Beezus and Ramona

Author: Beverly Cleary
Lexile measure: 780
Bottom line:   A realistic and timeless story about sisters aged 4 and 8.
Language: No swearing, no potty language.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   Ramona is often very naughty, but not disobedient so much as mischievous.  Also addresses feelings of ambivalence that siblings often have toward each other--might be more than a small child can really comprehend.
Illustrations: blank and white line drawings every several pages.
Plot: moderately complex.

DD and I liked this book and didn't like this book at the same time.  What we liked was the warm relationship Beezus and Ramona have as sisters.  What we didn't like was that Ramona was always into mischief and often throwing tantrums.  DD felt that she related more with Beezus than Ramona.  I actually think that some gifted readers might feel this book is somewhat patronizing, depending on where they are developmentally.  The good news is, Beverly Cleary is a prolific writer and so if you liked this one, you have many more Ramona (and Henry Huggins) stories available for your reading pleasure.  A word of caution, though.  Beverly Cleary writes for a wide range of juvenile audiences including teens, so not all of her books have material appropriate for the youngest readers.

Homer Price

Author: Robert McCloskey
Lexile measure: 1000
Bottom line:   Collection of short stories set in a small town.  All charming, but not all suitable for very young readers.
Language:  One incident of 1950's swearing "Gol durned", no potty language.
Violence:  In the first story, the main character helps nab some robbers, at one point wielding a gun.  No shooting.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Robbery, some talk about "politics", one character has a speech impediment, reference to "The Pied Piper of Hamlin" with children following a similar character in the story
Illustrations: blank and white line drawings every several pages.
Plot: collection of moderately complex short stories, easily read separately.

"One Morning in Maine" this is not, though it has all the same charm of the small town setting and the same beautiful illustrations.  Thankfully, most of the problem with this book and small children is in the first two chapters, which you can skip and still understand the rest of the book.  Unfortunately, its not one for unsupervised reading, but you can still read 4 out of 6 short stories, including the famous donut machine story, at bedtime, but then again, if you want short stories, you might be better off with "Blueberries for Sal", "One Morning in Maine", and "Make Way for Ducklings".  This book is best for grade school boys.

Update:  DD intercepted this on the way back to the library and said that she really enjoyed it (especially the donut story) and didn't find it at all scary.

Updated booklist

This is an updated list of books that met with both parent and child stamp of approval for independent reading.  I recommend you read the reviews first, especially if your child is sensitive or has any quirkly likes or dislikes.

2nd-3rd grade level
Babe
Beezus and Ramona
Betsy Tacy and Betsy Tacy and Tib
Duck for a Day
Flat Stanley
Judy Moody and Stink:  The Mad, Mad Pirate Adventure
Many Moons
Meg Mackintosh series
My Father's Dragon
Nate the Great
Roxie and the Hooligans
Winnie the Pooh
The Magic Schoolbus series
Little House series to Plum Creek, excluding Farmer Boy

4th grade-6th grade level
All of a Kind Family
Alvin Ho series
Charlotte's Web
Cricket in Times Square
Dr. Dolittle
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Ruby Lu series

beyond 6th grade
21 Balloons
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Magic Tree House #13: Vacation Under the Volcano

Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Lexile measure: 410
Bottom line:   Formulaic historical fiction, pretty good for the Lexile.  Some may have issues with use of magic.
Language:  No swear words, no potty language.
Violence:  Main characters nearly killed by erupting Mount Vesuvius, the concept of gladiators is introduced, though no actual fighting is included.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Morgan Le Fay (a sorceress in Arthurian legend) presented as a protagonist.  Magic (see below for details).  Soothsayer is presented as actually being able to predict the future, not as just being believed to predict the future.
Illustrations:  black and white shaded drawings every several pages.
Plot: moderately complex.

This book surprised me.  I was expecting very bad writing, but it is not really that bad at all.  For the audience it is geared toward, Osborne accomplishes a lot with a limited vocabulary and simple sentences.  I was actually impressed.

However, I do have a big issue with the use of magic in these books.  First, this book seems to tout how fun it is to go off and nearly get killed at the behest of a sorceress who is in some legends quite evil.  At the end of the story, Morgan even says that she's so glad they came back, and that they risked their lives, as if she were in doubt that they would have returned.  That's just inappropriate for kids this age.  Second, as a consumer of fiction, it just seems unimaginative that the book they retrieve is magic and saves them from getting killed.

