Book series for stepdaughter?

[tinkerbellmagic]

DD, now 19, LOVED the Boxcar Children Series. It was her favorite set. We finally sold most of them on Ebay, but she insisted on keeping some of her favorites. It is a very good series. I enjoyed reading them to her. She was a well above average reader. Loved to read and still does.

 

[MNdisneymom]

I loved this series when I was young...the All of a Kind Family by Sidney Taylor. It's about a Jewish family living in the Lower East Side of NYC in the years just before WWI. They have a big family, all girls...It's really delightful family interaction, and nice exposure to a (for me, anyway!) different faith tradition.

 

[Iott Family]

Gary Paulsen is an awesome author for young readers. He writes around
3-4th grade level and up.
I feel so sorry for the way so many parents pick on Junie B. books! Its really no worse than Ramona Quimby and really gets kids laughing and enjoying reading!
Nancy Drew has a newer series that my now dd12 read when she was younger called Nancy Drew Notebook series.

Loving this thread!

 

[camouseketeer]

I feel so sorry for the way so many parents pick on Junie B. books! Its really no worse than Ramona Quimby and really gets kids laughing and enjoying reading!

Had to comment on this. I'll preface by saying I love both series.

As a teacher I disagree that you can compare reading a Junie B. Jones book to reading a Ramona book. While the age and temperment of the characters are similar, the literature, vocabulary, and writing style are completely different. Junie B. Jones books are written with incorrect vocabulary and grammar to mimic the speaking style of a 5 and 6 year old. Ramona books are beautifully written with flowing, complex sentences and rich vocabulary. They both are entertaining, but Ramona books are literature. Junie B. books are entertainment.

As a parent, I love both series, and so have my DD's 4, 5. When I read Junie B. books to my children, I usually correct the grammar and some of the vocabulary. It doesn't change the tone or mood, and it enriches the value of the read aloud (IMO).

Both characters are endearing, and both sets of books promote reading. I read Junie B. books when I want a quick, entertaining read. I read Ramona when I want to expose my children to great vocabulary and literature.

 

[Iott Family]

If you know your childs lexile score you can go onto the web site lexile.com and find book lists of suggested reading material. You can pick and choose genre and so forth. Good luck!

 

[bigbabyblues]

The Puppy Place series....by Scholastic.

 

[t-beri]

I didn't mean to say that children that age shouldn't or couldn't read HP, I just meant that even though my son read above grade level at that age he preferred other books, he's much more likely to pick up a book like that now because of Movie influences, but in first grade he still like to read books that were fun and gave him a sense of accomplishment by finishing them quickly and moving on to the next in the series. I thought I'd have to hear about Lemony Snicket FOREVER he always had to have the next book. Now he's reading, Tom Sawyer, Eragon and The Hobbit. Of course it's all I can do to keep him from trying to read all of them at once...[mac]"if I read this book in the morning after breakfast and this book on the bus on the way to school then this one again on the way HOME from school...."
Oh, brother...

 

[princesspwrhr]

As a teacher I disagree that you can compare reading a Junie B. Jones book to reading a Ramona book. [text cut] They both are entertaining, but Ramona books are literature. Junie B. books are entertainment.

[text cut]
Both characters are endearing, and both sets of books promote reading. I read Junie B. books when I want a quick, entertaining read. I read Ramona when I want to expose my children to great vocabulary and literature.

I have to agree with this, it's like comparing ice cream (Junie B) and yogurt (Ramona). There's nothing wrong with a little ice cream now and then but it's not as substancial or good for you as yogurt. On a personal level, Junie B simply annoys me, but then again, I can probably find annoying characters in most books. It's simply that she's the main character in this book. We own the first 8 books and 1 of the 1st grader ones. My oldest reads them to my younger ones and they all laugh and laugh and I roll my eyes.

, but in first grade he still like to read books that were fun and gave him a sense of accomplishment by finishing them quickly and moving on to the next in the series. ..

I agree with this too, at that younger age, while my daughter was capable and sometimes did read more advanced material, she still liked to read 'easier' books becuase she could read them quickly and had that sense of accomplishment. At that age the proficient reading skill is still fairly new, a year or so, while the reading skill could be older. So they like the sense of 'I really did this! I just finished that WHOLE book!" In fact she was still very sad even last year at 8 when I told her that I would really prefer not to spend $10-12 on a book that she would devour in an hour, and we should check the library for those (Merlin Mysteries of Magic Treehouse, Spiderwick....) and she had been reading longer and more difficult books for a few years.

I thought of another few suggestions for the OP that may or may not have been mentioned. They're not really a series but more of compliations of stories. The complete book of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne and Wind in the Willows.