I was happy to see Anna actually talking to the Assistant Principal outside in the pick-up line last week. She was talking and using words and responding by looking at him in the eyes. For her and her history of anxiety, it was a milestone. Talking to a person of authority without being prompted by anyone else is something we’ve been working to have her accomplish. It was pretty much a Snoopy Dance celebration.
When she got in the car, I asked her what she was talking about with the Asst Principal.
“He wanted me to read to him.”
Read to him? Out in the car pick-up line? With cars driving by and me just seconds from pulling up to pick her and her sister up?
Odd.
Of course, I wondered what and why he wanted her to read aloud.
“He asked me why I was reading Harry Potter.”
Anna is a 44 pounds soaking wet, 45″ tall in shoes, 7-year-old 2nd grader. She’s tiny. Just like her daddy, she’ll always be the smallest kid in her class. We’re just hoping the tiny gene also comes with the abnormally high metabolism gene and not the bushy eyebrows gene. I’m still in denial that I’ve already had to pluck an eyebrow hair from her eyelid that was sticking straight out of her face, waving at me with every blink. She’s still having flashbacks from my tweezer sneak attack.
If you were to see a teeny girl reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
“I read him a few sentences and he said I was a good reader.”
“A good reader,” is kind of an understatement. He doesn’t know my Anna. She’s a voracious reader. Her dream vacations are to go to Pittsburg to see a Penguins game and to visit the Library of Congress.
Anna finished The Chamber of Secrets Tuesday night. First thing Wednesday morning at school, she took the AR (Accelerated Reader) quiz for the book. She scored a 90% on the 20-question test.
I thought the book was a level 5.something (5th grade reading level), but today, we see that the book is a 6.7. My 7-year-old baby read and passed a test on a book meant for 6th graders.
As a “retired” teacher, I’m at a loss for what to do next with her. She’s not yet mature enough to read the 3rd Harry Potter book, but she can obviously read books on that reading level.
Maybe I’ll hand her the first Twilight
Or if you have suggestions on books she should read, I’ll take them.
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
WE’ve had to move to nonfiction for something with a challenge for my son who tested out at a 9th grade level in first grade. Though he’s seen all the movies so we have the whole series, he also has ADHD and 2 younger brothers who constantly help him lose his place so he doesn’t ever make it through the whole book
He is addicted to stuff like the Guiness Book of World Records.
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Anna LOVES the Guiness books and random facts about anything reference books.
As a retired teacher can you offer any suggestions on how to get my nine year old third grader interested in reading.
Also. Brava, Mama and Anna!
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Jumping in – and rambling…just another two cents!
My brother hated reading. He hated book reports. He hated everything to do with having to read.. (We’re SORT OF opposites.)
Turns out..he just hated the books he was reading. Or that he was being forced to read. Give him something cool, funny or INTERESTING – to HIM – and he was all over it. Though to get him interested – I as his cool (see: nerdy bookworm) older sister – would read the first chapter aloud to him – and then leave the book behind for him to read, or not read. But once I figured out what he liked to read – I could guess whether he’d be interested by reading the first chapter..so I’d know whether or not he’d pick it up because it caught his interest, or if we’d have to try something else.
I also did a tutoring program for kids when I went to teachers college..and that was the biggest thing they instilled in us..to find something that they were interested in…if it was dinosaurs – finding books about that. Cars? Car books. If they were interested in princesses – books about princesses, interested in fart noises? Find books on fart noises (ha. goodluck on THAT one.) and on and on and on. Getting them into ANY reading because they loved the topic – that was the important part..
Goodluck!
Yup. What she said.
Nancy Drew? Boxcar Children? Those classics are always good!
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OOOH. I FORGOT ABOUT THE BOXCAR CHILDREN SERIES! I LOVE D THOSE! Good one!!!
Nancy Drew – Loved those books! I read every one of them at Anna’s age. She’d love them.
I need to get her some Nancy Drew. She likes the Boxcar children and the Magic Tree House, too.
Anna is a girl after my own heart. In fourth grade I completed the entire reading curriculum for my school district (through 12 grade) and my teachers & parents had to find other options. My Mom & Dad read a lot of young adult books (to screen for things above my maturity) and then passed them on to me. I read one a week and wrote a book report for my parents & reading teacher. Some of the more memorable books were Summer of the Swans, everything Beverly Cleary & Judy Blume, Number the Stars, To Kill a Mockingbird, Island of the Blue Dolphins, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Pearl, The Giver, & Where the Red Fern Grows.
