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PunkyBoo
06-13-2011, 12:20 PM
Punkin is finishing 1st grade this week, but he is a very strong reader. He has read all the Geronimo Stilton books and loves them. He has read almost all the Magic Tree House books and most of Roald Dahl's books. He can probably take on books listed as 3rd-4th grade reading level, maybe even higher. But he is generally not a fan of knights/ fighting/ Star Wars type of subject matter. Can you recommend any books for him?? It's become increasingly hard to find things for him at the library because we don't know what to look for, and he plows through books so darn quickly. Thanks!!

GaPeach_in_Ca
06-13-2011, 12:28 PM
My son just finished the How to Train a Dragon series (7 books). He also loves Geronimo Stilton, so maybe your son would like those.

He also just read the Spiderwick (original 7 books) series in 2-3 days. They are pretty short and he couldn't put them down. BUT, then he had nightmares afterwards, so I might not recommend those.

I am trying to get him to read Superfudge by Judy Blume, but it isn't holding his interest.

brittone2
06-13-2011, 12:38 PM
(I don't always check grade level per se for DS1 but have a feel for what he can handle so these may not all be 100% in the range you are looking for)

Mouse and the Motorcycle series
Henry Huggins (series...includes Ribsy, etc.)
Stuart Little
EB White (YMMV if he's ready for this. Charlotte's Web has an emotional ending as I'm sure you know...not sure how he handles that type of stuff)
The Bobbsey Twins
Encyclopedia Brown
Flat Stanley
Little House on the Prairie series (DS1 has read and reread many times)
The Boxcar Children (ridiculously large series and if he's reading G. Stilton and Magic Treehouse, this would be a great series to move to if he hasn't read them yet)

FYI one of the Cleary books-Superfudge or another in the Fudge series talks about Santa not being real, which is a YMMV situation on whether you are ready to "go there" if you are Santa "believers" at your house. I keep steering DS1 away from that one when I can for now ;)

Oh, I learned about this series from someone here but this is another cute one:
Andrew Lost

eta: Homer Price (more like 4th grade + according to the blurb on amazon. Not sure how that would work for you). DS1 liked the How to Train a Dragon series that PP mentioned, and he can't handle too much in the scary department. Lemony Snickett was too scary to read before bed but he could handle it during the day.

lizzywednesday
06-13-2011, 12:46 PM
GaPeach - Superfudge didn't have the same appeal for me as Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing did, so I have to ask - has your son read 4th Grade Nothing? Because that's the 1st book & gives you a decent introduction to Peter, Fudge & their family. Superfudge is a bit more involved and in some ways it assumes you've already become acquainted with the Hatchers.

PunkyBoo - At 7, I loved the Chronicles of Narnia. My dad and I read them out loud together. I might skip The Last Battle for a bit, because it's very clunky & slow to start, but there are plenty of decent stories in the other 6 books.

I started with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, though, chronologically, I guess you "should" start with The Magician's Nephew. I don't think it makes a difference, though if you weren't sure about the stories themselves, The Horse and His Boy gives you a taste of Narnia without having to completely commit to the entire series.

I'd also suggest Farmer Boy from the Little House series (it's kind of a "side-trip" book since it's about Almanzo & his family, not Laura and her family) if he hasn't already read it.

I'm partial to the Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events books, though they are super-fast reads and mildly-to-very-scary, depending on the book and the reader. I've read the first 6; there are 13.

My brothers were REALLY into the Goosebumps series around that age, too, but I still find them absolutely horrifying as an adult. And I love horror films!!!

I'd also suggest Hardy Boys mysteries, too. The older ones are really dated, but they're a lot more fun than the Nancy Drew books my friends got into when we were 8. (Nancy Drew was enough to make me stop going to the grammar school library - we had better books at home than the school had!)

AnnieW625
06-13-2011, 01:04 PM
Choose Your Own Adventure books. Not sure if these are still in print, but my brother loved them. If they aren't, send me a PM and I'll have my mom check and see if I my brother happened to leave any at their house (my parents will be in town this weekend). I would also recommend The Little House books, my brother liked reading those with me and my mom when he was betwen 5 and 8. My sister who is now 23 got into Goosebumps too at about that age. (I can have my mom check for the Goosebumps too)

brittone2
06-13-2011, 01:12 PM
nak-
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books crack DS1 up too.

I haven't gotten to try them with my DS1 yet, but the Time Warp Trio books are supposed to be pretty decent. Our library doesn't have them and I haven't requested any via interlibrary loan yet.

My parents just gave him Harriet the Spy and he liked that.

nellonello
06-13-2011, 01:22 PM
My son absolutely love The Legends of Droon. It was great because there are 30+ books in the series.

brittone2
06-13-2011, 01:32 PM
How to Eat Fried Worms is another amusing one for boys that age ;)

lizzywednesday
06-13-2011, 01:38 PM
How to Eat Fried Worms is another amusing one for boys that age ;)

I totally forgot I'd read that! It was definitely fun.

geochick
06-13-2011, 01:40 PM
My 7yo ds loves any book by Bruce Coville.

