Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

by Kate DiCamillo

Lexile 700L

A gentle, beautiful story of a lost china-headed rabbit, and his journeys through difficult times. He spends years traveling all over the world, lying at the bottom of the sea, and finding the love of people of all ages. The drawings that accompany the story are as elegant as Edward's handmade wardrobe; the writing shines.

While Edward's adventures are sometimes perilous and heartbreaking, I think the emotions raised are good ones to discuss with children. Would be a good read-aloud book as a first exposure to the story. My son first read it at age 6, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Lexile: 970

One tip I've found, when searching for appropriate books for my accelerated reader, is to go back to the classics. The Secret Garden is perfect. A beautifully-written combination of adventure and fantasy, this story draws children in as the story comes to life. An orphaned, spoiled child named Mary comes to live in a dark, brooding house in rural England. She discovers an abandoned garden and begins the process of helping it to bloom again.

After reading this book, my son wanted to talk about all the flowers we saw in town, and he asked many questions about Dicken and his remarkable bond with animals. It's a gentle story with many layers; children will go back to it again and again. I recommend the remarkably illustrated version by Inga Moore, whose drawings feel as if they've always been associated with the story.

My son first read this book at age 5. There are some exciting plot twists, but nothing overtly scary.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Lexile: not listed, but about 800-900

The Mysterious Benedict Society is a wonderful kid-centered adventure. An orphaned child sees an ad in the newspaper: Wanted: Extraordinary children. He shows up for the exam and is drawn into a world where children are the most important piece in a plan to overthrow an odious leader who is invading the country through subliminal messages in technology.

This book is exciting and scary and un-putdownable. Its themes are likely too advanced for very young readers, but slightly more mature readers will find the adventure fast-paced, the story well-told, and the vocabulary appropriately challenging. My son read this at age 6 1/2 and promptly turned back to the beginning and read it again.

The Hobbit

by J R R Tolkien

Lexile: 1000
Subjects: fantasy, adventure

I just gave this to my 6-year-old wondering whether he'd like it.

I barely saw him the rest of the day.

The Hobbit is a wonderfully elaborate tale of redemption, adventure, and self-exploration. Something resonated with him in this reading. I wondered if we should've read it together first, but he seemed to do well. I wouldn't have had him read it much before now (he's close to 7)

My Father's Dragon

By Ruth Gannett


Lexile: 990
Subjects: Adventure, Fantasy, Animals, Dragons


In My Father's Dragon , a young boy tells about the adventures his father (Elmer Elevator) had as he tried to rescue a baby dragon. This is a great book for young readers who are getting used to reading chapter books; it only has 86 pages and lots of black & white illustrations, but the vocabulary is challenging and the story line is compelling. Plus, there are two additional books in this series: Elmer and the Dragon (Lexile: 800) and The Dragons of Blueland (Lexile: 810). This book was a 1948 Newbery Honor book.

You can even read this book online from the Digital Library at the University of Pennsylvania:
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/gannett/dragon/dragon.html

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl

Lexile: 810
Subjects: childhood, friendship, adventure

Dahl's classic story about adventure within the walls of a clandestine chocolate factory is deeply satisfying to children. I worried a bit about Dahl's over-the-top style for a younger reader, but my son inhaled this book at age 4 without a problem. The sequel, "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," is scarier with its outer-space characters and is probably better for slightly older readers.

Little House in the Big Woods

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lexile: 930
Topics: pioneer life, family

My son first started this book at age 4, but couldn't continue reading it. He was frightened by the idea of the wolf at the door, and it took some processing for him to realize that there were no wolves near our home in the city! We put it away for a few months and he completed it before he turned 5, with no further concerns on his part. But this is a classic, beautiful book about family, love, hard work, and the intricacies of pioneer life. The whole series (through Little Town on the Prairie, when the books become increasingly relationship-oriented) have been well-read in our house.

Shadrach

by Meindert DeJong

Lexile: 710
Subjects: childhood, friendship

This is a wonderful book about a Dutch boy's anticipation of Shadrach, his black rabbit, and his experiences with the rabbit when he finally arrives. DeJong captures the innocence and questioning of childhood in phrases with which children deeply resonate.

My son read this book first at age 4; there are no frightening topics.

An explanation

I'll try to make this a helpful blog, meaning that it should be searchable for subject and lexile. I've found the lexile framework to be quite helpful in determining how advanced the vocabulary in certain texts will be, and whether I should anticipate giving assistance with vocabulary and contextual elements.

Click here for the homepage of the Lexile Framework; click here for the Lexile Map with sample books in PDF format.

In the beginning

I love to read. My perfect job would be sitting in a hammock and reading books one after another while drinking lemonade and eating dark chocolate.

But who am I kidding? Truly, though, I cram in reading to every possible moment. I've learned not to bring good books home from the library too often, because I'm apt to leave the sink full of dirty dishes or stay up until 3am just to finish.

Somehow, my sons have picked up on this passion of mine. My six-year-old has been reading since he was two, though he didn't let us know for a while. I have a videotape of him reading right after his third birthday, him in the bathroom alone with the video camera, Mommy having been unceremoniously commanded to the hallway. He read "Parts" and a story from "Frog and Toad" with a wily three-year-old grin to the camera lens. He's never looked back.

Today, I have trouble keeping up with him. He will read books repeatedly and rapidly, and it's tough finding books that are appropriate for his reading level while also not too advanced for his emotional maturity. I was unable to find good lists of books appropriate for accelerated readers, so I'm enlisting the help of some friends and starting my own!

I hope this blog is helpful to you and the precocious readers in your life!