If there is one thing I hope you take away from this episode – it’s this: keep reading to your 8-12 year olds.
Kids ages 8-12 are so fun to share books with, and you can have such wonderful conversations with this age group. Plus, you are continuing to make memories and associate reading with warm feelings. That’s a total win!
There’s lots more in The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids Through Books about reading with kids ages 8-12 (in fact, that picture for this podcast gives you a hint at some of the other recommendations for this age range in The Read-Aloud Family!), but today…
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- potential pitfalls when reading to 8-12’s
- what to do about “the classics”
- and just a couple of books that I think your 8- to 12-year-olds will love
(pssst… that picture gives you a hint of even more books I love for 8-12’s. They’re all listed with descriptions in The Read-Aloud Family.)
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Listener Guide
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast:
- 1:28 ‘A mom-to-mom connection’
- 3:54 Reading with 8- to 12-year-olds
- 6:19 Potential pitfalls
- 9:14 Feel silly reading to big kids?
- 10:15 Introducing the classics
- 11:30 Choosing books
- 13:08 Funny books, heroic books, and more
- 16:22 Heavier content, and talking things out
- 18:45 More Resources for parents of 8-12’s
- 20:04 Let the kids speak
More free resources and booklists
Get the best episodes and reources
from the Read-Aloud Revival
More free resources and booklists
Get the best episodes and reources
from the Read-Aloud Revival
Links from this episode:
- Order The Read-Aloud Family now anywhere books are sold
- Get the audio version of The Read-Aloud Family (read by Sarah Mackenzie) right here
- Use the hashtag #readaloudfamily to share photos on social media
- RAR #94: The Lowdown on Reading Aloud to 0-3 Year Olds
- RAR #95: The Lowdown on Reading Aloud to 4-7 Year Olds
- RAR #64: Helping Resistant Readers Fall in Love with Books, Laura Martin
- RAR #83: Why Read Picture Books with Older Kids?
Books from this episode:
(All links are Amazon affiliate links.)
A Bear Called Paddington
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
When Paddington Bear moves in with the Browns, life changes forever. This classic series of tales about a well-intentioned bear who finds himself in many unfortunate predicaments delights young readers. Especially wonderful if you can read it with a British accent. ;)
More info →
The Trumpet of the Swan
FROM SARAH:
You may know E.B. White best from Charlotte's Web or Stuart Little, but his delightful storytelling shines in this book, which beautifully describes both the natural world, and the nature of friendship. Get a free Family Book Club Guide to go with it right here.
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Like the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since he can't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him.
More info →
Stella by Starlight
FROM SARAH:
On a moonlit night in the segregated south, Stella and her little brother see something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come— unwelcome change. This story will leave you and your kids with an inspired sense of hope and wonder. (Make sure your kids are ready to hear about the Ku Klux Klan before starting this one. There's nothing graphic, but it's intense.)
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Stella lives in the segregated South--in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can't. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn't bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they're never supposed to see...
More info →
I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups
**Description from Amazon: The instant New York Times bestseller featured on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon! B. J. Novak (bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures) described this groundbreaking poetry collection as "Smart and sweet, wild and wicked, brilliantly funny--it's everything a book for kids should be."...
More info →
Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Priscilla Cilla Lee-Jenkins is on a tight deadline. Her baby sister is about to be born, and Cilla needs to become a bestselling author before her family forgets all about her. So she writes about what she knows best--herself!
More info →[read_button content=”The Read-Aloud Family” link=”http://amzn.to/2FRFjQE” align=”center”]
