The Rescuers

Bottom line:  Adventure novel with mice.
Author:  Margery Sharp
Lexile measure: 880
Language: None offensive.
Violence:  None, however, in the following novels there are mentions of abusive discipline of children such as beating without any graphic details.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The prisoner being rescued for an unknown crime, presumably an unjust imprisonment but it's never really spelled out.  Drunkeness portrayed in a bad light.  Adults in the novel are often, but not always, evil.  One of the male protagonists is in love with the female protagonist but there isn't any physical affection--he's just very protective and concerned for her.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex
This isn't the Disney version at all.  If your children like talking mice, this novel is not as dark as Despereux and yet probably just as exciting.  It has the plus of having both male and female protagonists.  The female protagonist faints at one point, but she also is quite brave when faced with actual danger.  My word lovers also enjoyed the extensive use of Latin based vocabulary.
Helpfully, this book is the first of several in a series about Miss Bianca.

Meg Mackintosh series

Bottom line:  pictorial mysteries.
Author: Lucinda Landon
Lexile measure: about 490
Language: No issues. 
Violence:  In some stories, people might get hurt by falling, tripping, or being pushed or run into accidentally.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  These mysteries deal with issues like theft, or items getting lost/taken/stolen.  Suspects often lie.
Illustrations:  Black and white drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex.

These mystery books are great beginner mysteries.  The idea is that you read the story and look carefully at the pictures.  Every so often the story pauses and the book asks you, the reader to answer a question like, "WHERE SHOULD THEY LOOK?"  or "HOW DID SHE KNOW?"  and you have the opportunity to try to be a detective, too, before the story goes on and the answer is given.  The answers are all right in the story and pictures, and you don't need to have any specialized outside knowledge to figure out the answers, if you are patient enough, unlike the Encyclopedia Brown series.  This series depends highly on the pictures, so they are great for visual kids, and the answers aren't completely obvious, so even readers who have a reading level far above what the Lexile reflects can enjoy this series.

Raggedy Ann and Andy

Bottom line:  Innocent classic from the 1940's
Author: Johnny Gruelle
Lexile measure:  not yet measured--about 800
Language: Nothing objectionable.
Violence:  Getting restuffed because you have a tear, or getting totally reworked because you are old or neglected by a child.  One doll has a cracked head.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Smoking is depicted as socially acceptable (Santa smokes a pipe, for example).  Many of the stories are gently moralistic in tone-- a few of the more edgy themes include stealing and social class.
Illustrations:  Full color illustrations, every few pages.
Plot:  simple.

DS enjoyed several of these.  The idea of toys coming to life is one that grabs the imagination of many young children and Raggedy Ann and Andy are so kind that it is a pleasure to read about their adventures.   Most very sensitive children would find these stories easy to listen to.  After a while, though, the device got boring to DS and he moved on to something else.  Each chapter is a different story and can be read independently from the others.

Ruby Lu, Brave and True

Bottom line:  An Asian American Ramona
Author: Lenore Look
Lexile measure: 640
Language: Mention of "four letter words, bad ones".  Also, there are some words (not bad ones) in transliterated Chinese .
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Bullying (verbal name calling making fun of sweaters, not violent or threatening).  The bully gets sick with pneumonia and is hospitalized.  The seven year old protagonist drives a car.  The story talks about immigrant relatives in a negative, stereotypical way--but this is in the context of the protagonist naming the reasons she doesn't want them to come to the US, and it all melts away in the end.  There are also a lot of elements of Cantonese American culture that young kids from other cultures might not be familiar with.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex.

Ruby is one of our favorite protagonists.  Maybe its because we get to use our very limited Cantonese and knowledge of Chinese culture, but I suspect its also because Ruby is so real  and yet so funny.  Even DS (4) thinks so.  She reminds me of Ramona and Judy Moody and Clementine all wrapped into one.

