Thursday, August 23, 2012

Books to read aloud

Hello Blog Readers,

I need your help in finding books to read aloud to Kylie.

We recently finished all the Junie B. Jones Books and Kylie loved them. We hit gold again with the Ivy and Bean Books.

Now I'm struggling with what to read next. I'm looking for a SERIES of books similar to Junie B and Ivy & Bean. I would love any suggestions in the comments.

We tried the Pet Fairies series but Kylie & I thought they were a bit repetitious so we've only read 6 or so. Kylie liked Ramona & Beezus but we got a bit bogged down in Ramona the Pest and lost interest. Same for the Ralph the Mouse collection. I'll try those books again when she is a bit older. We tried the Princess Posey collection as well as the Katie Kazoo series but weren't impressed enough to read any more.

We read the first five Magic Tree House books and Kylie enjoyed them but the suspenseful mysteries frightened my sensitive girl so we are waiting until she is older to read more of those. I also plan on reading the Diary of a Whimpy Kid collection as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when she is older.

Based on a quick Amazon search, I ordered these books from the library.
Jenny Archer series by Elen Conford
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Go Girl! by Chrissie Perry
The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room by Patricia Reilly Giff
Camp Ghost Away by Judy Delton

Please let me know your suggestions. Thanks!

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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

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A social worker in the making. said...

Hi, Long time reader never commented till today. My kids loved what happens when you give a mouse a cookie there is a whole series. Hope this helps. Bobbie In Pa

Alayna said...

Wish I had some suggestions, but you've already named everything I was thinking of. We have been reading Harry Potter with Mateo, who also scares very easily, but that might be too much for Kylie? Let us know what you come up with!

Teaberry said...

How about Paddington Bear?

Joy said...

The "My Father's Dragon" books are lovely and you might enjoy the "Pippi Longstocking" books.

Unknown said...

All three of us kids were raised on the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series as bedtime books. The PW series follows the format of a chapter book, so it lends itself well to bedtime reading (less stimulation from artwork; this was important to my mom if it was going to be a bedtime story). There are drawings, and the "chapters" are actually complete start-and-finish stories. LOVED these books as a kid, have shared them with my nephews, my high school students, and will with my own child (if we're fortunate enough to have one). Each story addresses a parent or child in the neighborhood who's experiencing some problem (children who don't listen, kids who are shy, etc.) and they turn to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to help. There's a definite formula to the stories and the "help" always ends up being something the person themselves possesses within (good character-building messages). They are a bit dated and old-timey, so you may want to preread for gender/family sensitivities. But as a gay woman, I found and find them to be whimsical and charming even if they feature only the one-sided "typical" family.

em said...

We had the same experience with the Ramona books! But we did love the Mouse and the Motorcycle, which is also Beverly Cleary. Also my 5 year old loved Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little (EB White). Right now we are reading Homer Price by Robert McClosky which is a huge hit. And also there are the Judy Blume books... Freckle Juice, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Fudge, Super Fudge. But I really can't wait until my daughter is ready for Roald Dahl, then the fun begins :) Reliving my childhood favorites is so much fun!

Rhiann said...

I realize this blog post is months and months old but I'm finally catching up now that my baby boy is nearing a year!!

Anyway, I wanted to recommend Anna Hibiscus if you haven't tried them yet. They're wonderful!

Also, My Father's Dragon...although there are only three stories.

Clementine might fit the bill for Kylie as well.

The Lighthouse Family series is darling and the writing is very good. (LOVE Cynthia Rylant!)

My daughter(5.5)is a bit horse obsessed and really likes the Wind Dancers series. I think they're a bit formulaic but she's an advanced reader and reads them to herself!

Kathleen Duey has superb writing skills and does a couple of series, The Unicorn's Secret, Hoofbeats, and The Faeries Promise. You might check those out.

The Borrowers is a fun series! I think there are six total?

Milly Molly Mandy is a book with short, stand alone stories that can be read as a chapter book. There are couple more compilations that are OOP but can usually be found on Amazon used. They stories are a bit dated but I like how "innocent" they are.

And it's not a series but worth mentioning anyhow because it's so good. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren of Pippi fame.

Catwings is a sweet, whimsical quartet that read very quickly.

My daughter also likes the Secret of Droon series. It's not my favourite but Magic Treehouse lovers tend to enjoy them.

Boxcar Children might be exciting!

And along the same lines as Milly Molly Mandy is the Betsy-Tacy series!

Hope this has been of some help. Let me know what you think, if you end up reading any of these. :-)


Wendy and Karen said...

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment and leave book titles! I'm getting them all from the library.