It’s hard to beat that feeling of bringing home a fresh new stack of books from the library or bookstore, isn’t it? Where to start, which one to dive into first... Luckily Ro and Ree share my literary love – they’re completely hooked on books and have been ever since they stopped eating them (gah, toddlers!!). Their reading tastes are very different from each other though.
Miss Ro (on the left above) reads a wide variety of stuff. She devours every Rainbow Magic Fairies book she can get her hands on (she likes the format even though they only take her about 20 minutes – really - if we go from the library to a restaurant she’ll start and finish a new one before dinner hits the table). And she adds to that fairytastic reading with lots and lots o’ books from series like: Rescue Princesses, According to Humphrey, Beast Quest
, Secrets of Droon
, How to Train Your Dragon, and Wings of Fire. Ro likes adventure books and she likes humor. She laughs out loud often while she’s reading, which is just dang cute. She’s pretty open to trying new titles and authors and usually grabs a few wild cards each time like yesterday’s picks of Magic Cake Shop and A Tale of Two Castles.
Ree tends toward the lighter (shall we say “fluffier”?) end of the book spectrum. She’s always delighted to read anything with the word “magic” and an animal in the title (Magic Kitten
, Magic Bunny, Magic Puppy
, Magic Ponies
, Magic RandomCuteBabyAnimal), and somehow keeps them all straight in her mental catalog and knows exactly which ones she has already read (they all kinda look alike if you ask me). She has also read and enjoyed many of The Puppy Place
books, but seems to be done with that series now.
Ree likes the Magic xyzAnimal books the best, but also enjoys a good A to Z Mysteries
read and the Secrets of Droon series that her sister likes (I think that one series is the only overlap between the two girls). She picked up an enticing-looking new book at the bookstore last night and I can’t wait to hear her review. It’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
, by Grace Lin. Has anyone read it?
I would be remiss if I failed to mention Ree’s fave book of all time. She lugs this battered, well-loved, huge Harry Potter Film Wizardry
book everywhere, and I swear she’s memorized every page. The spine and cover have been loved apart and hot-glued back together a few times now.
What are your kids reading right now?
Posts
Um...Maya and Ree would get along great! She's definitely a fluff reader...when I can get her to read!
ReplyDeletetry tuesdays in the castle (??) and wednesdays int he tower? something like that-- my daughter loved them both. have they read the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books? big love on that classic. try geronimo stilton-- the kingdom of fantasy books. hmmmmmmm the horse diaries-- my girls LOVED those-- a series of 8.. also by ron roy who does the AtoZ books is the calendar mysteries and the capital mysteries--
ReplyDeletetell me you've read peter and the star catcher to them-- please--- you won't regret it!!!
Thanks, we haven't tried most of those. Adding them to the book list now.
Deletehttp://www.gracelin.com/index.php
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to grace lin's website. I've been following her for a few years now and was able to get a few books autographed when she visited near me when I live in Syracuse, NY.
I have secreted the books away for the girls when they are older.
I so hope they love have a love of the written word as much as your girls.
Grace Lin is coming to our town in a few weeks to meet with our FCC group. We are so excited to meet her.
ReplyDeleteSo cool!!!
DeleteMy daughter is a few years older than your girls and had a high reading level, but seemed to enjoy the fluffier books. To me it seems like she jumped from Magic Vague Animal to Les Miserables, but it worked for her. I think Ree would certainly love the Pony Pal books. There's probably four hundred of them, and each one of them gets read over and over. The Magic Tree House series is adventurous and Ro would probably get a kick out of them. And you can't go wrong with the Baby-Sitter's Club! Ro and Ree, you two keep on reading. Girls with books are the best kind!
ReplyDeleteMagic Vague Animal -- ha, love it!! I've seen the Babysitter's Club at the library and keep trying to get the girls to check it out but they've been resistant for some reason. I think I'll slip one in the library bag and see if they get hooked...
DeleteI have followed your blog but don't generally post. My daughter is also a few years older and loves to read. in 2nd grade she really liked the Magic Tree House books. She also the 3 Grace Lin books, Year of the Dog, Year of the Rat and Dumpling Days many times over. She really enjoyed Where The Mountain Meets the Moon. I read it to her as a bedtime book and then she read it to herself. Last year she started on the Warrior series.
