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I love Stroud's "Bartimaeus Trilogy" ("Eye of Samarkand", "The Golem's Eye") but given that they involve magicians summoning demons (and one of the principal characters _is_ a demon/djinni), I don't know whether the school would look favorably. Perfect for the age group, though.
Binary Arts/ThinkFun makes some fine games, though they're mostly single-player. I'd also recommend a game called Ricochet Robots- simple, mind-challenging, can be played for short periods of time, and great fun. Funagain Games (www.funagain.com) may have other suggestions. They're my family's favorite game store, they carry hard-to-find things, and they ship.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Belle, instead of the How To Draw horses book, I reccomend "Draw Horses" by Sam Savitt, he's just so fantastic, and it's a great book. Actually I think I have them both.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I’m got what might be a harder (but related) question. I’ve been volunteering at the local elementary school in the reading recovery program. Basically, I’m going in once a week and listening to fifth graders read. But these fifth graders are struggling to read I-can-read books. You know, the kind that many of us were reading before we even started school. One of the major goals of the program is to help the kids see reading as a fun experience. Once they make the jump from “decoding” to actually being able to follow the story and get interested in a book their reading improves. But what fifth grader is going to get caught up in the story of “Arthur goes to kindergarten”? Most books, quite properly, contain content appropriate for the age level they’re written for.
So my question is, does anybody know of any books with 5th grade content at a 1st grade reading level?
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The His Dark Materials trilogy. Also, what happened to Harry Potter? For games, how about Settlers of Catan? It's pretty simple to learn, and great fun.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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By the way, do I get to be in the always-honored position of being the first to offer Ender's Game as a suggestion? Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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All the ones that jumped to my mind have been mentioned so I'll just second them. Where the Red Fern Grows Holes Freak the Mighty (sequel: Max the Mighty) Watership Down The Westing Game Bridge to Teribitia
But also check into: My Side of the Mountain (my 7th graders love it) The Watson's Go to Birmingham (the scene where the kid gets his lips frozen to a car mirror is HILARIOUS) The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence is the first in a trilogy about pirates. It's great and I can't remember anything objectionable in it. Artemis Fowl The Pendragon Series (don't know much about it other than it's fantasy and my students fight over them in the library) Sea of Trolls The Giver, Gathering Blue, and The Messenger by Lois Lowry (although some have found The Giver questionable) The Hero and the Crown The Dicey books by Cynthia Voigt: Homecoming, Dicey's Song, Solitary Blue, The Runner, Come a Stranger, Seventeen Against the Dealer, and Sons From Afar (although I am not sure how much your son will like them since Dicey is a girl) The Trumpet of the Swan is a wonderful often overlooked book by E.B. White of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little fame. It was one of my favorite books as a kid. The Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing Series by Judy Blume (easy but still fun if he's never read them)
I'll be back when I think of more. Really bad to get me started talking about books.
Posts: 1319 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Oh! I forgot about the Redwall books, by Brian Jacques. Though maybe the talking animals would put off kids that age.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by King of Men: The His Dark Materials trilogy.
There is no way that would fly in a Christian school. Absolutely no way.
One that would: Dogs Don't Tell Jokes by Louis Sachar And possibly Someday Angeline, which DDTJ is a sequel to. Amazon.com says they're both for age 9-12, but SA feels younger to me--probably because the kids are a few years younger and it's a shorter book.
Posts: 3801 | Registered: Jan 2000
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oh wow, dkw . . . good question - no easy answers.
I was trying to come up with ideas based on Nathan's learning . . .
I think, firstly, that the person sitting side-by-side with the student will have much more effect than the book itself. If you're excited, and interested in the story, they will be, too. And even simple stories can be great starting places for some good conversation or "digging deeper" type thinking about the story and related issues.
As for possible books:
Even when they were still difficult for him, Nathan really loved the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne. The Scholastic Readers seem to make a hit with a variety of themes -
And I still think Dr. Suess is appropriate for every age group. *smile*
Try kid's magazines, too. Such as Kid's Discover -
What a great thing to do! I really miss volunteering with beginning readers and writers! Those ages between 3-5th grades are so much fun!
Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
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dkw---there are some very good easy "step into reading" books. I would suggest going to your local library, explain what you are doing and see what they suggest. My first grader just finished an easy version of Bunnicula and really enjoyed it. I am willing to bet that a 5-6 grader would enjoy that story and appreciate that it's closer to a level they can read.
