Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. Amy's request cont.

And how could I forget Mrs. Piggle Wiggle? Thanks, Malissa, for reminding me of her.

Sorry, Mrs. P.

Answer for Amy's 7 year old

Thanks, Jenny, Sarah, Amy, Denise and Anjanette for your help with suggestions for Amy's daughter.

Here's my two cents, in addition to the great comments that were on the last post.

First of all, I agree with Jenny that every kid is different in terms of what they can handle with content. The best thing is for parents to be very involved in what their children read in terms of subject matter. But kids should read what they like---I took lots of teaching reading classes and the conclusions were all the same: kids learn to read by reading. Kids should read what they like to read, especially at this age. (Amy, I know you agree. I'm preaching to the choir. Just wanted to say I agree with Jenny, that's all.)

You want to catch a 2nd grader and hook him or her onto reading because there really is good stuff coming up: Amy for your daughter, I'd eventually suggest the Shoes books by Stretfield and the All of A Kind Family books and all of FHBurnett and GCLevine and Richard Peck, but she won't be ready for those for a little bit.

I checked out the Katie Kazoo books to see what your daughter's teacher is suggesting. Love Amazon.com where I can look inside the book! I don't have an opinion about KKazoo, but it gave me a gauge as to the level of your daughter's reading. So here's my top five authors/series suggestions:

1. Beverly Cleary. Love this woman for this age group. The Ramona books are great. Start with those, and then see if your daughter would like the rest. I just requested the Ralph books on CD for my boys. Can't wait. Cleary is such a nice, witty grandmotherly type. I bet she makes a mean oatmeal cookie and gives large candy bars to trick-or-treaters. What a sweetie.

With the next three, I don't know the series thoroughly, but well enough that I'd say you should peruse them and see what you think.

2. Box Car Children.

3. ABC Mysteries.

4. Magic Treehouse series.

5. And lastly, I would suggest some good non-fiction. Find a topic she likes, and see what your library has in her grade level.

There are lots of library websites that will suggest books for this grade level, but you can't tell about content. For that, if you get a minute, I'd suggest perusing some home school mom blogs about their curriculum for this age. Find a homeschooler who has values that match ours, and see what she has her kids read. Gotta LOVE homeschooler mom blogs for their resources---and once they find a good thing, they like to share.

Happy reading! If none of this works, message me again and I'll keep looking. This should get you started.