Thursday, July 28, 2011

Nose in a book

Cady Gray is a reader -- and proud of it.  All we have to do is stock her shelves with anything we think she might like, and within a day or two she has found whatever's new, pulled it down, and started in.  She spends time every day walking around with a book in front of her face, lying on her beanbag chair or stretched out on the floor with an open book in front of her, or (my personal favorite position) curled up on the bed reading.

She comments whenever I find her like this that she is losing herself in a book, or that you can always find her with her nose stuck in a book.  Clearly she has embraced her bookworm identity.

At age 6, she is reading books that Archer's teachers are recommending for his level -- Harry Potter, Pseudonymous Bosch, and all the Roald Dahl she can get her hands on.  I'm ready to introduce her to Narnia and maybe even Bilbo Baggins.

The problem with your kid reading above her age level is that it's hard to gauge appropriateness both in terms of language sophistication and content.  I'm not too worried about content because she's a thoughtful and mature little girl, but obviously there are plenty of topics and tones that ought to wait.  She's starting the Harry Potter books at just the right time; if we can keep her from tearing through them all at once, she'll grow up with them and be ready for some of the darker stuff when she gets to it in later books.

I'd love to get your suggestions for books and authors the precocious readers in your family enjoy!

4 comments:

bethany said...

I didn't get to Anne of Green Gables until I was older than 6, but that might be good for her.

donnadb said...

That is a great suggestion, Bethany -- thanks!

Doc Thelma said...

My kids both loved Percy Jackson and the Lemony Snicknet series. And A Wrinkle in Time. The Gregor the Overlander series (by Suzanne Collins of Hunger Games fame) is also good... Noah and I recently read that, though it also gets darker in the later volumes.

donnadb said...

I bet she'd love Lemony Snicket, actually. She's got the first Percy Jackson book now. Wrinkle in Time is a great suggestion. I hadn't heard of Gregor, so thanks for the idea!