The Eleventh Hour is a fun book to read (it's in rhyme) but it has visual clues on each page to help solve the mystery at the end. I believe that the author is Grahaem Base (not sure the spelling is correct). Chris Van Allsburg also has some fun picture books (the vocabulary is a little more advanced) but i think if you read a sentence, the student read a sentence or another strategy like that, it would be okay.
Another good resource is a book by Jim Trelease called The Read-Aloud Handbook It is specifically for books to read out loud (hence the title ) but I find it a great resource that has a pretty good summary of each book with an appropriate age group. (This is in the second half of the book).
Good luck. You are doing such a great service!
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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As far as 5th and 6th graders go, I wouldn't discount really great picture books. Yes, novels are important but even advanced readers enjoy a book with some great illustrations (heck! I do). My 6th graders LOVED the Eleventh Hour book (especially because I wouldn't let them break the seal at the end of the book that gives the answers to the mystery---I had the book at home and so I knew the answers) Picture books like that are fantastic and there are many that are especially written for advanced readers (elementary advanced readers that is...)with a more complex vocabulary and plots but in a shortened form with illustrations.
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:I can't stand thinking about all the children who read that series.
They're fine books-- when read as sci-fi/fantasy. I read them at around age 15 or so, I think (well, the first two, the third came out when I was 17), and wasn't scarred for life. But no, they do not belong in a Christian school, and they are probably more properly for teenagers, kids old enough to deal with books like Stranger in a Strange Land.
The Eleventh Hour is awesome for all ages. There are also some really good, simple Scholastic non-fiction books-- one I had called Immigrant Children comes to mind, which is a pictoral account (lots of photos) of child immigrants to America, with simple text about what school, home, the passage over, etc. were like for them. The text in that particular book may be a bit long (although very simple), but you get my point-- Scholastic has great photo-illustrated non-fiction books on a wide variety of subjects that may interest kids.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I read Stranger in a Strange Land as a teenager...I really don't think it's appropriate for teens, and if one of my children wanted to read it while still living here, I'd want to talk with them about it afterward. The book had a significantly negative impact on me and some of the decisions I made after reading it. Not that I'm blaming the book. I made those decisions myself. But it had an influence.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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dkw, I'm really interested in your experiences volunteering, because I volunteered to be a reading mentor at my local middle school and it sounds exactly like what you're talking about - they said I would be listening to middle school kids read and encouraging them.
Any suggestions for me? The program is supposed to start in November, and I'm hoping that I can do it even with the chemotherapy.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:I read Stranger in a Strange Land as a teenager...I really don't think it's appropriate for teens, and if one of my children wanted to read it while still living here, I'd want to talk with them about it afterward. The book had a significantly negative impact on me and some of the decisions I made after reading it. Not that I'm blaming the book. I made those decisions myself. But it had an influence.
Hmmm. See, I was given it on my 15th birthday by my father. I was mature enough to read it for the story and take the ideas I liked while discarding the ones I didn't-- I'd actually been doing that for years. I guess that kind of readiness comes at different ages for different people.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I read Stranger in a Strange Land as a teen also and didn't feel it changed my behavior at all. Perhaps some of it went right over my head? Maybe it has something to do with other things besides maturity.
I found The Dark Materials books to be more sinister and more slyly negative about religion and... good and evil in a way that disturbed me, especially in the way kids are attracted to it. At least the Heinlein book was written for adults.
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The Day No Pigs Would Die Lowry: The Hundredth Thing About Caroline; Anastasia Will Hobbs: Wild Man Island; some others The Wind in the Willows
Posts: 1877 | Registered: Apr 2005
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kq, I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound condescending, but your post reads that way to me. Because I know you have a generous heart, I will try not to interpret it that way, but reading what you wrote does sting a bit.
I'll just say that we all mature differently and I'm sure you made different mistakes as a teen than I did, which likely had little to do with maturity and much to do with individual weaknesses.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ooh! I was trying to be very clear that there are different KINDS of readiness/maturity, and that's just one of them. I was so immature in so many other ways at 15 that I'm sure you weren't. I am so sorry! I was TRYING to get a certain point that's hard to describe across, and didn't do it very well. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt any feelings! Forgiven?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Another point: my dad would not have given the book to me if he was not aware of how exactly I read books and that I would be able to do that, so I'm sure that YOU are the right one to be able to know when your kids would be able to handle stuff like that, and discuss it with them afterward. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I read it because it was in the bookroom where I was a teacher's aid. I often had lots of time on my hands, so I read the books in the bookroom. Yes, it was required reading in some classes. I can't think about that without going , with some gratitude for being able to afford private school for my kids.
