Customer Reviews

Chicken Soup for the Child's Soul: Character-Building Stories to Read with Kids Ages 5 through 8 (Chicken Soup for the Soul)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a heartwarming collection of stories that instills children with real-life messages that always hold true and reminds adults of their own special childhood memories. Very big in character-building, team-building and good old-fashioned entertainment. Good to read over and over, even past the age of 8.

I'm in the middle of reading this book with my 6/soon-to-be 7 year old son. Each night we pick out one or two of the stories to read at bedtime.

The pro's:
I love that each and every story sparks a conversation. As a first grade boy my son prefers knock-knock jokes and bathroom humor. I love this time in bed when we can ask each other things like, "What would you have done in this situation?" "What do you think are other ways to deal with this?" Also, my son can relate to alot of the stories, especially the one where the little girl cried that she was the only one in the world who didn't have a videogame station at home. It's wonderful to know that there are other kids just like him (heh, and other moms just like his). The manageable length of the stories (a quick 3-4 pages) is also perfect for bedtime and a young kid's attention span. Though it is virtually all text, the stories are usually succinct and maintain my son's attention.

The con's:
As my son observed, this is a collection of stories written by adults looking back on their childhood experiences. They are not stories written or told by children, nor are they written *to* children specifically. I say this because the vocabulary/writing style in many stories are beyond an early elementary school level. It is not a children's book the way early readers or storybooks are. Also, beware that some of the topics that might seem logical to us can actually be frightening to a young child. The first two stories we read were about (1) a boy who got hit by a car because he didn't obey his dad's instructions to not bike down the hill and (2) a boy exactly my son's age who got lost in the crowds at Disney World. Both had important messages, but the stories stressed my son out. The next day he said "NO chicken soup stories!!" but I found a tame one about a girl and her first dog, which he was happy with.

I might have to preview the stories before I read them to my son but all in all I recommend this for kids 6 and up.

Chicken Soup For The Child's Soul, is an excellent book filled with many inspirational stories. This is a great way for children and parents to spend quality time together, reading and enjoying each and every story. It's a wonderful way to build character and encourages children to make good choices.

Michelle Rossi

I am so pleased with this book. I am a second grade teacher and am using the stories as mentor texts for my students' personal narrative writing. They love the stories and their writing is expanding.

One doesn't like to blow his own horn, so I won't comment on the story, Mike's Trucks. However, I would just like to say ALL the other stories in the book are AWESOME! This would be a GREAT Bedtime Story Book or just a book to spend a little together time with your kids teaching them some lessons that they don't have to learn first hand:)
Ron Reese
Author
Mike's Trucks
Canton, NC

When I was teenager I used to read chicken soup stories all the time. Now I have the opportunity to read these beautiful and touching stories to my six year old daughter. She loves the short stories and it is a nice way to talk about different experiences.

my daughter and i love to read together and she and i both like the nice stories and lessons with them

I purchased this for my 7 year old granddaughter. She reads a story from it to me every night which is strengthening her reading skills and I like that it has situations that children commonly run in to and a solution at the end of the stories that was appropriate for the particular story. I think that this is a great book.

I think this could be a great book to read with your child. I gifted this to my brother to read with his kids :)

Stories are somewhat boring and unrealistic and often end abruptly. I'd rather talk to my child about character building than read this to her. Snoozefest.