Recommended English Books
-
Hi there, do you all have any recommendations on books suitable for teenagers? I am looking for books which can help one improve their command of the English language. Thanks a lot and your input will be greatly appreciated!
-
Hey there joelstar
This really differs from child to child... Fiction? Non-fiction? Historical or futuristic? Graphic novels or the classics? Oh, we're spoilt for choice in the book department! One of my teens loves war novels, for example... He was introduced to this genre by his tutor. It really jolted his imagination once he was exposed to the right stuff! You gotta let them run free and pick for themselves! And not all graphic novels are bad either - my boy is a great fan of tin tin! -
Hi TAS,
My daughter (K2 this year) has read all the Rainbow Magic fairy books by Daisy Meadows in the library. There must be about 100 books in that series. However, she is so enamoured with the fairies, she's reluctant to read other series, and only prefer to re-read the whole Rainbow Magic books again.. :faint: Recently asked her to read Daisy Dawson, but only read a few books then go back to the same old fairies again.
What other books suitable for her? She’s into fairies and magic, and scared of story that has ghost/wild animals (so timid.. sigh..). I tried Roald Dahl The Enormous Crocodile book, but she is scared of the crocodile.. :faint:
Please help to recommend, hopefully something that the library has.
Many thanks! -
Hi mum2b,
Have you tried Homecoming by Michael Morpurgo? He wrote the book ‘Warhorse’ which has been made into a movie. He writes very beautiful and heartfelt stories
on animals and war. But he also has a range of books for younger kids like Homecoming.
You can also try Shel Silverstein books, he has a lot of compilations on poems that
are interesting and humorous.
TAS -
Hi TAS,
I need your help, personally I am not a book lover, hence unable to intro good books to my P3 gal. She likes the Pellinor series (The gift, the singing etc) by Alison Groggon. Is this series good? she picked it out from her cousin's \"library\".
She has read most of the thriller books reco by you for all levels, I am running out of titles for her.
i find that she does not like books like oliver twist, great expectations, little women, kind of books...any cause for concern? I thought such books will give her more depth ... or are these books boring? she loves all books by cynthia kadohata, I like them too (unlike thrillers), they are \"light\" yet meaningful? what do you think of her books? any reco for such genre books (sorry how do you categorise them?), i hope my gal will read a wide genre of books and not just go for thriller.Thank you!
Btw i have a P1 who is not as avid reader as her sister, for now she reads enid blyton, mr gum, mr majeika, kate dicamillo (the kiddy ones), R Dahl, judy blume and other funny/ animals stories and she likes non-fiction too. She refuses to read anything fairies (like rainbow magic) or girlish. she has a bad habit of starting 2 books concurrently! what are some of the titles i shld intro to her base on her interest? She is kind of childish but \"reads well\". I hope she can read as much as her sister :).
I have a K1 too :p, what are the books suitable for him? He has read many Dr seuss, Ursbone readers and other single titles. is it too early to intro R Dahl? thank you so much! -
Hi TAS
Any recommendation for P5 gal and p1 boy both love reading
Thanks in advance -
porcupine12trade:
Hi porcupine12trade,Hi TAS,
I need your help, personally I am not a book lover, hence unable to intro good books to my P3 gal. She likes the Pellinor series (The gift, the singing etc) by Alison Groggon. Is this series good? she picked it out from her cousin's \"library\".
She has read most of the thriller books reco by you for all levels, I am running out of titles for her.
i find that she does not like books like oliver twist, great expectations, little women, kind of books...any cause for concern? I thought such books will give her more depth ... or are these books boring? she loves all books by cynthia kadohata, I like them too (unlike thrillers), they are \"light\" yet meaningful? what do you think of her books? any reco for such genre books (sorry how do you categorise them?), i hope my gal will read a wide genre of books and not just go for thriller.Thank you!
Btw i have a P1 who is not as avid reader as her sister, for now she reads enid blyton, mr gum, mr majeika, kate dicamillo (the kiddy ones), R Dahl, judy blume and other funny/ animals stories and she likes non-fiction too. She refuses to read anything fairies (like rainbow magic) or girlish. she has a bad habit of starting 2 books concurrently! what are some of the titles i shld intro to her base on her interest? She is kind of childish but \"reads well\". I hope she can read as much as her sister :).
