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Aimée started reading at age 4 and was reading at a 3rd or 4th grade level by age 5. Finding appropriate books for her to read was a real challenge. She was bored with the reading level of most books written to her age, but the books at the right reading level were too often pitched at much older children. I wasn't specially interested in having her read about preteens and dating and so on at that age, nor were they subjects of interest to her. Since then I've kept an eye out for books appropriate for the precocious early reader. Many of these would also be good read alouds for the same age group. Here is a first attempt at a list of these books; I hope to keep adding to it as I run across fitting titles. Stories Julian Tells, Stories Huey Tells, More Stories Julian Tells, More Stories Huey Tells (and others with these characters) by Ann Cameron. These are very nice short chapter books. The characters are part of a healthy, intact family; the children are realistic and the parents appropriately involved. The humor is genuine and sweet. I really like these books. Busybody Nora, New Neighbors for Nora, Russell Sprouts, Russell Rides Again, Russell and Elisa, Elisa in the Middle and others by Johanna Hurwitz. These books revolve around the lives of a small group of children who live in a New York high rise apartment. The early Russell books are my favorites, as we see Russell in his first year of preschool, then kindergarten, then first grade. They are quite school focused, an aspect I didn't notice on our first reading because Aimée was in school; now that we've been homeschooling quite a while I notice how prevalent school is in these children's lives! Each book's chapters are nearly self-contained, so that a beginning reader or listener needn't remember details from the earlier chapters to enjoy the subsequent chapters, but there is a thread to tie them together. Like the Julian and Huey stories, these books offer gentle humor and realistic portrayals of children and their inner lives. My favorite chapter is the one where Russell's mom forgets to get him out of his bath... Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. These are a popular series. My children have loved these, but I tire of reading them aloud pretty fast. Only the first 19 in the series were actually written by Warner; i wouldn't vouch for the quality of the many books that follow her titles. The Littles by John Peterson. Something about miniature people living in a house is just irresistible! This is the first in a series. Ben especially loved these. Pirate's Promise, A Lion to Guard Us, The Sword in the Tree, and others by Clyde Robert Bulla. Bulla has many books for young readers, mostly historical fiction.
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