chapter books for 6 year old girls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MRS PIGGLE-WIGGLE!

i thought mrs. piggle-wiggle was awful. my son enjoyed it just fine but beware parents!

[Anonymous]

SAM2 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy and Bean series
Little House series
Wizard of Oz series
Charlotte's Web
Stuart Little
Magic Tree House (after about 2-3 you'll be bored with the formulaic approach, but the first couple aren't so bad)
Alice in Wonderland

I have read or am reading all of the above to my 5 (almost 6) year old boy/girl twins and they love them.

How did you deal with the adult themes in these books? For example, how do you address the farmer's threatened slaughter of Wilbur and Charlotte's ultimate death, in Charlotte's Web? Similar issues arise in Wizard of Oz. I have not read Little House for a while, but I seem to recall some difficult themes there too. Those themes seem a little hard-hitting for such young kids. When I read Wizard of Oz to my child, I kept having to make creative adjustments to the story to dodge some of these issues (and my child definitely recognized the edits I was making and quizzed me about them). I later read a few articles from educators who warn about books that kids can read/understand, but have trouble processing emotionally.

Please understand I'm not suggesting you are doing anything wrong by reading these books to your children. They're your kids, so I assume you know best what they're capable of handling. I'm just curious how you gauged the issue and identified the line without crossing it.

I am PP who posted these book suggestions. We do not sugar-coat life for our children though we try to make explanations age-appropriate and NOT scary. Certainly there are some things we keep from them because we don't feel it is age appropriate (sex, unnecessary violence), but overall we believe in teaching them about life (even the bad things) and allowing them to ask questions and feel safe in knowing their parents will be honest and open with them. I guess a lot of this comes down to your child's personality and your comfort level in discussing difficult subjects. Here are a few of the ways we've explained some of the above books:

The farmer's threat of slaughter of Wilbur is a fact on farms. Our children have visited a farm and understand that some of the animals on those farms are going to be food one day. We explained in clear and age appropriate terms -- Wilbur is a pig and these people raise pigs for food. We eat bacon, bacon comes from pigs. I also said that the reason Fern is so upset is because she sees Wilbur as her pet, which is why Fern saves Wilbur. I did cry through the end of Charlotte's Web and they had no clue why I was crying, so I'm sure some of the themes and issues went right over their heads (though I did talk about why I was sad). The beauty of this is that they can read the book again in a few years and "get" more. We did talk about Charlotte's death and how Wilbur was sad to lose his friend but excited to gain so many friends in Charlotte's babies.

The Wizard of Oz definitely has some harsh moments, some of which I breezed past and others I explained. Most importantly, we talk about how this is NOT real life but a book created from someone's imagination. We do a lot of storytelling and puppet shows at home, so they understand creating stories from their imaginations, etc.

As for Little House, a lot of this is an explanation of how easy our life is now compared to back then. How we can go to the store to buy butter and don't have to churn it ourselves. We do not own guns, have toy guns, etc.in our home and we had a long talk about Laura and Mary helping Pa load his gun. How they needed that gun to protect themselves and get food (no grocery stores in the Big Woods), but that Laura and Mary knew they were NEVER to touch the gun without Pa. Guns are not toys, etc. I use many of these tough themes as teaching moments. Truthfully, out of all of these books this one has been the hardest to read because there are so many questions to answer. But they are enjoying it and learning about life in the "olden days" so we keep reading!

And the truth is, sometimes I come across something in a book that is difficult to explain with questions that are tough to answer. I am honest with them and say, "I don't have an answer to that question right now, but I will think about it and get back to you." Most of the time this satisfies them and we are on to the next chapter.

[Anonymous]

Alot of them have already been mentioned, my girls favorites are Rainbow Magic, and I can add.
Lucy Rose
Amy Hodegepodge
Ellie, the Pony-Crazed Princess
Puppy Place
Judy moody
Boxcar Children
Disney Fairies

Also, to the PP who mentioned Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High, there are junior series called Babysitters Little Sister Club and Sweet Valley Kids for this age. Unfortunately they are out of print, but you can often find sets on ebay.

[Anonymous]

I grew up on the Little House books and read them over and over - even through my teens! They were so rich in detail that I still recall some of the stories. For example, how excited Ma was when she learned that there would be a dance and she'd have the chance to wear her "good" dress. Or the time that Laura tasted her first orange when they lived "in town." I don't think there is anthing in those books that is inappropriate for young children. Like someone else said, you can't sugarcoat everything. Another great series is Harriet the Spy.

[Anonymous]

All-of-A-Kind-Family - the earlier ones are appropriate for that age. Hard to find after the first one, but worth it. Just finished the first with my almost 5yo and she LOVED it.

Pippi Longstocking