Recommended English Books

[The Alternative Story]

purple05:

Hi TAS,


any books to intro for P2 kids? probably those books which we could get at the libraries...

Hi purple05,

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

[The Alternative Story]

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.

Hi pokemon,

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

[Brenda10]

Hi TAS


Would you recommend “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket for upper primary child?

Thanks and have a nice day.

[purple05]

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?

[The Alternative Story]

Brenda10:

Hi TAS


Would you recommend “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket for upper primary child?

Thanks and have a nice day.

Hi Brenda10,

If the child likes it, it is fine especially if he is a reluctant reader. If we try to force him or her to read more difficult books, he might stop reading altogether. However, if your child is a reader, then I would encourage you to expose him to other books as well. This series 'A series of Unfortunate Events' is a little simple in terms of the words used and the sentence structure. Has he tried books by Anthony Horowitz yet?

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

purple05:

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?

Hi purple05,

The Usbourne Young Reading series is for girls as well. They have books like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that we have in stock as well.

Their range is very wide, you can find anything for both boys and girls

Another good book that is related to fairy tales that is good is:

'The True Story of the Three Little Pigs' by Jon Scieszka

- It is a very interesting story of the 3 little pigs, except this time,
it is told from the perspective of the big bad wolf. In his version,
all he was trying to do was to borrow some sugar and he had a
cold so he sneezed, and the whole house came crashing down
on the pig and since the pig was dead, he ate the pig up. He did
not want the food to go to waste.

The story can also be used to teach your child about relative truths
and to teach him or her how things seem different when we hear
different sides of the story and how we should always hear everyone
out till we decide who is really right and who is wrong.


How to make reading interesting:

1) Do activities related to the book:

a) If the story is about a fairy, perhaps you can do some
research and find out about fairies and tell her about the
tooth fairy and get her excited about fairies and then get her
to read the book.

2) If the story is about a castle and there is a moat,
you can show her pictures of the moat on the internet and
even help her to build a moat using her pillows and bolster.
And later, tell her that you read a very interesting story of how
the moat was used to save the princess and tell her if she wants
to find out more, she can read the book.

3) You could also read the book to her and leave it off at
the most exciting moment and tell her to read on if she wants
to know more.

4) You can do a storybook challenge with her.
Tell her if she can finish 2 books in 4 days and tell you the story,
she will get a certain treat (like extra tv time or an ice-cream etc).
In this way, you start off by making books like a challenge and
hopefully, she will get so hooked on the story that after a while,
she does not need the 'carrot' to read.

- The bookfair will be held at the Singapore Expo.

TAS

[sleepy]

Hi TAS


I bought books by award winning authors. Would such a book collection be useful for creative writing?

[Brenda10]

The Alternative Story:

Hi Brenda10,


If the child likes it, it is fine especially if he is a reluctant reader. If we try to force him or her to read more difficult books, he might stop reading altogether. However, if your child is a reader, then I would encourage you to expose him to other books as well. This series 'A series of Unfortunate Events' is a little simple in terms of the words used and the sentence structure. Has he tried books by Anthony Horowitz yet?

TAS

Hi TAS

Thank you for the advice and wonderful recommendation.

My dd has also read others story books written by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the lighting thief etc), Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book, Cynthia Kadohata - Kira Kira, Robert C.O.Brien – The Silver Crown etc.

However, her most favourable books till today still are “Geronimo Stilton”.
:oops:

[The Alternative Story]

sleepy:

Hi TAS


I bought books by award winning authors. Would such a book collection be useful for creative writing?

Hi sleepy,

Award-winning books are chosen for different reasons.
Some are chosen based on educational value, some on
literary merit. If you want the books to be used to help in
creative writing, then it is best to look through the book first.
Some award-winning books may not be very descriptive but the
book could be chosen for the award because it helps
shed light on a certain subject matter.

For example, the book 'A single shard' by Linda Sue Park is
the winner of the 2002 Newberry medal.

In this book, it charts the journey of 2 characters in the mid
to late 12 century Korea. It is a story about peserverance.

The learning point is a good one but the writing can seem a
little hard to digest for most Singaporean kids.

Extract:

\"Eh, Tree-ear, have you hungered well today? Crane man
called out as Tree-ear drew near the bridge. The well-fed of
the village greeted each other politely by saying, 'Have you
eaten well today'

While children who read the book will gain a lot from a
historical point of view in understanding how life was in
12th century Korea, this book may not help kids to pick out
creative writing techniques.

Hence, award-winning books must be read through to see
if they have the writing 'ingredients' to help a child write well.
These ingredients are namely:

1) Varied Sentence Structure

2) Good vocabulary (personification, similes, metaphors, phrases that SHOW the scene rather than just TELL it)

3) Good build-up of tension

We will follow up on this by showing you extracts of some storybooks
that we feel can help in creative writing.

TAS

[jesschan]

Hi TAS


My boy is in P1 and he reads the Magic Treehouse series as well as Zac Power series. What other series would you recommend?

BTW, what do you think the Tin Tin comic series?