Suggestions for our next read aloud?

[Mogster]

I am in a rut and can't decide which book should be our next read aloud. So far, we have read the following: all of the Harry Potter books, all the Roald Dahl books, Big Red, and The Lightening Thief. I would like to choose a "quality" book with more advanced vocabulary to challenge them a little (but not so much that it isn't fun). Any ideas?

[stephanie]

I am in a rut and can't decide which book should be our next read aloud. So far, we have read the following: all of the Harry Potter books, all the Roald Dahl books, Big Red, and The Lightening Thief. I would like to choose a "quality" book with more advanced vocabulary to challenge them a little (but not so much that it isn't fun). Any ideas?

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but we're reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. My dc LOVE it. It's the story of a mouse who falls in love with a princess of the castle he lives in, and his adventures. There's a lot more to the story, of course, but this is just a suggestion. There are also vocab words in it that the author actually asks, "Reader, do you know what.....means?" My dc like to go look up the words if they don't! Hope that helps a bit.

[prairiegirl]

I was just going to suggest The Tale of Desperaux but Stephanie beat me to it. So I will second her suggestion. We love this book! I love her writing style.


Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[one l michele]

I am in a rut and can't decide which book should be our next read aloud. So far, we have read the following: all of the Harry Potter books, all the Roald Dahl books, Big Red, and The Lightening Thief. I would like to choose a "quality" book with more advanced vocabulary to challenge them a little (but not so much that it isn't fun). Any ideas?

on the general board.

Great Read Alouds

Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
The Hobbit
The Secret Garden
Heidi
The Wind in the Willows
Peter Pan
The Chronicles of Narnia
D'Aulaire's Greek Myths
Little House on The Prairie
Beowulf
Padraic Colum's The Golden Fleece
Princess and the Goblin/Princess and Curdie
Little Princess
Carry on Mr Bowditch
Secret Garden
Gone Away Lake
Henry Reed Inc
Henry and Ribsy series by Beverly Cleary
Inkheart
Misty of Chicoteague and others by M. Henry
The Westing Game
The Shakespeare Stealer
Detectives in Togas and the sequel The Mystery of the Roman Ransom
we also really enjoy books be G A Henty
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Hobbit
Rascal by Sterling North
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch
The Chronicles of Narnia
Danny, the Champion of the World
Because of Winn Dixie & Tale of Despereaux
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach
Mr Popper's Penguins
The Princess and the Goblin
The Golden Goblet
The Wheel on the School
The Cay
Johnny Tremaine
Summer of the Monkeys
A Long Way from Chicago
A Year Down Yonder
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Tale of Desperaux
The Secret World of Og
Number the Stars
LOTR
In Search of a Homeland
Black Ships Before Troy
The Wanderings of Odysseus
Stories from the Silk Road
The Sea of Gold, and other Tales from Japan".
Half Magic
Tom Sawyer
Little Women and others by LMA
Ben and Me
The Once and Future King
Understood Betsy
The Trumpet of the Swan
Red Sails to Capri
Pollyana
A Wrinkle in Time
all the Jungle Doctor books
Shakespeare's comedies
Cheaper By the Dozen
The Little Britches Series, Ralph Moody
Swallows and Amazons
The Hobbit
Where the Red Fern Grows
Winnie the Pooh (of course!)
Peter Pan
Racketty-Packetty House
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Sign of the Beaver
Indian in the Cupboard series
Swiss Family Robinson
Pilgrim's Progress
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L Konigsburg
The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady
The Seventeenth Swap by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Bartimaeus Trilogy
Strawberry Girl
Harriet the Spy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Where the Red Fern Grows
Owls in the Family - Farley Mowat
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Phantom of the Opera
Father Brown - G. K. Chesterton
All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot
Shadow Spinner
The Second Mrs Gaoconda
Shakespeare Stealer
Wind in the Willows
Door in the Wall
Meet the Austins
Amos Fortune, Free Man
Turn Homeward, Hanalee
The Mystery of the Roman Ransom (sequel to Detectives in Togas)
The Westing Game
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
A Single Shard
The Whipping Boy
Tuck Everlasting

[mcconnellboys]

Have you read the Lord of the Rings series, yet? How about the Simarillion? Or some of Tolkien's other works in follow-up, like the Tom Bombadil stories, etc.?

