Independent Reading

Bear turned six at the beginning of February, and one of the changes we have made for him growing up is that he gets to stay up for a little extra time at bedtime. He still gets bathed and ready for bed with his younger brother, and then we have story time together before their bedtime routine and getting into bed. However, now, Bear gets half an hour of independent reading time before he has to turn off his light and get settled down, and he is in his element!

He started off with one of his birthday presents, Dragon Tales by Dav Pilkey, which I bought for him having loved the way it was written. Clear, short chapters, colourful pictures and small amounts of text on each page. Plus, it's about a dragon, which Bear loves.

That first book was finished in three nights, being three short stories within the book, one story per night! Done. That was not what I'd expected when I'd said he could start reading at night... I should have known really, he is just like his mama, a total bookworm. But now I have to fund not only my own book addiction, but his too!

Once he had finished the book, we looked at writing a book review. He could easily talk to me, and tell me what each short story was about in the book, and together they made up a whole story about Dragon. The way he can recall stories, some parts word for word, especially speech, assures me that he is understanding and taking in what he reads. He can answer questions about the storyline and characters, giving more detail when asked for it.

His book review included being able to copy one of the pictures out of the book which he loved to do, and he wrote a sentence or two as a summary, giving it five stars! Then we moved on to a new book at bedtime... The Wizard of Oz, an early reader version.

He has made it through four books in February, including a couple that we sourced at the library, because if he is reading them this fast, there is no way that I can afford to buy them all. I have agreed to buy ones that we already have parts of a series for, and maybe a few new series if they are ones that I know we will reread and The Cub will love too, but many of them are going to have to come from the library, which means more regular visits there.

If I can get him onto bigger chapter books, I may be able to slow him down a little, but I don't want to overwhelm him, or have him struggle to take in the book if it is aimed a little older than him. For now, we will cope with speed reading books like I do, and see where his interests start to develop as far as genre goes.

And of course, wanting to be just like his big brother, I found The Cub in bed ready to be tucked in, chilling with a book. "I'm just reading my book." I let him finish looking through and then tucked him in that night with a smile on my face that both my babies love books as much as I do and that reading is enjoyable for them, and not a chore.

We'd love some recommendations of books suitable for a six year old to read independently; what are your favourites for this age group?

Mama Bear x