ReplyDeleteLoved the Humphrey books too. Those were great bedtime books once upon a time.
I'm a librarian and I've noticed that Grace Lin's books are popular with my students of Chinese descent. I think it resonates with them to have stories with Chinese protagonists.
DeleteIf Ro likes adventure/fairy tale maybe she'd like Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen, The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levin (also Ella Enchanted and the Two princess of Bamarre), Worst Witch by Jill Murhpy
Ree might like cricket in times square, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Three good Deeds by Vivian Vande Velde, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph by Bevery Clearly
E.D. Baker's The Frog Princess series, Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles (starts with Dealing with Dragons), James Howe's Bunnicula books, Judy Blume's Fudge books, Boxcar Children (Warner). When they get just a little older, Nancy Rue's Sophie series is really great.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is a few years older, but she enjoyed Clue Crew, Judy Moody, Thea Stilton, and Magic Treehouse(Merlin Missions)she just finished the Goddess Girl series (early intro to Greek Mythology). Currently we are reading Harry Potter together and read The Hobbit and Narnia series. Reading is a passion in our house. It is a gift we give that lasts a lifetime
DeleteEdward Eager's Magic books and the Betsy-Tacy series!
ReplyDeleteHas Ree read all of the Harry Potter books or is she a bit young for them & would think Voldemort was scary? I love all the books (and movies) in that series.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about that too - since Ree's favourite is Harry Potter Film Wizardry. The first three books are not so scary; but it depends on the child. I have put off reading them with my son because he can be very sensitieve sometimes to what is written. He is now 11 and has just started reading and enjoying them. And where the books have me in tears regularly (I have read and reread the series a number of times now and I find them so very moving; JK Rowling touches your soul, I think) he just laughed when I asked him if he found them too scary :).
DeleteShe hasn't read the books, but she's seen movies #1-#4. She loved the first three and the fourth one was too much -- too dark, too scary. So #4 got retired, and #1-3 have been watched many, many times.
DeleteI think that most kids in 4th/5th grade can handle Harry Potter. The series gets more challenging (in length and reading level) as Harry gets older.
DeleteI second all the selections Emily mentioned. My son really liked the Capital Mysteries by Ron Roy, Magic Treehouse and owned every.single.one of the Geronimo Stilton books. Other books he found fascinating were the series of "who was....." such as "who was harry houdini" or "who was abraham lincoln". The series of Cam Jansen mysteries might be easy reads for them but if they haven't read them yet I think they would love them! Gooseberry Park is one of my all time favorites to read aloud to my class. The animal characters are fantastic! And, of course, The Little House on the Prairie books are my all time favorite as a child. So excited that Ro and Ree love reading!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved Junie B. Jones books!
ReplyDeleteWhere The Mountain Meets The Moon is a lovely read. A little deep in places, but really a very sweet story. We read it earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteMy son loved the moon book when he was 8 or 9 - it was the first chapter book I read to him and he didn't want it to end. Beautiful story.
ReplyDeletethe little house books are more fun to listen to-- i had a hard time reading them--
ReplyDeleteoh-- the sisters grimm series
if they can read harry potter-- then the emerald atlas and the fire chronicles
my fav read alouds-- b/c i love a good book too- why should they have all the fun?
the chronicles of narnia-- big love.
the 7 wonders of sassafras springs-- we read it every year
the miraculous adventures of edward tulane-- you'll cry
the tale of desperaux-- the movie ruined the book-- fabulous book
the 7 tales of trinket-- read aloud
Hilarious, mysterious, and somewhat wacky is "To Catch A Mermaid" by Suzanne Selfors. It is a book that crosses both of Ro and Ree's genres, and my girls' as well. Sara is into the "Heidi Heckelbeck" series, which are fast and easy like Rainbow Fairies, but involve magic.
ReplyDeleteHi. I've never commented before, but I've followed your blog for a while. Your girls are absolutely adorable! Have they ever tried the American Girl series or the Magic Attic Club book series? I used to LOVE those when I was younger. The Boxcar Children are also great books that they might enjoy.
