Books for a 10-year-old girl with a learning disability?

January 10, 2005 9:45 PM

Books for a 10-year-old girl with a learning disability? (+)

Our 10 year old has a slight learning disability, almost mild dyslexia. She has trouble spelling and recognising words so finds reading a real struggle. She has had some remedial therapy, which has helped, and if she finds something that interests her she'll lap it up. At the moment she's reading every Simpsons comic she can find, and the hilarious Andy Griffiths "Just Disgusting" books, but I'd love her to get into more "serious" books as I believe them to be very important to a child's development.

Any suggestions for some suitable books or series? Bear in mind that her reading age is less than 10, and she's a bit of a tomboy so your Sweet Valley High and Pony Club type books will be right out. Also, some of the books I loved as a kid (Paddington Bear, Biggles) are terribly old-fashioned now.

posted by TiredStarling to Education (12 answers total)

The Fantastic Mr. Fox -- your daughter sounds like a Roald Dahl kind of gal.
posted by Marit at 10:22 PM on January 10, 2005

Is Lemony Snicket too advanced? Also, look at Shel Silverstein for poetry (including tongue twisters and stuff that helps with phonetics), and my all-time favorite, The Giving Tree.
posted by aberrant at 10:29 PM on January 10, 2005

I loved Daniel Pinkwater at that age (and actually I still love his stuff) -- he has books aimed at both "young adults" and younger kids, so I'd start with the stuff with larger print.
posted by xil at 10:29 PM on January 10, 2005

Also see this post from a week ago - there are some great suggestions in there.
posted by Dag Maggot at 10:56 PM on January 10, 2005

Dag's link is a great one! I had completely forgotten about Encyclopedia Brown. Might be just her thing, given her tomboyishness.
posted by aberrant at 11:03 PM on January 10, 2005

A familiar classic, but I'll mention it anyways: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer prize-winning comicbooks, Maus I & II are difficult to digest emotionally, but it might be what you're looking for insofar as the urgent, fantastical illustration speed a really great narrative along.

Finally, Shaun Tan's prize-winning picture books are thin on words, but his illustrations are wonderful, astonishing, rich: The Red Tree is one of the most wondrous books I've ever seen, and for a while I've craved it for myself.
posted by ori at 12:52 AM on January 11, 2005

As a tomboy girl myself... I have a few easier book recommendations, but I'd also suggest that you set aside time every night to read aloud from more difficult books that have compelling, magical stories.

If you get her hooked on the stories, her desire to read will stay strong until her abilities catch up. If she's too young for some of these, save 'em for next year.

Easier books she may be able to read alone:

Anything by Dr. Seuss.
The Eloise books by Kay Thompson.
The Fudge books by Judy Blume.
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.
The Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren.

Books to read with her (at first):

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques.
The Borrowers series by Mary Norton.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink.
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
Calico Captive by Elizabeth Speare.
The Anastasia series by Lois Lowry.
The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald.
The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Harry Potter!

One last suggestion: if you can afford it, buy paperbacks of all the books she likes best. My most treasured possession as a kid was a box set of Little House books. Kids love reading their favorite stories over and over, and such repetition will really help her reading skills.
posted by naomi at 7:08 AM on January 11, 2005

Naomi has pretty much nailed the comprehensive list, but I would suggest The Secret Garden (also by Frances Hodgson Burnett) over A Little Princess. I read them both repeatedly, obsessively as a kid, but the story to the Secret Garden is more compelling, I think.

Also, I wouldn't worry about books being old fashioned, if your daughter likes them. I know it didn't matter to me.
posted by dame at 9:13 AM on January 11, 2005

I strongly recommend the Little House series. Laura Ingalls Wilder is the original tomboy. The series starts out with fairly simple, easy to read language. It gradually matures, but you can judge when it's time for the next book. I have the set in hardback and re-read it every couple years or so.

And ..er.. what naomi and dame said.
posted by deborah at 10:21 AM on January 11, 2005

I've read recently that mild dyslexia can actually be caused by not understanding phonemes very well. In that vein, I'd definitely second the Silverstein recommendation - when kids can distinguish sounds better they distinguish words better.
posted by u.n. owen at 1:39 PM on January 11, 2005

Oh, and Sideways Stories from Wayside School and EVERYTHING ELSE by louis sachar ever. Often laugh-a-minute, tiny chapters that are easy to read and it still reads well to adults.

A friend of mine has an autographed copy of Sideways Stories. I want to kill him and steal it.
posted by u.n. owen at 1:40 PM on January 11, 2005

If she digs Roald Dahl, try The BFG. One of my all-time favorites, and not too challenging for 10. I'd also check out Beverly Cleary's Ribsy series.
posted by me3dia at 1:43 PM on January 11, 2005