books for 3rd grade boy, avid reader

[almostmom]

I'm in search of some good books for DS. He finished the Harry Potter series about a year ago, and followed that with Rick Riordan, Owls of Gahoole and the Hobbit. He's been re-reading Harry Potter, but has started getting nightmares so doesn't want to continue.

I miss seeing him engrossed in a book (though he is busy enough), and thought maybe you all might have some not-scary suggestions. I was thinking maybe Tom Sawyer, but couldn't remember if the content was too intense for and 8.5 year-old headed into 3rd grade.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Percycat]

My son enjoyed reading the following series: The Name of This Book is Secret, How To Train Your Dragon, The Chronicals of Narnia, and A Wrinkle In Time. (I have not read the "secret" books yet...)

I read (paraphrased) Tom Sawyer to DS and DD last fall before we went to see a play. I don't think he would have enjoyed reading the book on his own and there were issues we discussed as we read the book together.

DS is 9 and has read the HP series, the Lightening Thief series, and we are reading the Hobbit as a family.

[marie]

DD1 (8.75 yo) loved the Mysterious Benedict Society series:

http://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Benedict-Society-Trenton-Stewart/dp/0316003956/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341854639&sr=8-3&keywords=benedict+society

[lizzywednesday]

The cave scenes in Tom Sawyer might be a bit tense.

Maybe try Farmer Boy from the Little House series? It's been ages since I read it, so I don't exactly recall if there are any scary parts in it, but I don't remember there being anything particularly upsetting, unlike several things in the other Little House books - disease, swarms of locusts, floods, freezes, etc.

My brother Ger liked the Wizard of Oz books at around that age, but if Harry Potter is giving him nightmares, I'm not sure the Wicked Witch of the West wouldn't.

I also liked the Hardy Boys at that 2nd-into-3rd-grade stage. You might want to preview them before suggesting, but they're pretty quick reads with decent, if formulaic, plots and no foul language. They're more than just a "boys' Nancy Drew" in my opinion. (Again, I liked them much better than Nancy Drew, which were all the rage in my 3rd grade class. I read one and decided Nancy was not my cup of tea.)

[hanaum02]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

[tribe pride]

Christopher Paul Curtis' books are wonderful, some of my favorite books for young boys.

I'd also look into some of the classics- Treasure Island, Captains Courageous, etc. At that age, I remember my parents giving me a large collection called, I think, Great Illustrated Classics. They are essentially abridged versions of books like Tom Sawyer, Prince and the Pauper, Great Expectations, etc., with a picture on every page. I LOVED them as a child, and they helped me a great deal as I got older and had to read the unabridged versions of some of those books in school. Because I already knew the basics (plot, characters, etc.), I was able to better engage the stories as a teenager, understand more complex issues like theme, and enjoy reading the story for the story's sake.

[almostmom]

Great suggestions - thank you and keep them coming! I have seen the Mysterious Benedict Society in the library and forgot about it - is it pretty un-scary? I think that sounds like a great idea.

He has read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in school and loved it.

I saw a Wrinkle in Time recently and wondered if it was too old, but we'll pick it up - I loved that book once I got into it.

And Hardy Boys - he loves a good mystery, so we'll try one of those.

And I'll keep Tom Sawyer on the back burner for a couple of years!

[MelissaTC]

My son's favorite book in third grade was Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider. He did a book report on it and presentation. He re-reads it every so often and never seems to tire of it.

[Reader]

My 8 year old son loved Mysterious Benedict Society. He also loved the Garth Nix series about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...can't remember the exact titles (it's fantasy). He also enjoyed the Magyk series & Molly Moon but those were not ones that I have enjoyed hearing about. :) How about the Incorrigibles of Ashton Place (I know there are 3 so far)? I have read those as read alouds, and the kids enjoy them. He finds Harry Potter too scary, so I don't think the ones I mentioned would be too scary. For an older series, my DS enjoyed reading the Mary Poppins series of books from the library (the inspiration for the Disney Mary Poppins), but they are not as fast paced as the above. It's hard to keep my DS in books.

[marie]

Great suggestions - thank you and keep them coming! I have seen the Mysterious Benedict Society in the library and forgot about it - is it pretty un-scary? I think that sounds like a great idea.


I read the first one and i don't think it would be too scary. (I just asked DD1 and she said it isn't "monster scary" but "are-they-gonna-get-caught scary".)

RE: Wizard of Oz. DD1 has loved all of them that she has read (there are a ton of them). The Wicked Witch and the monkeys aren't nearly as scary in the book as in the movie.

DD1 read the Mary Poppins books. Mary Poppins isn't nearly as nice as she is in the movie! The language is harder to get through, too. ( ie DD1 read all of Harry Potter #2 yesterday in almost one sitting, Mary Poppins is denser and more challenging language-wise and would take her much longer.)

