My girls will be 3 and 5 in the next couple months and we've mostly waited until recently to read chapter books to them. To be honest, I'm not quite sure when the ideal age to start chapter books is, but it just never occurred to me to try until recently.
But, given the success we've had reading these books I think it possible I could have started this much earlier with them. They LOVE listening to these books before bedtime.
For Christmas our good friends, Dewde & Dewdette, gave our girls their new favorite book:
Do yourself (and your kids) a favor and skip the junior novelization of this book. Our friends gave us the original version and not the "film" version and I'm so glad they did! The vocabulary is a little more complex and it doesn't exactly read like a little kids book but I think that is one of the best things about reading it to little ones. It stretches their understanding of the written word and gives them new words that they might not encounter on a daily basis.
And, oh, the story. We are loving it. Of course, it is another one of those stories that celebrate being unique & reaching for the seemingly impossible and I just think kids can't hear enough that it is okay to be themselves so I loved that. But, other than that, it is just a beautifully written and romantically told story that will be as enjoyable for adults as it is for kids.
We haven't seen the movie yet because we're waiting until we finish the book, but it gives the girls something to look forward to when we're finished reading it.
What literary or children's classic were you thrilled to see your kids enjoy? What are some book selections you've found that can be enjoyed by adults and kids, alike?
3 comments:
My daughter LOVED this book... She said the movie was "OK", though.
You should read Kai and Ivy "Because of Winn-Dixie," which is another outstanding children's book by Kate DiCamillo and a great read aloud. Plus, it also has a movie incentive to go along with it, and for once the filmmaker's interpretation of the book was excellent. I can't wait to get my hands on "The Tale of Despereaux." Sadly are library is closed for over a month due to renovations so it might be a while...
~Marissa
I second the suggestion for "Because of Winn-Dixie"! Great book. Also, "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane", also by Kate DiCamillo is beautiful, but it is sad. You would want to read it first to decide if they would enjoy it. My kids absolutely loved the first Boxcar Children book and they somewhat paid attention to "Little House in the Big Woods". They liked, "James and the Giant Peach" but I had to explain a lot of the words. And of course, we laughed and laughed while we read "Junie B. Jones" and the Ramona books.
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