About the book "Hatchet" -- input requested

If my 5th grader could read “Hatchet”, I wouldnt care if it taught devil worship!!!!!!

Im not familiar with the book(exc for reading about it in all the scholastic flyers)but that kind of improvement is soooo awesome. Unless you think the parents are ‘picky’, go for it!!!

Just my moms opinion-JMMO

Actually, in this case it’s my questions, not the parents’.
I’ve had some ridiculously picky parents in the past, and that can be a nightmare when you finally get the kid woken up and asking questions and exploring. One set of parents in the past, who found other excuses to drop my services just as the kid was starting to succeed, were back in the nineteenth century about any mention whatever of s-e-x, and that starts to be a problem with a teen. Not this case, however.

He isn’t reading Hatchet solo; when he guesses on multisyllable words I have to stop him and make him go back; but he *is* reading.

Good luck with getting him to read about devil worship. Considering the video games that are now popular …

If you want to know my deep dark secrets and pacts with Lucifer to get kids reading, I cheerfully dump copies of how-to-outlines to anyone who emails a request.

I thought it was a very good book. (plane crash, survival in the wilderness) Author Gary Paulson has many books that interest boys especially. If it is being read aloud in class that is a good reason to let him try it. We listened to it on audio.

Hatchet is read in our regular ed. 5th grade and enjoyed by all; my 4th grader read it for a book report. It is one of the few books enjoyed by boys (they also read Sign of the Beaver, a good boy book).

Thanks. It could be I’m confusing titles in my mind, having never read the book before. I’m fine on the subject matter, and I always liked the “boy” books with action and adventure. I’m going to have him continue through “The Cay” and “My Side of the Mountain” and “White Fang”, as long as I keep working with him.
I do have some questions about the style and language usage in “Hatchet”, and it wouldn’t have been my first choice, but if he likes it, fine.

If you are looking for good boy books, I suggest ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar. My son first read it in 3rd grade. He still reads it again every year (now in 6th). It ranks right up there with Harry Potter for him and he can’t’ wait for the movie to come out this month.

He has been reading it aloud to my 3rd grader and she is enthralled as well.

My kids are counting the days until the movie is out; but Louis Sachar, even the Wayside School series, is for kids with a sense of the absurd…at least a sense of humor.

Hi Victoria,

My 4th grade son and I are currently reading “Hatchet.” We are just starting Chapter 4 - so I don’t have a good feel for the book, yet.

I, personally, have found the language hard for oral reading. There are a lot of emotive repetitions and incomplete sentences. I understand why the author is doing it, but often have to stop and talk to my son about what the author means by doing it. He’s so busy giggling (inappropriately) that I wonder about his comprehension. He seems to get it - and I suppose any mention of bodily functions throws every 10 year old boy into hysterics. But … So far my son is interested, so we will keep going. Anything to keep him reading.

I looked forward in the book, and there are some difficult multi-syllable words. But there aren’t so many of them that I think it will be a problem.

He LOVED “The Cay.” I found that book much easier to read, and feel my son’s comprehension was far better with that book. He liked it so much, I have ordered “Timothy of the Cay” from Amazon, plus some other books.

“The Hole” has been highly recommended. I have also been told that Gary Paulsen’s “Transall” book is wonderful. I’ve also ordered “Rifle” by Gary Paulsen - written about the life of a rifle over the last hundred years. We’ll try to get through those, and then see where to go. Someone on another list suggested we try some of the Mark Twain classics like “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.” I’ll have to pick them up - I probably haven’t read them in 35 years! :-)

Lil

My daughter, who had earlier read through Tolkien in her fantasy phase so she was a good reader, was introduced to Twain in middle school. She absolutely adored Huckleberry Finn, and it’s still one of her favourite books.

When I was in middle school I found all the dialect irritating, especially as it was totally foreign to me (northern Canada and then Montreal). She had heard it orally and although she disliked other books with dialect (her high school class was ready to revolt over Zora Neill Hurston) she was OK with Twain. I mention this because there is a fair decoding challenge in all the phonetically spelled and differently pronounced words — good exercise if you’re a good decoder, irritating if you’re a fast reader, a real challenge if you’re not skilled.

save tom sawyer and huck finn for when he is older, my son read them as a sophomore in high school and appreciated the storyline better at that time

for a 4th grader, Jerry Spinelli would be better

and Holes has a complicated beginning and ending with lots of inference

another better bet for 4th grade is of course are the Beverly Clearly books

4th grade is pretty young yet for some of the stuff you are reading

Hatchet in my opinion is best for middle school,

try the Time Warp Trio series as well, Shiloh is good too

libby

My son got a huge kick out of the limited dialect in “The Cay.” We laughed ourselves silly trying to make it sound like Timothy might have - and agreed we were both dismal failures. :-)

Lil