Scholastic Book Wizard

At the left of my screen you will find the Scholastic Book Wizard.  With the Book Wizard, you can type in the name of a book that you are reading to find out lots of neat information on the book.  The interest level tells you what grades are typically interested in that book.  The grade level equivalent tells you what grade the book is suitable for.  If the book says 4.3, then that book is suitable for an average student in fourth grade during the third month of school.  Most kids range anywhere from a late second grade level and can go up to 5th or 6th grade level (sometimes even higher for the really strong readers).  The thing to watch out for though, is making sure your child is comprehending what they are reading.  They might be able to read the words on the page, but if they are not understanding and comprehending what they are reading, then that becomes an issue.  I would much rather them read books more at their level and comprehend what they read.  There is also an Accelerated Reader Quiz option.  If there is a green check next to this, it means that there is an available Accelerated Reader Quiz.  However, the school might not have purchased the rights to that quiz.

I really like this book search engine, because then you could spend time looking at other books an author has written.  You could write those books down if you think it interests your child.  He/She could then bring that list to school and check those books out from the library.

I also like this option because in third grade Accelerated Reader is new to them.  Some kids tend to go for the larger books because they know they can get more points with them.  However, those larger books are usually at a harder level.  If you think your child is bringing home books that are too hard, you can get onto the Scholastic Book Wizard and check out what reading level it is.  This would be good proof for a child who doesn't want to back away from trying to read the book.  If your child still doesn't want to back away from reading a much too hard book, then I would suggest buddy reading with an older sibling or with a parent/grandparent with that person making sure to ask clarifying questions as you read.

Let me know how useful you think the Book Wizard is!  I'm sorry it doesn't fit in that column to the left, but it was too useful to not keep there!  All you have to do is type in your book/author/keyword and then press enter on your keyboard.  :)