So that Nintendo DS I got for Ethan for Xmas:
1) I forgot that I can’t afford games, at least not at market price. If you have a slew of games sitting around that are appropriate for a 7-year-old, I’m willing to buy. Please drop me a line at ednasaint at yahoo dot com and we’ll haggle.
2) Do you even know anything about Nintendo DS games that are appropriate for 7-year-olds? I don’t. Any suggestions would be appreciated in the comments.
The other thing: Ethan is well past reading picture books and has moved into chapter books for young readers. The only thing is that books that fall into the 9-12 year old category have content that is completely foreign to him or is clearly out of his reading level, and the books in his age range are things we read a couple of years ago.
I scored a surprise hit last month when I found Toes, a novel about a cat with seven toes on each foot (Ethan likes to reread the parts where Toes’ mother dies and later when Toes himself dies — it’s a very solemn event) and he’s currently reading Stuart Little.
Do you have any other suggestions? Think for an advanced first grader who wants to read novels.
Not having children handicaps me here, but I did find this list at Amazon of child-appropriate games for the Nintendo DS and other platforms. If you see something there you think Ethan might like, I’d love to get it for him for Christmas.
Also, I love this line from a review of one of the games on the list, “Catz:”
Tell me about it! Oh, wait, he’s talking about the game.
Because I’m not too proud to point this out, we do have a bribery list on the about page.
The Magic School Bus series have a wide array of interesting books.
Last time I clicked the bribery link (and again just now), it only took me to the “create an Amazon wish list” page at Amazon. No trace of you anywhere. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to be signed into Amazon first?
Crap, I don’t know my own link.
In my memory of being a young reader always in search of new things to read, foreign content is not necessarily such a bad thing.
I remember being 9 or so and being started on some adult novels that were horribly difficult to understand at least partially because the content was often rather outside my experience. But in the end, reading things that are outside of one’s experience turns out to be rewarding and horizon expanding and all those other fun things.
How about the “Ramona” books by Beverly Clearly? There’s also ones by her with a boy character (Henry Huggins maybe?) and they’re great early chapter books. Ramona is in early elementary school and the books are written at that level. I loved them.
I’d try the New Super Mario Bros. and Nintendogs. They’re cute and painless.
Oh, and Animal Crossing. It’s really cute…you have a little village, plant flowers to make things nice, talk to animals, run errands for them, go fishing.
There’s also always Tetris.
The first chapter books I remember getting from the library that weren’t from the picture book section were the Wizard of Oz books. Something a lot shorter, and one of the few kid’s books that I still have was “Ghosts Who Went to School”. One of the ghosts goes to third grade. (I haven’t read it recently, though, so I’m not sure if there is a cringe factor-I’m thinking of when I reread “Little House on the Prairie” as an adult and saw the whole building-of-log-cabin-on-Indian-land in a new light.)
My daughter is five, and we got her a DS a little over a year ago in the hope that it would entertain her while her brother was being born (his birthday is this Friday).
She has Nintendogs and likes it, even though there’s a lot going on that she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t read yet, so that hampers her.
She likes Mario Kart (and so do I).
She has a GBA cartridge that has three old-style board games on it: Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and something else… Anyway, the interface is the worst I’ve ever seen. The whole thing is terrible. Avoid it.
She’s gotten surprisingly good at a few platform jumper games too. I think they’re Cinderella and Strawberry Shortcake. Ethan might not be into those titles, but there are probably lots of other games in that style available. Something along the lines of [superlative] Mario [region].
Hope this helps.
(The JS preview below doesn’t look as I’d expect; I place my faith in the submit button.)
I can’t believe I missed the Ramona and Wizard books. I’m so losing my touch.
Ramona is great, as well as some of the Judy Blume books (Superfudge, etc.). Also? Narnia. I know, I know, the crazy people co-opted them, but if Ethan is (like I was) a heathen at age 7, the religious imagery will fly right over his head. Those were the first chapter books I read, in 1st grade, and I still love them.
I’ve always been a mystery book fan, and I started reading Nancy Drew right around that age. I never read the Hardy Boys, so I can’t recommend, but who needs gender-appropriate reading material anyway, right? :D I also started the Babysitter’s Club books in 2nd grade, but looking back, realize that they might lack, um, depth.
