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Read Aloud Suggestions for 7 and 9 year old boys
Hi --
The thread on reading the classics brought to mind my current dilemma. When I read aloud to my kids, I aim for books that they're not quite able to read independently, usually because they lack the vocabulary, but sometimes the the kids lack historical context. Recent successful reads have included __Tom Sawyer__ and __Alice in Wonderland__. On the other hand, __Treasure Island__ was a loser and we gave it up after three chapters. I want to avoid SF/Fantasy, because my older son reads that to the exclusion of other forms of literature. I've thought of __A Midsummer's Night Dream__, but think my younger son might not be ready yet, even though the elder boy would probably eat it up. Any suggestions would be welcome. --Beth Kevles http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would like me to reply. |
#2
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In article ,
Beth Kevles wrote: When I read aloud to my kids, I aim for books that they're not quite able to read independently, usually because they lack the vocabulary, but sometimes the the kids lack historical context. Recent successful reads have included __Tom Sawyer__ and __Alice in Wonderland__. On the other hand, __Treasure Island__ was a loser and we gave it up after three chapters. Hi Beth! With my 8- and 11yo boys, we've had excellent luck with stories from __The Arabian Nights__ -- we have a lovely book with nice pictures and apparently the original language, which they certainly couldn't understand on their own. Another one that they liked a while back was __Mary Poppins__. My boys have also read themselves some of the OZ books. All of these have some fairly challenging language. Greek Mythology also fits in well here. So do folk tales from other cultures (and these have the advantage of often being short enough to read in a single session in families where consistent reading-together time is hard to achieve). I want to avoid SF/Fantasy, because my older son reads that to the exclusion of other forms of literature. It occurs to me that most of my suggestions would, I think, technically fall under the "Fantasy" label, though they're a bit different than the dragons and wizards fare I typically think of under that heading. I've thought of __A Midsummer's Night Dream__, but think my younger son might not be ready yet, even though the elder boy would probably eat it up. Jim Weiss does a simplified version of that (and Taming of the Shrew) on one of his story tapes/cds, which my now-8yo has enjoyed for some time. I'd guess you're not far from your 7yo being able to enjoy the original with some guidance from you as you read through it. Good luck, and nice thread! I'll be watching for other replies, though I admit that between homework, activities and a 3yo who needs only as much sleep as the 8yo does, we don't read aloud to the older boys as much as we'd like to. --Robyn |
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Beth ) wrote:
I want to avoid SF/Fantasy, because my older son reads that to the exclusion of other forms of literature. You might try _Gone-Away Lake_ and _Return to Gone-Away_ by Elizabeth Enright. (I'm very fond of her Melendy family books, too, but the first one is fairly dated and not as good for a read-aloud IMO.) It might be a tad easy compared to some stuff your 9-year-old could read, but the level of writing is definitely worth slowing down for, if you see what I mean (there are all kinds of well-phrased descriptions that repay reading aloud). My daughters didn't take to _Gone-Away_ as a read-aloud in first grade (they did get around to liking it later), but my son did (we're almost done with it now). You might consider nonfiction -- e.g., biographies or natural history. I wonder if _Swallows and Amazons_ would do, or if that might be too longwinded? --Helen |
#4
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In article ,
Beth Kevles wrote: The thread on reading the classics brought to mind my current dilemma. When I read aloud to my kids, I aim for books that they're not quite able to read independently, usually because they lack the vocabulary, but sometimes the the kids lack historical context. Recent successful reads have included __Tom Sawyer__ and __Alice in Wonderland__. On the other hand, __Treasure Island__ was a loser and we gave it up after three chapters. I want to avoid SF/Fantasy, because my older son reads that to the exclusion of other forms of literature. This is very limiting---a lot of the best children's literature is fantasy---particularly books suitable for reading aloud. Perhaps you could just pick a different subgenre or concentrate on classics like Nesbit and Eager that your son may not find on his own. I've thought of __A Midsummer's Night Dream__, but think my younger son might not be ready yet, even though the elder boy would probably eat it up. We took our son to a performance of this when he was 7 and another when he was 8. He enjoyed it both times. We did read to him (or have him read, I forget which) one of the "stories from Shakespeare" short retellings the first time, so that he could follow the story. Plays like this are better understood when performed rather than read, at least if the actors understand the jokes and come up with the appropriate gestures and stage business to make them clearer to the audience. This year (when he was 8) we took him to a performance of The Taming of the Shrew, which is a somewhat more difficult play for an 8-year-old. We did not take him to John Fletcher's "The Tamer Tamed" which Shakespeare Santa Cruz did in the same season (the two plays fit very well together), but I think, in retrospect, that he would have enjoyed it also. ------------------------------------------------------------ Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics Senior member, IEEE Board of Directors, ISCB (starting Jan 2005) life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels) Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed) Affiliations for identification only. |
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Hi - Your responses have been interesting, and I'll definitely have a look at some of the books suggested. More suggestions are welcome since I expect to read about a dozen books aloud this year, maybe more. Thanks so much! --Beth Kevles http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would like me to reply. |
#7
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I loved the Swallows & Amazons series at that age, I also enjoyed the
Williard Price Adventure books, the Hardy Boys series and Biggles. All of which may be a little old fashioned but are good adventure stories. (I had older boy cousins who gave me their books!) sarah |
#8
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Beth Kevles wrote:
When I read aloud to my kids, I aim for books that they're not quite able to read independently, usually because they lack the vocabulary, but sometimes the the kids lack historical context. [..] I want to avoid SF/Fantasy, because my older son reads that to the exclusion of other forms of literature. Joan Aiken might be a good choice. _Black Hearts in Battersea_ is slightly-alternate history, set in 19th century England, with a lot of mysterious plots. That's the first book in an extended series, so if you and your kids like it, you'd have a lot of reading-aloud fodder. _Midnight is a Place_ is historical fiction set during the Industrial Revolution, and has a Dickensian feel - orphans, oppressive factories, melodrama. I loved it as a kid. Rivka -- Visit my weblog at http://respectfulofotters.blogspot.com |
#10
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Hi - Thanks for the suggestions. __THe Three Musketeers_, I think, will go over pretty well. We've settled on Oliver Twist for the next read. (We've read the first two chapters and the kids LOVE it. Requires lots of parental commentary, of course.) We're debating whether to read aloud Huck Finn (as the "sequel" to Tom Sawyer) or let our older son read it on his own. The other suggestions are great, too. THanks, --Beth Kevles http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would like me to reply. |
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