Reading Rut for Second Grader: Please Suggest New Books/Series
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Anonymous
| My DS in second grade has nightly reading as part of HW, which is great, but reading time has become a bore because my DS is stuck on Star Wars Rebels and other media related books. Does anybody have any suggestions? |
Anonymous
|
For him to read to himself or for you to read to him?
If it's for him to read to himself, depending on his reading level, my kid finds My Weird School and Captain Underpants series hilarious. I don't get the appeal myself -- especially Captain Underpants -- but that's why I'm not a 2nd grade boy. |
Anonymous
|
Mighty Robot/Ricky Ricotta
Daniel Boom, Loud Boy Captain Underpants Tiny Titans Diary of a Wimpy Kid (That's what I get from looking at the mess of books next to my second grader's bed) |
Anonymous
Anonymous
| Is it a bore for him or for you? If it's not a bore for him and he's engaged by these books, I would suck up my own boredom and let him read them. |
Anonymous
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You may also want to try some graphic novels. Campfire has classic stories like 20,000 Leagues or mythology:
http://www.campfiregraphicnovels.com/index.htm |
Anonymous
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anything by Beverly Cleary
The Year of Billy Miller Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library Dominic anything by Roald Dahl Tale of Desperaux Alvin Ho series Hardy Boys Encyclopedia Brown Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH |
Anonymous
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DD LOVES loves loves My Weird School. There is nothing "girly" about it though and the main character is a boy.
It's I think the equivalent of my counting magazines as "reading" for me but if you're just trying to rekindle being in the habit of reading and liking to do it, it would be good. Super short, not much complicated vocab, funny and a bit "edgy" in terms of the kids language (not 4 letter words, but ample amounts of "that's dumb"). You might want to skim one first. |
Anonymous
| DS in 2nd grade has eaten up Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also likes Captain Underpants and the I Survived books (although he has a love/hate relationship with those because it upsets him when a character dies). |
Anonymous
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May I suggest that you let him read what he likes on his own, and that you read more complicated books to him at bedtime? Make the 20 minutes he has to read, time you read to him. You'll expose him to more complex vocabulary and narratives, and that will help him a LOT when he reads on his own! It can be fiction and/or non fiction. It can be picture books and/or chapter books.
Don't be surprised if your son re-reads a really great but challenging book you've read to him. That's the sign he's been hooked. 
Keep it fun! |
Anonymous
| The Ghosthunters Series by Cornelia Funke. Male protagonist, very funny |
Anonymous
|
Boxcar Children
Biographies or history. He might like nonfiction... |
Anonymous
Not the OP, but I have a 2nd grader with the same issue. At bedtime we do read better books to him, like the Hobbit and the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But in terms of what he will read on his own, it's all Star Wars and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I don't like to interfere with what he chooses to read for himself since I want him to maintain his enthusiasm for reading, but I wish I could find a book or series that would bridge him over to more interesting books. |
Anonymous
| Jon Scieszka has a website called "Guys Read" (www.guysread.com) that might have suggestions. Also, lots of great nonfiction choices around--I tend to forget about those since I was such a fiction-reader as a kid, but there are a lot of great options there too. Locally, Fred Bowen (who writes the Thursday sports column in KidsPost) has lots of sports novels your 2nd-grader might like. And I imagine your librarian probably has lots of other suggestions--they love questions like this too. Happy reading! |