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What Did You Read in Elementary School?

T

TessaAnne

New Member
Help! I'm in desperate need of a book for a ten year old to read!
I have a problem, his name is Jimmy and he has bought into the virtual reality world and never quite fallen in love will books like I had hoped he would. I'm afraid the only thing he's ever been interested in reading are books like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which are fine just for laughs but Greg Heffley is not exactly on my list of awe inspiring literary heroes I hope that Jimmy can one day be aquainted with, look up to, and strive to be like.
I'm making it one of my goals for this year to get him into reading or at least make it so he doesn't view it as a punishment or a drudgery. I need something that he can get into quickly and will keep his attention the whole time. There are a couple problems however; sometimes he won't even try to read the book if he thinks it LOOKS boring or too long. Countless times I've told him not to judge a book by its cover but he refuses to listen. It needs to be at least 3rd grade level but no harder than 5th or 6th grade level. I need something that isn't a mindless read but also isn't going to confuse him because of the language or writing. Basically I just need a good book with a good role model in it.
I love my brother. I don't want him to be ignorant or one of those annoying Internet know-it-alls who will never open a book again after leaving school like so many kids his age, and maybe some quality fiction and fantasy will go a long way towards fixing that. There's nothing wrong with playing video games or spending some time surfing the net for fun, but not to the point of addiction; I'd rather him be sucked into a magnificent world of fantasy than some of the virtual things he's been into these days. I know it's a daunting task which is why I would appreciate suggestions and maybe why you're suggesting a book! Thanks for any help :)
 
I was an avid reader of Goosebumps and Fear Street in elementary school (I remember even reading a Fear Street book in 3rd grade). I loved R.L. Stine as a kid. I also liked Christoper Pike's Young Adult books. That is what I grew up on (27 now).
 
The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne is a good choice as are the Harry Potter series and The Chronicles of Narnia. The Harry Potter books are infinitely better than the movies. J K Rowling's telling is so rich and full it makes the movies pale by comparison.
 
My daughter was the same and even now would prefer to be on the computer. Now, she is required to read two chapters a day before using the computer. She is twelve and has finished The Hunger Games. There are a bunch of fantasy themed books for a 10 year old.

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Thank you all for your suggestions! They really help. :)
I'll be sure to take him to the library and let pick out some Goosebumps books!
Yes, I think I am going to give him either Harry Potter or Narnia, I'll let him choose which series to start with and I'll probably read them along with him as they are both fantastic and it been a while since I've read either!
I hope that he will read Hunger Games one day because they're great books, but he's not quite there yet in his reading level. I read the Anne of Green Gables series when I was around 12, your daughter might like those books and they have a great set of movies she can watch afterwards too!
 
I was thinking about introducing Anne of Green Gables to her soon.

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thairish said:
I was thinking about introducing Anne of Green Gables to her soon.

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When I was ten or so, I read and reread the Little House Books, specially The Long Winter and Banks of Plum Creek. Also I wore out the school library's copy of Indian Captive by Lois Lenski. I loved Marguerite De Angeli's books, particularly Skippack School, Henner's Lydia, and Yonnie Wondernose. Marguerite Henry's Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin is excellent, as are her other titles. More modern writers my kids have enjoyed are Eva Ibbotsen and Roald Dahl. Oh, and don't overlook the Series of Unfortunate Events and Dealing With Dragons by Patricia Wrede. Anything that you think is too much above her reading level, you can use as a read aloud...to whet the appetite. That's how we got the kids onto the Narnia series. Did that with lots of books and different kids, actually. They're really never too old to be read to; several of my adult kids read aloud to their perfectly capable SOs. Just pick a good story that matches their interest..
 
I wasn't a reader then and can't even remember the books we were exposed to at school. At home, though, I was fascinated by the encyclopedias on the shelves and went through them pretty thoroughly -- Wonderland of Knowledge and Britannica.
 
Peder said:
I wasn't a reader then and can't even remember the books we were exposed to at school. At home, though, I was fascinated by the encyclopedias on the shelves and went through them pretty thoroughly -- Wonderland of Knowledge and Britannica.
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I did that too...the dictionary was fair game as well. I also loved The Childhood of Famous Americans series, as well as an older series for somewhat older kids..I can't remember what they were called, but the topics were all historical, sometimes centered on events, not just individuals. I can picture them...also loved Sonia Bleeker's series on different Native American tribes. I still love non fiction...
 
A really good series that I read when I was younger is called "Pendragon"...I actually still enjoy them now but they are geared towards young adult readers :) I hope that helps

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Harry Potter was my favourite series in Elementary School - Magic Treehouse is a great suggestion as well. I loved Roald Dahl at that age too. Another idea I had is Geronimo Stilton - it might be a little bit young for him, but it seems like something that would help bridge the gap a bit between Diary of a Wimpy Kid and J.R.R Tolkien.
 
My son was the same way, but in 6th grade he really got into the Warriors series, which is lovely. He is a junior now and still reads every Diary of a Wimpy Kid that comes out.
 
Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! I'll have to check out those Pendragon books, I have heard well of them from others too :)
So far things are going well, I gave him a choice between Narnia and Harry Potter for us to read together and he chose Harry Potter so we'll see how that goes. Before he went to bed I gave him some choices from my bookshelf for me to read aloud from and he ended up picking The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and I also read chapter one in the Hunger Games.
I'll have to compile a list of all of these books, there's some I think I'd like to read myself!
 
Oooh, two more to look up: Savvy by Inrid Law, and it's sequal, Scumble. FUN story about a family with 'powers' and all the crazy stuff that happens sometimes. Set in Kansas...sorta. Highly recommended.
 
Harry Potter and Narnia are both good.
Stuart Hill's The Cry of the Icemark is a decent fantasy book. The protagonist is a princess who needs to forge alliances to save her people.

Vivian Vande Veld has some neat YA stuff. You may want to look her up. One I remember being very good was Heir Apparent. It's about a kid stuck inside a video game. That may appeal if Jimmy likes video games too.

Personally, I'm sort of a star wars geek, so I loved all the Jedi Apprentice books. The sequel series were okay but not as good.

Although they're dated at this point, classic sort of stock fiction like The Hardy Boys can be fun.

(My own book - see signature - is kid safe and a bit sci-fi; may or may not be Jimmy's thing *shrug)

The first Hunger Games book was excellent.
 
Hmmm, Enid Blyton was my favourite at that age. I love the Famous Five series, it's adventurous and full of suspense. I don't know if they are still available in bookstores now though. I also enjoyed comics like Astericks and Obeliks as well as The Adventures of Tintin. Those are colorful and catchy for a kid.
 
I was a great fan of the Anne of Green Gables books, too. Still am, in fact. Whenever I need a comfort read, it's most likely Anne I'll turn to.

I'm too old to have read Harry Potter when I was a kid, but I still enjoyed the books very much as an adult.

Among my own favourite reads in elementary school were several series by Enid Blyton, as good as everything Astrid Lindgren wrote (I wonder how well-known her books are in the English-speaking world?), Michael Ende's "Neverending Story" and "Momo", a lot of girly horse-themed stuff and the odd children's classic.
 
I read The Hobbit when i was in elementary school and still occasionally pick it up today. Such a fantastic book and hope all the movies do it justice.
 
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