Recommended English Books

[jollyme]

hi TAS,


Do you have any reading recommendations for 4 to 6 year olds. Thanks.

[elkniwt]

The Alternative Story:

Hi elkniwt,


This is the link to provide information on the Night at the Reading Museum book sale event.

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12224

Places for the first slot are very limited. Perhaps you could sign up
for the second slot if you are interested

TAS

Hi TAS,

Thanks. I will send you an email to sign up for the second slot.

Regards.

[The Alternative Story]

jollyme:

hi TAS,


Do you have any reading recommendations for 4 to 6 year olds. Thanks.

Hi jollyme,

Usborne Young Readers is good. They cover a whole range
of genres, from mystery, to fairy tales to classics like The Secret Garden.

The writing is simple but engaging enough for a young child.

I Can Read is another range of books that are good. They
have stories on superheros like Spider Man but told in a simple way.

DK Readers expose children to the non-fiction genre. There
are quite a lot of pictures to describe historic events like Man's first
landing on the Moon. They also have books on dinosaurs and star
wars. They cover a very broad range of topics.

Where to get them: Most bookstores, we have a few books
of the Usborne Young Readers series.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Brenda10:

Hi TAS

Thank you.

No problem

[The Alternative Story]

elkniwt:

Hi TAS,

Thanks. I will send you an email to sign up for the second slot.

Regards.

Sure

TAS

[jollyme]

Thanks TAS for your fast reply.


I’ll drop you a email soon.

[The Alternative Story]

Hi jollyme,


No problem

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Hi parents,


Some parents were asking for 'The Divide' which has
'Think Deeper' worksheets provided and we want to explain more
about these worksheets.

- 'Think Deeper' worksheets has 4 sections:

(a) Who are you really?

- to help children to think deeper about characters in the books and
get 'beneath the skin' of the characters, this helps them in their
inference skills. In this section, there will be comprehension
questions to guide the children's understanding of the characters
and answers are provided.

(b) Alternate Reality

- this section helps the children to think beyond the book, to link
general knowledge to concepts and ideas brought out in the book.
This helps them to think at a more macro-level and it helps to develop
in children, hopefully, a thirst for knowledge- to read beyond a book or
given text in school.

In this section, there will be scenarios provided for the children to
think about certain probable issues that can happen if what happens
in the book becomes a reality for them and there are also links to
websites providing more in-depth knowledge of the issues.

(c) Crack the Code!

- this section helps the children to understand how to find the meaning
of a word they do not know in looking at the root word and also in the
contextual clues given.

There will be a few examples given to children to show them how to do
so.

(d) Magic with Words

- this section helps them to know how to use and apply the creative
writing phrases that are in the book or in the creative writing
phrases that we provide. We show them how techniques like
personification and metaphors are used to liven up with the writing and
also give them scenarios that they can apply those phrases to in their
writing.

A book that has 'Think Deeper' worksheets that we want to recommend:

1) Bang Bang you're dead by Narinder Dhami

In this book, the main character- Mia- thinks that her twin brother
is responsible for causing panic and mayhem in the school,
she thinks he is the gunman who has come to the school.
Later, the reader finds out that there never was a twin brother
causing all the problems. It was Mia who was the one who did
whatever she thought her brother was doing. This happened because
of problems at home that her mother was having.

Issues that are brought up under 'Alternate Reality' are:

1) What if you had a family like Mia's, how would you cope?

Related issues would be mental illnesses and reasons why there is a
stigma attached to mental illnesses in society. Links are also
provided on famous people (Isaac Newton, Abraham Lincoln)
who battled with mental illnesses like depression and Bipolar
Disorder (which are the illnesses that Mia's mother has).
We will also discuss how some of these people through sheer
will and determination managed to accomplish great things
despite their battle with these illnesses.

2) What if you had a twin you never knew about? How do
you think you could be linked?

Mia did have a twin brother but he died when he was young. Related
issues are connections between twins. Links are provided on twin
telepathy and how twins who are separated at birth do very similar
things in life, even marrying very similar people even though they
had never met their twin.

Information on Bang, bang, you're dead can be found in this link:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7586&start=20

TAS

[Brenda10]

Hi TAS


How do you assess this book "The Door in the Hedge" written by Robin McKinley?

Thank you

[The Alternative Story]

Brenda10:

Hi TAS


How do you assess this book \"The Door in the Hedge\" written by Robin McKinley?

Thank you

Hi Brenda,

This is a very interesting book. It is a collection of 4 stories. 2 of them
are retellings of fairy tales - 'The Princess and the Frog' and
'The Twelve Dancing Princesses' and two of them are original stories.

The stories all have a fairy tale kind of setting. It is somewhat like a
grown up version of fairy tales. The Twelve Dancing Princesses tells
the story from the soldier's perspective and not the Princesses.
The Princess and the Frog is about how the younger brother of the
Prince caused him to become a frog. The Princess in the end is
the one who has to battle the younger prince to help save the
frog prince.

The other 2 stories - The Stolen Princess and The Hunting of the Hind- are
also interesting. However, the way Robin Mckinley writes is somewhat
lyrical and while it is a beautiful way of writing, it may confuse some
readers in the sense that you can drawn into all her descriptions of the
places the characters are in that sometimes you lose sight of the
plot. However, there are others who like this type of writing and get
drawn into the story immediately. It would be good to let your
daughter read a few pages of the book first to see if she likes it before
getting it. :lol:

TAS