Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

Our family does a lot of reading together, at bedtime and on car trips. If you often read out loud you'll know that not all books are equal. Some books have such wonderful language they beg to be heard.

Scott, one of our newest members, asked for a discussion on books that he can read to his daughters. So here it is! What are your favorites?

So I'll start the thread by recommending some of my very favorite read alouds.

ANYTHING by Kate DiCamillo -- The Tale of Despereaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn-Dixie

The Little House Collection, by Laura Ingalls Wilder


Becoming Naomi León, by Pamela Ryan Munoz.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

What are your favorites?

I thought Horton Halfpot was a fun read-aloud because of the silly chapter endings. The title is much longer than just the HH, but if you type that in, it should pop up.

I loved Just a Dog - but it has a heavy ending.

For a longer read, we liked Splendors and Glooms.

We had fun reading the Hank the Cowdog books by John R. Erickson. Likewise the Redwall books (Brian Jacques

My 10 year old son and my class enjoyed Wonder. We have a long commute so listen to a lot of audiobooks - the narrator makes such a difference! I think that is one reason we both enjoyed the whole 39 Clues series. Bridge to Terabithia, The False Prince, all the boy and dog stories, and want to read The Water Castle with him...so many good books!

With his dad, they read a lot of fighter pilot biographies -- and he enjoys those as well! I think it is important that the adult is interested in the book as well as the child -- if it is a chore for either one, it just isn't the rich experience that it should be!

Mrs. H-T wrote: "My 10 year old son and my class enjoyed Wonder. We have a long commute so listen to a lot of audiobooks - the narrator makes such a difference! I think that is one reason we both enjoyed the whole..."

Would you believe that we have a shelf of fighter pilot biographies in my home, too? We definitely have some military history buffs in our family (although admittedly I'm not one of them . . .). What grade do you teach, Mrs. H-T?

My daughter and I read the Fablehaven: The Complete Series Boxed Settogether. The Sisters Grimm series might be a good one as well. If she likes this type of book.

My son and I read the Ramona Quimby books when he was about 8, and Narnia right after that. Both v. successful.

I just read in another group that a mom & daughter (age 8, I think) are reading The Phantom Tollbooth. The only difficulty there is that the reader *must* pronounce the words as the author intended, for the wordplay to work. For example The Terrible Dynne is 'din' not 'dine.'

Rules (Cynthia Lord) if they like realistic.
Fantasy is a little harder. I'd say The Accidental Hero. I didn't read it all, but what I did was neat.

Raevyn - my grandson, who at the time was in the 5th grade, and my go-to person to read my stories before sending them off, gave me The Accidental Hero. It was one of his favorites! I got to say, I also thought it was pretty darn good!

Actually, my copy is called Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation. Which should I call it? :)

The one I read was The accidental Hero

Well, then I'll call it that on-site, too!

Any Margaret Peterson Haddix books & The Great Gilly Hopkins.