The fact that you listed The Giver makes me so happy. She’s too young emotionally to read it now, when she’s ready, I can’t wait for her to read it. It’s one of my top 3 favorite ever books.
My daughter was also reading Harry Potter books in 2nd grade. Another series she really liked was the Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix. I never read the books myself, so I can’t comment on the content – but she really seemed to enjoy them. It is another fantasy type genre.
Good luck! My daughter is now starting 8th grade and goes thru books like crazy – this summer she read the entire Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. She gobbles books up – which is great! My other daughter struggles reading one book – I keep hoping she will one day find a love for books!
She has Keys to the Kingdom and has a plan to start reading it 3 books from now. You know, because OF COURSE she has a plan…
Kate DiCamillo. Especially…Because of Winn-Dixie, The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane and The Magician’s Elephant.
Go Anna! Smart Girls Rock!!
YES to Because of Winn-Dixie! I love Kate DiCamillo. I’m going to have to look for the other two books for sure.
My 9 year old is reading Harry Potter at the moment, and I am slightly concerned about what happens when she reaches the 4th book – which I think would upset her. But then again, she’s not as voracious a reader as I was when I was a child, so it might take some time yet. She’s a very good reader, but not driven about it. My 7 year old, on the other hand – is fast accelerating and taking over her older sister in reading ability and is waiting to pick up that Harry Potter book as soon as her sister reaches the end!
I wouldn’t let either of mine read Twilight if I had the choice, because I read them and found them somewhat lacking.
But then, I know that as a 10 year old, I read Flowers in the Attic – the subject of which is quite appalling now I look back on it!
I think the important thing for children and reading is to give them enough choice so that they find the one type of book that really fires up their imagination and desire to read. They’ll find their enthusiasm and ability once their interest is piqued.
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We’re stopping after Book 2 for Harry Potter just because #3 is so long, and we’re afraid she’d have trouble with the quiz after such a long book. Plus, we think the Dementors are a little too dark for her young 7-year-old self.
And I was totally kidding about letting her read Twilight now. She won’t be allowed to read it until she’s at least 19. Or 16. Or maybe 14?
I am a voracious reader and was hoping to pass it on to my kids. They don’t so much but my son is much better than my 7 year-old daughter. Last night I told my girl I had saved my entire 30+ year old Nancy Drew collection for her to have some day and she asked me why? Yes, I cried.
She might love Ida B and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World, Island of the Blue dolphins was one of my favorites. Nancy Drew, even the Hardy Boys. Each Little Bird that Sings is great too. (Last spring I volunteered at the school book fair, possibly not a good idea for a reader like me, I spent a fortune on stuff for when my kids get a little older.)
I’ll definitely look those up!
My daughter, a bit older, suggested the Sisters Grimm books. She loved them, and still rereads them on occasion, even in middle school.
She also suggests you give her the third HP book. It’s the best one, and not much more difficult than the second. There are details that might be hard to comprehend, but you’ve read them, right?
Enjoy . . .
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We’re holding off on Book 3 just because it’s so long and hard to take a test on such a long book. Plus, the Dementors are a bit too dark for her just yet. Maybe by the end of this school year.
Aww, go Anna! <3
I had problems with reading when I was her age: as in, my mom had to call the school, speak to my teacher, who spoke to the librarian so she'd stop forcing me back to the picture books.
Unfortunately, I don't really remember what I was reading back then – Nancy Drew? Is the Babysitter's Club too juvenile for her? (The only thing I *do* remember reading when I was 8? Judy Bloom's freaking Tiger Eyes. O_O)
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She does like Babysitter’s Club, and I’m going to have to get her Nancy Drew for sure.
Anne of Green Gables series.
Award winners.
Non-fiction.
Anne of Green Gables isn’t too old for her? And yes, I’m always suggesting award-winners. She likes non-fiction like Guiness Books, but I need some ideas on some good non-fictions she can read start-to-finish.
That just rocks! I wish I had something new to suggest, but I do not. I was the same way though and I really loved Pippi Longstocking and Peter Pan. I was also kind of a geek and obsessed with historical biographies.
Way to go Momma for raising such a great reader!
Best,
Tina
Thanks – All I can say that I did was have books available for her and she went from there!
The Newbery winners.
Sarah, Plain and Tall. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Caddie Woodlawn. Tale of Despereaux .
Beverly Cleary. Judy Blume. Maybe some Sharon Creech.
Yes, yes, and YES. Sharon Creech may be a little old for her, but I’ll look through the library at some she’s written I haven’t read.
I loved reading as a kid…it was absolutely my favourite thing to do. My mom would take me to the library every two-three days in the summer because I’d take out as many books as I was allowed by the library to, and finish them and beg her to take me back so I could find some more.
