What kind of books is your second grader reading on her own?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to get a sense for what kind of books kids can read on their own at this point. Are they doing chapter books or basic step into learning types of books?

[Anonymous]

Are you buying for your own child or a relative/friend? If you know a reading level, that will help tremendously. There is such a wide variation -- one kid reads Harry Potter, another Ivy & Bean, and another is still decoding words. All within the expected range for 2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

I'd err on the side of "possibly too hard" because the kid can always grow into the book. But if you go "too easy", the kid and parents might be offended and they won't be able to use it.

My daughter is reading dory fantasmagory right now. She likes goosebumps and cupcake diaries. So chapter books. She liked charlotte's web too.

[Anonymous]

À la recherche du temps perdu.

Currently on volume 3.

[Anonymous]

Basic chapter books for the most part. A-Z Mysteries and Geronimo Stilton are favorites. Some Roal Dahl books too, though those are more challenging.

[Anonymous]

I think Kate Dicamillo would be a great gift for a girl that age.

I have a little boy, and he reads Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate. I am not sure if there are similar books for girls.

[Anonymous]

Given the season, you could give The Lion, The Witch and the The Wardrobe.

I agree with PP that you should guess up rather than down. The range of reading levels in those early grades is phenomenal.

[Anonymous]

You could also send a good book for read aloud, my son reads very well, but because we still read together every night we are always looking for books to read out loud. Right now we're working through Chronicles of Narnia, and we did Mary Poppins a while ago, Summer of the Monkeys was funny, and we did The BFG as a read aloud too.

Otherwise, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, and Percy Jackson is coming for Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

[Anonymous]

DC has gone through the entire Dork Diaries Series, Disney Descendents, Magic Treehouse series, all the Ramona books, Judy Blume. We are having a hard time finding books for her but she has been interested in graphic novels lately. She's shown no interest in the Harry Potter Series. The problem we are running into is that reading level might be fine for some books but content is not yet appropriate for a 7 year old.

[Anonymous]

Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Who Was ____? biographies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could also send a good book for read aloud, my son reads very well, but because we still read together every night we are always looking for books to read out loud. Right now we're working through Chronicles of Narnia, and we did Mary Poppins a while ago, Summer of the Monkeys was funny, and we did The BFG as a read aloud too.

Otherwise, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, and Percy Jackson is coming for Christmas.

Good read aloud suggestions. With first grader we've done Hugo, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and first Harry Potter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Who Was ____? biographies

This is what our DD is reading too. Especially the Who Was/Who Is series. They are great.

[Anonymous]

Like PP said there is a HUGE variety at this age. My own child is mainly reading non fiction now in second grade. He raced through the Harry Potter series at the end of kindergarten, which isn't representative. Most second graders aren't yet reading for meaning yet. Basic chapter books are common.

[Anonymous]

Mostly Dostoyevsky, in the original Russian.