My second grade boy goes through books like toilet paper:) He is reading at almost a 5th grade level and I am having trouble finding new book series to keep him interested. There's not a lot for him left in the school library. I am not familiar with what boys that age find interesting to read so would like some recommendations for books. I am hoping to find a few good series for him so it will keep him busy through the summer. I would like to stay away from the marketed chapter books like Sponge Bob and Scooby Doo. He really seems to like mystery and fantasy but even though he is at such a high reading level he still requires a few pictures which seems to really limit a lot of what he is willing to read.
Thanks K. H
Don't forget about The Boxcar Children books - there are a ton of them and were mine and my brothers favorites when we were younger. So good I had to read them numerous times!
Yea! Another boy who loves to read! My son won't go to bed at a decent hour because he has to get his reading in. I would love to hear which series and authors your son enjoys. I am really not certain about the reading level of any of the following - and they seem to span a few levels.
A to Z mysteries (26 in all I guess) by Ron Roy, The Adventures of the Bailey school kids - with titles like "Trolls Don't Ride Roller Coasters", The author Roald Dahl who wrote "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" has a bunch of other great ones, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" is about twin brothers who stumble upon a world of fairies and trolls in the forest behind their house, The Chet Gecko Mystery series by Bruce Hale has titles like "The Chameleon wore Chartreuse". Now for some that don't really have illustrations but we have had fun reading together: the Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snickett, The Underland Chronicles series by Suzanne Collins (this has a 13 year old finding himself in an underland world inhabited by giant bats and mice - there is a war on and he is the prophecied - though unwilling - warrior...there is some violence - but ultimately he wants there to be peace; anyway, you may want to research this series and decide how you feel about it - I think they are neat books)
I am trying to get my son interested in the Choose your own Adventure series. But there are also times that he is just content to read all of the books I have out for my 2.5 year old. Hope this provides some new, fun choices. Enjoy!
-G.
Some other ideas that I remember from when I was a kid and my brother read like crazy... Some of them my mom read to us which might work for him, since he can follow a story maybe if you read him a few he will then enjoy reading those without pictures.
Hardy Boys
The Mouse and the Motercycle
The Little House on the Prairie (kind of "girly" but my brothers enjoyed them)
He is also probably old enough for some of the Harry Potter series.
Let us know what you decide!
J. SAHM to 2 year old Charlie and 4 month old Joey
Most libraries have a librarian who LOVES juvenille fiction. Call your local library and see if they can hook you up with a librarian that knows a lot about juvenille fiction. Also, if you live in the twin cities, you can log on to Hennepin County Library website and have any book in the twin cities library system sent to the library nearest you.
My students always liked Cam Jansen books (mysteries with pictures, about 3rd grade reading level). Also there is a series called Bailey School Kids that my students always liked (the first is Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots, I'm not sure on the reading level, but age rec. is 7-10) The kids really like Lemony Snickett-- very funny series, but I thought kind of repeatative. Kate DiCamillo has excellently written fiction-- funny, imaginative, and thought provoking (The Tale of Despereaux is a good one to start with)!
Hope this helps!
:) M. (former Saint Paul Schools Montessori Teacher age s 6-9)
Check out Madeline L'Engle- especially "A Wrinkle in Time" and Scott O'Dell's "Island of the Blue Dolphins"
I loved those as a kid, and they're good for boys and girls alike.
Keep that boy reading--that's such a gift!
He would probably like The Hardy Boys Mysteries or the Wizard of Oz series by Frank Baum. (There are some Wizard of Oz books by other authors that aren't as good.) There is also The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe series. I'm not sure what grade level any of these are. If they are a little tough you could always read them with him.
I also highly recommend checking out Usborne books.
http://www.mamasource.com/business/4801335092666433537/de...
http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/default.asp?sid=J2015&g...
The first link is a mamasource review of a great Usborne consultant and the second link is her Usborne site. Angie is a trained librarian and can help you with recommendation tailored to your kid's interests and reading abilities. Other pluses for these books include: vibrant pictures, Internet links for more activities in a lot of the books, high quality, low price. My son is addicted to these books and is constantly telling me how much he loves them!
Well, I used to teach 6th grade reading, so I have some options that are in that reading level, however the content may be over his head. But, this can at least give you some ideas...
Series:
Goosebumps by R.L Stine
Beverly Cleary has some "Ralph S Mouse" books that are cute
Judy Blume's Fudge, Double Fudge, etc
Magic Tree House series (can't remember author off hand)
Dan Guttman's Honus and Me or other titles. THey are baseball based.
Animorphs by K.A. Applegate
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Authors:
Roald Dahl. His books vary in content and reading level.
Andrew Clements. Frindle is cute.
Gary Paulsen? Might be too difficult, content wise.
Scholastic has book orders that you can ask your son's teacher about. They divide them by age...you could ask for the ones in his grade level as well as the 4-6 grade too.
Good Luck!
You could try the Frog and Toad series. They are part of a bigger series of books called "I Can Read" And there are many different levels. They are paperback, thin and not too expensive, so you can buy a few at a time.
Check it out.
http://www.icanread.com/
I read my daughter alot of these books and she loves them. I remember some of these bing my first books as a kid too.
You certainly have a voracious reader!
Try USborne.com and Half Price books stores also
Sincerely,
Steven
Have you considered asking the public library librarians what they would recommend? Also, if he is reading at a 5th grade level, have you spoken with a 5th grade teacher at his school (or the school librarian)? Just a thought-
Good luck,
T.
I dont know any series as my child is only 15 months but if he's going through books real fast, you might try buying books at half price books, now I dont know that if you found a book thats part of series you would be able to find all the others, but than you check with the library to see if they have it. I agree check out different local libraries or other school libraries to see what they have.
Thats great that your son loves to read so much.
What about Shakespeare? Several years ago I gave an illustrated Shakespeare reader for my cousin's 12 year-old. I found it at some chain bookstore--Borders or Barnes and Noble. If you're trying to stay away from the watered-down mainstream junky books, turning to the classics seems the way to go.
