My daughter is a good reader. She has been enjoying reading a lot of books- easy chapter books( magic fairy / princess/ puppy) any picture books, etc. She keeps starting more difficult chapter books. She reads a few chapters and then leaves them. Her latest one, Charlie and the chocolate factory was going well, but I think she is intimidated by it's size!
Can anyone suggest anything suitable that bridges the gap? She reads a lot of picture books in reading time before bed. They just don't seem to be enough. She isn't a fairy princess girl really. I am just stuck to know what to suggest.
She prefers fiction. She likes a short number of chapters (8-10), with some character development and non repetitive vocabulary. It needs to be age appropriate as she is four.
--anything that's a series..e.g. magic treehouse, famous five, etc
--try some of the animal ones e.g. Geromino Stilton
--abridged versions of classics so that the vocab and plot is not repetitive but the story is shorter.
--swallows and amazons?
--the horse series -hardback short stories, can't remember publisher, some titles are Belle, Midnight, etc horse names.
another option, excuse what some may call heresy: take the cheapest secondhand copy of a suitable long book and rip it up. Give her a chapter as she asks for it. Possibly no end in sight for a long book but easy with a chapter in hand. It's the reading that's important not the actual book.
Maybe printing a chapter of an e-book may be less controversial than cutting up a bound volume...
Nikki
My middle daughter suddenly decided she was able to cope with longer books about 8 months ago.
She is quite a bit older (7) but was just reading the similar light reading that you mention, magic fairy, magic tree house etc.
So then I started reading to her the longer books I knew she would enjoy and then be a big meany and only read one chapter...she would be hooked and I would allow her to read one chapter and only one, I have the lights out battle nightly now...good old reverse psychology.
She is now reading anything she can get her hands on. Quite often I do read the first chapter or two of a new book still to establish whether she gets the vocab and set the scene for her, and then leave her to it. We did however often find her asleep by the night-light.
Books- I go weekly to our recycling depot and look through the kids books there. There are 100's of books from 30+ years ago. Lucky book club etc type books. They are pretty harmless and cheap as chips.
Also when my eldest was having "chapter book aversion" I slowly worked my way through the sophistocated picture book section, and there is a good series of abridged classics by ladybird that were chpter books, but with larger font and loads of pics. We all enjoyed those.
Good luck,
Jan
Late coming in here Nikki but my child likes the Amy Wild books by Diana Krimpton (Kimpton??). Mystery books involving animals.
I'm not sure they're *that* much more challenging than things like the rainbow fairy ones but my child - who hardly ever reads - can't get enough of Amy Wild. More to them I think than some of the other books out there. I also think the suspense and mystery of wondering what is going to happen next appeals. Whatever - something sets these books apart from others because books have never been more interesting than physical activity for our child - until Amy Wild.
What about some of the other Roald Dahl books, eg BFG, George's Marvellous Medicine? They're fantastic and not as overhwelmingly long to a younger child.
Re the link posted by Alison "whatshouldsheread". Looks like there are a lot of thought-provoking books listed on this site, with some great questions for discussions. However, if your girl has the extreme sensitivity and empathy that characterises some gifted kids, be careful with some of these titles. Grief is a tough issue for these wee souls to deal with.
Old Yeller is avoided in our family until we become more skilled at coping with intense emotions. My younger child would find it far too upsetting.
My 5yr old boy really enjoys Fox Mission, Astrosaurs, Zac Powers, Axel Storm, Jack Stawart etc - if your girl is a bit more the adventure story type they might appeal, they are written more aimed at boys but I would have loved them as a kid.
They are all easy short chapter novels, which it sounds like you are looking for.
