by request: our book mom-daughter book club list

experiences, family

Several readers have requested the reading list from my previous post about the book club my daughter and I have started.  I’ll include a variety of other books that we have read together as well.

I’ll also share the invaluable advice I got from the reading specialist at our daughter’s school. She suggested that we plan a reading diet, which should include many types of books ranging from easy to hard. The idea is that children can work on intonation and pronunciation reading easy books aloud while harder books give them practice de-coding, which is an important skill as well. In short, different kinds of books give a child a chance to develop different kinds of reading skills.

Our List for 2010:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Sophie heard this was a good book and wanted to read it. I thought it was too old for her as it’s about boy-girl teenage angst but decided to let her figure that out on her own. She lasted for about 10 pages. Now we’re on to the next selection, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.)

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O’Brien

Charlotte’s Web by EB White

Puppy Patrol #41 by Jenny Dale

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz and Robert Byrd

Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Other favorites to date:

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

The Magic Tree House books (Sophie began reading these books in 1st grade and they held her attention until fall of 3rd grade. She has read about 40 of them.)

Rules by Cynthia Ward (This was my favorite of the books read in the school book club and she read it aloud to us at home. Every child and parent should read this book and discuss the rich themes it.)

Many, many of the Nancy Drew mysteries by Carolyn Keene from the 1940s and 50s. (There are occasionally insensitive phrases used in the books that we turn into a teachable moment about how “we don’t talk that way anymore but in those days they didn’t know better.”) By the way, we tried the “new” Nancy Drew series and Sophie’s one word review was “boring.”

It’s So Amazing is truly AMAZING!

The book that has captured her attention in a way that surprised me is It’s So Amazing by Robie H. Harris. We get most books out of the library because we have a lot of kids’ books already but this is one that we have been reading over months instead of weeks. This book is about human sexuality and is narrated by a bird and a bee in a way that lightens up a complicated subject. I wasn’t sure how to approach the subject so I just read aloud beginning at page 1.

Let me tell you that I would have paid $100 for this book. The way it describes the complex nature of reproduction, puberty and sexuality is invaluable. I was so relieved to have this book do a lot of the explaining for me and think that for our daughter age 8 was the perfect time to start. We wanted her to learn facts from us not from kids on the playground. We keep it on a low shelf and have told her that she can look at it anytime. She reads it on her own as well and often asks my husband or me to reread portions of it that she’s still processing. If your child is ready, this book is invaluable.

Now it’s your turn. Send me your favorites!

5 thoughts on “by request: our book mom-daughter book club list

  1. Thank you for sharing your list. There are some on there that I had never heard of before. Now we have new ones to add to our list.

    Here are a few of our favorites:
    1. Little House on the Prairie Series. We have read through these books twice. Once when my daughter was four and again when she was eight. They meant completely different things to her each time. The second reading was so much fun because we would ask how she would like it if she had to an outhouse etc. Lots of good discussions came from these books.

    2. Boxcar Children Series. We read quite a few of these. They were written, if I remember correctly, in the 1940s. Lots of them being left alone to fin for themselves which made it all the more fascinating for them.

    3. Ivy and Bean. This is a current read. It is about two little girls who are neighbors that get into mischief. I thought that they were as funny as my girls did. They are an easy read but lots of fun.

    4. Mouse and the Motorcycle. A classic.

    5. We are currently reading Phantom Toll Booth. It is way above the head of my six year old and my eight year old gets most of it. But I think that it is great.

    My eight year old is currently into graphic novels. The problem is that there are so many that are totally inappropriate for that age group. Though if you have read Nancy Drew and liked those books you will love the graphic novels.

  2. I second The Phantom Tollbooth. Unfortunately for me I didn’t read until college and couldn’t believe that I had missed such a wonderful book! I also dearly loved The Boxcar Children series when I was younger. Thanks for sharing your list!

  3. I’m a big fan of children’s literature and have read these posts with great delight. Through the years I’ve saved a stack of index cards that as a child I used to catalog the books I liked.

    Here are some suggestions from the list.

    The Cricket in Times Square (George Selden)
    The 21 Balloons (William Pen de Dubois)
    How to Eat Fried Worms (Thomas Rockwell)
    Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (Betty MacDonald)
    101 Dalmations (the original by Dodie Smith)
    Half Magic (Edward Eager)
    Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh)
    The Trumpet of the Swan (E. B. White)
    Danny, Champion of the World (Roald Dahl)
    My Side of the Mountain (Jean George)
    The Gammage Cup (Carol Kendall)
    The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha (Lloyd Alexander)
    Over Sea, Under Stone (Susan Cooper; the remainder of the series gets scary and dark, but this one can stand alone)
    Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great (Judy Blume)
    Ramona series from Beverly Cleary

  4. It’s So Amazing is a completely wonderful book. I think that it should be required reading for all families with children. I’m so glad that you discovered it!

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