He especially likes:
Goblins in the Castle
Moongobble and Me series

brittone2
06-13-2011, 01:44 PM
I'm shopping Amazon right now for a few things for this summer and our upcoming school year (we HS) so as I pull things out of my notes I figured I'd post them. I'm literally dropping stuff in my online cart right now so I thought I'd pass along some of the stuff I have jotted down).

This one has been on my list for a while, listed at 9-12 yo but thought i'd mention it.
Swallows and Amazons
http://www.amazon.com/Swallows-Amazons-Godine-Storyteller-Ransome/dp/1567924204/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307986934&sr=1-1

Burgess books are cute too.
http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Thornton-Burgess-Animal-Stories/dp/0486276341/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307987038&sr=1-1

Red Sails to Capri
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sails-Capri-Ann-Weil/dp/1887840044/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307987119&sr=1-1

The Twenty-One Balloons (listed as for 9-12 yo, YMMV)
http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-One-Balloons-William-Pene-Bois/dp/0140320970/ref=pd_sim_b_3

kijip
06-13-2011, 01:48 PM
One I have not seen mentioned on this thread yet: The A-Z Mysteries. T just found these and LOVES them. He is finishing 2nd grade and is a very strong reader, these are easy for him but he loves the stories. The grade level is 2-4 on the back of the book. He also likes the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.

Seconding Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and The Boxcar Children, both favorites here as well for my not-into-any-fighting-or-violence-or-superheros son.

lil_acorn
06-13-2011, 01:50 PM
my son enjoyed the diary of a wimpy kid series.

brittone2
06-13-2011, 02:01 PM
another going in my shopping cart as we speak

The Saturdays (again, listed for 9-12 yo)
http://www.amazon.com/Saturdays-Melendy-Quartet-Elizabeth-Enright/dp/0312375980/ref=pd_sim_b_3

marie
06-13-2011, 02:19 PM
snip

This one has been on my list for a while, listed at 9-12 yo but thought i'd mention it.
Swallows and Amazons
http://www.amazon.com/Swallows-Amazons-Godine-Storyteller-Ransome/dp/1567924204/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307986934&sr=1-1

Burgess books are cute too.


The Swallows and Amazons series has just recently been recommended to me by two different people. I looked at one in the bookstore and it seemed pretty dense (small print, lots of it). Might still give it a try since DD1 consumes books at a rate I can barely fathom.

And a big, fat yes on the Burgess books. So cute.


One I have not seen mentioned on this thread yet: The A-Z Mysteries. T just found these and LOVES them. He is finishing 2nd grade and is a very strong reader, these are easy for him but he loves the stories. The grade level is 2-4 on the back of the book. He also likes the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.

Seconding Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and The Boxcar Children, both favorites here as well for my not-into-any-fighting-or-violence-or-superheros son.

DD1 LOVES the A-Z Mysteries and the Boxcar Children (she's a mystery fan like her mama!)

Oh, and the Choose Your Own Adventure series is most definitely still in print.

How about Mr. Popper's Penguins?

We listened to a great book recently called Frindle.

So far, DD1 summer's book list includes: Harry Potter #1 and the Little House series. If I'm lucky, that'll get us to the end of June!

brittone2
06-13-2011, 02:24 PM
The Swallows and Amazons series has just recently been recommended to me by two different people. I looked at one in the bookstore and it seemed pretty dense (small print, lots of it). Might still give it a try since DD1 consumes books at a rate I can barely fathom.



LOL, I can relate :) We HS so he has a lot of time during the day to read, so he flies through books. I'm always on the search for new titles as a result. DS1 can only tolerate certain forms of "scary" so that limits our options sometimes (not ready for HP yet, for example). Good to know about Swallows and Amazons because I haven't gotten to see it IRL yet. If needed, I suppose we could do it as a read-aloud.

Some others that popped into my head:

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh (a little scary IIRC but DS1 did just fine w/ this and looooooved it, as well as the sequel).

The Cricket in Times Square

essnce629
06-13-2011, 03:14 PM
DS1 is 7 (will be 8 in Aug) and is an advanced reader. He just finished the Harry Potter series (took him a year) and loved them all. He's now reading the 39 Clues series and really likes them (he's on book #3). This year he also read and liked the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and the How to Train Your Dragon books. For Christmas I also bought him the Hardy Boys series and the My Side of the Mountain trilogy, but he hasn't read any of those yet.

PunkyBoo
06-13-2011, 03:17 PM
You ladies are so awesome! I just made a huge list to take with us to the library tomorrow! :cheerleader1:

Annie- Punkin tried out a couple of the the Choose your Own Adventures series a month or so ago and wasn't thrilled. I also liked them as a kid, but he didn't really "get" the concept of it (I think in his haste to plow through books, he missed the point of having to only read certain parts to make the story).