[wendmatt]

The How to train your dragon books are really entertaining (I read them and laughed a lot) DD (3rd grade going to 4th, good reader) rechecks these out from the library often. Eoin Colfer is great, DD just read some of his easier ones (Spud Murphy, took a very short while to read) but loves Artemis Fowl books.
Inkheart is good. She's into the Grimm Sisters at the mo, not girly so boys should like them too. Annoying that you have to keep reading them though as the story is ongoing. Anything Roald Dahl, DD has read all of them except James and the Giant Peach. We bought it yesterday and started doing readaloud (she still likes me to read to her and I haven't read it since I was a kid so said I'd like to read that one), I left her room and she came out at 10.30 still awake saying sorry that she just couldn't stop reading it after I left!! Little stinker.

[lizzywednesday]

...

I saw a Wrinkle in Time recently and wondered if it was too old, but we'll pick it up - I loved that book once I got into it.
...

I love A Wrinkle in Time but feel you should read it first if you haven't already.

I'm not sure what it is in the Harry Potter books that's frightening to him, but I'd bank on a few more frights from L'Engle.

A later book in the same series is Many Waters and it's got fewer tense parts, though it has more mature themes. It features Meg and Charles Wallace's twin brothers Alexander (Sandy) and Dennys as the primary protagonists from the Murray family. It's quite an interesting book (and was a primary influence on a story I wrote for an English class my sophomore year of high school.)

Again, however, I'd recommend previewing them before blindly turning them over.

[brittone2]

DS1 is around the same age and an avid reader. He has liked:

The Mad Scientists' Club-he's read and reread this
Homer Price
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles (great book by Julie Andrews that our whole family loved)
Tale of Despereaux
The Pushcart War
Anything by Roald Dahl-he really likes B.F.G.
Swiss Family Robinson
My Side of the Mountain
Island of the Blue Dolphins (has some sad portions, he was okay with this)
He's currently reading The Egypt Game -eta: involves an unsolved murder of children (!) but DS1 is insisting to me this is "less scary" than HP. Totally a YMMV depending on what he finds scary. Sometimes I'm surprised at what DS1 finds scary vs. not scary.
Cricket in Times Square
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh and sequel
The Warriors series and The Seekers (same author)
How to Eat Fried Worms is fun for that age
Bud, Not Buddy
Dear Mr. Henshaw
The Phantom Tollbooth (may be better for a little older kids to get all of the puns, but DS1 got most of them and understood them)
Call of the Wild
Farmer Boy (he's read and reread all of the LIW books)
The Trumpet of the Swan
The Twenty-One Balloons
Julie of the Wolves
Harriet the Spy
The Secret Garden
Half Magic
Tumtum and Nutmeg
If he hasn't read them already: Mouse and the Motorcycle series, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, Henry Huggins, Ribsy

He reads a lot of old stuff available through Project Gutenberg-Tom Swift, the Bobbsey Twins, etc. Lots of these are not politically correct ;) but we discuss and I'm fine with it.

We do abridged versions of classics-Sherlock Holmes, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc. Some versions are better than others

eta: added a few after we looked through his bookshelf together

[baymom]

My DS (about to start 3rd grade) is loving the 39 Clues Series right now. He's read the Harry Potter series and also Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, so it seems like he has similar taste in books to your DS...

[brittone2]

My DS (about to start 3rd grade) is loving the 39 Clues Series right now. He's read the Harry Potter series and also Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, so it seems like he has similar taste in books to your DS...
I thought for sure DS1 would like Percy Jackson. He felt they were just okay. I was shocked. He likes HP (has only read the first two as I've been pacing him on those a bit), liked Lemony Snickett, etc. He read both the Red Pyramid and Percy Jackson. He says he preferred The Red Pyramid.

[nfceagles]

My oldest is almost 7, so I may not be good at estimating reading and maturity levels for older kids, but here are a few ideas.

The Phantom Tollbooth
Gregor the Overlander series
Andrew Clements books like Frindle (not the same genre at all, but should be nightmare free)

[hellbennt]

my 3rd grade ds went through, & enjoyed! all of the Happy Hollisters (http://thehappyhollisters.com/)

and likes the boxcar children (http://www.boxcarchildren.com/) (easier reading level but he still enjoyed them)

he loved the N.E.R.D.S. series (http://www.abramsbooks.com/nerds/)

he loved all of the diary of a wimpy kid (easy reading for him but he's re-read them)

now he's into the Alvin Fernald Series (http://www.alvinfernald.com/)
and books by Andrew Clements (http://www.andrewclements.com/)
and books by Haddix, the 'young reader books (http://www.haddixbooks.com/home.html#)'

The facts & Fictions Of Minna Pratt (http://www.amazon.com/Facts-Fictions-Minna-Charlotte-Zolotow/dp/0064402657)

He read (& enjoyed) all of the books on this list:
http://myssyra.org/grades3_5/pdfs/11Annot3-5.pdf

he's reading books by William Steig- Dominic and I can't remember more

I found a lot of the above from here:thumbsup::
http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/showarticle/625 (http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/showarticle/625)

[MichelleRC]

DS1 (not an avid fiction reader) is really enjoying the How to Train Your Dragon series, which according to our school librarian is a 5th/6th reading level. We are reading them together and I find myself laughing out loud. We also really liked Justin Case--there are 2 of those.