What did you read in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

I have an elementary aged reader and maybe it’s snobby, but I’m shocked at the crap that these kids read. They are encouraged BY TEACHERS and LIBRARIANS to read this crap.

Dog Man, Magic Treehouse, The Bad Guys, Unicorn Diaries. So many spelling and grammar errors. So much bad writing.

I remember reading Wayside School is Falling Down and Judy Blume’s Fudge books. They were a little junky, but also had great qualities that I don’t see in today’s popular titles.

What did you read as a younger reader? And what do you think about what your kid is reading? Am I just a snob?

[Anonymous]

As a parent you are also capable of influencing what your child reads. If you don't like Dogman, put other books on their shelves.

My 9 year old daughter loves Harry Potter, but it's definitely a bit above her reading level. We read it together. We've also read Judy Blume. Do you read with your child? That can help them get into novels. I stopped reading any graphic style novel TO my kid once she could read them herself. I read her novels.

[Anonymous]

We have a rule in our house that books are like food - you can read some "junk" (although within limits like age appropriateness) as long as you also have some "meat and veggies" type books. Yes you might have to slog through the "meat and veggies", but I'm pretty good at knowing my kids interests and finding quality literature that they will end up liking in the end.

That's what happened when I was a kid too. I mean, there was plenty of junk in the '90s. The quality of Boxcar Children, which I devoured probably 100 of, tailed off rapidly after about the first 3 or 4 and certainly by the time they got to the ghostwriters. Nobody says all the Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys were that great. Or Sweet Valley High. Or Babysitters Club. Maybe you didn't ready any of those?

There were junky kids books as far back as the late 19th century - sappy sweet Victorian novels that made for incredibly poor literature. The reason you don't know them is that they aren't still in print.

Just like my kids I also read Beverley Cleary, many Newberry winners and runners-up, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, All-of-a-Kind Family, Half Magic, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Lloyd Alexander, Andrew Clements, Lois Lenski, Marguerite Henry, Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, Catwings, and so many more.

And my kids also read things published since I was a kid that I think are great quality: Ways to Grow Love (a modern Ramona-like series), Heartwood Hotel, The Wingfeater Saga, The Green Ember, and so many more.

Honestly if anything I think there are more great options for my kids rather than less. You can draw from the Golden Age of Children's Literature all the way through the good stuff still being published today. There's interesting literature across genres - quality mysteries (hello Encyclopedia Brown or High Rise Private Eyes), science fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, animal fiction, and even some really great graphic novels (Zita the Space Girl).

Just find what's comfortable for your family and let the rest ride.

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do OP, do not open a Junie B. Jones book. Your head will explode.

Those are the only books I really objected to. Godawful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a rule in our house that books are like food - you can read some "junk" (although within limits like age appropriateness) as long as you also have some "meat and veggies" type books. Yes you might have to slog through the "meat and veggies", but I'm pretty good at knowing my kids interests and finding quality literature that they will end up liking in the end.

That's what happened when I was a kid too. I mean, there was plenty of junk in the '90s. The quality of Boxcar Children, which I devoured probably 100 of, tailed off rapidly after about the first 3 or 4 and certainly by the time they got to the ghostwriters. Nobody says all the Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys were that great. Or Sweet Valley High. Or Babysitters Club. Maybe you didn't ready any of those?

There were junky kids books as far back as the late 19th century - sappy sweet Victorian novels that made for incredibly poor literature. The reason you don't know them is that they aren't still in print.

Just like my kids I also read Beverley Cleary, many Newberry winners and runners-up, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, All-of-a-Kind Family, Half Magic, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Lloyd Alexander, Andrew Clements, Lois Lenski, Marguerite Henry, Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, Catwings, and so many more.

And my kids also read things published since I was a kid that I think are great quality: Ways to Grow Love (a modern Ramona-like series), Heartwood Hotel, The Wingfeater Saga, The Green Ember, and so many more.

