So I've been pondering this for awhile and asked some of my friends, but I've finally decided that Hatrack is the place I just HAVE to come with this question.
My niece is turning five next month. She has just started reading and has plenty of books at her ability level to keep her busy for awhile. But... she loves being read to, especially from chapter books. They've already read the first two books in the Little House series and also The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as well as some other modern kids books.
So my question... I want to give her some chapter books for her birthday. What would be good books for a five year old? I'm looking more for classic types of books, or at least books that have been around for awhile.
Any thoughts?
Posted by Zhil (Member # 10504) on :
I liked the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew when I was a kid. Old and inoffensively interesting.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
I loved Encyclopedia Brown when I was a little girl.
Other favorites from elementary school were:
The Secret Cave (also known as Twenty and Ten) Pippi Longstockings Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh The Ramona & Beezus series The Fudge Series, including "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great" The Double Trouble series (though, these aren't exactly "quality").
I'm sure there were others, but they are escaping me right now..
Posted by adenam (Member # 11902) on :
If she likes fairy tales then The Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine. The first one is The Fairy's Mistake.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty Macdonald
ETA: The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
[ June 26, 2011, 01:47 PM: Message edited by: adenam ]
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
Dr. Dolittle Little Women series (something like 6 books) Wind in the Willows Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Charlotte's Web The Trumpet of the Swan
--- Added:
A Little Princess The Secret Garden Bedknob & Broomstick Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang Uncle Wiggily series The Railway Children The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet The Wizard of Oz series The Phantom Toolbooth A Wrinkle in Time series
And oh, The Maid of the North: Feminist Folktales from Around the World. I loved this! Nothing anti-boy at all, just traditional stories from countries around the world about smart, brave, strong, creative girls that take care of themselves and the problems around them.
I loved reading about girls I wanted to be like.
[ June 26, 2011, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: CT ]
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Secret Garden is a wonderful classic that I think holds its integrity for years after the first reading, as a bonus there is that delightful 1993 movie you can also gift alongside the book for after she reads it herself.
The Harper Hall Trilogy is another series that would be great for a young girl, very innocent but all about a female protagonist overcoming gender stereotyping and surviving in the wild, and then in a music school. The third book is something of a spin-off focusing on a young boy character from the second book, but is largely a redo of the first book and surviving alone in a jungle. He even befriends a deer.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Just a heads-up: there's a fair amount of sexuality in the Harper Hall books, especially the third.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I couldnt remember if there was or not, now that I think about it Mennolly would disrobe to go to sleep, but I was young when I read it and just assumed that was how one sleeps in a bed made of animal furs. You know, just forget that I suggested it entirely, sorry.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
The Great Brain series.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
For sure.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Just a heads-up: there's a fair amount of sexuality in the Harper Hall books, especially the third.
While this is true, it's fairly oblique to a kid.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Gordon Korman's stuff is great, too. I haven't read most of his recent stuff (just one, Son of the Mob), but I was a huge fan of No Coins Please, Who is Bugs Potter?, and the whole Bruno and Boots series when I was a kid.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
oh, I have to second "The Secret Garden". It was one of the my favorites for years!
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
quote:Originally posted by DDDaysh: oh, I have to second "The Secret Garden". It was one of the my favorites for years!
Ahem. (that'd be "third")
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
quote:Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty Macdonald Charlotte's Web The Secret Garden The Wizard of Oz series A Wrinkle in Time series
+1
Sherlock Holmes Pawn of Prophecy series by David Eddings
Posted by katdog42 (Member # 4773) on :
Thanks for the great recommendations! I knew Hatrack would come through for me. It looks like she's going to be getting The Secret Garden and Charlotte's Web for sure (found those at a local used book place in GREAT condition) and probably a Ramona book or one of Judy Blume's younger-audience books.
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