A word of caution:  Very young readers may not understand the gravity of getting into a real car and driving it for real with a pretend driver's license.  DS was very blown away when I told him that he was not allowed under and circumstances to drive our car.

The Boxcar Children

Bottom line:  Easy to read, nonviolent mysteries.
Author:  Gertrude Chandler Warner
Lexile measure: 490
Language: None offensive.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The children are orphans.  They have run away before they can be turned over to a guardian.  They do not go to school.  The cover of the book depicts a thunderstorm.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex
DS took one look at the cover and was convinced this was a scary book.  It really isn't but try telling that to him.  This book was a fun read with an interesting plot twist, but the dialogue, vocabulary, and characterizations are all relatively simple.  DD thought it was great, even though she often reads far above this Lexile.   We are looking forward to the more than 100 sequel books.  Of note, GC Warner only wrote 19 of the sequels.

Early Chapter Books--Mommy's Bad List

Early chapter books (usually 3-5 chapters of 3-10 pages each) are easy to review in the library, but what if you want to buy a book or receive one as a gift?  I wrote an earlier post on our recommended early chapter books.  Now it is time for a post on early chapter books I do NOT recommend.  I hate to be negative, but there are so many really good books out there that it seems a shame to waste your time on books that probably aren't worth your time.

Junie B. Jones series--Well known for rude language and poor grammar (not just incomplete sentences, but also non-words and poor structure).  DD did not find the story interesting either.

Thomas the Tank Engine early readers--Although the character seems like he's innocent enough, and the merchandise is cute, the books are for older children.   The stories often deal with trains in mild peril.  Almost every easy reader we have gotten from the library has been scary enough to give DS nightmares at age 2-4.  If your child is Thomas crazy and not overly sensitive, they probably will be fine, but sensitive kiddies may have problems.  Of note, we do own several Thomas books that are not early readers and they are fine, not scary at all.

Magic Tree House--Some kids really like these but I think there are better ways to get a kid into history than this.  The books are not only full of poor and partial sentences, but they often glorify witchcraft and magic.  Some parents may also find their evolutionary content offensive.    The Magic Schoolbus is much more benign.  For history, there are many picture books which are much more interesting.

Nate the Great and the Missing Key

Author:  Marjorie Sharmat
Lexile measure: 380
Language: Mild name calling, such as "stupid".  One page of text in cursive.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The main character repeatedly mentions his fear of scary dogs.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  complex.

DS loves Nate the Great, and I think everyone in the family at least listened to me read this book aloud with DS's help.  I remembered this book from my own childhood.  It isn't great literature, but this series is a lot of fun because the mystery makes you think about what you've read.  I think this is one of the better ones in the series.  I posted previously about Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag.

Beauty

Author: Robin McKinley
Lexile measure: 970
Bottom line:  Beauty and the Beast on steroids
Language:  mild medieval name calling, affectionate name calling at horse.
Violence: the Beast is scary at times and does things like crushing a bottle in his hands.
Big Kid Mature Topics: losing a business due to storms at sea, romance and marriage, losing a betrothed at sea.  The heroine obviously chafes at typical female roles.
Illustrations: none.
Plot: moderately complex.

This was one of my favorite books growing up and we pulled it off the library shelf because DD currently has a thing for horses.    DD gave it the thumbs up, but it is a very mature book and scary for sensitive little ones.  However, that being said, I don't think it is a lot more scary than the Disney version.

One caution:  I read several of the author's other books and they are definitely teen material with teen (and adult) level romance and swearing.  This was the only one benign enough for younger children.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Author: T.S. Eliot
Lexile measure: >1000
Bottom line:  T.S. Eliot for kids
Language: appropriate
Violence: there is mention of "crime", though its cat crimes like "stifling a Peke" ,  stealing things, or messing up property.
Big Kid Mature Topics: as above.
Illustrations:  Black and white etchings every other page.
Plot: Each poem stands by itself so you can skip the violent ones (Macavity, Battle of the Pekes, Mungojerry) if you want.  The main difficulty with this book is its very challenging vocabulary, and its cultural references, especially to neighborhoods in London.  Its children's poetry but its not dumbed down or sentimental.  DD loved it even though she could only understand 90% of it, and DS enjoyed whatever he heard.  It helps that we have a cat and understand that cats misbehave and its not criminal, just cat.