And I should reiterate that I don't blame the book for my bad decisions. It was an influence, but it wasn't the only influence.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I remember being very annoyed by the sexism in Stranger in a Strange Land. It was assigned reading for my Advanced English course in 8th grade. I was underwhelmed be Heinlein's writing. And character development. Etc. That bit about how all humor stems from someone else's pain was really thought provoking, though. And we did do a totally fabulous presentation that began: "I grok. Do you grok?" Oh yes.
I love the Dick Smith books. Babe the Gallant Pig etc. So so great! I think 6th graders would enjoy those. I would also be hesistant to give anyone at any age a Reader's Digest or condensed version of something; there are probably some that are done well, but in my experience they are sadly lacking. I also think most 6th graders could get through Treasure Island and/or Robinson Crusoe just fine.
Posts: 471 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Seriously though, i'd say the "His Dark Materials" series. The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
Posts: 67 | Registered: Oct 2004
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How about some Pratchett? The later ones are fairly grown-up humour that probably won't appeal to fifth graders, but the early ones are a bit more slapsticky. "Small Gods" is a good standalone one, as is "Reaper Man".
As for not flying in a Christian school I don't see why not. They're hardly very critical of gods; just of organised religion. The school should be perfectly able to point out how different their own organisation is from what's portrayed in the book, while subtly pointing out how Catholic those priests seem to be. Perfect propaganda material - what could be better than "It's good we're not like that"?
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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C'mon now, if you're going to recommend the Phillip Pullman series afer everything we've just said about it then you should at least state why you think it would be appropriate anyway.
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Hmmmm... these might not be the your looking for but these are the ones that I read in fifth and sixth grade (keep in mind that I tested out at a 13th-they make crap up at a certain point- grade reading level. Centennial and Poland- James A. Michener The mainstory Dragonlace books Dracula (original edition The His Dark Material's series Redwall and some of it's sequels and prequels Harry Potter The Wheel of Time series (first 8 books) and I still read more today!
Posts: 31 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Sigh... This is what happens when you rely on word processors to do your thinking for you. While I do appreciate people fixing mistakes - it's rather unusual - I still have to point out that the Materials are plural, not possessive, and that Redwall's sequels take a possessive, not a contraction.
That is all, thank you for listening.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I am having a lot of Word problems recently, right after I typed my last post I reread an essay I wrote for english and found 10 spelling mistakes. When you spend $300 on software you should expect it to work.
Posts: 31 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Or, you know, you could use emacs and brains. Computers are there to take orders, not to think for you.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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There is no way the school would ever allow Harry Potter. It wouldn't be able to stay in business if it did.
I second the scaredness that young children are reading His Dark Materials. I just have this crazy aversion to feeding children blatant propaganda. I do love several of Pullman's other books, although they're certainly not appropriate for that age group.
I read Lyddie in fifth grade, I'm not sure how appropriate it would be for a Christian school there is implied extramarital sex and attempted rape, though all of it is presented in as clean a way as possible.
I also read The Hobbit in fifth grade. I loved it, I was so upset because we were supposed to read a set number of chapters a day and then write journal entries on them. I couldn't put it down, so I had to go back later and write all of the journal entries, while trying to make it not seem like I'd read ahead.
The Prisoner of Zenda is an amazing book. It wouldn't have occured to me to mention it, but I found it while browsing christianbooks.com and it's perfect for that age level.
The Betsy-Tacy books would be amazing for all age levels. They follow Betsy from the age of 5, and the writing grows as she does. Of all the books I read as a child, the Betsy Tacy books are the ones I couldn't bear to have not read. I think they've made me a much better person for having read them. And they're just amazing books.
I don't know if you can get away with any fantasy, but if you can The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are the best you can do. Noncontroversial, clever and fun.
The Medallion is one of the best Christian's children's books I've read. I reread it several times up until I was in my teenage year. Great book, the message is obvious but not heavy handed, if nothing else the teachers should love it. I also loved The Runaway Princess these two books were probably the only truly Christian literature I read as a child, but I read them so many times. Our good family friends who homeschooled their kids for years love this publisher. It might be worth it to check out their website and see what else they have.
I assume your school has the Mandy series? That's about the right age group, and it's really long, so it'll keep the kids occupied for a long time.
This Mandy is also very good, although completely unrelated to the aforementioned series. I haven't read it in years, so I'm not positive there's nothing inappropriate, although I don't remember anything. Maybe someone who has read it more recently can think of something?
The Bronze Bow was my good friend's favorite book when she was that age (She's the daughter of a very conservative pastor), I've never read it myself, but I trust her judgement.
If fantasy is ok, then anything by Gail Carson Levine is age appropriate, funny and well written. I know my cousins aren't allowed to read anything with magic, though, so I'm not sure it would be appropriate.
