a mind is a terrible thing to ... uh ... nevermind

[cris]

On the way over to the school, my coworkers and I were talking about why we were volunteering for this program to read to first graders. Many of them were married, and their motivations were similar -- young parents either training themselves to read to kids, or old hands at the job, who liked doing it when their son and daughter was 3, and didn't

Comments

[hysterikal]

This sounds like such a great opportunity! Too much fun ... and you scored a seriously fantastic kid. Nice. I'm delving into the deep recesses of my brainmatter trying to remember what my little brother read when he was in first grade ... but that was - CHRIST! - six years ago, so I might be at a loss. Harry Potter comes to mind (it's like the kids' book default of the day, right?) but only if you're reading to him - I think it's too advanced for him to read himself. Then again, he's writing in English and Hongul ... hand him the Lord of the Rings. Hehe.

Serious for a moment ... what about The DK Big Book of Trains (more for browsing) or any of the Bill Pete or Dr Suess books? Anyway, the Thomas the Tank Engine series is HUGE, so that could potentially keep you busy forever.

[cris]

DK Big Book of Trains might actually be a good first choice. We only have 20 minutes of reading time, so something light and browsable might be good to start with before I can figure out what he can really handle.

I was probably around third grade when I saw the Ralph Bakshi version of Lord of the Rings, that pretty much got me going on the LOTR books, but I think even at that age I was still feeling like I was a little in over my head. Though, I also remember feeling pretty grown up because I was reading books without pictures.

[atalanta]

E.B. White, totally.

[cris]

Charlotte's Web! I'm pretty sure I was about his age when I was exposed to that, so that'll probably work.

[ladytatiana]

i second e.b white....(don't forget stuart little, too)! and don't forget roald dahl. narnia chronicles and the hobbit sound like a good idea, too....as a good number of children have probably already been exposed to lemmony snicket (?) and the harry potter series.
btw...i think this is a wonderful thing to do and i am actually considering doing the same as a result of your post ;)

[cris]

I think they should have something going with the area schools. One of the minor complications with our company's participation is that we will likely be moving to somewhere around 128 next year (Burlington/Lexington area), and the program coordinator said that we should be able to transfer to another school if it would be too arduous for us to drive to Cambridge. So, yeah, if we can participate from Burlington, there shouldn't be a problem with Woburn.

[ayun]

I've got a handful of, um, smart kid books if you're interested in poking through them. They're laid out as picture books, but have pretty sophisticated subject matter, all things considered.

[ayun]

And there's a new David Macaulay book coming out this month!

Books with titles like Fishes Dangerous To Man are what I remember most vividly from that age, but that's not necessarily an endorsement.

[cris]

daaaaaaaaaaamn ... screw the kid, I'd pick that book up for myself.

TheLittleReaderThatCould made a sour face when I said that my favorite subject was history (thus slightly dampening what was otherwise an awesome first day) so I don't know if he'll be all that interested in Castle or Cathedral, but I might try to score a copy of The Way Things Work since he's seems rather science prone.

[ayun]

He might still be into them - they've got a lot to do with engineering and practical matters, as I recall. Anyway, I can loan you Cathedral or Pyramid if you want to test the waters.

And if I can find Mosque at the next booksale (sometime in November, supposedly) I'll pick up an extra copy for you.

feed the mind

[sanguineempathy]

"what might be good books for a precocious first-grader. Anyone have suggestions?"

Perhaps some Roald Dahl?