Some Recommended Chapter Books for Boys

As promised, here is a reading list of recommended chapter books geared for the boys! These books will have at least one boy main character so that the readers are not "forced" to read stories with all of these girls characters. The books on this list look are either adventure, humor, ghost story, newer titles and classic titles. Enjoy!

CURRENT TITLES

• Flat Stanley World Wide Adventures series Jeff Brown and Macky Pamintuan
• Boys of Wartime series written by Laurie Calkhoven 
• Al Capone Does My Shirts (and sequel) written by Gennifer Choldenko 
• Artemis Fowl  series written by Eoin Colfer 
• The Underland Chronicles (Gregor the Overlander) series written by Suzanne Collins
• The Dark Is Rising series written by Susan Cooper
• Return to the Library of Doom series written by Michael Dahl and illus. by Bradford Kendall 
• The Tale of Despereaux written by Kate DiCamillo and illus. by Timothy Basil Ering   
• Hank the Cowdog written by John Erickson 
• The Graveyard Book written by Neil Gaiman 
• The Zack Files series written by Dan Greenburg and illus. by Jack E. Davis
• Young Bond series written by Charlie Higson (that is Bond, as in James Bond!)
  
• Alex Rider series written by Anthony Horowitz
  
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid series written and illus. by Jeff Kinney 
• Horrible Harry series written by Suzy Kline and illus. by Amy Wummer
• Alvin Ho series written by Lenore Look and LeUyen Pham
• Children of the Red King series (aka Charlie Bone) written by Jenny Nimmo 
• Percy Jackson and Olympians series written by Rick Riordan 
• Heroes of Olympus series written by Rick Riordan 
• The Kane Chronicles series written by Rick Riordan 
• Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling 
• Holes (and sequel) written by Louis Sachar 
• Calvin Coconut series written by Graham Salisbury and illus. by Jacqueline Rogers
• Guy Reads Library series written by Jon Scieszka and various authors and edited by Jon Scieszka 
• The Time Warp Trio written by Jon Scieszka and illus. by Lane Smith
• Vampirates series written by Justin Somper
• 100 Cupboards trilogy written by N. D. Wilson
• The Thirty-Nine Clues series written by various authors 
• Books by Mike Lupica
• Books by Gary Paulsen 

CLASSIC TITLES

• Peter Pan written by J. M. Barrie 
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle (and sequel) written by Beverly Cleary   
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and sequel) written by Roald Dahl 
• James and the Giant Peach written by Roald Dahl
• Robinson Crusoe written by Daniel Defoe
  
• The Hardy Boys written by Franklin Dixon 
• The Phantom Tollbooth  written by Norton Juster and illus. by Jules Feiffer
• The Jungle Book written by Rudyard Kipling 
• Call of the Wild written by Jack London 
• The Adventures of Tintin graphic novel series written by Herge 
• Treasure Island written by Robert Louis Stevenson 
• Kidnapped written by Robert Louis Stevenson 
• The Hobbit written by J. R. R. Tolkein

Looking for more fun titles? Try exploring the Guy Reads website for suggestions of books just for guys!

What books do you recommend for boy readers? 

Reading Comprehension - The Questions

Parents of young beginning readers ask for ideas about reading comprehension. Generally, once the child is in school their teacher/school has their own method; however, a lot of parents become quite active as well, especially during the summer when their child is out of school. I shared these questions below with a parent earlier today to help her soon-to-be 1st Grader.  

For readers who are in Kindergarten and Beyond, here are some recommended questions to ask:

1. Who was the author and illustrator of the book?
2. Who were the main characters in the story?
3. Who was your favorite character and why?
4. How did the story start?
5. What happened in the middle of the story?
6. What happened at the end of the story?
7. What was the main feeling in the story (e.g. was it happy or sad) and why was this so?
8. Where was the story set?
9. How did the story make you feel and why?
10. Did you learn any new words from this story? If so, what?
11. What does the picture on the cover tell you about the story?
12. Is the story fiction (pretend) or nonfiction (real)?
13. Did you like/not like the story? Why?
14. Did you learn any lessons from the story?
15. What was the story about?