Honestly if anything I think there are more great options for my kids rather than less. You can draw from the Golden Age of Children's Literature all the way through the good stuff still being published today. There's interesting literature across genres - quality mysteries (hello Encyclopedia Brown or High Rise Private Eyes), science fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, animal fiction, and even some really great graphic novels (Zita the Space Girl).

Just find what's comfortable for your family and let the rest ride.

I have not even heard of these or seen them in libraries or bookstores. And I spent over a year working in a children’s library and have volunteered at an elementary school. The titles I mentioned are pushed onto kids and advertised in the book fair and Scholastic order forms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent you are also capable of influencing what your child reads. If you don't like Dogman, put other books on their shelves.

My 9 year old daughter loves Harry Potter, but it's definitely a bit above her reading level. We read it together. We've also read Judy Blume. Do you read with your child? That can help them get into novels. I stopped reading any graphic style novel TO my kid once she could read them herself. I read her novels.

I read to my kid a lot, but he also reads to himself a lot and he often comes home with another Magic Treehouse or a Dogman. Which I don’t protest - at least he is reading! But man, is it crap.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP that there are SO many excellent options that have been written recently. Even the old Superfudge books are full of things I didn't like. Lots of fat shaming and calling people "chubbs". It felt like a relic of it's time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a rule in our house that books are like food - you can read some "junk" (although within limits like age appropriateness) as long as you also have some "meat and veggies" type books. Yes you might have to slog through the "meat and veggies", but I'm pretty good at knowing my kids interests and finding quality literature that they will end up liking in the end.

That's what happened when I was a kid too. I mean, there was plenty of junk in the '90s. The quality of Boxcar Children, which I devoured probably 100 of, tailed off rapidly after about the first 3 or 4 and certainly by the time they got to the ghostwriters. Nobody says all the Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys were that great. Or Sweet Valley High. Or Babysitters Club. Maybe you didn't ready any of those?

There were junky kids books as far back as the late 19th century - sappy sweet Victorian novels that made for incredibly poor literature. The reason you don't know them is that they aren't still in print.

Just like my kids I also read Beverley Cleary, many Newberry winners and runners-up, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, All-of-a-Kind Family, Half Magic, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Lloyd Alexander, Andrew Clements, Lois Lenski, Marguerite Henry, Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, Catwings, and so many more.

And my kids also read things published since I was a kid that I think are great quality: Ways to Grow Love (a modern Ramona-like series), Heartwood Hotel, The Wingfeater Saga, The Green Ember, and so many more.

Honestly if anything I think there are more great options for my kids rather than less. You can draw from the Golden Age of Children's Literature all the way through the good stuff still being published today. There's interesting literature across genres - quality mysteries (hello Encyclopedia Brown or High Rise Private Eyes), science fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, animal fiction, and even some really great graphic novels (Zita the Space Girl).

Just find what's comfortable for your family and let the rest ride.

I have not even heard of these or seen them in libraries or bookstores. And I spent over a year working in a children’s library and have volunteered at an elementary school. The titles I mentioned are pushed onto kids and advertised in the book fair and Scholastic order forms.

We generally ignore Scholastic and the book fair in our house in favor of books like the above. I have my own sources that I trust for recommending children's literature. Not sure about the libraries you work in, but you can get all the titles you bolded via Fairfax County Public Library and there are often hold lines on some of the series.

As a PP mentioned, you have the power to influence what your child reads. Read-alouds, as someone else mentioned, are a great way to do that. Kids will happily listen to you read books they don't want to pick up on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent you are also capable of influencing what your child reads. If you don't like Dogman, put other books on their shelves.

My 9 year old daughter loves Harry Potter, but it's definitely a bit above her reading level. We read it together. We've also read Judy Blume. Do you read with your child? That can help them get into novels. I stopped reading any graphic style novel TO my kid once she could read them herself. I read her novels.

