Books My 6 Year Old Loves to Read

I am going to stick with my reading theme today and share some of my six year old son's favorite books.

Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems

These books are his number one favorite right now. They are easy for him to read. They don't pose much of a challenge for him. They are so funny and silly though. He reads them over and over again. Anyone who is willing to listen will be read one or six of these books. The enjoyment level is high and his reading fluency has improved drastically from reading and rereading this wonderful series.  

 

Little Bear By Else Holmelund Minarik

This series is a classic and a TV show. My little guy doesn't remember the show but has fallen in love with the Little Bear books. This series introduced him to the joy of chapter books. Each book has four stories/chapters that add to one cohesive theme throughout the book. The text is difficult enough to challenge him but not hard enough to frustrate him. He loves the stories and the characters. We even enjoyed a chapter this morning from Little Bear's Visit.

 

Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

This chapter book series is short and easy to read. It is easier and shorter than Little Bear. That is one of the reasons my little guy loves Fly Guy. He really enjoys all the silly adventures that Fly Guy goes on. Sometimes Fly Guy simply goes on a road trip, but sometimes things get more wild like in Fly Guy and the Frankenfly.  

 

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

To be fair he hasn't actually finished one of these. Book one was the first chapter book he attempted. He is at least five chapters in though and really gets into the story. The text is challenging for him quite often but he makes it through each page quite well. One of the reasons he has shelved this book for a while is that he really needed to feel the accomplishment of finishing books and this one will take quite a long time for him to finish. He is really drawn in by the story and characters. I think this book will be back in his hands soon because he really wants to see what happens to these four orphans living in a boxcar.

What are some of your kiddos favorite books to read? I know my little guy would love some recommendations!

The Reading Prize

One of my goals in Jayne's education is to instill in him a love of reading. I love to read and I want him to also. I taught him to read, so it is time to start instilling.

The reading prize was born!

It started off that we would give him a prize if he read. We had no idea how it would go so we basically made it 1 book for every dollar that the prize cost, a chapter book counts for 3. It turns out that the prizes were very motivating and we knew that we needed to change tactics or we would go broke in no time at all. So we modified our plan to be more sustainable.

How it works:

He reads X amount of chapter books (3 regular books = 1 chapter book) and he receives a prize. Each time the goal goes up one more chapter book.

Right now Jayne needs to read 6 chapter books or 18 non-chapter books. We realized that the price of the prize was not the key factor so much as the desirability of the prize. Now, instead of spending $5-10 on each prize we selected a Lego education minifig set. We can separate them into tiny themed sets and he can earn one at a time. The one we ordered is the community figures. We will split it into 17 separate prizes. Since we used some Amazon rewards on it we got it for $40 and that makes each prize $2.35 each. That is a much better deal and is a quality toy.So how is this all working out for that love of reading? He is reading like a maniac to get his prizes. His biggest reading day he read 10 books and 1 chapter from a chapter book. He has also been reading for fun. He loves the Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie books. The rule is that it has to be a book he has never read before to count toward the goal. He has been reading these books over and over though, simply because he loves them so much. The goal is to eventually phase out the program, but for now it is really inspiring him and I can see his love for reading grow.



How have you helped your kids develop a love for reading?