Monday, October 6, 2008

Ben & books....inseparable.

What a great habit he is forming! Ben especially loves to read in bed at night. He still likes to be read to, by his Mom (aww). He prefers some really good chapter books.

I have to brag on Ben. He is very good at reading comprehension and spelling in school. Ben had taken a computer-adaptive reading test at school. The results show that he is reading at a 5th grade level. This is the level at which Ben recognizes words and comprehends material with 80% proficiency.

Can I get a "woo hoo" for Ben ?!? I'm so proud of our boy.

We recently finished "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. It was the kids version. Although still many chapters long. (It's the $2.99 book from Books a Million). The big people one is too long & too graphic. I felt this one was just right. He loves the suspense. The sharks. Captain Ahab with one leg & a whale jawbone for the other one. Harpoons. Big ships. Water.

And the bonus is..... no bad dreams.

The cool part was it was "our time" together. He couldn't read ahead & we agreed that, I was the only one that could read it to him. It was a special time together, and I know that this is just the beginning of our adventures in reading.

We started Huckleberry Finn, but stopped. When I read it in 5th grade & fell in love with Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, & Becky, I didn't notice how much they talked about killing & murder. That's ALL they seemed to talk about in the first 2 chapters. And how mean Huck's pap is. Thought we'd stop for now. I'll look at Tom Sawyer, as it will be as adventurous.

Here are the other series he is currently enjoying.

Geronimo Stilton written by Geronimo Stilton. This has very colorful fonts, pictures, maps & cartoons. Very fun to read.
Hank the Cowdog written by John Erickson. Well you just can't beat a dog story. :-)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dawn, if Ben enjoys action, adventure, etc., check out The Wilderking Trilogy series Jonathan Rogers. It's based on the story of King David but set in a different time and place.

Ben could read it on his own, but find it more fun as a read-aloud.

Very fun!