Any teachers with suggestions for advanced reading 2nd grader?

[FiveOhNine]

Hi All - I'm hoping this is in the right place, so here goes:

My eldest daughter is currently in 2nd grade but reads well above her level which is causing us some difficulty finding challenging but age appropriate material for her. I would love some suggestions for good material that will stretch her without getting too dark or inappropriate.

She loves all kinds of books, but seems to especially love fantasy ala Harry Potter. In fact, this series is the problem, at the moment. I gave her the first book a month ago thinking she would like it, then maybe move on to something else….maybe start book two a few months later. Well….she just started book 5, and anyone familiar with the series knows they get pretty dark from here on out, so I would like to 'distract' her with something else for the time being.

We also got her the first few books of How to train your Dragon, but she doesn't seem particularly interested or challenged by these. Anyway, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions for 6th, 7th, 8th grade reading that wouldn't be wildly inappropriate for a 2nd grader.

Cheers!

 

[whiteweed]

My wife and I was in those shoes several years ago with our son. It seems that my wife and i think it may have been easier with the boy. He was a a cub scout and a beginning gamer, the easy stuff. The gaming led to or built his love of history. He studied every place, war, gun, greek god and on and on that was a part of the games or movie he watched. I just wonder if there is some famous women in history she would be interested in. I credit his reading to his success in school. He was very connected to his teachers and they to him. I wonder how the Little House on the Prairie Series would work? i would bet that would be a good one.

 

[imatabor]

Our daughter was reading Ann of green gables, little house on the prairie and CS Lewis Narnia series. We homeschool and our kids are huge readers. We avoided all the dark and romance themed books.

 

[Mike H]

Nancy Drew series, or the Narnia series.

 

[August West]

Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter, the wife says from the peanut gallery.

 

[Edcculus]

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. Really fun series incorporating a bit of the Arthurian legend.

The Narnia series.

All of the books in the Redwall family of books by Brian Jaques. These were some of my favorite books through elementary/middle school. Its a world of animals, mostly mice, otters, badgers, moles, voles who live in an Abbey called Redwall. The bad guys are foxes, rats, stoats, etc. They are all really fun reads. There have got to be at least 20 of these books out by now. I think he is still publishing them.

 

[ouch]

When she was in second grade, my daughter's favorite book was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

 

[jansob]

Borribles, Narnia, Lemony Snicket.

 

[Edcculus]

When she was in second grade, my daughter's favorite book was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Now THATS good taste!

I also don't think Neil Gaiman's children's books (although slightly darker as is Gaiman's nature) would be inappropriate. The Graveyard Book and Coraline. The Graveyard Book is probably one of my all time favorite books.

 

[imatabor]

Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
Terry Brooks Elf stone, Elf sword series


Ouch, you got a special girl there!

 

[whiteweed]

Mary Pope Osborne books and Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking seris

 

[Edcculus]

Another fun series I read about a year ago is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Classified as "young adult". Part Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys mystery with a touch of fantasy/science fiction thrown in. Its a pretty easy read, with no violence or dark themes to speak of.

Also, the Guardians of Ga'hoole series might be of interest to her. They are VERY short reads. Its a series about owls. All of the books are nice little diversions. If she blew through Harry Potter that fast, you might want to check out more than one of these from the library at the same time though. They made a movie that centered on the first book a few years ago called The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.

Also, consider letting her read The Hobbit. While The Lord of the Rings trilogy may be slightly out of her reading level, The Hobbit will be much easier to read. I think we read it in 7th grade English.

Finally, another Gaiman book came to mind. Stardust. While not specifically a "young adult" or "children's" book, there are no gruesome or explicit scenes. Its a fun story written in the Pre-Tolkien fantasy style.

If you can't tell, Childrens fantasy is one of my favorite genres

 

[canadiandude]

I'll recommend the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull, the Artemus Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy, Gina Damico's CROAK trilogy or the Goblin Series by Jim C. Hines.

 

[jrp316]

If she'd like somewhat complex scifi, Dune is pretty good.

 

[J. Roger]

National Geographic used to have a youth oriented magazine called World which was quite good.



They still seem to have something similar called KIDS. For 6-12 year-olds, 10 issues a year for $15.

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/...tional-geographic-kids-magazine-u.s.-delivery

 

[AvariCe]

I second the Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy. Or the discworld books. Both are funny, fantasy and very good reads.
You could also get her a kid's encyclopaedia.

 

[beginish]

The first pass through Harry Potter isn't so dark. They pick it up a bit more the second and third readings. You will find it much harder when she gets to 10-11 and the difficulty is met by stuff like the Hunger Games and Divergent. Harry Potter is like skipping through fields of wildflowers in comparison.

My older daughter was about the same level, and in addition to a lot of the books already mentioned, she really liked the Famous Five series from England, The Penderwicks series, The Westing Game and some of the classic adventure novels like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I tried without luck to get her to try one of my favorites, The 21 Balloons, but no go. I hope my younger one tries it.

 

[FiveOhNine]

Thanks everyone, fantastic suggestions!

 

[Mad Hatter]

Heinlein's kids books, Asimov, Brothers Grimm, The inheritance Triligy, The Ender Series, The man in the iron mask, The Three Musketters, The Boxcar children. Those are the ones I grew up on.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

When she was in second grade, my daughter's favorite book was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I came here expecting a post like this, and you did not disappoint.