Reading is a thing at our house. I think it probably is at most homes. When your kids are tiny, you wind down the evening with board books. Right now, our Littlest selects two an evening from his bookshelf. The Middlest, selects one or two picture books or the 5 minute stories from compilation-style books on superheroes or Disney. And the Oldest, when he began his Kindergarten year, my husband and I transitioned to chapter books with him.
But not just chapter books. We wanted to be the ones selecting books that might seem more cumbersome for him to attack all on his own. Because the kid has a natural love of reading (we’re lucky in that regard) he was reading simpler chapter books on his own throughout the day. His obsession began when, for Christmas, we gifted him the Magic Treehouse box set. When he’d finished two of them by the end of the day, I knew we were going to have a little reader on our hands.
So, he also started enjoying Amelia Bedelia, Encyclopedia Brown (so much so that he was him for Halloween last year), Humphrey, and the “who is/who was” books as well as the, “I survived” series. I was really lucky to have great recommendations from my sister, who is a teacher, my brother and sister-in-law, whose boys are just a smidge older, and of course the school librarian.
So we decided to start our own routine. We would select a chapter book to read a chapter a night. The first book, he and I would read together — trading off every other page. The next, my husband would read with him and then we’d alternate with each new book.
I wanted to share our selections so far and if you feel your child might not be at a certain reading level, you could always just read a chapter aloud to them each night.
1. The last of the really great Whangdoodles
This was our first read. He and I read it together. It is a fave of mine from my childhood and he gifted it to me for Mother’s Day for us to read together. It is a great book for imagination. It paints great descriptive pictures. And it’s not well-known so they haven’t seen a movie of it because I don’t believe one exists. We did some drawing activities with this one to show each other what we thought the characters looked like.
I give this book an A based on it’s imaginative and descriptive writing. A totally unique story. The readability. And the fact that it is a story about kids exploring and using their minds!
2. Charlotte’s Web
Yes. Yes. Yes. The librarian at the public library met the Oldest and recommended this. He read it each night with Adam. The story is obviously a classic. And it helps kids learn a little about life and death but not in a gory scary way. Some Magnificent Book. Following reading, we watched the movie as a family.
I give this book an A because it’s a classic. It talks about believing in yourself. It has an easy readability. It has good talking points. And it’s a book that most people know so having a discussion about it is another bonus.
3. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
He and I read this one next on recommendation from several people. It’s a classic, renowned for its storytelling and known by most. Both he and I agreed that we found this book more boring than the others and not as fun to read.
I give this book a B-. I don’t think we’ll be re-reading it as The Oldest has done with the Whangdoodles. And it was kind of boring from my viewpoint.
4. Wizard of Oz
The Oldest and the hubs read this. I’ve never read the book but after reading the book, we took the Oldest to the show at the Orpheum. He was excited to compare and contrast the book and show (his words not mine). He loved this book because he’s never seen the movie so visualizing the characters was fun for him. Also, the story in the book is slightly different than the movie. I think this was a longer read but he had no issue with that. Also, while he had previously read a shorter version of the Wizard of Oz, I think reading the classic was a cool experience for him and for the hubs.
I give this book an A-. While it’s a great story, it might have gotten a bit mature at times with gore and scary stuff for the 6 year old.
5. Mary Poppins
I had never read this book and the Oldest had not yet seen the movie so it was a fun one to read together. Loved it because the story is different eno gh from the movie to keep you guessing at points and to keep the adults who may have seen the movie from getting bored. The readability is fun because it has some British accents and words a mattered throughout.
I give this book an A. Easy to read. Fun stories. And watching the movie as a family following was totally fun for a Friday night movie night. Additionally, he was able to go see the stage show with his grandparents to see yet another perspective. The cool thing about this one is the music aspect that you don’t get with reading the book.
6. Harry Potter
Adam really wanted to read this with B and as I’ve never read the books or seen the full movies, I was worried about the content being too mature AND it being too difficult to read. Luckily, he LOVED it. Loved. I doubt we’ll do the rest of the books yet because they do get darker and he’s just 7. But I think if he were 9 or 10 we would have just continued with the series. We then watched the movie as a family. It was great. It might be a little above reading level at seven but even if a parent just reads it aloud to a child I think it’s an awesome book for imagination.
I give this book an A. It may be a big one to tackle but was totally worth it. And we watched the movie afterward, which i’d never seen, and we looooooved it.
7. Wonder
By far my favorite of the books that I’ve read with the Oldest, this book tells the story of a little boy named August through the perspectives of 6 different “voices”. August was born with some chromosomal abnormalities which have affected his appearance. There were a million lessons for us to talk about as we read this. A million. And the Oldest requested reading it during the day at night because he was dying to know what happened next. This was recommended by a friend and I am so glad it was, we LOVED it. So much, in fact, I was sad when it was over.
I give this book an A+. I think it brings up great discussions regardless of the age of kids. We talked through a lot of the scenarios to make sure he was comprehending it. And I bring it up almost daily when talking about compassion and respect. It was one that I was happy to have read aloud, too, to be able to help with some of the vocabulary.
And now, the Oldest and his dad are embarking on the Hobbit. We shall see how this one goes. It’s a big one to tackle. And on deck, he and I will next, read, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Mostly, for me, it’s about the time dedicated to our reading time that I cherish the most. The conversations that the books bring about. And the way I get to see his imagination at work.
With the Middlest, we’ll start doing a book of smaller scale that we will read for several weeks since he just turned five. And with the Littlest, we’ll just keep on keepin’ on.
What is the best book you remember reading as a child? What is the best book you’ve read with your children?
