoyed Bedknobs and Broomsticks :) DD currently loving Percy Jackson but that is quite scary

Aaah Clever Polly, yes my mum got us that recently the DCs laughed their heads off at it.

Also lots of great poetry around to read as well as fiction

Another yes to Clever Polly, my 5yo was chuckling over it just this evening, for the second time.

Mrs Pepperpot scared the hell out of me when I was little. It still gives me the heebies now.
I adored anything by Joan Aiken, especially the Is and Dido series.
Re vocabulary, reading words I wasn't familiar with within the context of a story really helped expand my vocabulary. It gave me the opportunity to find out about new words so I can't see a problem with that personally.
I'd try and put aside a couple of hours on a sat morning and go to the library. Have a good look at the children's section together and let her choose a few.

Do YOU think she is able to read almost as well as a lot of the year 7s you teach, some of which will have just turned 11.
If the teacher tested her using something like the Salford reading test then it's quite easy to come out quite high if you can de-code well, the comprehension questions in it are quite basic.
I would probably look more to books that are popular with 7/8 year olds, so the themes will not be too old for her and she will enjoy reading with understanding.

I would stick to picture books. Most books aimed at 5 year olds are intended for an adult to read to them. Therefore they ideas and story are simple but the actual words are quite tricky to read. Your dd should be able to read them herself whereas others may have to have them read to them.

What about:
Paddington?
Charlottes web?
Blue kangaroo?
Winnie the Witch?
Amelia Jane?
Mrs Pepperpot?
Mr Men Books?

I think at the end of the day it's important that your dd reads books she enjoys, so just because she finds a book easy to read, it shouldn't be a reason for her not to read it. As an adult I don't often want to read something 'challenging', I want to read something I'm interested in.

I have fond memories of reading The Little House on the Prairie series at that age. I also loved Enid Blyton.

If she has a Kindle - ours had second hand one from around 7 - a lot of children's classic books can be found for free.

Way we have them set up is they hang of one of our amazon accounts as one device there and we push the relevant books to their devices - they can't access stuff themselves.

I wonder why series or I wouldn't want to live without or solar system might be worth a look.

It's in many respects an nice problem to have being an advanced reader. I have the opposite problem a child who spoke early with great vocabulary but has always struggled to read. Love books have helped there books with topics for older children but younger reading ages.

My DD aged 5 years old (don't know her reading age but she has been reading to herself since she was 3) really loves reading the Enid Blyton Friendly Folk Collection - 6 Books here.

These may be of interest:

For slightly older children I sometimes recommend what I call "Value Added" books, that is they have an aspect in addition to just reading a story.

The best one is Arthur Ransome's "Coot Club" set on the Norfolk Broads in 1930. All the places in the book are actual locations, and can be found on the Ordnance Survey 2-1/2inch map of the Broads. All the villages, rivers, lakes, pubs and windmill pumping stations can be seen on the map. Apart from some railways being closed, and there now being more main roads, little has changed. It also gives interesting insights to the social history of the '30s: the children want to contact friends in a nearby village, and say if they post a letter in the morning, it will get there by the second post in the afternoon! When they buy provisions at a riverside shop, the shop-boy carries the goods down to their boat for them.

Another book in a 'real' place, is "Watership Down". The rabbits' home threatened by development is actually on the outskirts of Newbury, in Berkshire. There are several web sites about the locations, and even guided tours sometimes to places featured in the book.

Our DD was also a very good reader early on. We bought lots of sets of books from the Book People - some were hits, some were misses. We tried:
Mr Men (Hit)
Winnie the Witch (both picture books and chapter books) (Hit)
Colour crackers (Hit)
SWITCH (Hit)
Dinosaur Cove (Hit)
Rainbow Fairies (Miss - she was happy for DH to read them to her, but never wanted to read one herself)
Walker Stories collection (Miss)
Daisy and the trouble with... (BIG HIT!)
Faraway Tree (Happy to have them read, but not happy to read herself)
Enid Blyton set (Miss)
Roald Dahl (Hit)
Dino Land (Hit)

We found the hardest thing at 5 was that, although she was capable of reading longer stories, she didn't have the reading stamina. I made a conscious decision not to try to push her into reading harder books, even though I knew she was capable, because I didn't want to put her off reading. It's taken a couple of years, but now, at 7, she will read longer books. She still enjoys 'easier' books, but that's absolutely fine by me.

At 7, she now reads:
Barry Loser
David Walliams (she LOVES these!)
Septimus Heap
Little House (Has read the first one)
Secret Seven
Will Solvit
Agatha Parrot
Diary of Pig

I think the best thing we've done is take her to the library regularly. It means she can try series and, if she enjoys them, we can always buy more if we want. We've recently started reading the Harry Potter series with her (we read alternate pages) which she loves.

What fun to have a child that reads so well at an early age, but also a challenge. Weigh up the risk of her demanding "ginger beer at every meal and boarding school", but Enid Blyton is very easy to devour.

A five year old might be able to read out loud Pullman/Morpugo/Tolkien/Dahl/Horowitz etc, but the comprehension/empathy wouldn't be there.

March your child around the library and let her select books. Sometimes DD chooses books that she hates, but we make her articulate why she hates them.

Another thing is that a lot of children will have arrived at school with limited knowledge of letters and sounds. Once they "get it" some of them will make massive progress. You are both teachers, so maybe spend the summer giving your DD enough emotional resiliance to cope with that probability.