Books for an 8 YO who tires of reading easily

[Raidra]

Lachlann is 8 and is able to read at least a grade or two above his level (so at a 4th or 5th grade level). However, he tires easily (something to do with the muscles that coordinate eye movement). I'm looking for a book suggestion.. something that's not total junk, but something that is entertaining enough to keep him wanting to read so he'll exercise his eye muscles. He just read two of the Boxcar children books and liked them, but I'd rather him read something that's not so easy. When it's not assigned reading, he likes reading books about animals, ocean life, dinosaurs, etc. We've done a lot of read alouds, he's liked Indian in the Cupboard and My Side of the Mountain. He is homeschooled, and usually dismisses anything that deals too heavily with school settings.

Thanks so much!

[cmo]

I volunteer frequently in my kids' elementary school library. The "I Survived" series of books, by Lauren Tarshis, are wildly popular right now amongst younger chapter book readers. They are in the 3rd/4th grade reading levels. Each book places fictional characters into a real historical event/disaster: the sinking of the Titanic, Hurricane Katrina, San Francisco earthquake (1906), etc. They are not lengthy, and are a nice little way to sneak some history into a good story.

[robinsmommy]

What about non-fiction books on a topic that he is interested in? DK Eyewitness books have a lot of illustrations that would break up the reading but could add some challenging vocabulary.

Also, there are now graphic novels for kids - these are not comic books as we knew them. These vary quite a bit in quality and, um, appropriateness (though I find that is true for many, many kids' books now - it is so hard to find stuff for my 11 year old - there are honestly adult books that I'd give her before some of the stuff labeled as juvenile due to sexuality or violence.)

My older, tomboy girl LOVES Gary Paulsen's "Hatchet" series, though that might be a little old (there is a death, plane crash, divorce, and some other scary stuff) for him. I think she may have been about 9 when she first read it, though. I like it, too. It is like a slightly more mature version of "My Side of the Mountain". Completely depends on your family perspective and experience of violence, etc.

Kids in DD1's class (4-6th grades) just finished "night of the twisters", again, there may be some scary stuff. But the book itself looked pretty short.

Curious to hear what others say, as he seems to like the same kind of stuff as DD1.

Yep, "I Survived" is also a potential choice.

[Raidra]

Thanks guys! I'll look into those. He's ok with scary stuff, so that shouldn't be a problem. It just has to be interesting enough for him to keep reading. He already reads a lot of nonfiction (like the DK Eyewitness stuff. But I've noticed that he'll just read for short periods of time since those books lend themselves so well to that style of reading.

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[ABO Mama]

The Harry Potter books
Roald Dahl (wonderful!)
Despereuax
A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Incredible Journey
The Wheel on the School
Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze
Rascal
The Phoenix and the Carpet
Freedom Train
A Wrinkle in Time (my be too old for him, but one of my favorites)

[Tondi G]

I have an 8 yr old reluctant reader so I asked some friends to suggest books

The Notebook of Doom #1: Rise of the Balloon Goons (there is a series of a few books)
Leon and the Spitting Image
Gustav Gloom series
Behind the Cupboard
100 cupboards
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Secret series (The Name Of This Book is Secret)

[egoldber]

Maybe illustrated versions of books would appeal more it him?

For example, we just got this from the library: http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Chocolate-Factory-text-Illustrated/dp/B004ST10S0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1387413342&sr=8-7&keywords=Charlie+and+the+chocolate+illustrated

Or things like this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wonderful-Wizard-Oz-Anniversary/dp/0060293233/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387413499&sr=1-3&keywords=Wizard+of+oz

http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-Wendy-Centenary-Illustrated/dp/1402728689/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387413576&sr=1-9&keywords=peter+pan+book

[Simon]

Two Adventure Series:

I am really enjoying the Ranger's Apprentice (http://www.rangersapprentice.com/) series. I started it as a preview for Ds1 but now I'm hooked. I've read books 1-6 and just started 7. I would peg the reading level as 4th-5th but AR Bookfinde (http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx)r lists it as 5-7. Its high adventure with violence but is not gruesome* and has no cursing. I found there to be one part of book 3 that is inhumane/gruesome but it fairly aberrant for the series.

Swordques (https://sites.google.com/site/wwwswordbird/)t (prequel), Swordbird, series. Ds is enjoying this series a lot and has finished the first 2 books.

"Can you survive...?" (http://www.amazon.com/Survive-Jungle-Interactive-Survival-Adventure/dp/1429673494) is a fun mix of choose your own adventure with nonfiction facts thrown in. Its quick reading for my Ds but has decent
vocabulary, IMO.

[swissair81]

The Secret Series Complete Collection
http://amzn.com/0316219819

The Mysterious Benedict Society Complete Collection
http://amzn.com/0316219428

[squimp]

Our 4th graders are reading Boxcar children, I don't think it is that easy. Have you had him see an optometrist? I know a number of kids who have done really well with vision therapy. For their issues it was more of a tracking problem, but it might not hurt to have a thorough exam. There is a specialist optometrist in our area who does these kinds of assessments. We see her periodically for my DD's vision issues.

[Kindra178]

Jack Stalwart. He's a nine year old James Bond type kid with gadgets in a book bag.

[fivi2]

I have a second grade dd who is very picky about books. She (and a lot of other kids in her class, including many boys) are now in love with these Nat'l Geo chapter books:

http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Kids-Chapters-Everything/dp/1426310781

(Tiger in Trouble, Ape Escape, Croc Encounters, and others). Honestly, I haven't picked them up to check the reading level. My girls test over the 5th grade level (off the top of whatever test they use) but I let them read whatever they will read, even if technically "too easy."

eta: We also love the Encyclopedia Brown books. One dd is reading Meg Mackintosh - definitely on the young side, but it has little puzzles throughout that keep her interested. http://www.amazon.com/Mackintosh-Missing-Baseball-Solve---Yourself/dp/1888695005/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387724097&sr=1-6&keywords=meg+mackintosh+mysteries Would love to find something similar for older kids.

My two also spend hours with the -ology books. http://www.amazon.com/Dragonology-Complete-Book-Dragons-Ologies/dp/0763623296/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387724169&sr=1-4&keywords=spyology