ReplyDeleteYou should try the adorable Cam Jansen mystery series. They are a third to fourth level book series and my students love them!! They take some kids just 20 min to read :) I also like to read them aloud and the class eats it up! Thea Stilton is also wonderful.. So are The Penderwicks series-only 3 of them but there will be 5. Love that your girls are such readers!!
ReplyDeleteRi rieley has read all of the Magic Fairy Princesses and the entire series of Magic Tree house. Will share with her some of your girls favorites and maybe we can find a new love. She is retreading all of the Magic tree House books at the present.
ReplyDeleteSounds like they might enjoy the Ramona books and The Stories Julian Tells (no literal magic, but lots of imagination!)
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter, who is the age of your twins, LOVED The Lauran Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie series. It might have helped I live in that part of the country. She is about to start the Anne of Green gables books and she and her dad read all the Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Ring books. They also read the Hobbit. Next will probably be The Tales of Narnia and Where the Red Fern Grows (sad sad sad).
ReplyDeleteSophie will be 7 next week, and she is so excited, as I told her that I started reading Harry Potter to her sister when she was 7 (she's now 14). She needs to do independent reading every night for school, so her reading them to me will be great. Because DH and I take turns reading at night, we will be reading Harry Potter at a rate of about 10-15 pages every other night, so it will take us a while...but it's a great goal. And by the time we get to the later books, she'll be fine with them. I had read them first to my older DD...she was fine reading all the scary stuff, but didn't want to see any of the movies in the theater, although we have them all on DVD. There's something about a big screen movie that's loud in the dark. I hope she enjoys them as much as her sister did.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your girls are reading some pretty advanced stuff for their age, which is fabulous! I, too, had an early and avid reader in the older DD. Younger DD doesn't seem quite as interested, despite the fact that she is a pretty advanced reader.
Doesn't Ro have on Ree's boots? It's the little things I notice. There is an old series of books that I devoured when I was about their age:"The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew"
ReplyDeleteGood catch. I didn't think they swapped shoes. But they are just great boots and I wouldn't mind owning a pair!
DeleteFunny, I wondered if anyone would notice that. Ro has her own pair of the brown boots too (I convinced her to get a pair because they were so versatile and cute even though she said she'd NEVER EVER wear them - ha, guess mama was right on this one thing!).
DeleteI recommended "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" on an earlier post not too long ago. It's wonderful. I think you and the girls will love it. All of Grace Lin's work is really lovely so if they enjoy it, definitely check out her other stuff.
ReplyDeleteExtremely off-topic, but are the girls still taking riding lessons? Sorry, the brown boots reminded me of their blue sparkly ones, and I couldn't help but wonder.
ReplyDeleteThey took the summer off but are starting riding again now that school has started back up. And they're starting gymnastics again next week too, which will be cool. They took a year off from gymnastics.
DeleteThanks for this post! My daughter's reading taste spans Ro's and Ree's, and your list and other's comments give me some good new book ideas to run by her. I love it when we go to the library or a book store and she squeals with excitement!
ReplyDeleteHere's a couple of our suggestions: The Fairy Chronicles by J. H. Sweet and Johanna Hurwitz's books about guinnea pigs and squirrels in Central Park (PeeWee's Tale, Lexi's Tale, PeeWee and Plush, and Squirrel World).
What a great post - my 8 year old is into Black Lagoon series and similar boy-oriented books. My take is that as long as he is reading, its all good :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was Ro and Ree's age, I loved books by Lois Lowry: The Anastasia series and the Sam series were about two spunky siblings. There are also some good historical fiction novels once the girls get a bit older. Jean Little is a Canadian author who wrote many, many sweet stories, some of which were real tear-jerkers! Also check out Cornelia Funke, a German children's writer whose work is available in translation. I loved her "Inkheart" trilogy, which has magic and adventure galore, and is so imaginative! Her other books are wonderful too.
ReplyDeleteTotally loving the skirts!!! I took Maylin to the libray for the first time this summer.....yes, I am bad. She loved it!
ReplyDeleteAustin got moved to Richmond.
My daughter is the same age as your girls and she loves "My Father's Dragon"--it's an older, classic book that has short chapters and sweet pictures. My oldest, who is now almost 20, had me read "My Father's Dragon" to him anytime he was sick until he was way older than he'd be willing to admit!
ReplyDelete