Please Look After This Bear

Alice has been reading Paddington Bear. She's now read the first three books in the series, a chapter a night, on our recently purchased Kindle, relishing and occasionally dreading the misadventures of the well-meaning, marmalade-loving, accident-prone bear from Peru.

Everyone said that the Kindle can make a huge difference for dyslexic readers, and they're right. The non-backlit screen of the basic version is not too contrast-y (I know that's not a word); the machine itself is light and easy to handle. Best of all, Alice can alter the size of the font, the spacing of the lines and even the font itself to her own preferences. In the past, she's given up on many books because the print is so small, the lines so close together, that deciphering the words is a real headache for her (literally).

The only problem is now: what to read next? Even the last Paddington volume was starting to get a little bit hard for her. The words had become slightly longer, the plots more convoluted, and she wasn't enjoying it quite so much. But I desperately want her to keep up the habit of reading every night; it's all too easy to derail her.

I had been hoping she could tackle 101 Dalmatians next, which is one of her all time favourite books, and very familiar, but it's not available on the Kindle. I've loaded up one of Lois Lowry's Anastasia books to try next, so we'll see how that goes. Lots of people have made helpful suggestions, which I will follow up. I was going to try Edward Eager's Half Magic, a favourite from my own childhood, but alas! Not available on e-book. Not yet, anyway.

Wish us luck -- any further suggestions will be gratefully received!