[Ohiogift] Part 2, Suggested Books for Gifted Readers in Grades 1-4

Wed Dec 2 18:32:20 EST 2015

Everyone:

Some have asked about the recommended books from The Sycamore School, so below is the site discussion. The list includes the names of several books, as well as hyperlinks to top sites to help guide parents, teachers and others with book choices for young people. The primary site:
http://www.sycamoreschool.org/suggested-books-for-gifted-readers-in-grades-1-4/

Best wishes,
Art Snyder
artsnyder44 at cs.com

Suggested Books for Gifted Readers in Grades 1-4December 2nd, 2015 by Rob NicholsBy Glenna Lykens / Head of Lower School / Sycamore School
Many gifted children are voracious readers. They may have taught themselves to read at an early age, possess an advanced vocabulary, read much more than same age peers, and continue to love to read into and after middle school years. They often prefer nonfiction, or like fiction genres such as fantasy or science fiction. Gifted readers should be allowed to read or reread books of their choosing, but guidance (not dictation) with book suggestions can be helpful.
I believe that books can help gifted children develop in a variety of ways. As they explore their own identities, books can help them consider who they are and what they believe. It’s important that they can find books with characters and issues to which they can relate. Books can support children’s social and emotional development, helping them consider the importance of relationships, contemplate a different point of view, or develop empathy for others. Books often help children grow intellectually, as they develop passions for various topics or academic areas. It’s also important to expose gifted children to books that can help them appreciate a wide variety of genres. Since gifted readers can often read at a higher reading level than their age level, one concern of parents is finding books that have appropriate content for their child’s age level.
Parents can look for reviewed lists of books from a variety of places. Some I recommend are children’s and teachers’ choices lists from:
The International Literacy Association
http://www.literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/reading-lists
Various ages, teacher advice, 160 books.
Book award winners from the Association for Library Service to Children
Dozens of award-winners.
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia
Hoagies’ Gifted Ed
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/reading_lists.htm
Dozens of categories, hundreds of books.
Bertie Kingore
http://www.bertiekingore.com/gtchildreninlit.htm
Annotated list.
Davidson Institute for Talent Development
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/browse_resources_273.aspx
Tremendous array of suggestions, by category.
There are so many wonderful books for gifted kids that on any particular day I can come up with totally different suggestions, but I would like to share some books I talked about recently at a parent presentation at Sycamore School. It is fun to pair books together, so I have created a list of three great pairings, with six total books.
1. It is based on the true story of a gorilla kept captive for 27 years in a shopping mall storefront before being able to spend his last years in a kinder environment at Zoo Atlanta. Ivan, the gorilla, is the narrator of the book and focuses on his perspective of his life and friendships. A great book to pair with this is the picture book Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla, also by Katherine Applegate. It tells Ivan’s story in the traditional way, and includes facts and photos of Ivan at the end.
2. Another great pairing is Chris Van Allsburg’s books The Mysteries of Harris Burdick and The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. The first one is a picture book with Van Allsburg’s signature mysterious illustrations, each of which includes just a sentence story starter. It’s great for kids to be able to create their own written or oral story to accompany the pictures. The second book was written years later, and includes a story created for each picture by different children’s book authors. It’s fun for kids to compare their stories to the authors’ stories.
3. A final pairing is Jacqueline Briggs Martin’s Snowflake Bentley paired with the book by Bentley titled Snow Crystals. Snowflake Bentley is the biography of Wilson Bentley, born in 1865, who spent years photographing snowflakes and discovered that no two snowflakes are alike. Snow Crystals is his published book of his photographs. Kids will love hearing his story and seeing his beautiful photographs. It will make them excited for the first snow of the season!
Many children enjoy reading graphic novels, and there are many to choose from. One I shared was a graphic novel done of the classic book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. It could be interesting to see which version your child might like best. The story is a great book about children searching for their missing father. It’s a fantasy and a mystery, and children will be able to relate to the characters in the story, all of whom are gifted in different ways. I personally like the original best, but have had students at Sycamore praise the graphic novel version! A book that is not a graphic novel, but is full of wonderful illustrations is the chapter book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It’s a great book for kids that are both avid and reluctant readers, since about half of the 530 pages tell the story through illustrations only. It’s the longest book to every win the Caldecott Medal in 2008.
Many students at Sycamore recommended the book Land of Stories: The Wishing Well by Chris Colfer. I have to agree it’s a wonderful book, the first in a series about a brother and sister that end up in a land of fairy tale characters. Gifted kids enjoy fantasy and this one delivers with magic and mystery as they try to get back home. Another fantasy is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Stewart, also the first in a series. What’s great about this one is that the characters are all gifted children.
Some books I shared that I feel focus on children learning to understand and accept other people and cultures are The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Rain Reign by Ann Martin, Silent Music: A Story of Bagdhad by James Rumford, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. Some are picture books and some are chapter books; read about them on Amazon to see what you think.
I don’t have the space to continue book talking, but I am including my entire list of suggestions. You may want to take the time to check them out and see which ones might be a great fit for your child. There are fiction, nonfiction, and poetry selections. Don’t assume a picture book must be for younger children, some of the picture books will be great for older elementary kids. I hope you enjoy these!
Links have added material from Art Snyder.

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