On the advice of several people, I now have my son approved to received books on tape through Talking Books. The librarian wanted a list of maybe 20 books so that they can replace tapes as we send them back. I am looking for suggestions.
My son is 9 and in fourth grade. His listening comprehension tests average (108 on standardized tests) but he isn’t great at inference ect. So I am looking for books he can handle listening to on his own and not get lost. He likes animals, science, social studies, plants—most things. I am not sure he is ready for the lessons of life kind of books. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by female main characters. I read him The Little Princess and he loved it. I ordered him Farmer Boy by Ingalls, Sign of the Beaver, and something with Winn Dixon in the title. The later two I just picked out of a scholastic flyer that came home. They both were Newberry Winners and Sign of the Beaver is about a friendship between a boy in Maine and an Indian and the Winn Dixie on was about a girl who becomes friends with a stray dog after moving.
Any favorites?
Beth
Re: Books on tape for 9 year old boy
Oh, “The Indian in the Cupboard,” I LOVED that book when I read it to my son.
I can remember asking him so many questions about responsibility, what he thought the boy was going through and how he would have handled various situations as they came up. There was so much about choices and consequences and the affects our decisions can have on others. It was very rich.
You have a few others that always were my favorites.
A very extensive list indeed! Thanks.
Re: About following along in a book while listening to tape?
Wow, what a list!! Thanks!!
About following along, I don’t know. What do you think? He can’t read these books or I would have him read them on his own. Another parent asked the same question on the parenting bb where her son could not keep up reading silently with the speed of the story. I don’t think speed would be the issue for my son but more vocabulary. He really can’t decode multisyllable words, except for very common words.
Beth
Re: Books on tape for 9 year old boy
This sounds like a good one to read to him. Much harder to discuss things like this when they start reading or listening on their own!!
Beth
Re: About following along in a book while listening to tape?
Beth, I posted an answer to Karen N.’s question on the other board. If you are using books on tape to improve auditory skills, I wouldn’t have him read along. If you’re using it to help with reading skills, following along is a good idea but I would drop the reading level way down to one where he actually could do this. I suggested something along the lines of Nate the Great or Frog and Toad. Early success in following along would be important so this doesn’t become torture. The reading level could then be progressively increased.
Re: About following along in a book while listening to tape?
I saw your message later and it makes sense. My purpose is not to improve his reading skills, although he could use that as well. Rather, I want him exposed to the more complex language and plots that he can not yet read but are appropriate for his grade.
Beth
On this subject...
He did much better last night following with the tape once he realized he didn’t have to say each word to himself. However, I agree that we need to bring the level down so I ran out today and got some Amelia Bedilia on tape. He loves those books, and I think the humor is good for him!
Re: About following along in a book while listening to tape?
I have recorded two-three children’s books at a slower pace. One is Sarah Plain and Tall. Kids who are not yet at a late second grade level (and fluency) have a hard time keeping up with commercially prepared tapes because the readers are too quick for them. I need to record more.
I doesn’t take long to record them and you can keep the pace steady but slower than the purchased versions. There are some slower versions to be purchased from Recorded Books in NJ.
Children love to hear a familiar voice on the tape, too. Mom would be a special treat.
Is he going to be following along in the book? I would reccommend that you get the books and have hime read along with the tape. I love Because of Winn Dixie. Here is probably more than you ever wanted.
Bonny’s Big Day by James Herriot
Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson
Siwiti - A Whale’s Story by Alexandra Morton
Whales by Seymour Simon
Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson
Ramadan by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi
Whales by Seymour Simon
The Butterfly Jar by Jeff Moss
Night on Neighborhood Street by Eloise Greenfield
The Way to Start a Day by Byrd Baylor
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach
Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Sarah Klise
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Cinder-Elly by Frances Minters
It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach
How to Get Rid of Bad Dreams by Nancy Hazbry and Roy Condy
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
The King’s Fountain by Lloyd Alexander
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Last Basselope by Berkeley Breathed
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Beethoven Lives Upstairs by Barbara Nichol
Hot Pursuit by Kees Moerbeek and Carla Dijs
Animalia by Graeme Base
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Sarah Klise
Bonny’s Big Day by James Herriot
Siwiti - A Whale’s Story by Alexandra Morton
Whales by Seymour Simon
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
Margaret, Frank, and Andy by Cynthia Rylant
The Real McCoy: The Life of an African-American Inventor by Wendy Towle
Disney’s Mulan by Kathleen W. Zehfeld
Do Not Open by Brinton Turkle
I Am a Star by Inge Auerbacher
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The King’s Fountain by Lloyd Alexander
The Last Basselope by Berkeley Breathed
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Ramadan by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi
Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Fiddler of the Northern Lights by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
In Coal Country by Judith Hendershot
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
Seven Kisses in a Row by Patricia MacLachlan
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
The Balloon Tree by Phoebe Gilman
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
Attaboy, Sam! by Lois Lowry
Ramadan by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi