Books for your grandchildren

The Lion The With and the Wardrobe - C S Lewis. I feel that this is such a great book the whole series is so interesting and takes you to another world through the Wardrobe. The Land of Narnia. I read it years ago and passed on to my children and grandchildren.

Each, peach, pear, plum.
I spy Tom Thumb.
I loved that book when my girl was little.

MOnica reading is in our family DNA too. My mother took us to the library from a very young age, and I did the same with my DDs and DGDs. I just bought yet another copy of "Each peach pear plum" for my 4month old GD, although her mother knows it off by heart! My 12 year old GD is into Manga at the moment.

Our children and grandson loved The Gruffalo books, and GS absolutely loves I Need A New Bum!
But I agree with those who say it's important just to have books around. I was an avid reader as a child, and would even work my way through our encyclopedia set if I couldn't find anything else.

We do visit the local library, there are loads of interesting looking picture books but it's much more difficult to decide between those with no illustrations. Our local librarians have, sadly, not proved to be very helpful.
I've found that one way to find something suitable is to sort out one book that you know they've enjoyed and look it up on Amazon. That way you can see other books written by the same author, and suitable books by other authors will be suggested.
f you go the the start page for books on Amazon you can also use the menu down the left-hand side of the page to choose an age, and various subjects (mysteries, humour, fairy stories etc) are offered.
My nine year old granddaughter enjoys non-fiction much more than fiction at the moment and her current favourite book is the Guiness Book of Records! Generally I feel that if anything gets them reading it is a good thing, whatever it is.

My GS (7) is currently really enjoying the Andy Shepherd series that starts with The Boy Who Grew Dragons.
GD (11) is loving the Lottie Brooks series by Katie Kirby.

My grandson is the same.
He really was an excellent reader, and interested in lots of things as a result, but now he can't stand reading.

Its so disappointing.

My 10 yr old GS is obsessed with playing football and we simply cannot get him interested in reading a book. Despite this he is a good reader and his English standard is high but we would all like to see him sit down quietly and read a good story. He is missing so much.

I used to take DD to the local charity shop,we bought some books and when she was finished with them we took them.back as a donation and boughr some more, she loved looking through tbe book shelves

Mine are loving Enid Blyton. None of the woke nonsense and proper stories and characters doing exciting things.The 7 year old is reading it on his own.

Excuse typos,I was worried about losing the post and should have checked it first.

Romola

What would you recommend for a clever South Asian girl of 11 who has been in this country for just a year? Her spoken English is fairly good but reading level is, I would estimate roughly, year 8. She would love to read Harry Potter but it's a bit much for her.

I wrote out a list but lost the post (again).

Year 8 is age 12-13 so is the girl's reading age above her chronological age of does she have a reading age of 8?

I was going going to suggest
The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White & Garth Williams
The 13 Storey Tree House Series by Andy Griffiths

But, if her reading age is above her chronological age, they might be a bit to easy for her.

Romola
Have a look in your local library and ask also teachers for recommendations. Jacqueline Wilson is an outstanding children’s author, she writes for several age ranges from about 7 to teenage. My granddaughters especially enjoyed the Hetty Feather series.

Romola why not take her to the library and try and get an idea of what might hold her interest and find out what her level might be? The librarians would probably help. The only other thing would be to ask her school for recommendations. They’ll know where she is on their reading scheme and you can go from there.

Maggie do keep trying

Julia Donaldson books are wonderful for youngsters. Mine loved the Dick King Smith books too and then they just chose their own.

Mine used take the same picture books out of those boxes in the library time after time. They're lovely years aren't they? A particular home favourite at 3-4 was The Giant Jam Sandwich (Thump it, bump it, bang it about). We got through three copies and they all bought it again for the grandchildren. Hairy McClary too for the grandchildren.
I only have daughters and they all started Enid Blyton with the Faraway Tree and then the Famous Five.

Oh, and Agatha Christie.

Romola Dare I say it, 'Enid Blyton'? The Famous Five and Secret Seven books.
Jacqueline Wilson might at the right level to hold her interest and also be at her reading level

🤞🏻🤞🏻

You’ve just prompted me to try school number 4, Greyduster. Fingers crossed.

That’s disappointing, Maggie. At least you tried. The school’s loss.

What would you recommend for a clever South Asian girl of 11 who has been in this country for just a year? Her spoken English is fairly good but reading level is, I would estimate roughly, year 8. She would love to read Harry Potter but it's a bit much for her.

Hmm, they’re not biting mine off, Greyduster. I trained for the Coram Beanstalk scheme over a year ago. I was very impressed with the training and raring to go. Unfortunately they haven’t been able to find me a local placement and when they agreed that I could contact schools directly the three I emailed haven’t even replied.

I used to work in a school office and we’d always have managed a quick reply.

My grandson loved the Dog Man books by Dav Pilkey. There are quite a few others in this style. He liked them from just before 7yrs.

A staggering number of children do not meet the required standard in reading. There is no longer a culture of reading at home, and as has been said, too any homes where there are and never have been any books. Schools are under tremendous teaching pressures and can’t give pupils who are lagging behind the one to one reading practice they need. I became a reading volunteer last year and would encourage anyone who has time to spare to do the same. It’s incredibly rewarding and schools will bite your hand off.