Recommended English Books
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TAS,
since you have recommended some story books on history, do u know if 'the diary of anne frank ’ is available in singapore? My ds read biography of anne frank and was asking to read her diary. tks! -
Hi, TAS
:thankyou: for your recommendation. Really appreciate it
-
Hi TAS,
any books to intro for P2 kids? probably those books which we could get at the libraries… -
pokemon:
Hi pokemon,TAS,
since you have recommended some story books on history, do u know if 'the diary of anne frank ' is available in singapore? My ds read biography of anne frank and was asking to read her diary. tks!
Yes it is, you can find it at the libraries and most bookstores.
Borders should have them, they have a biography section
at their kid's corner.
If your ds likes to read about history, namely about the Holocaust, there are 2 other books that are very good:
1) Number the stars by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is an award-winning author. In this story,
a Danish family decide to help their Jewish neighbour
by taking in their daughter, Annemarie Johansen. They
pretend she is part of the family but later have to explain
why she is not blond like the rest of their daughters to the
German soldiers who raid their apartment one night.
It traces the true story of how the Danish Resistance
manage to smuggle out almost the entire Jewish population
of 7000 in their country to safety. Even in the time of terror
and war, the Danish held on to their human decency and
triumphed over the war atrocities in the end. Powerful story!
2) The Boy with the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
This story is written from the point of Bruno, a 8 year old boy
whose father is a high-ranking German official.
They live in a huge house in Berlin. However later
the whole family moves away to a place called Out-With
(which turns out to be Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz).
His father is one of the main officers running the camp.
Bruno does not know this. He has no friends his age to play with
and is always bored at his new home. He sees the concentration
camp from afar and sees people in 'pajamas'(striped uniforms
that the Jews wore in the concentration camps) inside the
enclosed area and thinks that he can find friends there.
Later on, he explores the woods and comes upon the fence
enclosing the concentration camp and he meets a Jewish boy
his age (Shmuel) on the other side of the fence. They become
friends and later on Bruno helps Shmuel to try to find his father.
(His father had been gassed to death). He puts on a
pair of striped pajamas that Shmuel lends him,
digs a hole under the fence and
goes over to the concentration camp.
Find out what happens to him
in the end in the book.
The story is a gripping and haunting one.
The book has also been made into a movie (title is the
same as the book title)
TAS -
sakura_2009:
Hi sakura_2009,
Hi, TAS
:thankyou: for your recommendation. Really appreciate it
No problem! Glad to be of help
TAS -
TAS,
Tks, from the library i did find something on anne frank’s diary, with illustration on the secret annexe. My son was glued on it. Infact there are a few authors penning it.
In the midst of looking for the above book, i came across a non-fiction book on holocaust with sm photos. My son like it and has been asking for biography on adolf hitler. The books that you have recommended esp the boy with striped pyjamas seems interesting, but is it suitable for my ds, 7yo boy? To me, it seems more suitable for upper pri. -
purple05:
Hi purple05,Hi TAS,
any books to intro for P2 kids? probably those books which we could get at the libraries...
Some primary 2 kids can read books meant for primary 3 kids so
firstly we need to know his reading standard
If his reading standard is not of the primary 3 level, then we find that
the Usbourne Young Reading series is good.
In this series, they have stories of Dinosaurs, Roborts etc that will
captivate the children. The story plots are not that simple as well
so the children will not be too bored with the books.
The Usbourne Puzzle series is also good. In that series, the
children will have a short reading passage with a picture on one page
and the children must solve a puzzle related to the picture.
If your child's reading ability is close to a primary 3 level, then
these are some of the books he/she might like:
1) Crime Files series
An example of a book in the series: Abducted by Roy Apps
In this story, an armed gang bursts into a school and the children and teacher must find a way out of their captivity. The words are
relatively simple but the sentence structure is varied and good.
Extract from the book:
- Bang! The classroom door crashed open behind us. Everyone jumped and looked around.
- Darkness fell and everything was quiet, except for Miss Gibbs who was humming a lullaby to the kids in her arms.
2) Aussie Chomps series (a bit more difficult
than Crime Files, more for higher ability Primary 2s
and Primary 3s)
An example of a book in the series: Blind Trek by Jim Kennedy
2 boys who are enemies have had their bikes crash in
the middle of the desert and must now work together to
get home.
Extract from book:
- Tim's arm hurt like crazy, and suddenly blackness threatened
to sweep over his mind. But he stayed on his feet.
The blackness passed.
Where to get them: You can get the Usbourne series
from most bookstores and you can get them quite cheaply at MPH bookfairs. There is a bookfair coming up on 25 June.
You can get the Aussie Champ series from Borders and
we do carry a few of the Aussie Champ books and Crime file
books as well.
Most of these books especially the usbourne series should be available
in the libraries.
TAS -
pokemon:
Hi pokemon,TAS,
Tks, from the library i did find something on anne frank's diary, with illustration on the secret annexe. My son was glued on it. Infact there are a few authors penning it.
In the midst of looking for the above book, i came across a non-fiction book on holocaust with sm photos. My son like it and has been asking for biography on adolf hitler. The books that you have recommended esp the boy with striped pyjamas seems interesting, but is it suitable for my ds, 7yo boy? To me, it seems more suitable for upper pri.
If your son can read the diary of Anne Frank, then his reading ability
is rather high. If this is so, he should be able to read 'Number the Stars',
another book on the Holocaust.
The boy with the striped pajamas is more suitable for primary 4 and above.
TAS -
Hi TAS
Would you recommend “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket for upper primary child?
Thanks and have a nice day. -
Hi TAS,
thanks for the reccomendations, the Young Reading series seems more for boys, dun think my daughter is interested in robots, dinos… the Puzzle series sound interesting. Will look out for Usbourne books in the bookshops.
My gal doesnt seem to like reading stories, she like to flip the pages & look at the pics… of those info books. How to let her pick up the reading habit? Is it necessary for parents to read together with the kid?
Where will the bookfair be held?
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