# 5th Grade-level books for sensitive Kindergartner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043 "2013-06-03T15:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/21 "2013-06-03T19:01:00Z")
I recommend the books by Walter Brooks about Freddy the Pig. I don’t anything in them being too intense for a sensitive kid. I’m tempted to recommend the Oz books (by L. Frank Baum). No one can die in Oz; the books overall have a fairly cheerful, sunny tone; and it was Baum’s explicit aim to write fantasies without the dark or scary bits that were often ingredients in European fairy tales. But they’re not without conflict, violence of a sort, or creatures or incidents that some kids might find scary. Since they’re out of copyright, you can find cheap and/or free electronic editions, if that appeals, but try to get an edition that includes the original illustrations. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/22 "2013-06-03T19:08:06Z")
Thinking back to books my dad read to me before I learned to read at age 6, I’m coming up with The Black Stallion The Secret Garden Gulliver’s Travels The Gift of the Mikado The Wizard of Oz Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/23 "2013-06-03T19:21:59Z")
I need to save this list for the coming year. My daughter just turned 5, but she’s already reading on a 2nd or 3rd grade level…I have no doubt by this time next year she’ll be going crazy. (it was a light switch for her…6 months ago, she was still working through every word by sound…then suddenly it ‘clicked’ and she started seeing whole words and reading smoothly…it’s been racing since. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/24 "2013-06-03T19:31:18Z")
Where the Red Fern Grows… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/25 "2013-06-03T19:34:15Z")
I’d suggest starting her on the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett, if she can get past the Nac Mac Feegle. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/26 "2013-06-03T19:45:27Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Where the Red Fern Grows… ?? Was that a joke? Because there’s nothing like the disemboweling of a beloved dog to cheer up a sensitive 5 year old? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/27 "2013-06-03T19:54:33Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > … > I’m tempted to recommend the Oz books (by L. Frank Baum). No one can die in Oz; the books overall have a fairly cheerful, sunny tone; and it was Baum’s explicit aim to write fantasies without the dark or scary bits that were often ingredients in European fairy tales. But they’re not without conflict, violence of a sort, or creatures or incidents that some kids might find scary. Since they’re out of copyright, you can find cheap and/or free electronic editions, if that appeals, but try to get an edition that includes the original illustrations. Some specific things in the Oz books that you might want to consider: 1. Magic sex changes. In one of the books, we meet a boy. At the end of the book, the boy is turned into a girl and spends the rest of the series as a girl. 2. The Tin Woodsman’s back story is rather grisly. He’s not a robot - he’s actually a Darth Vader-esque cyborg who was originally a normal human lumberjack but his body was rebuilt after he was mutilated in an assault over the girl he loved. Since his new body didn’t have a heart, he could no longer love her. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/28 "2013-06-03T20:13:31Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > ?? Was that a joke? Because there’s nothing like the disemboweling of a beloved dog to cheer up a sensitive 5 year old? No joke. Might as well recommend The Yearling or Old Yeller ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/29 "2013-06-03T20:30:06Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Gulliver’s Travels Not the whole original book, surely! ---
**Author:** ![cblackhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@cblackhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cblackhand)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/30 "2013-06-03T20:37:44Z")
My 6 year old loves the [Rainbow Fairies](http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com/books/books_rainbow.html) books. they are nominally grade 3-4 level so they might be a little easy, but there are a lot of them out there and they are readily available through the library. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/31 "2013-06-03T20:51:57Z")
Marguerite Henry has a number of lovely animal books - try starting her on Misty of Chincoteague. Jim Kjelgaard and Albert Payson Terhune. Great dog books. It’s been a while since I’ve read this stuff, so you might want to preview, but I don’t remember anything too horrible. There are moments or short scenes here and there, but the books are overall positive. I’d think that would be a good way for her to start dealing with some scary things - occasional mild scenes in otherwise positive books. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/32 "2013-06-03T20:54:33Z")
