Tips for choosing age-appropriate books for your child
8-11 Years –Tweens
- Continue to stay in touch with your child’s teacher about his reading ability. When choosing books, read a few pages yourself and also search the cover to find the targeted grade level, reading ability or age.
- At this age your child most likely has some specific interests, help direct him to books that relate to those interests.
- A mixture of fiction, to stimulate imagination, and nonfiction, to answer questions, will give variety.
- Find books by an author or in a series your child likes, once he likes one book he is likely to enjoy others.
- As an alternative to chapter books, encourage him to explore other options, such as comic books, joke books, how-to or activity books, poetry (try Shel Silverstein or Kenn Nesbit), and magazines (try New Moon Girls, Sports Illustrated for Kids, or Ask).
Reading Tip! While a challenge is good, at this age try to focus on building your child’s confidence in her reading ability. To do so, surround him with books that he can read easily and quickly.
- My Season with Penguins: An Antarctic Journal by Sophie Webb
- Brooklyn Bridge by Lynn Curlee
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- Lemonade War Series by Jacqueline Davies
- Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
For more reading lists visit the following websites:
International Reading Association – Choices Reading Lists
http://reading.org/Resources/Booklists.aspx
Reading Rockets – Recommended Books for Kids
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/booksbytheme/
Reading is Fundamental – Books Lists
http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/booklists.htm
Young Adult Library Services Association Book Awards & Book Lists
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook
The National Education Associations – 50 Multicultural Books Every Child Should Read
http://www.nea.org/grants/29510.htm
James Patterson’s Read Kiddo Read
http://www.readkiddoread.com/home
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