(no subject)

[the_rck]

I'm looking for book recommendations for Delia. I'm making up her Christmas wishlist now, and I'd like to put a few books on it.

She loves the Harry Potter books and will read them voluntarily. So far, they're the only books that have gotten her that excited. Other books, she'll read a chapter of and give up. She's rejected the Oz books and the Chronicles of Narnia. She liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when we read it to her (she even read ahead) but didn't like Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. She likes Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume (the younger books) when we read the books to her but won't read them herself unless assigned them for school.

She doesn't deal well with books that have parents dying or appearing to die on screen. We couldn't read her The Secret Garden because of that (we haven't tried skipping the first chapter).

Delia seems to like the idea of reading better than actually reading. She checks out a lot of books from the library that she simply doesn't touch. She reads well but not fast.

Anyway, books like the Harry Potter books seem to be the way to go. What's out there to coax a reluctant reader?

Comments

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Would the Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander be too scary? I loved them to bits, but I do remember being scared by the (old, Dell Yearling) covers at the time. I didn't like sleeping in the same room as them unless they were shelved properly, because as we all know, covers can't come alive if they are sandwiched between other books.

The Allie Finkel series by Meg Cabot is charming, and sort of "next up from Junie B Jones."

Two more recent books--Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis is fun, and so is The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas.

[the_rck]

The Prydain series works on most levels but has a single flaw that makes it not work-- Scott and I have to be able to read the books out loud to Delia. Some of those names are beyond what we can easily manage. I suppose I should reread them and evaluate how bad the names are. I remember having trouble with them as a kid. It bothered me that I had no idea how they were supposed to sound.

I'll look into the Allie Finkel series. Delia didn't like Junie B. Jones, but that seems to have been based on her finding the titles of the books repulsive rather than based on her actually looking at the books.

Kat, Incorrigible and The Magic Thief might work for Delia. I've put them on the list.