Re-shelving this in Cafe Society. From IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/33 "2013-06-03T20:59:56Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > 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. Remember that the thread is about a six-year-old, not an eleven-year-old, so the sensitivity might be appropriate for the emotional age of the child. And I’d recommend The Phantom Tollbooth, if she has not read it yet. I did a book report on it around fourth or fifth grade. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/34 "2013-06-03T21:34:31Z")
[QUOTE=TruCelt] (Still won’t read “Green Eggs and Ham” because “They are just fighting the whole time!”). [/QUOTE] Have you considered any other Dr. Seuss books? A couple titles she might like are [_The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins_](http://www.amazon.com/Hats-Bartholomew-Cubbins-Classic-Seuss/dp/039484484X/ref=pd_sim_b_1) or [_I Had Trouble In Getting to Solla Sollew_.](http://www.amazon.com/Had-Trouble-Getting-Solla-Sollew/dp/0394800923/ref=pd_sim_b_5) ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/35 "2013-06-03T21:57:40Z")
I really liked Esther Averill’s books about [Jenny the cat](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=esther+averill) when I was that age, and they are about as mild-mannered as books come. I also really liked Sydney Taylor’s [All-of-a-Kind Family](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sydney+taylor&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asydney+taylor) series, about a Jewish family in early 20th-century New York. (Sadly, most of them are out of print, but there should be plenty of used copies floating around, and they’re available on Kindle.) ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/36 "2013-06-03T22:06:29Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Where the Red Fern Grows… Shirley, you jest…(?) ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/37 "2013-06-03T22:27:12Z")
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Great books, funny and with lessons that she should understand well. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/38 "2013-06-03T22:39:12Z")
Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms, by Lissa Evans. Modern-day english-feeling town where a boy follows a series of hints left by his great-uncle, a vanished stage magician and magic trick inventor. Very light, no real danger, no sadness. Little Men, by Louisa May Alcott. Eight Cousins, by same. Little Men: A bit more dry than Little Women, but much less angst. Jo is all grown up and running an orphanage for boys with her German husband and kids of her own. Follow the lives of the boys (and a few token girls) as they grow up into strong men and women. Eight Cousins: One little “delicate” girl, 7 rowdy boy cousins = much fun and lots of descriptions of boating and rowing and sailing and etc. No angst really at all, but she is an orphan girl. 101 Dalmations, by Dodie Smith The original is awesome, but there is a bit of cruelty to animals (the plans for the puppies of course, and Perdita (a mistress, not the wife!) is found abandoned and starving. Cruella deVille is lampshaded throughout, as are the baddies, so they’re much less frightening than they could be. And one really juvenile book that might help bolster her out of being quite so sensitive to dark topics: Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, by Mordecai Richler. Seriously out of print, but well worth looking up. Jacob two-two is twoplustwoplustwo years old, and always does things by twos. He has two older brothers and two older sisters, and his parents and siblings don’t understand him. In this particular installment (other books in the series not necessary) Jacob spies on his older siblings playing at being “superheroes” and then wakes to find he’s been sent to a dark prison for kids that’s run by the Hooded Fang (a colorful tv wrestling character) where cold showers and tiny nasty cells and moldy bread is the order of the day. It’s soooo outrageously overdone that it’s really nearly impossible to take seriously - which is of course the point. There are lovely atmospheric (soooo overdone) drawings throughout, and Jacob ends up rescuing his siblings the superheroes at the end. It really is delightful. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/39 "2013-06-03T22:49:22Z")
Cobble Street Cousins. Very sweet stories of three girl cousins who visit their Aunt Lucy each summer. > **[Cobble Street Cousins Series by Cynthia Rylant](https://www.goodreads.com/series/58362-cobble-street-cousins?auto_login_attempted=true)** > > In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen (Cobble Street Cousins, #1), A Little Shopping (Cobble Street Cousins, #2), Special Gifts (Cobble Street Cousins #3), Some Good N... ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043/40 "2013-06-03T23:11:22Z")
[QUOTE= robert\_columbia] Some specific things in the Oz books that you might want to consider: [/QUOTE] The woodsman thing is really an adult fear, a child would find it funny, I think. I mean, he’s “OK” at the end, and it’s not gory or anything. Many Roald Dahl books are good, but make sure you get the ones without animal abuse. Are the “Little vampire” books available in english? It’s quite silly, even with vampires. I remember a hilarious bit about taking a surly teenage vampire to the dentist, among other things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5th-grade-level-books-for-sensitive-kindergartner/660043.md?page=3)