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I am looking ahead to using Beyond this fall and collecting books, etc. All of the selections for "adventure" look too scary for my super sensitive girls. Does anyone have other suggestions? (Other than my question here, it all looks like so much fun and I'm looking forward to using it!)

How about The Littles, Stuart Little, or My Father's Dragon? Your library probably has all of them.

We read A Lion to Guard Us and The Sword in the Tree... neither of them was really scary. Especially not The Sword in the Tree. ALtGU was not scary, but a bit sad at times.

Hm.... I mean like really really really sensitive. lol

My Father's Dragon looks like it might work! Do you think that one is ok for the "adventure" selection in Beyond? Thanks for all the help!

The Appendix in Beyond suggests The Twenty One Balloons for Adventure. We havent' read it yet, but the descriptions i have found look pretty safe for sensitive children. Perhaps someone who has read it could offer up some information.

I was looking at that one, but the concept seemed like it would be really hard for my little one to understand.

Well my next suggestion would be Baby Island. It doesn't come up in the guides until Bigger Hearts, but I had a 1st and 3rd grader when we read it and they both loved it. The younger one is now in 4th grade and excited to get to read it again for Bigger Hearts this year.

May I ask, Is your siggy correct? If you're just starting Little Hearts, I'd see how she does with the Burgess books. You may find as she matures she'll do better with the content of books.

We'll be reading The Sword in the Tree; King of the Wild would be my second choice.

No, my signature is a little old. . Lucy just turned 6 and places really well in Beyond. We started LHFHG late in the year so only did part of it. She loved the Burgess books that we read. I'm moving her up to Beyond in the fall bc LHFHG is too easy for her/ not on her level. Some of the conecpts in these read alouds, a parent dying and the kids alone, trying to survive... It would be way too much for her. My Fathers Dragon seems silly enough she might like it. I'm not against stretching her limits a bit, but need to be careful with her little heart. Thanks again for the suggestions!

My dc LOVED The 21 Balloons. We've read it twice now; first when the oldest three were in 2nd,1st, and preK, and then again when they were near the end of 3rd,2nd, and K. They didn't find it to be scary at all.

Mine loved Baby Island too, but I wouldn't recommend it for the really super sensitive since it involves the whole survival-without-the-parents thing. Unless you can reassure them that it has a happy ending!

Thanks for asking this. My children, especially my 4YO, are very very sensitive and the 4YO has listened to all the storytimes. We've already been dealing with the "Mommy, I don't want you and Daddy to die" issue with her, I would hate to feed into her fears.

I will check out My Father's Dragon!

mercymom wrote:My Father's Dragon looks like it might work! Do you think that one is ok for the "adventure" selection in Beyond? Thanks for all the help!

Yes, it's on the HOD Sample Book List under adventure, level 2/3.

Oh, the DITHOR list? I guess that's the one list I don't have! We aren't starting DITHOR till the next year. I'm guessing there are other options in DITHOR so we will still have other choices once we get there?

yes there are many options listed for each genre and each level on the DITHOR list. You'll be able to find suitable books there.