For Toddlers, you can ask beginning concept questions like:

1. Were there food in the story? If so, what type?
2. Were there animals in the story? If so, what type?
3. What colors did you see in the pictures?
4. What shapes did you see in the pictures?

You can ask these questions orally or, for the older readers, you can create a worksheet. Also, in case you are wondering, yes, you may want to be familiar with the book that you are going to ask your child about. 

For those who want some more reading comprehension ideas, check out my post about Reading Comprehension for Homeschoolers, which doesn't have to be just for homeschoolers!

If you would like some information on improving reading comprehension check out the WP-CC's page about R.A.D - Reading Aloud Daily. Reading Aloud has good benefits for comprehension!

Does anyone have other questions or recommendations to you help your reader's comprehension?

Some questions were found via: Planning With Kids 
More Questions can be found at: Wake County Public Libraries' Book Club for Kids General Book Discussion Guide.

Some Recommended Chapter Books for Girls

It's summer and it's time to share new reads with the kids who are off from school. The following list are books that I have recommended to young girl readers who are approximately 3 grade and up (and don't worry, a boy's is coming soon!). We have humor, mysteries, ghost stories, adventures, newer titles and classic titles! Hopefully there is at least one that peaks a reader's interest.

MORE RECENT TITLES

• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle written by Avi
• The Chasing Vermeer trilogy written by Blue Balliet 
• The Penderwicks trilogy written by Jeanne Bridsall
• Shakespeare's Secret written by Elise Broach
• The Sisters Grimm series written by Michael Buckley and illus. by Peter Ferguson
• Molly Moon series written by Georgia Byng
• The Tale of Despereaux written by Kate DiCamillo and illus. by Timothy Basil Ering
• Coraline written by Neal Gaiman
• Running Out of Time written by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The Old Willis Place written by Mary Downing Hahn
• Just Grace series written and illus. by Charise Maricle Harper 
• The Tail of Emily Windsnap written by Liz Kessler
• Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo series written by Nancy Krulik and illus. by John and Wendy 
• Pippi Longstocking written Astrid Lindgren and illus. by Louis S. Glanzman
• Nancy Drew and Clue Crew series written by Carolyn Keene and Macky Pamintuan 
• The Hop written by Sharelle Byars Moranville and illus. by Niki Daly
  
• Amelia's Notebook series written and illus. by Marissa Moss
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians series written by Rick Riordan
• Heroes of Olympus series written by Rick Riordan
• The Kane Chronicles series written by Rick Riordan 
• Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowlings  
• Dork Diaries series written and illus. by Rachel Renee Russell
• The Grimm Legacy written by Polly Shulman 
• The Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy written by Trenton Lee Stewart 
• The Books of Elsewhere series written by Jacqueline West 
• The American Girl series by various authors and illus. by various artists 
• Little House series (related to the original Little House on the Prairie series) written by various authors 
• Dear America series written by various authors

CLASSIC TITLES 

• Little Women written by Louisa May Alcott   
• The Wizard of Oz series written by L. Frank Baum
• A Little Princess written by Francis Hodgson Burnett
• The Secret Garden written by Francis Hodgson Burnett
• Matilda written by Roald Dahl and illus. by Quentin Blake
• Trixie Belden series written by Julie Campbell
• Romona series written by Beverly Clearly 
• Because of Winn-Dixie written by Kate DiCamillo
• Harriet the Spy written by Louise Fitzhugh
• Nancy Drew series written by Carolyn Keene
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler written by E. L. Konigsburg   
• Anne of Green Gables series written by L. M. Montgomery
• The Borrowers series written by Mary Norton 
• The Egypt Game written by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and illus. by Alton Raible
• The Boxcar Children series written by Gertrude Chandler Warner 
• Charlotte's Web written by E. B. White 
• Little House on the Prairie series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder  
• The Dollhouse Murders written by Betty Ren Wright 

It's a Mystery! - A Storytime Outline

This is the first storytime of the summer season! To start it all off I chose the It's a Mystery theme because for the state of Texas' Summer Reading Program theme is "Get a Clue... At the Library". It was a lot of fun to do and the children loved it!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

The Adventure of Max and Pinky: The Mystery written and illus. by Maxwell Eaton III. (T)
The children helped me say what color the barn had been painted.