There are a lot of other books in this Lexile range.  I'm just not sure this is a good choice.  I think the Usborne Great History Search would be a more benign and just as rigorous  introduction to ancient cultures.  DD would think this was too short for her anyway, so we'll be skipping it.

The Wizard of Oz

Author: L. Frank Baum
Lexile measure: 840, but many adaptations with lower Lexiles
Bottom line:   Classic fantasy, but not without its drawbacks.
Language:  No swear words, no potty language, some use of dialect.
Violence:  Witches killed by accident.  There is fighting between the flying monkeys and the travelers, but nothing bloody.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   Tornadoes.  Witches/wizards portrayed as good as well as wicked.  Lying/deception.
Illustrations:  depends on the edition, many have color illustrations but most only have them every several pages.
Plot: moderately complex.

We both enjoyed this book, but I think it definitely has drawbacks.  I felt I had to have a long discussion with DD about witches and magic before we started reading.  Also, I distinctly remember being very frightened of the flying monkeys as a child.  One nice aspect of this book is that it comes as a very long series.  Currently DD is obsessed, which makes book choices at the library easy.

The Railway Chidlren

Author:  E. Nesbit
Lexile measure:  940, but many adaptations with lower Lexiles
Bottom line:  Good book, but mature topics may make this unsuitable for independent reading for many young children.
Language:  No swear words, no potty language, some use of dialect.
Violence:  One of the adventures involves a burning barge, another involves a boy who falls and breaks a leg, and another where the boy gets hurt with a rake during a sibling squabble.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The father in the story (warning: spoiler) is taken away from the home to prison because of a crime he didn't commit.  The mother gets a serious case of influenza.  The children live in poverty and often ask for others to help them or to help others.  In one chapter, the boy pretends to be mining coal, but is really stealing it from the railroad yard.  He is caught but is forgiven.
Plot: moderately complex.

This is a nice book and I can see why it is used frequently as a textbook.  There is definitely a lot of room for discussion surrounding the morality of the actions of the children and the building of suspense.   In these troubled economic times, this book might hit very close to home for some children.  It might be too close for comfort for some.  If your family is under significant financial strain at this time, you might consider reading something else or using this as a read aloud instead of for independent reading.

Sarah Plain and Tall

Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Lexile measure:  570, other books in series range from 290-450
Language:  No swear words, no potty language.
Violence:  a lamb dies and is eaten by vultures, other books in the series may have violence relevant to pioneer life, such as the use of guns.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The mother of the children in the story has died from complications of childbirth.  The whole story is about the romance of the widowed father and his new wife to be from the perspective of the children.  The title character leaves home because her brother gets married and she really has no other choice but to marry.  Later in the series the new wife and the father have their own daughter.  Also later in the series, we find out that the paternal grandfather of the children in the story abandoned his family when the father of the children was very young.
Plot: moderately complex.

I got this book hoping that I could use it to teach DD something about courage, but I think if we read it together, we may spend a lot of time trying to explain what is going on romantically and emotionally and historically, that we might really miss the whole courage theme.  This book is easy enough to read technically but emotionally seems much more appropriate for an older child.  The good news is, it is the first of a series.

Holiday gifts for the young precocious reader

Everyone has their own personal philosophy about holiday gift giving.  I want something for my child that is going to last for a long time and promote a variety of skills that he or she will use for a long time beyond that.

1)  With a young precocious reader unfortunately books do not last very long unless they get read over and over again.   Building a library of the classics is a good way to do that, for those sick days when you can't get to the public or school library.  If your child doesn't have a dictionary, that also might be helpful.  We go through spurts of using it and not using it.  Starting a series may also work well.  As a child, I remember having to wait for the next book or books every birthday and Christmas, which was lots of fun.

2)  Electronics can be fun and certainly get played with over and over again.  However, I've found that most games and devices get outgrown awfully quickly for the price we pay.  Unless you're talking about the adult versions of things like an iPad, laptop, or tablet computer.  (Unfortunately, in our house, the youngest child is still putting stuff in his mouth and bashing on things like he's going to be a professional percussionist, so no way are we going to give DD anything electronic.)

