3rd grade advanced reader book recommendations with no boy/girl/violent stuff?
Hi, My daughter is in 3rd grade, reading many grades above her level. She reads books at her level and beyond, but are having a hard time finding good books for her to read that engage her with the plot and writing. She really likes the genre of realistic fiction - think Wonder. The main problem is that many of the books she reads have kissing and girl boy stuff in it which makes her uncomfortable right now and she doesn't like that. I am looking for recommendations of books that are realistic like fiction (every day situations) that don't have so much of that in it. This is by HER request. We are not looking for mystery, fantasy, or sci fi, horror, violent, or high intensity emotional drama (per her request again). If you have books to recommend please email me. I usually then check them out of the library or show her online to see if she is interested. So much good stuff out there, it's just hard to find! Thanks in advance for recommending a book.
Parent Replies
You might check out the books by Jacqueline Wilson. She’s British but there are certainly some available here and tthey tend to be set in “realistic” situations. My daughter read those over and over again when she was younger.
I hope this isn’t taken the wrong way and it’s not coming from an experience parent, my oldest is only a toddler. But when I was young and reading Around a 5th grade level I actually really enjoyed reading the encyclopedia. I learned so much about so many different things and it was useful to use for research thru middle school. I know it’s not something we think about these days with the internet at our fingertips. But my parents invested in an encyclopedia for me and I loved it! And even though it’s probably hard to find a “current” encyclopedia in physical form, for that age range you could easily get away with a Ten year old or older encyclopedia and it can still be pertinent. I realize this isn’t realistic fiction but I completely understand that even the non-violent, non-romantic, not-too-dramatic fiction books for that reading level are hard to come by.
Happy Reading!
If historical fiction is something she is ok with try the Calpurnia Tate books by Jaqueline Kelly. (I am more into fantastic fiction, so most of the YA stuff I like are out per your daughter's requirements! I'd have more recommendations though if a little bit of mystery / fantasy is ok ....)
My favorite book in the third grade was "From the Mixed up Files of Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler." Maybe "To Kill a Mockingbird" but she might be too young for that. Perhaps also look at books by Robert Louis Stevenson, I'm pretty sure I read Treasure Island around that age. I never liked fantasy either, and read a lot of biographies, she might like biographies too.
I was an avid reader as a child and some books that I really enjoyed were All of a Kind Family and The Great Brain series. From what I remember, neither of them have any emotional drama - more about everyday life in a family and for the first, living with a lot of siblings in a Jewish household. The second is about 3 brothers growing up in Utah at the end of the 19th century - the middle brother was very smart and used his brain to help others and come up with some ways to swindle his friends.
Mixed up files of Mrs basil e frankweiler?
Swallows and Amazons
The penderwicks?
The hundred dresses
The secret school
Are all things my son liked around then.
How about Lizard Music, by Daniel Pinkwater?
You could have been describing my daughter, many years ago. She is now a sophomore in high school.
Your's is a good problem to have! And it is a problem. My daughter's 3rd grade teacher gave her the original Winnie-the-Pooh books. They are not at all childish. My daughter loved them, and they got her hooked on classic literature. This opened a whole new world of books for my daughter that challenged her vocabulary and reading comprehension, yet were emotionally and socially developmentally appropriate. Non-fiction and poetry are also good genre's to try. For poetry perhaps start with "Brown Girl Dreaming", which is very accessible poetry that tells an auto-biographical story.
Whatever she lands on, I encourage you to read the same books and discuss them with her, so she has someone with whom to discuss and share her love of reading.
Ask the children's librarian - this is the kind of question they love...look at biography of eg sports figures, history written for kids. Let your daughter go to library shelves herself - she will wander through and find what suits her without your pre-judging the books. Your restrictions send her back to old school books but I recommendn Katerina by Kathryn Winter - autobiographical fiction of young girl in WWII holocaust available at Alameda County Library, Half Magic by Edgar Eager, Noel Streatfeild The Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes, etc., The Boxcar Children, The Railway Children, Johnny Tremain, The Black Stallion series Walter Farley, The Five Children and It by E E Nesbit (first of trilogy), RikiTiki Tavi, The Book Thief
Same situation. Mine won't even try old fashioned books like Betsy Tacy or Anne of Green Gables. My third grade girl's favorite book in the last few months was Front Desk by Kelly Yang. She also enjoyed the Grace Lim novels set in China. (Although not contemporary or super realistic, somehow they resonated.) You could also check out Ungifted and Supergifted byGordon Korman, and the Wonderland Motel books by Chris Grabenstein. I get children,s book newsletters from Brightly/Penguin publishers as well as BPL for ideas. Looking forward to others ' recommendations!
Try the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace!
I second the recommendation to ask a children's librarian - they really do enjoy making recommendations. When I was an advanced reader myself at that age (many moons ago!), I enjoyed all the "old" kid books - they seemed more challenging than what was being written for modern kids, and definitely don't get too deep on relationships. Think "Little Women," "Tom Sawyer," "Heidi," "The Secret Garden," "The Door in the Wall," things from 1850s-1950s or so. I don't know if those meet your requirement for realistic fiction, but just a thought. Has she read "Harriet the Spy"? And I agree with everyone who recommended "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" if you haven't tried that yet.
Based on my own reading in childhood, I'd recommend The Phantom Tollbooth, Heidi (the original classic), and the Little House on the Prairie series. Such a great age to read such great books!