Whose Nose Is This? written by Peg Hall and Ken Landmark (T)
The toddlers and their older siblings really liked doing this book because they had to guess what animal each nose belonged to. I do which that book showed more of each animal as a whole, be nonetheless it was a lot of fun to hear their guesses!

Louella Mae, She's Run Away! written by Karen Beaumont Alarcon and illus. by Rosanne Litzinger (P) 
The children mostly listened this one, but they did like the surprise ending when we all discover who Louella Mae and why she ran away.

Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? written by Bonnie Lass and Philemon Sturges and illus. by Ashley Wolff (P)
The children loved this book and had a lot of fun responding to each accusation. Some even said that they would want to share the cookies with the ants because ants have germs!

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)
follow actions
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap
Creep them, creep them up to your chin
Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a big clap
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap.

Where is Thumbkin? (T, P)
Where is thumbkin?
Where is thumbkin?
Here I am.
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run and play.
Run and play.
Continue with:
Pointer, Middle Finger, Ring Finger, and Pinky

Whose House Is This? (T)
Does a frog live in a tree?
Does a frog live a nest?
Does a frog live on a lily pad?
Continue with other animals and where they live. 
Source: Storytime Source Page

Whose Shadow Am I? (AKA Shadow Guessing Game) (P)
I'm a shadow.
Look at me!
Do you know
Whose shadow I might be?
Source: Story Time Secrets

Touch Your Nose (T, P)
follow actions

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARD

Whose House is This? (T)
I was inspired by Lisa and her blog post for I Spy Mystery/Guessing Game Storytime on her blog Storytime Source Page. I modified the words to the activity today because of how active the toddlers were. They were itching to go and put the animals on the board. I made two animal per home: whale and start fish for the ocean (my favorite ones!), bird and squirrel for a tree, duck and frog for the pond, and a cow and sheet for the barn. The toddlers had a lot of fun with this.

Whose Shadow Am I? (P)
Katie over at Story Time Secrets posted this shadow guessing game activity. I morphed this to match the Where Do I Live? flannel board by just making black silhouettes of each animal. I placed the shadows on my flannel board and asked the preschool children what each shadow looked like. For the most part they got each one right. They loved it!

ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T)
Everyone loved it, as usual!

CRAFTS

Where Do I Live? activity sheet (T)
To continue our activity of know where things live, the toddlers got to glue and color an activity sheet. I created the page by adding clip art of a house, pond, and a barn. Then created cut outs of a child, duck, and cow. The children had to glue the animals and child next to the place where they live.

Foam Detective Magnifying Glasses (P)
To help the children really get into the pretending to be detectives, we all made pretend magnifying glasses. Using a template I found via Mailbox, I cut out the body out of fun foam. For the "glass" I used leftover laminate (after I had laminated some posters). If you do have laminate, you can use cling film. The children got to glue the laminate circle to the back of magnify glass.

PICTURES

Whose House is This? flannel board, Toddler Storytime
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012

Whose Shadow Am I? flannel board, Preschool Storytime
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Where Do I Live activity page, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Magnifying Glass, Preshool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

MORE BOOKS

Who Uses This? written by Margaret Miller. (T)
Whose Shoes? written by Margaret Miller. (T)
The Missing Chick written and illus. by Valeri Gorbachev (P, SA)
Moose Tracks written by Karma Wilson and Illus. by Jack E. Davis (P, SA)

Sign Language ABC

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Heller, Lora. 2012. Sign Language ABC. Illus. by Eliz Ong/iStockphoto.com NY, NY: Sterling Children's Books. ISBN: 9781402763922.

