# After Charlotte's Web, we should read... ?



## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

I'm reading Charlotte's Web to my 5 year old DS, one chapter a night before bed....

he's enjoying it a lot!









:

What next, though? I think he would get impatient with the Narnia series... a little too slow moving...

We have a Junie B. First Grader book, but I am not a big fan of her... not sure DS likes her that much either.

Would appreciate any suggestions! And I'm glad we have this nightly story time together... I got the idea from this board and it was a great one!


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Go for the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. My son adored them at age 5. We started with Ramona and Beezus (I think that's when Ramona is in preschool), then did Ramona the Pest (kindergarten), which is still one of his all-time favorites. And there are more after that.


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## lerlerler (Mar 31, 2004)

Stuart Little !


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

Great ideas, I had completely forgotten about the Ramona books... I loved those...

Poor kid, now I have to relive my entire childhood through him...









Stuart Little looks really cute but I'm trying to avoid books that have been made into movies... it's so sad, so many of them have been.


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## LemonPie (Sep 18, 2006)

I just finished reading Charlotte's Web to my 6 yo son and 4 yo DD. We're reading _Little House in the Big Woods_ now. We also have James and the Giant Peach lined up.

We have a couple of the Junie B books because his kindy teacher used them, but I am not a fan either--they read very bratty and negative and too babyish.


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## RoundAbout (Aug 3, 2006)

What about Mr. Popper's Penguins or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?


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## JSerene (Nov 4, 2004)

We've enjoyed some of the Roald Dahl books (The Magic Finger, Matilda), and also Freckle Juice, and Bunnicula. We also really enjoyed the first 1/3 of The Red Pony by John Steinbeck.


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

Why are you avoiding books that have been made into movies? I can see why you'd want to avoid the movies themselves, but why the books? They're generally quite different from the movies, and they're often very good. (Charlotte's Web has been made into more than one movie, BTW.)

Some other suggestions:

Comet in Moominland
Pippi Longstocking
The Children of Noisy Village
No Flying in the House
Winnie-the-Pooh
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
the Catwings series
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Jenny and the Cat Club


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## GuildJenn (Jan 10, 2007)

The Borrowers series is great. Mary Poppins too. Yes I realize these have been made into films, but not all that recently.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ShadowMom* 
Stuart Little looks really cute but I'm trying to avoid books that have been made into movies... it's so sad, so many of them have been.

Could you explain your thinking on this? Pretty much every decent book out there has been made into a movie. None - or very few - of which I have any inclination to show my children.

But avoiding the books themselves because of this? Why? Think of all the fabulous books your child will never experience! (The Secret Garden, The Black Stallion, Narnia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - to name just a few of the many books I've read my boys that have also been made into movies.) Surely you know that _Charlotte's Web_, which you've been enjoying so much, has been made into several movies?

I really hope you re-think this odd position.


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## jeliphish (Jul 18, 2007)

bridge to terabithia is wonderful, although a bit sad.
where the red fern grows
stories from wayside high...the author is a master in his detailed descriptions. It will make your LO's imagination run wild!
james and the giant peach


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## LaLaLaLa (Oct 29, 2007)

We just read "Stuart Little" and DD (five years old) really enjoyed it. She has no idea that it's a movie, too.

As a kid I enjoyed the Ramona series, but also a couple of others by Beverly Cleary--"The Mouse and the Motorcycle" and "Socks" (about a cat).


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LaLaLaLa* 
We just read "Stuart Little" and DD (five years old) really enjoyed it. She has no idea that it's a movie, too.

As a kid I enjoyed the Ramona series, but also a couple of others by Beverly Cleary--"The Mouse and the Motorcycle" and "Socks" (about a cat).

Ditto.


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## Surfacing (Jul 19, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tiger Lily* 
We also have James and the Giant Peach lined up.

EEEEeeee!!! I'd forgotten about that book. Loved it. Thanks for reminding me about that one.....







:


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## dawncayden (Jan 24, 2006)

subbing


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## MelW (Jan 13, 2005)

The Phantom Tollbooth
Alice in Wonderland
The Hobbit
The Secret Garden
Gordon Korman's books (I forget which ones... my husband read these ones to her)

I agree with the Roald Dahl, Pippi Longstocking and Stuart Little recommendations, too. They've all been hits here









We've read some of the Little house on the prairie series, but need to explain some of the very dated discipline/parenting. Same goes for Ramona..I like Ramona as a kid but the books make me crazy now!


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## midnightmommy (Apr 14, 2008)

We also went the Beverly Cleary route, but went with Ribsy and Henry first instead of Ramona. We are reading Laura Engels Wilder now because he was asking questions about the time before cars and electricity.


