Now that I’ve disclosed to you my future (very distant) plans for book writing, I’d like to discuss the subject of children’s book series and how they can play a pivotal role in a 9-year old’s and forty (plus)-year old’s lives. Let me start by stating that, within a two-week span of time, I’ve heard my son, Little Man, profess his love of reading about three different times. Well, this is music to a mom-who-loves-to-read’s ears. So, you know I’ll do what I can to keep the “Reading is Fun” party going.
As a fourth-grader, Little Man participates in a program at his school called Accelerated Reader (AR), a K-12 program developed by Renaissance Learning, Inc. that encourages reading practice. Each week, he’s required to accomplish a set reading goal of 100 minutes. There’s no definitive rule on how those 100 minutes should be parceled out, which gives a child ample time to reach this goal in addition to completing other daily homework assignments. Ideally, a child could take 20 minutes a day for 5 days out of the week and easily meet the requirement. However, the goal-setting doesn’t stop there. Children in this program will definitely need to go well beyond the required goal in order to complete a chapter book or two a week.
In addition, along with reading the 100 minutes, Little Man is required to test over the book he reads (for reading comprehension purposes) and earn points from the test based on the test score. So, he has to receive so many points each week to meet a cumulative points goal by week’s end. This may sound a little excessive, but I’ve come to find that a fourth-grader’s goal achievement in the AR Program is realistically possible. And when you have a Little Man that gets in several hundred minutes of reading each week, because he just loves reading sooooooooooooooooo very much, reading possibilities are limitless. Plus, it helps that he has a smorgasbord of enjoyable children’s book titles to choose from, as long as they’re within his reading range or higher, which is determined through individualized student testing.
Get this. The thing that I love about this reading program is that the student also has options for the method in which he or she chooses to actually “read” the books. Here’s what Little Man and I do to successfully meet his reading goal each week:
- Little Man can read the book(s) silently to himself.
- Little Man can read the book(s) out loud to me or another family member (usually it’s me though).
- I can read the book(s) out loud to Little Man (a wonderful bed-time routine option).
- Little Man and I can alternate reading out loud to one another.
Our weekly reading practice usually involves a mashup of the four methods above.
Now before I conclude, I can’t help but to announce my top 5 children’s book series (as determined over the course of Little Man’s third grade year through the present). If you’re looking for humorous, adventurous, engaging, family-oriented, interesting, educational, entertaining, imaginative, and illustrative must-reads for elementary school readers, I’ve got some noteworthy book suggestions for you.
Here are the top 5 children’s book series that Little Man and I have spent countless hours reading together:
- Who Would Win? book series by Jerry Pallotta
- Junie B. Jones book series by Barbara Park
- Geronimo Stilton book series by Elisabetta Dami
- Judy Moody book series by Megan McDonald
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series by Jeff Kinney
And, here’s a bonus book series that I threw in for good measure. I spent my elementary school years relishing in the adventures that Beverly Clearly so brilliantly laid out for her young audiences. I grew up on her books, love them to this day, and credit them for making up some of that foundation that cultivated my love for reading at an early age.
♦Ramona/Beezus/Henry book series by Beverly Cleary (ahhhhhhh . . . the good ole days)♦
Believe me when I say, I might be reading and re-reading through some of these book series for researching, inspirational, and motivational purposes in preparation for when I’m ready to start writing my own children’s book series. Or, maybe I just want to read them for the sheer joy of it all. Reading is Fun!
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