BOOK REVIEW

Continuing her work in present American Sign Language (beyond her founding of New York Baby Fingers program) Lora Heller has written a new ABC sign language book. Each page presents the traditional alphabet letter then a inset circle illustration of the ASL sign for that letter. The illustrations to relate the letters to an object or thing are sometimes expected (such as B is for Bird and X for Xylophone); however, the rest are refreshing additions to an alphabet (like M is for Mermaid, R is for Robot and Y is for Yo-yo). The illustrations are crisp, simple, and colorful, which is greatly needed when presenting in presenting ABCs.  Hip and mod comes to mind. The book begins with an introduction for the parent to share with a hearing/speaking child who can practice and learn the skill of sign language and can even share with friends to be speak in a fun new way. At the end of the book is a quick guide to all the letter signs. Not only is this book great for an introduction for the hearing/speaking children but also to the children who truly need to learn ASL for communication. A must needed refreshing addition to ASL ABC collections.

EXTENSIONS 

• Have the children practice doing the ASL signs. 
• Have the children come up with other letter representations ( such as E is for egg plant) to add to the collection of examples.
• Have the children start development words by spelling them out. 

New to Chapter Books Reading List

Every child (and their parent) should be super excited when they graduate from Beginning Reader books to the real thing - Chapter Books. However, sometimes it's hard to find stories that will capture the attention and imagination of these young readers. Here are some books that I have recommended to new-to-chapter-books readers:

• Cam Jansen series written by David A. Adler and illus. by Joy Allen
• Ivy and Bean series written Anne Barrows and illus. by Sophie Blackall
• Flat Stanley World Wide Adventures series Jeff Brown and Macky Pamintuan
• The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series written by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thorton Jones and illus. by John Steven Gurney
• Return to the Library of Doom series written by Michael Dahl and illus. by Bradford Kendall 
• Hank the Cowdog series written by John R. Erickson and illus. by Gerald L. Holmes
• (this is, perhaps, one of the harder book series in the this reading list)
• The Zack Files series written by Dan Greenburg and illus. by Jack E. Davis
• My Weird School series written by Dan Gutman and illus. by Jim Paillot
• Arthur series written by Stephen Krensky and illus. by Marc Brown
• Judy Moody Megan series written by Megan McDonald and illus. by Peter H. Reynolds
• Alvin Ho series written by Lenore Look and LeUyen Pham
• Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth written by Jane O'Connor and illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser
• Junie B. Jones series written by Barbara Park and illus. by Denise Brunkus 
• Clementine series written by Sara Pennypacker and illus. by Marla Frazee
• The Magic Tree House series written by Mary Pope Osborne and illus. by Sal Murdocca
• The Jigsaw Jones Mystery series written by James Preller and illus. by John Speirs
• The A to Z Mysteries written by Ron Roy and illus. by John Steven Gurney
• Calvin Coconut series written by Graham Salisbury and illus. by Jacqueline Rogers
• The Time Warp Trio written by Jon Scieszka and illus. by Lane Smith
• Hank Zipzer series written by Henry Wrinkler and Lin Oliver and illus. by Jesse Joshua Watson
• Disney Princess series written by various authors and illus. by various artists
• The American Girls series by various authors and illus. by various artists
• Disney Fairies series written by various authors and illus. by various artists
• The Rainbow Magic series written by by Daisy Meadows (there are 21 different fairy types!) and illus. Georgie Ribber

All these, with the exception of Jane O'Connor's new Nancy book, are book series. Some are books that could be read alone with confident readers while others may require more parent/child reading together time. Either way, if a child loves the first book there are more with the same characters to carry on the new chapter book exploration.