I have a K1 too :p, what are the books suitable for him? He has read many Dr seuss, Ursbone readers and other single titles. is it too early to intro R Dahl? thank you so much!
It is great that your older child loves to read. Alison Groggon's books are mainly the fantasy type of books. They are a little like Lord of the Rings. They are not too bad but only if you like books on magic and war between the old kingdoms and all that.
I understand what you mean when you said you would like your child to read the classics. However, most children at this age would not appreciate them as they tend to find it boring. You can still try to introduce other books to them so that they could have a greater variety of books to read.
One possible genre would be books that revolve their stories around historical events:
1) Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes
This story is set in Italy during World War 2. Paulo and his sister, Constanza, only have a bicycle but they want to do something for their country. They are desperate to fight the occupation of their city by the Nazi German forces. It seems an impossible feat, but they try and the story follows them on this adventure of standing up against oppression. In some editions of the book, there are photographs, interviews and videos to help the child to envision what had happened during this period of time.
Reading such books would also help a child to have greater empathy.
2) A place called Heartbreak: A story of Vietnam by Steck Vaughn
This book is placed under the non-fiction section usually but it reads like a fiction book as it is written in a narrative format. It is a very engrossing read about a Black American pilot who was shot down and detained in North Vietnam. It tells of his struggles to overcome racism and how he managed to finally become a pilot and then it talks about what he went through in North Vietnam.
Before introducing this book. it would be good if you could google the Vietnam War and show your child pictures of the Viet Cong and the tunnels they used to escape the Americans. These tunnels still exist today and it is very hard for a normal Singaporean to go through them as the tunnels are very tiny. That was how the Viet Cong managed to escape and it took a special breed of American soldiers to go into these tunnels. These soldiers were called tunnel rats.
I think with books that revolve around events that took place in history, it is good to whet the child's appetite with some stories on the actual event and to show pictures of it.
For your P1 child, you could introduce the Wildly Weird series by Kaye Umansky to them. In this family, the father is a scientist who has a habit of blowing things up, the mother is a stunt woman, the grandmother is a little magical and the kids get into a lot of strange situations with their family.
I am not sure if your P1 girl would like books on princesses but there is one book that is very interesting- A Palace full of Princesses by Sally Gardner. This books combines Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Frog Prince and weaves their stories into one.
For your K2, you could try introducing Roald Dahl or Enid Blyton. If they are too much for your child, then you could stick to the Usborne series.
TAS -
Pinky Piglet:
Hi Pinky Piglet,Hi TAS
Any recommendation for P5 gal and p1 boy both love reading
Thanks in advance
For P1:
Holly Webb's books are not bad. There is one book, 'The Snow Bear' that is interesting.
1) The Snow Bear by Holly Webb
In this story, a little girl wakes up and finds herself in a strange place with only a polar bear for company, together they need to find their way out and Holly desperately wants to find her way back for Christmas. Would she be able to make it? What caused her to be stuck in that strange land?
2) You're a bad man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton
Mr Gum is not really a bad man, he is a very funny man. The humour throughout the book brings to mind the style of Roald Dahl.
For P5
1) Eleven Eleven by Paul Doswell
In this story, three teenagers, one from American, one from England and one from Germany are placed together in this story. It is the year 1918 and they are at war. Somehow the story leads up to the eleventh day of the eleventh month at 11 am. They must find a way back to their homelands by then but to do so, they would also need to rely on one another. Can they trust one another? What will happen to them if they do not make it back by then?
2) Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
In this story, a boy moves into an apartment and he befriends Safer, a boy who lives on another floor. Safer introduces him to the game of spying and he soon spends his time doing that and staying with Safer's family as his own family is going through certain problems. However, as time goes by, this boy discovers all is not what it seems to be at first and he realizes that all this while, he has been lying to himself. What is this lie? What is the truth about this boy and his family?
It is an intriguing read.
TAS -
Hi TAS
Thank you very much for your reply. Very helpful! -
Let her read the books of chetan bhagat stories.
She ll love vampire series of twilight saga. Its interesting.