I second whoever said The View From Saturday it's one of the best books I've ever read, for children or adults.
I'm reaching the point where I've ceased trying to be helpful and am simply having fun looking up books, so I'll leave you to this list and go contemplate my newfound desire to donate books to private Christian schools.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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The Christian schools around here have no problems whatsoever with Harry Potter, it's on their summer reading lists and in their libraries.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I don't think the school would fall apart if they put Harry Potter on the shelves. I'm learning that this school is a bit more progressive than our last. They don't have nearly the same stringency in admissions as our school in Bellingham. They might be fine with HP if I talked with them about it first. THough maybe not, because someone must have complained about using monsters as part of a spelling lesson -- a letter of apology came out later. I thought that was pretty dumb.
I think there is a significant case to be made for defining Harry Potter as classic English literature, which is often fundamentally Christian. There's quite a lot of Christian symbolism in the books if you choose to look for them.
I probably wouldn't want a child who was fascinated with the occult to immerse himself in Harry Potter's world, just because I think it could be a weakness to him. But to blame the Harry Potter books for the child's fascination is plain blind. As for HP not obeying the rules...yeah, no kid ever did that.
But ultimately my purpose here is not to convert people to love Harry Potter...it's to give a gift to the school. I can make HP converts on a one to one basis. Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Oh, and thank you all for making such great suggestions! I really appreciate it! (Especially blacwolve, for the specifically Christian fiction. I'll look for them.)
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Really? All of the private Christian schools I've been involved with would never be able to stock Harry Potter. Not because it was evil, but just because there was so much controversy surrounding it that it was better to just avoid that issue. Sorry.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Dkw- This might not be the right reading level at all, but would the American Girl books be good for what you're doing? They were the first books I read on my own.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Books I loved between 4th and 7th Grade: Books by Jules Vernes Animal Farm The Once and Future King Ender's Game The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings The Tripod trilogy. Edit: for all this time, I went to a private, Episcopalian school.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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American Girl might be a little higher than DKW wants, at least from my mom's experience with 7th grade reading recovery, and more often (but not always) it's boys in those situations, so that makes it harder, because I don't know many boys who would read American Girl.
I don't think I would have gotten Animal Farm in 4th or 5th grade, I read it in seventh, and was just begginning to get the extra layers, now it's a good book.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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"Dark Materials" involves a massive religious conspiracy to kill children and the death of God, who is a pitiful and helpless entity. It implies that the God killed is the God of "this" world. I don't have any problem with that in adult fiction, but it's a bit much in children's fiction, and completely inappropriate to a Christian school.
I'll try to think where Narnia has the organized atheists killing helpless children. I'm sure it will come to me in a moment.
Really, I don't dislike "His Dark Materials" so much for the content as for the fact that he starts with some interesting ideas and then whole plots and characters fall to pieces by the third book.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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The particular class I'm helping with is mostly girls, but the American Girls books would be too hard for some of them. And those are the kids I'm worried about -- the ones who are reading so far below grade level that the books they can read are beneath them. These kids aren't unintelligent, they just have managed so far to avoid learning to read.
Belle, the thing that's been most helpful for me to remember (that they didn't tell us in orientation) is to deal with my own stuff (emotional and intellectual shock) on my own time. Every time I leave the school some part of my brain is running around in circles screaming "these kids can't read! They're in fifth grade and they can't read books my siblings and I read in kindergarten! How can they use their history and geography and math textbooks if they can't read paragraphs!?!" Not helpful while actually with the students. Calm and supportive while there, freak out afterwards.
The other thing is to watch out for cons -- by the time they get to fifth grade, and proably more so by middle school, some of them have developed strategies for hiding the fact that they can't read. One girl I worked with has several of the reading books pretty well memorized. If she gets to pick she chooses one she knows by heart. (Like I said earlier, she's not unintelligent, even though she can't read, and she's got a good memory.) But I caught her "reading" stuff before she got to the page it was on. Now the teacher picks the books for her to read aloud.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:I'll try to think where Narnia has the organized atheists killing helpless children. I'm sure it will come to me in a moment.
Um, how about the bit where the White Witch is trying to kill Edmund? And in The Silver Chair, the Queen of the Underworld - an extremely unpleasant character, who (IIRC, it's been some time) does indeed try to kill Jill and Eustace) actually puts forth explicit atheist arguments. They're not even parodied; if you disregard the outside knowledge of the reader, who of course knows full well that the Overworld exists, they make perfect sense. It's really a clever bit of propaganda.
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