Clementine

Author: Sarah Pennypacker
Lexile measure: 720
Bottom line:  More innocent than Pippi
Language: mild name calling--main character calls her brother names of vegetables instead of by his real name, which my older boy found hilarious.
Violence: none.
Big Kid Mature Topics: cutting your own or a friend's hair, using permanent marker on self or friend, getting sent to the principal's office, being a "difficult" child. The main character also notices that the lunch lady and the janitor are kissing.
Illustrations:  infrequent black and white shaded drawings.
Plot: moderately complex.

Of interest, Clementine is clearly a gifted child.  She often has good intentions but does the wrong thing.  I wondered if she had ADHD, too.  She seems like she has a ton of energy, creativity, and definitely difficulty with attention.   The parents seemed likeable and reasonable, too.

I really liked this book except for the part about the lunch lady and the janitor, which for some reason just seemed gross, even though there wasn't a lot of detail.  I censored this one for later.  You could easily leave the yucky part out if you don't have an independent reader, but I think children who have not attended school yet might not really appreciate this one.

The One and Only Ivan

Author: Kathleen Applegate
Lexile measure: unknown, probably about 900
Bottom line:    A Light in August, but narrated by a gorilla.
Language: refers to words used when mad, also "stupid".
Violence:  An elephant dies of neglect, another elephant is hit with a hook by a human.  The animals tell their stories of being caught in the wild.  Some family members were killed and dismembered.
Big Kid Mature Topics: This book is about some animals in a circus.  The animals are somewhat neglected.   The narrator talks about humans as if they are the same as other animal species (some people may find this offensive).   Talks about "face licking" in romance movies.  Talks about Mack getting drunk.  One of the characters has a mother who is very sick.  Poverty.
Illustrations:  infrequent black and white shaded drawings.
Plot: moderately complex.

DD (age 5) really loved this book.  However, I would never read this to a sensitive younger child.  It is too sad and there is a lot of violence towards animals.  Some of the mature topics would easily go over a young child's head.  The gorilla narrator really doesn't seem to understand those aspects of human life very well, so a child would not probably see through the narration.  Still, there are a lot of other animal stories out there.  I would save this one for at least age 5 or 6, possibly later.

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile

Author: Bernard Waber
Lexile measure: 760
Bottom line:   The civilized crocodile.
Language: No issues.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The friendly crocodile ends up being put in the zoo, where he is rejected by the other crocodiles.  He is let out of the zoo by a friend in disguise.  There is a house fire.
Illustrations:  This is a picture book.
Plot:  complex.

Both of my children enjoyed this book.  I did as well, which makes this our first 3 thumbs up book on the blog!  It is about 45 pages, so it is good for a bedtime story.  The main character is very sweet, for a crocodile.  This was a good one for teaching vocabulary related to emotions.  It is also a member of a series of books on Lyle, though the reading level on the others is a little lower, with Lexiles in the mid-500s.

Abel's Island

Author: William Steig
Lexile measure: 920
Bottom line:   Mouse Robinson Crusoe.
Language: One incident of pseudoswearing "Gosh Almighty" by a supporting character.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The main character is marooned on an island by a bad storm.  There is a lot about how he loves his wife and misses her that might be lost on a younger child.  One character is a very old frog with a sleepy memory/dementia.
Illustrations: frequent blank and white drawings every 2-3 pages.  William Steig has also won the Caldecott Medal.
Plot: moderately complex.

DD and I enjoyed this one.   It reminds me of Stuart Little, but with a more coherent plot focused on how Abel, the mouse, uses his wits and survives while marooned on an island.

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.

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.

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.