Read-Alouds for Readers

You can – and should – still read aloud to your reading kid, and the lazier days and lighter evenings of summer are perfect for it. When a good friend of mine asked me for some read-alouds for her grade 2/3 class for next year, it got me thinking that you might appreciate a list like that, too.

One problem is that a lot of stuff written for that age is girly. Another is that the series books – and there are tons for this level – are great for them to read, but a little light (and repetitive) for reading aloud to them. You might want something with a little more meat for a read-aloud, something that they wouldn’t read themselves, but you also want to balance content, as some heavier books are, well, heavier, and not just in page count. Particularly if you’re dealing with a mix of kids, be it a classroom, or kids of different ages and genders in your own family, you have to allow for the kids who can’t take scary, don’t want “girl books,” are easily bored, etc. Broad appeal is good here!

Some suggestions:

Beverly Cleary
I love her Ramona books, but you could lose boys with those, while I think her Mouse and the Motorcycle trilogy would hold up well to a pretty wide swath of kids, and has enough fun in it to keep their attention. It’s also nice that there is a trilogy of movies to go with these, which could make for fun comparisons after reading and viewing.

Kate DiCamillo
She’s a gorgeous writer, with a way with language that is a real treat. Her big hit Because of Winn-Dixie is about a peculiar dog who helps a girl find her way and some new people to befriend in a small town, bringing together a strange cast of characters. The Tale of Desperaux is one about a little mouse with a big heart and massive, fairy-tale-fed imagination, who sets out to rescue the princess, but this is no girly-girl tale, with great imagination and plenty of action. Both of these books also have movie versions. Hmmm.

Doreen Cronin’s The Trouble With Chickens
I reviewed this one not long ago, and Girl 7 thought it was the best book ever. It’s funny, smart, and nods to noir, but doesn’t shoot right over the heads of its audience with that. The snappy repartee between dogs and chickens is hilarious, and suddenly makes you look at her picture book Click Clack Moo as a warm-up exercise for this book!

Robert Paul Weston’s Zorgamazoo
Someone described this as a cross between Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss, and that just about captures the amusing take on a bizarre and occasionally slightly twisted tale about a girl, some monsters, and alien, and saving the world, all told in lilting, fun-to-read verse. I would normally think a whole book in verse was a stretch or a gimmick, but I have to say, I loved this and totally see why it was a kid pick for a Forest of Reading Award. (I reviewed it and some other winners here, as well.)

Andrew Clements
This author is a master of the school story, and a favourite of mine for his well-rounded characters – both children and adults alike, which is surprisingly rare. Frindle is the natural starting place, and many of his other titles follow much the same pattern. I also liked The Landry News and The School Story quite a bit, though they will feel familiar if you’ve read his others. His basic pattern is to set a problem or a challenge that a few intelligent kids run with, something that is a little against the rules, or sure to irritate some of the adults. His adults, though, are of the sort to think rather than just react, and let the experiment play out a little, resulting in something more instructional all around. Good stuff!

Henry Cole’s A Nest for Celeste
I reviewed this one a little while ago, too, and found it utterly charming without being too twee. It’s a sweet little story about a mouse who becomes friends with a young painter, an apprentice to Mr. Audubon, and goes on a few perilous adventures, finally finding a place of her own. There are great openings here for talking about Audubon’s art, as well as the animal cruelty involved in his earlier paintings, and how he adapted his methods, so for a class or for parents who like to extend their reading experience, it’s got some stuff to work with.

And A Few Humourous Ones:

John Grogan’s Marley: A Dog Like No Other
A younger adaptation of Marley & Me, this simpler book introduces Marley and his antics to younger readers. It’s a fun romp, and great for dog-lovers like my kid.

Richard Peck’s A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way From Chicago
Robert Newton Peck’s Soup Books
These are all books set in an older time and rural place, and they are all filled with ridiculous highjinks and situations. The silly isn’t without merit, though – A Year Down Yonder is a Newbery Medal winner! From boys looking for some trouble to get up to to grannies storming the bastions, the characters are a driving force in the hilarity, and if you are as prone to hysterical laughter as I am, you may actually find these hard to read, so consider your picks if you are similarly afflicted.

Farley Mowat’s The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be
This one is both an older, rural setting and a dog book – and also a great piece of classic Canadian writing. Mowat’s stories of his family’s crazy dog with a big personality are great fun and a huge laugh, even for people who are not dog people, like myself. This should be on everyone’s list!

There are also, of course, a host of great classics that are worth considering if you happen to have the type who will sit still, but for a larger group, they can be tough going. The slower pace and denser language can make it harder to hold their concentration for long unless you are an extremely engaging reader! 

On the flip side, Girl 7 highly recommends The Monkey Pirates by Mark Skelton as the complete opposite, a book of silliness pretty much guaranteed to crack up someone in the grade 1-3 set. Yes, she is a massive goofball. This might, though, be an equally bad idea with a larger group, since you may lose their attention just as fast to the giggling!

Happy reading this summer – and please feel free to share read-alouds that have worked for your grade 2/3 kids in comments. I’m sure other moms (and maybe other teachers, too) would take all the suggestions they can!