3)  Memberships to museums, zoos, aquariums, and the like are wonderful, though expensive.  Sometimes you can even get admission to other member institutions through the ASTC passport program, or reciprocal memberships (for zoos and aquariums).  Usually these pay for themselves with young kids who can't really spend a whole day seeing an entire museum, since you usually have to return more than once before you see the whole place once.

4)  Specialty learning toys are usually outgrown way too quickly, especially if they have an upper age limit (usually means the toy promotes a specific skill that once learned, renders the toy not very fun).   I'll make an exception for the Tag Reader since there are other things it can be used for besides reading.

5)  Building toys are well worth the expense.  Legos, Lincoln Logs, erector sets, and the like grow with the child in some cases.  Organizing systems can be pricey.  We have a small sheet and some tupperware for our set.

6)  Creative supplies rock.  We never grown tired of stickers, paint, crayons, origami paper, and markers around here.  Buttons, pompoms, shaped pasta, and playdoh are also nice so long as you don't have little ones who put stuff in their mouths.

7)  Imagination type toys either get played with a lot or not at all, so choose wisely and consult your child first.  Dollhouse, toy castle, toy kitchen (well, we just have a pot, spoon, and old margarine tubs but it works just the same), cardboard boxes (ok, not for gift, but there are lot of plans for toy cars and kitchen sets if you are tight on money this year!), tool belt, doctor kit, flashlight, and garden tools are just some possibilities.

8)  Other part of the brain toys.  Swimming pool, water table, wheels (trike or bike), large and small balls for catching and throwing.

9)  Lessons.  Swim and gymnastics are great for any age.  Organized sports and music maybe best for older kids, 5 and above.

10)  Board and card games are sometimes fun and sometimes not fun.  We stick with the classics.  Even if your kid outgrows Chutes and Ladders within 6 months (like mine did!), it would be weird growing up never having played it.  Its good for social skills anyway, right?

Be sure to add quality time with you to any of the gifts you give!

So, what are we getting DD?  Money's tight this year, so she's getting a cheap Walmart bicycle and some paper dolls.  DS, who can't read, is getting a Pooh pillow (free from a points program) and playdoh (he loves the stuff).

James and the Giant Peach

Author: Roald Dahl
Lexile measure:  870
Language:  No swear words, no potty language, but a lot of rude language (including "stupid", "fat", "lazy", and "ass" (as in, "don't be an a--").
Violence: James is beaten and treated abusively (physically and verbally) by his two aunts.  My daughter, at age 4, found this very scary and told me she didn't want me to read it to her.    The aunts are crushed by the rolling giant peach--no gory descriptions.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  As with Dahl's other books, the villains are so thoroughly mean that they seem almost inhuman.
Illustrations:   depends on the edition.  Mine (published in the 1970's) had beautiful color lithos in orange and black, but the one we have now is black and white line drawings every several pages--see below.
Plot: moderately complex.

I loved this book in the second grade, and above.  However I was very surprised by the amount of rude language and violence when I revisited this book as an adult with a small child.  DD and I have had many discussions and I think the book will go into hiding for a while after we finish reading it together.   DD probably won't miss it as she told me she wanted me to skip the first 8 or so chapters when I picked it up and suggested we read it together.  On the positive side, the story is incredibly original and the poetry makes it fun.  I think definitely it would be worth revisiting later.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

Author: Betty MacDonald
Lexile measure:  1070, other books in the series are in the 800-900 range
Language:  No swear words, no potty language.
Violence: none
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Each of the chapters deals with a child having a particular behavior problem like talking back, eating slowly, not taking a bath etc.,spanking is mentioned.
Illustrations: black and white line drawings every several pages
Plot: mildly complex, you could easily skip all but the first chapter, as the stories stand well on their own

This was recommended by our librarian after I checked out Mrs. Noodlekugel.  It reminded me somewhat of Mary Poppins, though not as fantasy oriented.  The cures proposed by Mrs. Piggle Wiggle generally involve letting the child have their own way until it reaches it logical conclusion. This is terrible parenting advice, but mildly interesting reading.  DD thought it was ok, but preferred Glinda of Oz.