But you know? The thing my parents were good at was just letting me read anything I wanted. We’d go to the library and my sister and I would get towering piles of books. Good, bad, doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s printed words on a page he’ll learn the habit of reading.
Oh, there’s this game called WarioWare Touched! that is basically a collection of really fast little games all packaged together. It’s challenging and makes you do sort of weird things for a game (there’s a lot of chopping vegetables and screwing in lightbulbs, etc) but it’s a ton of fun. I can’t remember there being anything inappropriate in it, and the game has been out for a while, so there may be some used copies available out there.
Almost anything by Beverly Cleary is great. In addition to Ramona, there are the Henry Huggins books, Otis Spofford, Ellen Tebbits–that’s just what I can remember at the moment.
My brother and I loved these series when we were younger, but I don’t remember how young, exactly, so they might be more in that 9-12 range you were talking about. Oh, and the Bellairs books, if you are a big ol’ fraidycat like I am, are definitely not right-before-bedtime material.
Finally, Astrid Lindgren is best known for Pippi Longstocking, but I always liked her Emil series better. Emil is a riot, and best of all, you don’t have to deal with those stupid worrywarts Tommy and Annika from the Pippi books. The Emil books aren’t as easy to track down in this country, but if you see one of them at the library, grab it.
I recommend Roald Dahl- ‘The Twits’ was my favourite. Nicely gruesome.
Try the “My Father’s Dragon” books -charming stories with fun illustrations. Delightful fantasy about a little boy and his adventures.
To read to Ethan you might think about “the Wind in the Willows” versions of Greek Myths or fairy tales written for younger readers.
E Nesbit wrote a whole bunch of lovely fantasies - “5 Children and It”, “Mistress Mashem’s Repose” (may not still be in print although the first is)
Lloyd Alexander wrote a slew of books for younger readers - “Time Cat”, “The Arkadians” and of course his Prydain series although the last might be too scary.
“Linnets & Valerians” - by Elisabeth Goudge - story about a family of 4 English kids having somewhat magical adventures in rural England (it’ll make you hungry)
more fantasy - “Dealing with Dragons” series by Patricia Wrede
This list is partly made by asking my kids which ones they remembered with particular fondness from being younger. Very fantasy heavy because that’s a definite family obsession.
Oh, you have some really great recommendations for books here. Let’s see, when I was Ethan’s age, I really loved the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden (not so much Nancy Drew, I couldn’t tell you why). Also, and this may have been when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, it’s hard to say… but I liked Encyclopedia Brown - they have puzzles - and I /loved/ the Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald. I second the recommendations of the Ramona and Fudge/Peter Hatcher series. I read and loved Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing /long/ before I was in fourth grade myself. I also concur with the Narnia recommendation. I read the covers off those books when I was a kid and never clued in to the religious stuff until I after graduating high school!
I’ve never posted here before, but I love children’s books: Try the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series and anything by Edgar Eager (I think the first is Half Magic), also some of the books made into movie classics: Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I also second the Wizard of Oz books, but only the ones that L. Frank Baum actually wrote; the series continues with books by other people. I remember enjoying the Bobsey twins when I was around that age.
i second the roald dahl suggestion - james and the giant peach was my first chapter book, when i was just a little bit younger than ethan, and i loved it. beverly cleary is a great suggestion - dear mr. henshaw was my favorite book in first grade. older books might be good too - dr. doolittle, the anne of green gables series, from the mixed up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler. the newberry and caldecott medal lists might be great places to look. letting him run wild in a library and pick out anything that looks interesting might help you both pin down his interests.
I second Nintendogs and Animal Crossing. There’s also Kirby’s Canvas Curse, which is like a platformer, but you draw lines and bridges for Kirby while he rolls around like a ball. There’s also Pac Pix, which is a Pac Man game that focuses on drawing, and Pan ‘N Roll. If you can’t find a good deal on a used game on Amazon, eBay or Half.com, you might want to try a used video and game store. You can bring in movies and old games (cast offs from friends?) and put it towards the price of a used game. And since the DS plays Game Boy games, a used copy of Pokemon provides hours and hours of fun. Also, just to note: my friend’s son who is 7 has lost both of his DS stylus(es), so it’s a good idea to put the extra that comes with the handheld in a safe place.