I still love ‘classic’ kids books – and read and re-read them all of the time…Though I would pretty much read ANYTHING I could get my grubby little paws on to as a kid….
Here are some of my favourites that might be slightly more age appropriate than twilight
*E. B. White – Charlottes web, Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan? Love(d) them all.
*A wrinkle in time
*Lucy Maud Montgomery – (What kind of a canuck would I be if I didn’t put this on my list?!) Anne of Green Gables
* C.S. Lewis books – The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe was always my favourite. Though I read them all so much that my parents bought me a second set because the first was LITERALLY falling apart from being read so much.
* Beverly Clearly – Henry Huggins, Ramona & Beezus..entire series…awesomesauce.
* Judy Blume – Fudge O Mania, Tales of a fourth grade nothing, etc. etc.
* Roald Dahl – The BFG, Matilda, James & the giant peach etc. were some of my favourite books as a kid.
Laura Ingalls Wilder – Little house on the prairie, etc. – the entire little house series…I probably read each book about seven times. For real.
* I also really loved the Babysitters Club when I was younger – though I don’t think THAT young.
There are probably so many more titles that I could come up with, or if I just went and took a gander at my book shelf, I could hook you up with a few more (bajillion) authors/titles that I loved as a kid…but this (along with what everyone else has suggested!) is a start at least
Depending on how fast she flies through things ;
Here are a couple more…they’re probably way above her age appropriate level/are more deep/sad/etc….but still books that I love like whoa that I read as a kid (though I was probably somewhere in grades 4-6 when I first read them..)
The Giver
Bridge to terabithia
Little women
Hatchet
Congrats on raising a reader…such an important, valuable skill to have…and awesome to nourish
Have fun with it…browse the library and the bookstore..or ask her teacher for recommendations…as I’m sure your retired teacher self knows…they sometimes have some awesome reads up their sleeves….and love to encourage reading 
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She SO loves Roald Dahl. Like, seriously loves. And thanks!
What about The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordian. They are for 9-12 year olds. They kind of like Harry Potter books but instead of wizards and magic…there is Greek Gods. Five books in this series. There is also the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. Kind of science fiction stuff for kids. Even better, I’m an adult and love them!
I’ll check out the Percy Jackson books – thanks!
I think she would love the Percy Jackson series!
I just put one in my shopping cart – thanks!
When I was young I loved the “Little House” books. I read the entire series in time and even bought a box set of the first 5 books. I think those might be good for her because they will teach her a little about early America, but still be interesting. I’ll gladly send you the first 5 books if Anna is interested.
She has the 1st and 2nd Little House books – now, to get her to read them…
I too was a voracious reader, and I long to be again, I’ve just got to get off the darn internet…or quit my job. I think they’ve all been mentioned here, but the suggestions that popped into my mind were the Narnia series (I distinctly remember reading that in Gr.2, Nancy Drews, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables series, and the Little House on the Prairie series.
If she’s into the fantasy genre, what about Anne McCaffrey’s ‘The Dragon Riders of Pern’ series? I read it forever ago, but it might be suitable.
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I’ve never heard of the Dragon Riders, but I’ll check them out.
I was a pretty advanced reader for my age as well. My 7YO is working her way through the Judy Moody series and having a blast with them, especially since the character has a little brother that looks just like my youngest. I loved the “Shoes” series of books by Noel Streatfield. Also books by Frances Hodgson Burnett are a little more challenging to read and have more complex plot lines, but definitely are age appropriate.
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Awesome – I’ll check those out!
Wow, can’t imagine my mom monitoring and taking responsibility for my reading. We’d just go to the library and I’d pick out a bunch of stuff, some of it did turn out to be fairly traumatizing I guess, though most of the offenders came from the adult section and I didn’t venture in there until I was 9.
Dragonriders of Pern bored me to tears so I don’t know if it’s suitable or not but head’s up – one of her other series’ had some of the most awkwardly unsexy sex scenes I’d ever read. (I was 14 and a bit of a connoisseur of such things by then.)
At 7 I think I was into Nancy Drew, Babysitter’s Club, Babysitter’s Little Sister, Anastasia series by Lois Lowry, books about kids with terminal diseases, Bobbsey Twins, Anne of Green Gables, Little House, and non-fiction books about cats and Egypt. Tons of other stuff that I can’t remember I’m sure.
I don’t think she’s too young for Babysitter’s Club, I’d outgrown them by the time I was ~11 and the Little Sister series long before that. The language was just too simple and the stories too formulaic to hold my attention any more.