Are these books too much for a six-year-old?

Question

I'm having a problem with picking books for my daughter who seems to be an advanced reader according to her teacher. I like to get her books that are fun and capture her interest, but I don't want to get her anything too advanced OR too lower level either.

For her birthday, which is in a little over a week, I got her a boxed set of the movie version of the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. I'd love to get her the original, but I thought that it might be hard for her to read at such a young age, so chose to wait until she was older, hoping that reading the movie versions now will set the characters in her mind now. She loved the movie, so I thought this would be fun for us to read together.

I also bought her a "Shrek 2" book, and a small Level 1 reader copy of "The Land Before Time". I thought I'd like to see if I can find the "Little House on the Prairie" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder because I fell in love with those stories as a little girl.

I am just a little nervous about giving them to her because picking books for her to read reminds me of when I was little. I taught myself to read at the age of four, and since I loved reading, I excelled pretty quickly, so by the time I was in third grade, they took me out of reading classes and made me tutor the slower learners in reading. When we had the RIF (Reading is Fundamental) days at our school, I wasn't allowed to choose children's books, and was brought high school and college level books to read! I hated that. It separated me from the rest of my classmates and I never really got much chance to read books that let me be a kid. I don't want to do that to her, but I also don't want to bore her with books that are too "kiddy" either, which she's complained about on occasion. So...if my child is reading at a third grade level in first grade, would these books be good for her?

I'd really appreciate any help you can give! I mean, she loved the movies "Shrek", "Chronicles of Narnia", and "Land Before Time", and she used to love to watch "Little House on the Prairie", but I'm not sure if I'm pushing her too hard to read the books...It's just getting hard to know what to give her because she bores with books for her age level, and I often catch her sitting and reading my books (though I think this has more to do with wanting to be like me than actually understanding what she's reading)...any help, or suggestions for what I can get her?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Little House on the Prairie is a good choice for her. I read the Nancy Drew books when I was that age, although there are sometimes things that you may want to discuss with her in those (I don't really remember, but I think there's some violence, etc). The Box Car Children series is a great choice; I used to love those. Content-wise, they should be fine (age appropriate and interesting for her), and there's over 100 of them so it should keep her occupied for a while.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Everybody had great answers, but when I read yours about the Nancy Drew series, it reminded me of a lot of others I used to love at her age like the "Encyclopedia Brown" series and "The Bobbsy Twins". Thanks!

Answer 2

I read a lot of Boxcar Children mysteries when I was six, and I was (that is, I am) an advanced reader too. The writing style isn't great, but she should enjoy them. I know that I did.

Answer 3

It sounds like you're doing a good job on your own.

I don't think that Narnia is too hard, though.
Boxcar Children or Magic Treehouse would be good too.

Good luck!

Answer 4

No not for a six year old. She won't be able to appreciate something that is way too hard for. I was a pretty good reader too, but I read the chronicles at 9 or 10 and enjoyed them. One time I read a book that was very detailed and didn't like it. But then two years later I read its sequel and loved it. The right age makes a difference.