books to improve vocabulary

[Tulip]

Could anyone please help what are the good reading books to improve
vocabulary for verbal reasoning. Thank you...!!!

[Ohgosh!]

Hi Tulip,

With my DD I found that the schofield & Sims 'Springboard' books were very good - I think we started from about book 6.
The other one which was brilliant was the First Aid in English book (get the answer book too) which has been mentioned in the past.

Hope that helps

[la boume]

Usual advice is to read classics

[Tulip]

Thank you la buome and ohgosh! for your advice.

[Elizabeth]

Lemony Snickett is pretty good. He actually includes some difficult vocab in his books and then gives you the definition of the word in brackets afterwards and another example of when it might be used.

[Marylou]

Lemony Snickett is pretty good. He actually includes some difficult vocab in his books and then gives you the definition of the word in brackets afterwards and another example of when it might be used.

I agree. His explanations of words in the context in which he is using them are often highly amusing!

[C.Greasley]

Afternoon,

My advice to parents on expanding vocabulary is always the same: let them read.

This isn't implied snobbishly, as a superior medium to television, film, or radio. However books intrinsically contain more standardised language, with a stronger focus on grammar, language variety and without the immediate idiolect/linguistic oddities that spoken language presents.

There is no "good set" of books, to read, but important reading material is synonymous with texts that are descriptive, full of neat structural ideas, polemical or imaginative. Harry Potter is as good as Pride & Prejudice for the purpose.

However, beginning your reading list with books which have an imaginative hook is important. The Chronicles of Narnia (read as a series), The Illiad/Odyssey (get suitable translations, obviously), books on school days (empathy!), are all good examples.

Reading at all parts of the day is therefore the key. Don't just leave it at books - newspaper articles (the online world is invaluable), newsletters, and other documents can all provide different styles of writing, different sets of vocabulary and keep your child improving on a daily basis.

[um]

I would also say that if children won't read (and admittedly, some won't), then read to them...failing that, play audio books.
We've built up a lovely collection of audio books and listen to them on the school run, long car journeys, or while cooking together. Libraries usually have a good selection to borrow, too.

[Tulip]

Thank you very much um and C.Greasley for your advice.