books to read to a 5 year old - Page 2

[KimbleJ]

Edit--aaagh, sorry for the double post!

Edited by KimbleJ - 11/16/12 at 7:24am

[KimbleJ]

Haha, I get what you're saying about the cookbook thing making you hungry. Had to stop reading  from the Red Wall series because they were always having amazing feasts...too many descriptions; made my mouth water!

[pek64]

I've always wondered why folks say things like "everyone ought to read X book". In an above post, that statement was made about Alice in Wonderland. I never read it. Why is it deemed so good? Wasn't it just drug induced ramblings?

[journeymom]

It's kind of fun. The characters have taken on a life of their own, and are part of our culture at large.  If you come across a reference to someone one grinning like a Cheshire Cat, it's great to know where it came from, and in context. 

I imagine that Lewis Carroll wasn't high every time he sat down to write. The story is written well, so I'm not sure 'ramblings' is a fair description. 

Here, this is what Wikipedia says, much more clearly than how I said it.  

The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children.^[2] It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre,^[2][3] and its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential^[3] in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

[pek64]

Does she like crime stories? Agatha Christie is an author many enjoy. Also, there was a crime through time series of books we enjoyed for a spell. The crime was fictional, but the history of the time and place was supposed to be real. Redwall, my son and I agreed, was well written, but we felt the plot was a bit weak. For that reason, we never read any others.

You mentioned the library, but not the bookstore. By looking at books in a bookstore, you can get titles to request through inter library loan, and borrow books your library doesn't have. Each location is different, and I'm not sure your library is part of such a program, but the librarian would know.

If she likes animals, there's James Herriot's books. He's a vet in England. My son liked him around age 13, but not 10.

I know we read many others. The Egg and I, and Cheaper by the Dozen were fun books. So was The Pushcart War! The Hardy Boy, Nancy Drew, and Encyclopedia Brown are detection books. Spy X series was also enjoyable. Part adventure, part detection, my son and I wished there were more books.

It depends, partly, on why you want the list. Are you looking for books that are purely for enjoyment, or do you also want to challenge her reading ability.

My son doesn't like most classics. They take too long to get to the point, for him. Around the World in Eighty Days, for example, took multiple paragraphs to say that Phileas Fogg was independently wealthy, and had no job to take up his day. Some may enjoy the wording used, others want the plot to get moving. My son fell into the plot moving group.

Well, I've given you a few suggestions of what we liked, and what reasons we had for choosing them. Hopefully, this will give you an idea if your daughter would like them, too.

[pek64]

Thanks for the reply about Alice. I've never read it, so I'm not sure 'ramblings' is fair, it's just what I heard. It is so pervasive that even I know about the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat (and his grin). Maybe someday I'll give it a try. Literary nonsense doesn't sound like my cup of tea, though. I like detective books, mostly. So, unless there's a mystery imbedded in there, I might not get through it.

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by pek64 

I've always wondered why folks say things like "everyone ought to read X book". In an above post, that statement was made about Alice in Wonderland. I never read it. Why is it deemed so good? Wasn't it just drug induced ramblings?

It's entertaining and funny.  (And there's no evidence that it was drug-induced, as far as I know.)  A couple of samples:

`I dare say you're wondering why I don't put my arm round your waist,' the Duchess said after a pause: `the reason is, that I'm doubtful about the temper of your flamingo. Shall I try the experiment?'

`He might bite,' Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all anxious to have the experiment tried.

`Very true,' said the Duchess: `flamingoes and mustard both bite. And the moral of that is--"Birds of a feather flock together."'

`Only mustard isn't a bird,' Alice remarked.

`Right, as usual,' said the Duchess: `what a clear way you have of putting things!'

`It's a mineral, I THINK,' said Alice.

`Of course it is,' said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to everything that Alice said; `there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is--"The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours."'

`Once upon a time there were three little sisters,' the Dormouse began in a great hurry; `and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well--'

`What did they live on?' said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.

`They lived on treacle,' said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.

`They couldn't have done that, you know,' Alice gently remarked; `they'd have been ill.'

`So they were,' said the Dormouse; `VERY ill.'

Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary ways of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went on: `But why did they live at the bottom of a well?'

`Take some more tea,' the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

`I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, `so I can't take more.'

`You mean you can't take LESS,' said the Hatter: `it's very easy to take MORE than nothing.'

`Nobody asked YOUR opinion,' said Alice.

`Who's making personal remarks now?' the Hatter asked triumphantly.

You can read the whole book online for free.

[journeymom]

<tangent> I've never finished Alice in Wonderland.  I'm a slow reader and older language, older literary frameworks, trip me up. And like Pek64's son, I get impatient when it takes forever to get to the point.  Though I haven't looked at Alice in Wonderland in years. I certainly have better focus than I used to, so maybe I'd get more out of it now. </tangent>

[pek64]

I did a little Internet research on Lewis Carroll. Although in the past some claimed he was some kind of drug user, current belief is he was not. He, it's being theorized, had epilepsy and migraines. Much/some of his imagery is similar to actual experiences when a) falling asleep, b) getting a migraine, and c) starting an epileptic seizure.

Sorry about the Alice tangent. Any more book suggestions?

[meemee]

for all you Charles Dodgson fans here's a movie to watch. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089052/ Dreamchild. i saw this movie when it first came out and it made me spend weeks at the library researching Lewis Carrol. 

Originally Posted by pek64 

It depends, partly, on why you want the list. Are you looking for books that are purely for enjoyment, or do you also want to challenge her reading ability. them, too.

dd wants ME to read to HER. i havent read to her for YEARS as part of our night time ritual because at the end of the day i'd be so tired i'd fall asleep while dd would be wide awake wanting to know more. books wake her up, esp. if its interesting. 

for this venture to be successful - that is me being able to stay awake (my day starts at 4 am and by 8 i am ready to hit the bed) i need to find books that we will both like. our basic choices clash a lot. 180 degrees. dd's favourite genre is fantasy. i cant stand fantasy. 

i want to take this opportunity to introduce her to some other genres that she has not picked up yet. either some good writing or some historical content or just some great books. 

kiblej - that's a great suggestion. used to read essays to dd a while back (not at bedtime) and she loved it. one of her favourites has been Malcolm X talking about straightening his hair called "hair"

yet i dont want to read to her what she will read on her own.