Lewis' Narnia series? Prince Caspian comes out this summer......

Spiderwick (although I think the language is simpler) Chronicles? The movie is out and I thought it good (we haven't read those books yet).....

Redwall series? It goes on forever, LOL..... I get sort of tired of the name calling after a while, but they are rip roaring good fun.....

Arthurian legend? There are a ton of good choices from which to choose....

Regena

[Chris in VA]

I can second A Little Princess and Secret Garden. Since you have a boy, Secret Garden might be a good option. The boy, Dicken, speaks in a Yorkshire dialect, has a fabulous way with animals, and is kind and good. The girl is very unhappy in the beginning (lousy parenting), but comes into her own thru nurturing a garden. There's also a horrid boy who is unhappy, too--afraid he'll turn into a "hunchback" like his father. Great book. Lovely vocab. Beautiful descriptions.

We are currently on our way thru Heidi, this time reading the original. We had a very good version before, but it was slightly abridged. The first chapter is a little ponderous, but written beautifully.

Caddie Woodlawn is a great fav, too--she has been raised "wild" like a boy for health reasons in the Wisconsin frontier, during the Civil War. She gets into many scrapes with her two brothers, who are wonderfully adventurous. We love the Little House books, but Caddie is written at a higher level, and very much a "living" book. Highly recommend.

[TracyR]

Not sure but Robinson Crusoe was a BIG hit here in my house with my girls . We read this in December with our 4th grade Calvert and I was surprised to see that we all really liked the story .

[AngieW in Texas]

Because Lightning Thief was on your list, how about these other sci fi/fantasy series (all of us enjoy these from my 9yo on up to me):
Sea of Monsters/Titan's Curse - also in the Lightning Thief series
Children of the Lamp series by P.B.Kerr - definitely some advanced vocabulary here
City of Ember/People of Sparks/Prophet of Yonwood by DuPrau
LionBoy series by Corder
Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Wrede
Artemis Fowl series by Colfer (I'd probably wait until they're both at least 4th grade for this one, but my 4th grader said it HAD to be on the list)

[Zelda]

Our current read-aloud is "Black Beauty" which I think would appeal to a boy and a girl. The vocabulary is not insanely challenging but is not at all dumbed down. There are many moral lessons about kindness to both animals and people that have had a big impact on my dd8. I did not expect to enjoy this as much as we are.

Despereaux is also a fantastic book.

[Karen in CO]

My dd loves it, but it has both male and female protagonists. It is well written, has humor and suspense, and it portrays siblings working together to solve problems.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

This is what I was going to suggest. We all loved it!

[Mrs. Readsalot]

It has great vocabulary and is a wonderful classic.

[Jenny in Atl]

More great Sci/fi for boys & girls!

Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix (also Abohorsen Trilogy by Nix, but it's a bit more scary)

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Johnathan Stroud (great fun, adv vocabulary, lots of adventure).

[Hazelt"nut"]

My dd6 and ds3 loved Cricket in Times Square. I believe it is written on a 4th or 5th grade reading level. Its a chapter book with little to no pics but even kept my 3 year old intrigued most of the time.

[magpiegirl]

Our favorites (besides Raold Dahl and the Harry Potter books, because you already have that!) have included:

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (my DS6.5 just LOVES this book, and anything by this author, it's very out-doorsy!)

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (you wouldn't believe the vocabulary in this book, but since most kids are already familiar with the story, comprehension really shouldn't be a problem)

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynn Reid Banks

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Holling C. Holling books like "Paddle To The Sea" - this book looks short but it is very very detailed.

Melisa

[Shannon]

We're currently reading the Swiss Family Robinson. Some others that we've liked are: The 21 Balloons --William Pene Du Bois
Anything by Marguerite Henry
ditto: E.B. White
The Little House Series
the Mary Poppins books--P.L. Travers
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew--Margaret Sidney
The Chronicles of Narnia--C.S. Lewis

Good luck!

Shannon