William books by Richmal Crompton

[Kingfisher]

My point is that whilst she is enjoying them, let her carry on. If it all becomes a bit too much then she will stop of her own accord. And don't get her to look up more than a word or so every few pages - it will become tedious otherwise.

[mystery]

Yes I think you are right. Today she said she enjoyed it if I read it to her ... so we've gone back to me reading a few pages every now and then and she reads on in her head when I'm not available. She was keen ( to my amazement ) to look up a few words now and then in an electronic dictionary I have. I suppose for the last year or so I've got away with very little involvement at all with her reading so I need to be a good parent like Fatbananas for a change.

Does the nature of the writing change throughout the books? Richmal Crompton wrote gazillions of them. I don't remember thinking as a child that they were heavy-going in parts for a child, but they really strike me that way now.

[fatbananas]

I don't remember thinking as a child that they were heavy-going in parts for a child, but they really strike me that way now.

Perhaps you just skipped over the heavy-going bits when you read them as a child, to get to the heart and keep the pace of the story. It's what a child does; I remember doing that as a kid, and when I ask DS about a particular word or phrase in a book that he has read, he has never looked it up and sometimes doesn't know what it means, though other times may have worked out its meaning.

[Daogroupie]

She will adapt to the style. We have read them over and over especially the Bike story and the one where he ends up being a servant in the house where his father comes to tea. And the double negative one where he insists that his father has said he can have a party. And the one where he sells tickets to see the monster that it his aunt asleep. And the one where he is left in charge of the sweet shop. I think they are perfect, the themes are timeless and easy to understand. My dd's read them to me and we laugh every time and we also have audio tapes in the car.I have taught my students and dd that it does not really matter if the odd word escapes you. I write comprehension papers using really hard passages from classic Victorian fiction and the questions can still be answered with a sense of what is going on even if there are several words that are not understood. Just two days ago I told my students just that. "Don't worry about words you do not understand as long as you can answer the comprehension questions." Alpha has a comprehension paper using a Just William passage when he is one half of the dragon and the questions are really easy. It is great news she is on the fourth. Long may it continue. DG

[mystery]

Hey thanks everyone. Yes - long may it continue. My hunts for series of books that she likes and gets really absorbed by are long and expensive. When she gets to the end of a series she loves I feel the task ahead is as difficult as finding a new marriage partner would be.