Mr. Popper's Penguins & other books for 2nd grade-ish dc...

[Pencil Pusher]

1. I bought PP last night at 1/2P because it looks funny & I saw it on TA's 2nd g reading list. Is it good? Will we enjoy it?

2. Ds7 has finished the entire MTH series, & although I read other stuff TO him & dd4, he hasn't read much else on his own yet. I just got a couple of Encyclopedia Brown's at the library. What else would be good & reading-level appropriate, ya think?

Btw, dh started reading LHP to them last yr, & ds LOVED it (I thought it was just for girls, lol), so I might have him do that. I think he's old enough to read it on his own now?

TIA!

[Mrs. H.]

Hank the Cowdog

Charlotte's Web (and others by E.B. White)

Encyclopedia Brown

The Boxcar Children

Little House on the Prairie (apparently there is some appeal there for boys as well as girls. He started with Farmer Boy)

He loved Mr. Popper's Penguins, too.

[angela in ohio]

Here's a list I recommend to friends with boys at this stage. Some of them will be a tad easy for him (Commander Toad in Space.)

Anderson, C. W. Billy and Blaze (series)
Brown, Jeff. Flat Stanley (series)
Bulla, Clyde Robert. A Lion to Guard Us
Cleary, Beverly. The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Dalgliesh, Alice. The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
Degen, Bruce. Commander Toad in Space (series)
Erickson, John R. Hank the Cowdog (series)
Gardiner, John Reynolds. Stone Fox
Hall, Lynn. Barry the Bravest Saint Bernard
Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. Balto and the Great Race
McCloskey, Robert. Homer Price
Norton, Mary. The Borrowers (series)
Peterson, John. The Littles (series)
Robertson, Keith. Henry Reed (series)
Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. Nate the Great (series)
Simon, Seymour. Einstein Anderson series
Sobol, Donald J. Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective (series)
Warner, Gertrude Chandler. The Boxcar Children series
White, E. B. Stuart Little

Mr. Popper's Penguins is very enjoyable!!

[Rhesa]

I had never read it before, so I had no idea how ds7 & dd5 would like it.

They loved it!:D

It was one of those rare "can we just read one more chapter, please?" books.

I'm glad that I picked it up after hearing about it on these boards. I certainly wouldn't have been drawn to it without encouragement.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

[Beth in Central TX]

My boys liked Mr. Popper's Penquins. I used this list to help me build my library list when they were first starting to read and would devour any book I gave them: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000-primary.html

I was surprised that my boys like the Little House on the Prairie series. It wasn't a beloved series, but their favorite was Farmer Boy.

[Musical Belle]

I remember reading it as a kid, so I read it to my ds in first grade. At the end of the school year he reread it by himself.

Here are some of his other favorites:
Henry Huggins (the whole series)
The Cricket in Times Square
Winnie-The-Pooh
The Boxcar Children
Misty of Chincoteague

Happy reading!

[Shannon]

We enjoyed Mr. Popper's Penguins, too! :)

Have you tried My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett? There are actually three books, but that is the first one. We enjoyed it as a read aloud a few years ago and now my son is reading it to us.

Shannon

[RoughCollie]

My kids liked all the books you all mentioned, but there is one more winner:

Owls in the Family, by Farley Mowat

[melissel]

What a great thread! We're reading at this level generally, so I'm definitely saving these suggestions. Currently, we're reading Peter and the Starcatchers, which is a "prequel" to Peter Pan (by a modern author). It has a good amount of intrigue--pirates and mysterious passengers and a magical trunk and talking porpoises--but it might be at a slightly higher level than you need. My DD is really enjoying it though.

[whitestavern]

Loved Popper's Penguins too! Here are a few more:

Mrs Piggle Wiggle (series)
Roald Dahl books
Trumpet of the Swan
The Enormous Egg