I read to my kid a lot, but he also reads to himself a lot and he often comes home with another Magic Treehouse or a Dogman. Which I don’t protest - at least he is reading! But man, is it crap.

I think I'd just say keep reading good novels! Librarians are trying to reach kids who might not have encouragement at home to read. But ensuring your kid knows there is a rich landscape of stories out there is really important, even if you don't see them reaching for those.

I read like 15 Christopher Pike books when I was 12. They were wildly inappropriate and far from literature. Same with Flowers in the Attic. Why that was ever left on a bookshelf for me to find is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

Kids like repetitive books. I remember Goosebumps and the My Teacher Is An Alien and Babysitter Little Sister and American Girl books being obsessively read in my elementary school. Get them hooked on stuff you like, but if you can find something with a long slightly repetitive series you’ll have better luck displacing the magic treehouses of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids like repetitive books. I remember Goosebumps and the My Teacher Is An Alien and Babysitter Little Sister and American Girl books being obsessively read in my elementary school. Get them hooked on stuff you like, but if you can find something with a long slightly repetitive series you’ll have better luck displacing the magic treehouses of the world.

I distinctly remember the age where I realized all the Redwall books I adored were actually virtually identical books. I try to read my kid Good Books, but I also don't begrudge her her crap. Older generations had their formulaic Hardy Boys and Happy Hollisters and this generation has Dogman. Most adults don't read only great literature either.

[Anonymous]

I think this also depends on how old your kid is. I was a really early and voracious reader and still read a ton. But my memories are of what I was reading at probably 3rd grade, not 1st or 2nd. Most people don't remember with accuracy what they did before about 7/8 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids like repetitive books. I remember Goosebumps and the My Teacher Is An Alien and Babysitter Little Sister and American Girl books being obsessively read in my elementary school. Get them hooked on stuff you like, but if you can find something with a long slightly repetitive series you’ll have better luck displacing the magic treehouses of the world.

I distinctly remember the age where I realized all the Redwall books I adored were actually virtually identical books. I try to read my kid Good Books, but I also don't begrudge her her crap. Older generations had their formulaic Hardy Boys and Happy Hollisters and this generation has Dogman. Most adults don't read only great literature either.

+1. I remember reading Happy Hollisters as a kid and loving it (I'm not actually that old, we found it in some used bookstore somewhere). My mom gave it to me and I looked through it again and was pretty horrified. The kids were so mean! It was so poorly written!

[Anonymous]

Lois Lowry, Katherine Patterson, Madeline L'Engle, E.L. Koningsburg, Noel Streatfield, Roald Dahl, Monica Furlong, Brian Jacques. Harry Potter was after my ES years but I read them because my little brother was.

My 2nd grader is into most of these - currently working through Little House on the Prairie series while waiting for me to read Harry Potter Goblet of Fire with her - but it was the repetitive commercial series like Dragon Girls and Emily Windsnap (and Boxcar Children) that gave her the confidence and fluency to dive into more challenging stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids like repetitive books. I remember Goosebumps and the My Teacher Is An Alien and Babysitter Little Sister and American Girl books being obsessively read in my elementary school. Get them hooked on stuff you like, but if you can find something with a long slightly repetitive series you’ll have better luck displacing the magic treehouses of the world.

I distinctly remember the age where I realized all the Redwall books I adored were actually virtually identical books. I try to read my kid Good Books, but I also don't begrudge her her crap. Older generations had their formulaic Hardy Boys and Happy Hollisters and this generation has Dogman. Most adults don't read only great literature either.

+1. I remember reading Happy Hollisters as a kid and loving it (I'm not actually that old, we found it in some used bookstore somewhere). My mom gave it to me and I looked through it again and was pretty horrified. The kids were so mean! It was so poorly written!

I actually mentioned the Happy Hollisters specifically because my husband's mother loved them, then he loved them, and now our kid is reading them. Three generations, loving the same pablum!