My DD and I are in a Mom's and Daughter's book club. All of the girls are in 2nd or 3rd grade. We meet every other month and have read a mixture of newer and classic books. I'm looking for suggestions on books to pick when it is our turn. Some thoughts: Ribsy by Beverly Cleary, Misty of Chincoteague, and Judy Blume's SuperFudge series starting with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.
Any other ideas of your favorites?
Thank you to everyone who has responded. You all have certainly transported me back to elementary school. I had forgotten about some of these great books (Bobbsey Twins and Boxcar Children!). I am going to make a list of all of your suggestions so others can choose them if they want. There were so many good books from my childhood, it's going to be hard to choose!
I like the idea of the autism book. I think two of the girls have siblings with autism and all of the girls go to a school where many of the autistic children in the county attend.
The books by E.B. White - Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan.
Anything Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, etc.
The Little House on the Prairie series.
A Wrinkle in Time
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Secret Garden
Charlotte's Web
The Little House books
anything by Roald Dahl
I never really knew the term chapter book when I was a kid...did they use this in the 80's or is this a modern school thing? But, I loved the Babysitter's Club books, the Ramona books, Trixie Belden books, Charlotte's Web, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and the book that made me a life long reader, A Wrinkle in Time.
Little House Books
Charlotte's web, I think I was a bit older than that.
There was a series of books called The Houseboat series. I've never seen it since. Has anybody else? Of course the books I read in the 60s were published at latest, in the 50s.
Baby Sitter's Club, and Boxcar Children were my favorite chapter series.
Little House in the Big Woods. I loved the whole Little House series.
I used to read the little house on the prairie books over and over. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough for those and the Chronicles of Narnia, another childhood favorite.
How funny, my friend was just telling me last night that she and some other friends started a book club for their daughters who are going into third grade. They talked about a lot of the same books - lots of Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume. She mentioned Roald Dahl, specifically Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, but there are other great Dahl books as well. A few others:
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Little House on the Prairie
Gone Away Lake (and other books by Elizabeth Enright)
Boxcar Children
Bobbsey Twins (these were old but I loved them)
All of a Kind Family (there are a few in this series)
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Inside Out by Ann M Martin (not sure if you can find this, but I loved it. Deals with a boy with autism, so might be good if the girls know people on the spectrum)
The Four Story Mistake, The Saturdays, and Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright (all books about the same family - The Melendy family - that I really loved)
The Phantom Tollbooth
Charlotte's Web
I also loved the Babysitters Club, but I'm not sure if that's great for a book club. It would be fun for your daughter just to read on her own though.
One thing to try to find out is what books will they have to read for school. I guess a few of the books suggested to my friend's book club were going to be assigned in the school year, so they didn't want to do those and have the kids repeat them in a few months.
ETA:
T.T. - I thought about Harry Potter, because I LOVE it, but I think second grade might still be a little too young.
I second The Chronicles of Narnia.
In addition to all the great suggestions, I loved all the Beverly Cleary books when I was growing up, not just the Ramona books or Ribsy. I really, really loved Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Little Princess. It started off as a short story called Sara Crewe, if you think The Little Princess is too long.
There is a series of books by Lucy Fitch Perkins that were published in the early 1900s about twins of different nationalities. I don't know how we came to own them, but I had "The Eskimo Twins" and "The Belgian Twins." They were really cool books. I just checked on Amazon, and they have the entire series available for free Kindle download.
I also liked "Encyclopedia Brown," "The Great Brain," and "All-of-a-Kind Family" series and Greek myth and fairy tale anthologies, including the color fairy books by Andrew Lang. Oh, and I can't believe no one's mentioned Harry Potter yet.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon, I Mean Noel by Ellen Raskin
Mine For Keeps by Jean Little
as they get a little older, the Alanna series by Tamora Price
and the Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander (historical fantasy)
Many of the older books are very sweet, and a nice break from "current" books - it's nice to go back to a gentler time.
All of the ones mentioned were favorites.
Another couple to add:
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery. My favorite series ever. I'm going to get hardbound copies for our daughter when she's just a little older.
The Nancy Drew mystery books
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahme.
And all of the Nancy Drew series.
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
There is a web site called readkiddoread.com It was set up by the author James Patterson with input from others. It has lots of suggestions that are also divided by age and some share reviews. That might be another resource. Have fun in your book club!
Little house on the prairie
Little Women was my FAV at about that age...and also ANY biography on famous women in history...
I guess even at that tender age, I was a feminist! lol
I liked all the Judy Bloom books, and I remember loving 'The Indian in the Cupboard'...& I really liked the 'choose your own adventure' books!
~Sadly I am so old that they weren't called 'chapter books' when I was a kid, they were just called 'books' ..,hee-hee!
Mother/Daughter book club?! Very, Very Cool!!!
My Side of the Mountain. I bought the set for my oldest last Christmas and he loved it. I still read it occasionally and love being out in the woods with Sam Gribley and Frightful.
The Tripods Trilogy by John Christopher (first book is The White Mountains). My 5th grade teacher read them aloud to us in class and we were SPELLBOUND. Excellent.
Anne of Green Gables and all of the Anne books.
All the Ramona books. I loved any mention of Picky-picky. :-)
I could go on and on, but you already have some excellent suggestions.
Some great suggestions below!
I also loved Island of the Blue Dolphins and My Side of the Mountain, both about children surviving in the wilderness. My son and I are over 900 pages into the 1300+ page complete Wizard of Oz series and we are really enjoying that together. Though I will warn you that the Wogglebug's Tale has the n word in it.
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is really fun. Watership Down, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Princess Bride. Jack London's books are great (White Fang, Call of the Wild, etc.) Where the Red Fern Grows and Sounder if you like tear jerkers, or Bridge to Terabithia or Tuck Everlasting. The Littles series and The Borrowers.
I can't wait to re-read these with my kiddos!
Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Mysteries.
My daughter is going into 3rd grade and she is really into classics right now. She likes a little princess, the secret garden. She has little women but hasn't read it yet. It's a long book so she is a bit overwhelmed by it. She is currently reading treasure island.
When I was younger but maybe 5th grade, I LOVED anne of green gables!
Great question! Books that stand out for me personally are Where The Red Fern Growns, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret and the VC Andrews series (maybe too mature for your 2nd grader), Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
My daughter, who will be in 2nd also, and I love to read before bed. Recently, we've read Charlotte's Web, Little House in the Big Woods and we're currently on Matilda.
My daughter likes to read the Rainbow Fairies on her own. There are tons of great book series' for little girls.
LOVED The Boxcar Children
If you are looking for a bit of an easier more contemporary read my kids love puppyplace books by ellen miles and a to z mysteries.
I would caution that either super fudge or 4thgrade nothing reveal that santa isn't real, so. Just fyi.
For classics I like wiz of oz. Rats of nihm, and harriet the spy
Caddie woodlawn. Where the lillys bloom (for older). Trumpet of the swans
Try googling books that empower girls
Little House series.
Also, Black Beauty.
Definitely...Boxcar Children!