The Encyclopedia Brown mystery series would be great for a boy. But don’t rule out the Little House on the Prairie series. I liked the Boxcar Kids and Bobbsey Twins, too. A book I loved at his age was The Good Master.
I just got DD a book for Christmas called Zen Shorts, which is probably grammatically below what he “can” do, but it invites deep thinking.
I loved the E. Nesbitt books for kids. I read a few years ago that several books that were favorites and went out of print, have been reprinted. There is one by another author that I highly recommend for E. called Half Magic, about this summer adventure with a magic lake whose waters give you special powers. I totally loved it.
At some point he will be ready for two classic boys’ books–Hatchet, and Brian’s Winter. They’re about a boy who has to survive in the wilderness (but maybe too scary of a concept at age 7).
I would second the Roald Dahl suggestion - i really like those books as a kid.
However, my all time favorite books were Madeleine L’Engle’s books “A Wrinkle in Time,” “A Wind in the Door,” “A Swiftly Tilting Planet,” and “Many Waters.” I remember really “bonding” with the little boy, Charles Wallace, in the books.
I’m a big fan of Francs Hodgson Burnett, myself. I prolly have an extra copy of “A Little Princess,” if you’re interested. Also, I have a copy of “Dear Mr Henshaw” that somehow never made it’s way back to the Bookmobile back in ‘85.
I love any and everything by Kate DiCamillo. She has a couple of new-ish books out, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” about a child’s toy rabbit and “The Tale of Despereaux” about a mouse who lives in a castle and loves the princess. They both read like fairy tales/fantasy and are beautifully written. Her realistic fiction is also wonderful, but might be a little heavy for a younger audience (death, abandonment, etc.).
It might be a little early, but LeGuin’s Earthsea Trilogy is excellent fantasy, and gets him interested in an author who doesn’t disappoint. (A Wizard of Earthsea is the first book.) Her Catwings series might be pitched closer to his age.
Oh how I love the Nintendo DS…let me count the ways:
1. Tetris DS - Hours and hours of fun. I liked the original Tetris as a kid, but I knew people who thought it was a “grownup game.” However this version has more than just the block-stacking, there are several other game modes (puzzle, mission, etc) sure to delight kids.
2. Mario Kart DS - Every version of this classic has been progressively better than the last. However, this one’s only supreme improvement is the wireless gameplay, allowing you to play against anyone in the world anywhere there’s a WiFi connection. Not helpful to people without wireless internet.
3. Animal Crossing DS - Mentioned above, this is an extremely cute, fun, non-violent game. It’s like the Sims or something of that nature. You get to live the life of your little big-headed avatar as he frollicks in a land of anthropomorphic animals who make silly noises. Fun for all ages.
4. Nintendogs - Your own pet who can’t really die. A sound investment.
5. Super Princess Peach - Princess Peach takes over the world saving duties from Mario. A great game with a female protagonist kicking cartoon-style ass. Lots of fun.
Plus many more…(a hint, any Nintendo-produced title is going to be a winner here)
I don’t have a clue whatsoever on what kids love to read these days.
But I can help for XMas:
Socks and pirate tattoos are on the way.
Oh, and back to chapter books again: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler.
Okay, you’ve got great book suggestions already — Bellairs, Dahl, John D. Fitzgerald, the Alvin Fernald series, etc. I would say, however, that Beverly Cleary is way overrated — Ramona is funny, but her Henry Huggins character felt erzatz to me, even at eight.
If he likes science fiction, you can’t go wrong with William Sleator. The Green Futures Of Tycho and Interstellar Pig come to mind. The protagonists are a few years older than your boy, but if he’s a smart kid he’ll probably dig that.
By the same author as Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler E. Frankweiler is one of my fav children’s books of all time, The View From Saturday. It’s so awesome, smart, and good-hearted. It’s also a chapter book and might be age-appropriate. Also, what everyone else said about Madeleine L’Engle, Roald Dahl, and Pippi Longstocking. And, I don’t know - some of these might be too girly for him, but I loved all the Laura Engels Wilder books when I was young. Very outdated views about race and sex, but as I child I read right past that. I knew it was wrong, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the other parts.