Making the Transition: Chapter Books

For those parents bridging their children into the world of chapter books, the task can be a bit daunting. A few ideas:

• Before your child is ready to read the books for themselves, begin by modeling the reading to your children -- read chapter books to them, a bit each day, so they get used to following a changing plot line through the course of several days.


• Start with books like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Betsy, Tacy, Tib, or Encyclopedia Brown, where each chapter is like a mini-story, with central characters present in each section.


• Read books to your children you liked as a child. When you share books you adore, your children are ripe for the same magic you remember.


• Select books that still have a few illustrations. (We all love pictures.)


• Don't forget the voices during read-alouds!


• Take turns: one night they'll read, the next night you read.


• If you are reading a book aloud over the course of many weeks, choose books where your children have already seen the movie. This will help them from getting lost in the story or forgetting what has already happened.
  

One of my favories for Christmastime is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Tell me you remember it. It's an absolute classic!

(P.S. And don't forget to talk about the book as you go -- why the characters made the decisions they did, and what your child predicts may happen next.)

Recommended Books By My 8 Year-Old Boy

My 8 year old reads on 4th grade -5th grade level.  For fun he reads on a 3rd grade level and higher.  So, these are the books that he's currently reading, has loved in the past or has on his list to read soon. 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinny:  Last year, I bought the first book out of a book order that he had brought home from school.  He read it in 2 days.  What's a mother to do, I bought the next one.  The same thing happened, he read it in 2 days as well.  So, I bought the next book and then the next and he loved them all.   He loves this series.  They are a permanent fixture on his night stand.  P.S.  We haven't seen the movie. 

The Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne.  This author takes her readers on an adventure through time with every read.  The first book he read was Thanksgiving on Thursday.  He read it in 2 hours, outload to me while I was cleaning.   If anything, he was excited to have learned interesting facts about history in a wonderfully written fiction.  We also have some of these books on CD courtesy of Wendy's.    

Geronimo Stiilton books by A.E. Dunbar.  These books series were introduced to him by a friend of ours.  Her little girl loved them.  The book cleverly includes action words in a form that represents why they are.  For example if the character is climbing steps.  The words appear to do so as well.  This book is pure entertainment and the action verbs are interesting.  They do make for a fun independant read.  

Big Nate Books by Lincoln Pierce are on the list of books to read next.  They have a graphic novel type of feel to them.  Even Jeff Kinney loved these books.  Nate looks like a fun read and although it may not be on a list of "classic books" or an award winner, it looks like loads of fun.  Isn't that the point in reading, to learn to love reading for its entertainment value.  

Klooz is a cool little detective and his best friend Vinnie is pretty interesting too.  Interesting things keep happening to these two as they try to solve mysteries. 

There are plenty of other books out there...what's your little ones favorites?

Mother Daughter Book Club

I loved this idea of a mother/daughter book club.  Read about this little adventure between a mother and daughter.  I wonder if it'd work between mother and son.   Craft Nectar is a really sweet blog and you are sure to love this idea.

15 Ridiculously Challenged Childrens Books

You'll be so surprised at the books that were challenged or banned.  As a matter of fact, I was tickled to see the picture of Where's Waldo until I saw the list it made.  Really?  Controversial?  How about fun and entertaining.  Sometimes it's okay to let children experience books that are just fun but read more here about books that have been challenged and why.

Little Libraries

Check out this fabulous list by OhDeeDoh.  Want to buy a gift set of books but don't have any idea what the kiddo will love?  Here's a go to list for anyone looking to build a child's personal library.

Great Books for Fourth Graders

GreatSchools Book Nook Experts recommend these great books for your
fourth-grader.

Crickwing by Janell Cannon (Voyager Books, 2005).


This is the story of an unfortunate cockroach named Crickwing, called
this because of a twisted wing earned when fleeing a predator. Crickwing
finds he has a talent for food presentation: He is a food sculptor! He
builds his creations out of roots, leaves and petals, and then eats
them...when he can. Crickwing is constantly thwarted by lizards, ocelots
and food-stealing monkeys. As he watches thousands of busy leaf-cutting
ants, he wonders, "Why isn't anyone bothering these little twerps?"
Thus, a bully is born. Crickwing harasses the ants until their Queen

Let Me Introduce You to Graphic Novels

We have not discussed graphic novels before and I think it is high time.  I have an 8 year old boy who loves them so I can't figure out why I haven't mentioned them before.  If you aren't sure what a graphic novel is, imagine the comic books you read as a kid mixed with some of the best novel stories you remember...you've got a graphic novel.  I recently ran across a blog post that made me fall in love with this type of literature, simply by discribing their children's love for them.