Another of his classmate's moms recommended Harry Potter as her son is reading it, but Punkin does have a low threshold for "scary" so I'm avoiding going there yet. He hated Goosebumps and Lemony Snicket. Lots of stuff in the Roald Dahl books bothered him quite a bit, but he stuck with them.

jenmcadams
06-13-2011, 04:41 PM
If he likes boy humor/silly books, he might like the Riot Brothers Series (probably solid 3rd grade level book) -- there are 4 books. My DS liked the A2Z Mysteries & Magic Treehouse, but didn't love them. He really likes silly humor/graphic novels and also liked the Knights of the Lunch Table, Capt. Underpants, etc. We haven't done the Wimpy Kid books yet, but lots of kids that like those like Riot Brothers. As far as novels go, our librarian also recommended the Timewarp Trio Series -- she said they were a more humorous, boy-focused version of the Magic Treehouse. We've also tried (and liked) the Melvin Beederman books, How To Eat Fried Worms, The Chocolate Touch, Sideways Stories from the Wayside School (by Louis Sachar), and the Fudge books (by Judy Blume).

In the more graphic novel/comic realm, he really likes a series of books (originally published in French I think) called Sardine in Outer Space -- not my type of humor, but he loves them. He also just read the first book in a series called the Magic Pickle and I have a few of the Lunch Lady books on hold at the library. I need to pull out a list of books the librarian helped me with the other day and I'll post those later.

He's the kind of kid who likes having longer, sophisticated books read aloud to him (we've done the Harry Potters, most of the Roald Dahl, etc.), but really has varied taste as far as books he reads to himself...he's on a humor kick right now, but fluctuates b/t those and mysteries

mytwosons
06-13-2011, 06:09 PM
Funny: Horrid Henry series. Not the Horrible Harry. These are probably at an easier level, but my DS really liked them. Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Jonathan Rand. He has the Freddie Fernortner series for younger kids and then his Michigan Chillers and American Chillers series. Suspenseful, but not scary (per DS who scares easily).

bnme
06-13-2011, 09:24 PM
I second A to Z Mysteies, and the spinoffs Calander Mysteries, Capitol Mysteries, and Detective Camp. I also 2nd the Fudge series.

My Ds has also enjoyed the Franny K Stein series and the Black Lagoon Series.

Right now he is reading the 39 Clues and loves it but the subject matter may be a little more advanced (I have only just started it myself and can't keep up with him - lol).

bnme
06-13-2011, 09:25 PM
How to Eat Fried Worms is another amusing one for boys that age ;)
:yeahthat:
I remember loving that one!

hellokitty
06-13-2011, 11:32 PM
Several good ones have already been mentioned.

A few more that might fit are:

Encyclopedia Brown series

The Great Brain series (I loved these book as a kid)

Animorphs (one of my friends' 7 yr old is an advanced reader and he is totally sucked into this series, I think it has something to do with aliens)

Series of Unfortunate Events (I think that this series seems better suited for kids who aren't quite ready to handle some of the intensity of Harry Potter)

kijip
06-18-2011, 12:03 PM
We just stocked up on some summer books for T and this is what he got:

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
The Borrowers
Extra Credit
Roller Skates (an older Newberry Award book, from the 1930s but set in 19th century NYC)
Science Fair
More a-z mystery books
Some more boxcar children books
Some "who was" books- nonfiction on a variety is historical figures. He got who was Charles Darwin, Who was Thomas Edison and a couple of others.

We try to balance out the candy bar type books- easy, done in rapid fire with longer, more complicated topics.

o_mom
06-18-2011, 01:06 PM
There is a series by Allan Ahlberg that my kids like. It starts with "The Man Who Wore All His Clothes" and there are 4-5 books in the series. Looks like they are a 2nd-3rd grade reading level, so similar to Magic Treehouse in difficulty. They are 'mystery', but in more of the puzzle sense, not scary or creepy. ETA: DS went through a huge non-fiction kick, which worked very well when he was reading way above age-level and we were pressed to find fiction that was challenging, but had age-appropriate topics.

octmom
06-18-2011, 06:56 PM
Thanks for all of these recommendations! DS (age 7) is not as strong of a reader as some of your boys, but he likes to read and I want to work with him this summer to build his reading confidence. We have read some of the books mentioned here with him, and he has enjoyed many of them (e.g., A to Z mysteries), but I have lots more titles to add to my list now.

On the recommendation of some friends, I just started reading the first Ivy and Bean book to DD (age 5). I like it much more than the Junie B. Jones books! She loves it and I'm sure we will plow through them all in the next few weeks. As I read to her, it occurred to me that the level and style of the books would be great for DS (to read on his own), but I don't think he would be terribly interested in the main characters. Does anyone have any recommendations for "boyish" (for lack of a better term) books at this level/ this sort of style? Thanks!

tribe pride
06-18-2011, 08:04 PM
This is a great thread! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE children's books!

In addition to some of the wonderful ones already mentioned (bringing back great memories, btw!), one of my favorite authors for little boys is Christopher Paul Curtis. I didn't read him as a kid, but have actually been reading him as an adult recently and enjoying them immensely. His books are funny, warm, have great character development, and are generally historical fiction. I've read The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963; Bud, Not Buddy (Newberry Award winner); and Elijah of Buxton. They were all wonderful, but Elijah was my favorite!