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## Purple*Lotus (Nov 1, 2007)

Oh BUnnicula, I love that book!

Oh, this is just me, subbing because I am a teacher and I am always on the lookout for ideas as I have daily reading time before our rest time begins


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

Thanks for the suggestions! I went to the used book store and loaded up. My DS seems kind of torn on our reading, he will tell me he doesn't like it that much but then he insists on reading another chapter every night.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zinemama* 
Could you explain your thinking on this? Pretty much every decent book out there has been made into a movie. None - or very few - of which I have any inclination to show my children.

But avoiding the books themselves because of this? Why? Think of all the fabulous books your child will never experience! (The Secret Garden, The Black Stallion, Narnia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - to name just a few of the many books I've read my boys that have also been made into movies.) Surely you know that _Charlotte's Web_, which you've been enjoying so much, has been made into several movies?

I really hope you re-think this odd position.

Strange that you would ask me to explain my thinking, then ask me to rethink my "odd" position without having any idea what my reasoning is.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Sorry, didn't mean to offend you! I do find your thinking on this unusual and I'd be very interested in understanding what's behind it. That is all.


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## Katielady (Nov 3, 2006)

The Trumpeter Swan, a lesser known but super awesome E.B. White book. Loved it at that age.


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zinemama* 
Sorry, didn't mean to offend you! I do find your thinking on this unusual and I'd be very interested in understanding what's behind it. That is all.

Sorry







: I was being oversensitive...

I didn't mean that I wanted to avoid ALL books that had been made into movies... but the books that have been made into movies recently, and were pretty popular - DS is familiar with a lot of them, and has seen snippets of them, or cartoons based on the movies, etc. and I want to, hopefully, show him how reading can open doors for him that haven't been opened previously... fantastical stories and adventures that he can't get just by renting something from Blockbuster. To me, he might like the Stuart Little book a lot, for instance, but it has now become part of the popularized, media-ized, Stuart Little marketing plan instead of just a book. Not sure if that makes sense.

There's nothing wrong with movies, we watch them, but I think the true wonder of books is that you can pick up a book and enter a world that is completely different, that you've never entered before, never heard of anywhere before, and use your imagination to make it come alive.

That's what I'm hoping he will learn... not that books are an add-on to popular media.

Not sure if that makes sense or not... it all made sense in my head.


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## Mary-Beth (Nov 20, 2001)

My Father's Dragon

101 Dalmations is such a good book...so much better than any movie made from it.


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ShadowMom* 
Sorry







: I was being oversensitive...

I didn't mean that I wanted to avoid ALL books that had been made into movies... but the books that have been made into movies recently, and were pretty popular - DS is familiar with a lot of them, and has seen snippets of them, or cartoons based on the movies, etc. and I want to, hopefully, show him how reading can open doors for him that haven't been opened previously... fantastical stories and adventures that he can't get just by renting something from Blockbuster.

That makes sense - but the thing is, movies tend to be SO different from the books they're based on that reading the book often does open a completely new and different door. Even if the basic plot line is similar, the feel of the original book is often very, very different. (Think of how light and silly all the Disney versions of fairy tales are, compared to the originals.)

My feeling about books that have been made into movies is that, as much as possible, I want my kids to be exposed to the book first, so the movie version doesn't feel like the "right" version to them. So if I were you, I might actually be focusing especially on books that had been made into movies - Winnie-the-Pooh, The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Secret Garden, etc.


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## jlobe (May 1, 2009)

Beatrix Potter - (longish stories we read in a collection like a chapter book)
The Moffats - Eleanor Estes
Finn Family Moomintroll (a whole series that is excellent)
Magic Treehouse - Carol Pope Osborne
winnie the pooh (a.a. Milne)

I know that Winnie the Pooh has been made into lots of movies, but the original is so different and just great (stories, language, characters). My kids laugh out loud at many of the parts. It's too much a gem to ignore.

Julie


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## candipooh (Jun 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Katielady* 
The Trumpeter Swan, a lesser known but super awesome E.B. White book. Loved it at that age.










I was going to post the same thing. I loved this book. Quick fun read.

I have the daughters age 6,8 and 10. My 10 year old is the only one that really listens when I read chapter book. We read for about an hour each night. I love it!


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

This is off the topic a bit, but have you other mamas had problems with these older fiction books having inappropriate content with them?

I was just curious because I picked up My Father's Dragon at the bookstore (looks perfect for my 5yo!) and in the first page it talks about the mother whipping the boy.