Favorite Books for Fifth Graders

Great Schools Book Nook Experts released an excellent list of books for 5th graders.  Below are a list of books that they recommend.

Adventure

I Am the Ice Worm by MaryAnn Easley
(Boys Mill Press, 1998).

This book is sort of a girls' version of Gary Paulsen's classic Hatchet.
In both stories, a teenage character is stranded in the wilderness following
a plane crash. In I Am the Ice Worm, 14-year-old Allison is rescued
from the Alaskan wild by an Inupiat trapper, who takes her to his village to
stay until she can be reunited with her mother. Allison's upbringing in an
upper-class family in southern California certainly didn't prepare her for
this icy adventure, but she turns out to have courage and adaptability that
she didn't expect. Though Allison may initially seem too "girly" for boy
readers, this novel has a great blend of adventure, wilderness and family
matters that will captivate boys and girls alike.127 pages.

Great Summer Reading Lists

My friend Mia Wenjen has a great mommy blog called Pragmatic Mom and she's always posting great articles about books children will love so many other useful articles for moms.  I think her blog is more literature focused than mommy focused but you'll love her section on health and education as well.

Here are some lists you can run on over and check out... be sure and let her know we sent ya. 

Top 10: Summer Book List w/Activity for Boys (Incoming grades 2-7)

 

Top 10: Books for Summer Reading (Middle School)

 

Top 10: Summer Coming-of-Age Books for Girls (grades 4-8)

Favorite Chapter Books for Newly Independent Readers

 

 Top 10: Chapter Books for Summer Reading (Incoming Grades 3-5)

 

Top 10: Interfaith Jewish Children’s Books (ages 3- 16)

 

Top 10: Picture Books to LOL with Your Child

 

There are SO many great lists on her sight!  Check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Encouraging Reading: Books for Car Trips

We just returned from a whirlwind weeklong car trip that involved driving from NC to GA to FL and then all around the state of FL and back again. That’s a lot of time in the car for a 20 month old, and we found that books really helped to keep her entertained. In my rush to pack, I only put a few in her bag, but after a stop at my parents’ house we left with a supply from Nana’s collection.

Books aren’t just good for keeping kids quiet and entertained when you’re on a road trip. I think planning for a trip can provide an opportunity to make reading special. Get a new book or two for the trip. For young children, it’s easy to pick out something that features a favorite thing (my daughter loves ducks – and her Nana lent us the fabulous Dib and Dab’s Swimming Day). For older children, let them pick. Then put the books away until just the right moment in the journey! The anticipation is part of the fun.

As a librarian, I’m usually a big advocate for checking out library books rather than buying them, but in the case of travelling, I think it’s a good time to buy a book. First of all, you don’t want to be the person paying a hotel or campground or relative to ship back an overdue library book or the person who lost the library book at Disney World or wherever. Second, there is something very special about owning a book. It shows a child that books are important enough to own, and gives them opportunities to reread or revisit whenever they like. If you’re watching your pennies (as most of us are), look for books at the dollar store (I noticed my local Dollar Tree has a decent selection of Sesame Street board books), thrift stores (you can often find series chapter books here), or discount stores like Marshalls, Ross, or TJ Maxx, where brand new quality children’s books show up for a song - even bestsellers!

Finally, make sure that you bring along a good book for the trip, or at least a few magazines. Let your child see you pick out a special title and relax/escape with it on your journey. That example will go far.

My Fathers Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

"This is, without a question, the funniest book that we have seen for a month of Sundays.  It is also an exciting adventure story." - Saturday Review

Oh and it's a Newbery Honor and ALA Notable.

Pick one up or order here.

I found mine at our local thrift store and the cover illustration was enough for me to shove this 50 cent book into my shopping bag.

Now, let me share with you my experience.

I am definitely reading this book to my kids.

Mail deliveries in the jungle by animals...

A talking cat...

A character named "Elmer Elevator"...

Rescuing a dragon...

What's not to love.

