** . . . or, The Semi-Annual ‘Books for Celtling’ Thread.**
I’m having trouble finding books which are both challenging for my child and emotionally appropriate. She is a 6-year-old who reads on the 5th-grade level. She is also a fairly sensitive child, and not ready for books where pets die, or anyone is in serious danger. She also really dislikes books where there is a lot of interpersonal conflict. (Still won’t read “Green Eggs and Ham” because “They are just fighting the whole time!”).
So, anyone who has been through a similar age->ability gap, or who has an older child with a similarly senstive nature: Suggestions for books/series she might like?
Other misc. info:
Loves animals and Princesses
Really enjoyed the “How to Tame Your Dragon” series.
Couldn’t bear to begin on Lemony Snicket. It was right out after only a few pages.
She still really likes pictures
Short stories are especially nice, although chapter books are OK.
I used this site to filter by age and reading level. I wouldn’t recommend all the books on the list but Madeline might be a good fit. They didn’t list Eloise but I think that would be a good series too.
I’d try Story Girl and The Golden Road by Lucy Maude Montgomery. Very innocent, and as far as I remember even less upsetting than the Anne books.
Maudie in the Middle by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks At Midnight by James Howe Sarah, Plain And Tall by Patricia MacLachlan The Kid In The Red Jacket by Barbara Park
Have you tried introducing her to poetry? Any decent library should have some good anthologies, and you can skim through them to make sure there’s nothing sad.
This is an older book, but if you can find King of the Dollhouse at the library, she might like it.
It’s a cute story of a girl who finds a tiny king and his collection of “royal babies” who’ve taken up residence in her dollhouse, while the Queen is out mouseback riding (the King is a homebody and loves staying home and taking care of the babies, while the Queen is quite the adventuress).
There’s very little conflict, the illustrations are really cute, and aside from a little brief sadness at the end when the family moves on, I doubt there’d be anything to disturb her.
Daulaire’s always a good standby regardless of age.
I want to suggest the Redwall series but I’m slightly out of touch as to what a 5th grade reading level is. I remember reading it in 4-5th grade but I definitely couldn’t have pulled it off in Kindergarten regardless of how literate I was. It’s doubly confusing because it appears that Harry Potter is on middle school reading lists now and to me it’s more of a 3rd-5th grade book as well.
Wasn’t there a lot of hardship and sadness in those, though? Like people dying? It’s been a long time since I read them, but I do remember them being fairly miserable (though I did enjoy them).
The Black Stallion has the scary shipwreck, they almost die in the desert in “Return of the…” and, in the third, “Son of…” a main, normally sympathetic character restrains and beats a horse until it collapses.
OK, I will be the skunk at the party: If she finds the level of conflict in Green Eggs and Ham disturbing, I’d suggest working with her to dial back the sensitivity a bit. Otherwise, she will not be ill-equipped to deal with real conflict when she encounters it, either in books or in real life.
(If, on the other hand, she is concerned about Sam-I-Am’s ill manners, I am right there with her!)
If, after all that, I am still permitted a recommendation, let me suggest John Ciardi’s You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You. Delightful poems about being a kid, with wonderful Edward Gorey illustrations.
I love the books by E.B. White. Charlotte’s Web is a high recommendation and yes, I know the death but it’s such an integral part of the story it’s just…I don’t know. I’m going to be reading it to my 5 year old after we’re done with the Wizard of Oz. That might also be a good one. But back to White’s books. Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little are both good and I believe no death?