I can easily skip that part but it seems like a lot of books for children which are not recent have this issue...

Beatrix Potter books look good but they are reputed to be even worse, can someone who's read them share their experiences in that area?

On the one hand I am not one to want to censor things, but on the other hand violence against children is pretty serious and at his age it may seem as if I'm normalizing it...


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## DaughterOfKali (Jul 15, 2007)

Flat Stanley
Judy Moody (or Stink) books

There are so many more I could list but I'm suddenly so sleepy.


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ShadowMom* 
This is off the topic a bit, but have you other mamas had problems with these older fiction books having inappropriate content with them?

I was just curious because I picked up My Father's Dragon at the bookstore (looks perfect for my 5yo!) and in the first page it talks about the mother whipping the boy.

I can easily skip that part but it seems like a lot of books for children which are not recent have this issue...

Beatrix Potter books look good but they are reputed to be even worse, can someone who's read them share their experiences in that area?

On the one hand I am not one to want to censor things, but on the other hand violence against children is pretty serious and at his age it may seem as if I'm normalizing it...

Yep, Beatrix Potter books have plenty of whipping. (And a lot of animals who want to kill and eat other animals.) I love them, though. Maybe I'm wrong to feel like this, but corporal punishment in books just isn't an issue for me at all. I don't think it's traumatic for kids to read about it, because in the books where it happens, it's not presented as a big deal. But I don't think it leads kids to think that it's okay, or increases the chances that they'll beat their own kids someday. I think what they come to see as normal and acceptable is based mostly on what they see happening in their own family and in other families they know well.

What bothers me a lot more than the beatings in older books is the sexism. But that isn't enough to make me avoid reading the books to my kids.


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## travlr (Apr 28, 2007)

I have a 5yo DD and I love to read to her. We've enjoyed:

My Father's Dragon series
Little House series
The Secret Garden
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Ramona the Pest
Little Bear series
Mr Poppers Penguins
Stuart Little
Winnie the Pooh- I was also reluctant about this one since I don't care for the Disney version, but the AA Milne stories are wonderfully creative and so well written.

We're currently reading The Wizard of Oz. I'd never read it before and haven't seen the movie in many years. My daughter has a Dorothy costume but has never seen the movie. We've got an illustrated version of the book from the libary and my DD and I are both really enjoying it.

I get carried away if we're reading something really exciting and we often finish shorter chapter books (Magic Tree House, Junie B Jones) in one sitting. I was surprised at my DDs attention span for long books like The Secret Garden where the pace is slower and the language less familiar, but she asked me to read it every night. There have been a few books that didn't go over very well. The Tale of Despereaux and The Great Glass Elevator were just too scary so we read only about half of each. As you can tell, I'm not the best at previewing









As to your second question, I usually read what's on the page even when I disagree with the message but then I stop reading and ask my daughter what she thinks of it or I make a statement about how I feel about the message. Especially with books set long ago (Little House) we talk about how ideas have changed or how we do things different now. I do edit some language that I don't want to be repeated around the house.


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## ollyoxenfree (Jun 11, 2009)

_Anne of Green Gables_ is a good read aloud.

At that age, ds loved myths and fables. We had a big book of Greek myths - not Bulfinch's but something similar. We also had Aesop's Fables. It was nice for bedtime because you could finish at least one complete story easily.


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## anudi01 (Aug 11, 2004)

taking notes.


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## jlobe (May 1, 2009)

Quote:

Yep, Beatrix Potter books have plenty of whipping. (And a lot of animals who want to kill and eat other animals.) I love them, though. Maybe I'm wrong to feel like this, but corporal punishment in books just isn't an issue for me at all. I don't think it's traumatic for kids to read about it, because in the books where it happens, it's not presented as a big deal. But I don't think it leads kids to think that it's okay, or increases the chances that they'll beat their own kids someday. I think what they come to see as normal and acceptable is based mostly on what they see happening in their own family and in other families they know well.








The other thing I like about Beatrix Potter is that she is true to what the animal kingdom really is.... I get more frustrated with movies that have animal's with the same emotions and instincts as humans...

Julie


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

Just wanted to let anyone know who is interested that we are reading "My Father's Dragon" and it is a HUGE hit. I may go ahead and get the other two in the series.

I had NEVER heard of that book before so I'm really glad for the suggestions! I've already bought several suggested in this thread from the used book store and will be getting more...

I







: reading to my son... isn't it silly that I am so glad that he likes something just because I liked it so much as a child too?


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

I haven't seen Five Children and It mentioned yet. Our girls liked it a lot.


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