Why was this never made into a movie?

I  just know this is a book that my little boys will say, "Read me more...read me more!"  So I'll keep reading and before very long, I will have read 5 or 6 chapters because it is a very easy book to read.  The chapters are short too.

Wow, I think I read the entire chapter book in less than an hour.  It was awesome.  It was very cute!

There is a trilogy to this book.  So I'm sure I'll have to dig around and find the others.

They are

My Father's Dragon

Elmer and the Dragon

The Dragons of Blueland

Published in 1948 and it's still a good one!

The Graveyard Book: 2009 Newbery Award Winner

I went to my local library today, I was 30 minutes early!  After I returned a huge pile of books that my oldest boy checked out (ALL Dr. Seuss).  I asked if they had a list of Newbery Award books anywhere...the answer was "No, we do not."  WHAT!  They don't how is this possible that a library does not have a list of award winning books available for parents or children.  It's so simple to print a few copies off and put them in an appropriate area for easy reference.  However, one of the nice ladies there went to her office and printed me a full list of Winners and Honors and the first on the list for the current year was this book.

This is the current Newbery Award winning book.  I checked it out.  I was early to pick my two young boys up from playschool so I went in and found a quite corner and started reading.  Before I knew it, it was time to check them out.  I couldn't believe how that book just sucked me right in.  I'm only partially in chapter 2 but I love it!  At first I thought...do I really want to read this?  It seemed too dark for me.  So far, it's not...who knew.

This is the first book of many that I'll be reading.  My goal is to do one Newbery book a week that I haven't already read (and maybe some I have).  What I'd like is for you to read them with me.  You're almost guaranteed to find the books at your local library.

Read them with me.  Come back to this post...there will be a link on the left that says "Book of the Week".  Come back and leave a comment.  Share with the world what you thought about it...this isn't Oprah's book club.  This is to help review books that are written for Children's Literature.  Help me make this little site a good place for others to use as a tool.

I'll share with you my Caldecott selections for the week next.

Oh and before I forget...go HERE!  It's the author, Neil Gaiman's website and you can download a desktop image for your computer...I did!  Read it to find out why it's an award winning book!

New book next Friday.

Children's Literature: Chapter Books

Do you remember the first time you read a chapter book?  Do you remember the first time you read one and loved it?  My favorite chapter book growing up was the first book in the Box Car Children series.  Oh how I dreamed as I read of finding a boxcar and living like they did.  They had nothing but made life seem so perfect.  I was one of those kids who was constantly playing in the woods behind our house....miles and miles of woods.  I looked for stream beds, raked leaves, built forts and club houses and tree houses.  I think that the Box Car Children was my first real connection to independent reading growing up.  I tried to find a definition for Chapter Books...here's what I found!

• A chapter book is a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7-10. Unlike picture books for younger readers, a chapter book ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_book
• Fairly modern term referring to books for older children which are organized into chapters, as opposed to "picture books", which often ...
• www.chaucerhead.com/ioba_book_glossary.htma book long enough to be divided into chapters but not long or complex enough to be considered a novel, as books in Cynthia Rylant's Henry and ...
  www.nde.state.ne.us/read/framework/glossary/general_a-e.html
  
  

They are all correct! 

So, where can you start?  Let's start with the best of the best!  The Newbery Award Winners.  Visit this link to learn more about the Newbery Award, so that it's not just a stamp on a book at the library.  This link will take you to what the Award is all about and a list of all the books.  Don't just a book by it's cover?  But, maybe you can judge it by it's title?  Why?  When encouraging your child to love reading, you may want to consider the topic.  Start looking for books that your child would be interested in and go from there!  Also Amazon.com publishes a great list of recommended reading for Intermediate Readers

Around second grade you should see stories that your child is reading becoming longer, with fewer pictures and maybe even very short chapters.  You may even see this sooner than later.

What if it's later than sooner?  Read chapter books to your child.  As a matter of fact, it's always a good idea to introduce these types of books to your child at an early age.  It helps them to use their imagination without the use of pictures.  It causes their brain to make it's own pictures that correlate with the story.  We can go more in detail with that later.  You always want your child to be trying to read something that is a tad harder than what they'd like it to be and you always want to try to read something to your child that is entertaining but something they could not possibly read yet.  This sets the stage for helping your child master the Intermediate phase of reading.