The Ice Princess series and fairy series are big in our house. Although she’s not a huge reader.
I’m surprised at how much I dislike some of the books from my childhood. We started Charlotte’s Web and the actual writing is terrible! We may never go back to that one.
We’re about to start the HP illustrated. Do you not want to read with him? I wouldn’t do those solo, but mine is still at an age where parent reading is still important. Maybe an older book would be good to do together?
The Ice Princess series and fairy series are big in our house. Although she’s not a huge reader.
I’m surprised at how much I dislike some of the books from my childhood. We started Charlotte’s Web and the actual writing is terrible! We may never go back to that one.
We’re about to start the HP illustrated. Do you not want to read with him? I wouldn’t do those solo, but mine is still at an age where parent reading is still important. Maybe an older book would be good to do together?
PS-I am not a HP fan, but she asked, so 🤷🏼♀️
Yes, I hate a lot of the ‘classics’ that get mentioned.
We read one Flat Stanley together and then said never again. It’s so sexist!
Maybe it would help if I gave insight into what he enjoys?
- We've read a lot about early Americans crossing the frontier. He's seen Little House on the Prairie. But he's fascinated to know what life was like for Native American children. Are there any chapter books about the day in the life of a Native American 100+ yrs ago?
- boy sails around the world - anything like that out there?
- child / pet dog relationship (He loves things like Shiloh and The Flop-Eared Hound.)
- Real life adventure with a child as the main character
- child scientist or child inventor
- George Washington Carver (has read a few about him... what about fiction along similar lines?)
- child who plays chess
Is there anything out there like this? ^
I have about 10 books arriving tomorrow from The Good and The Beautiful. They carry a lot of old and hard to find books and sort them by reading level. He's loved everything I've ordered from that website, but they can be $$. I just want to throw $40 at a huge block of shrink wrapped books. LOL.
I survived series- history Ranger in Time- History plus dogs Julie of the Wolves and other books by Jean Craighead George Marguerite Henry books- horses Walter Farley books- horses Hugo- inventor Thornton Burgess books- all kinds of animals Elizabeth George Spear books- for when he gets a bit older more YA
I would hold off on the Amelia Peabody books. They are PG but have some romance.
What about Neil Patrick Harris’s series, The Magic Misfits? They are about 225-275 pages and might be a good fit. (Note: I haven’t read them so I don’t know if they are good, but I picked one up to try with J soon).
Popular middle grade fiction in my school library. Some may be repeats from others.
The Land of Stories is a series about kids who end up in a fairytale world. It's fantasy, but the recognizable characters like Captain Hook and the Queen of Hearts make it appealing to kids who typically don't care for the fantasy genre.
The Parker Inheritance is a fun mystery.
Unicorn in the Barn- realistic fiction with a splash of fantasy. It's main character is a boy who discovers that the vet next door is harboring a unicorn in the barn.
A Wolf Called Wander is a fictional tale inspired by a real wolf that migrated several hundred miles. Told from the wolf's point of view.
Mr. Lemoncello's Library is a series that is part Westing Game, part Willy Wonka. It's a lot of fun.
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone is excellent.
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate is a must read. The One and Only Ivan and The One and Only Bob are, too.
13 Story Treehouse is fun and lighthearted, and part of a series.
And lastly, a Boy Called Bat is the first of three books about a boy who has autism, but the story isn't centered around that. It covers his feelings regarding frustrating situations in a really empathetic way.
I loved Twenty One Balloons (William Pene du Bois) so much that I kept it for my own kids.
Has he read Stuart Little or Charlotte’s Web?
I highly recommend reaching out to Brave + Kind Books to see if they can recommend some things. They sell mainly children’s books with diverse characters. They have packs of books by age range on their site and I just got DS1 some chapter books from them. I bet they can make some recommendations based on his age and preferences.
ETA: I haven’t read, but Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls is supposed to be great. It’s just stories about amazing women, so not just for girls.
We just began reading The Mysterious Benedict Society as a family. It’s a series and the first book is 500 pages. We’re only a chapter in, but it’s been interesting and I kind of want to jump ahead and read more
Dr. Dolittle - so many books and such a great series for imagination, animal/human relationships
I have had great success with the Costco book series for my son. This year they had the haunted mansion set and Timothy failure. In past years we bought Sherlock Holmes.
DS9 loves fantasy and series he has loved are everything by Rick Riordan, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Jack Jones, Oragami Yoda, Dr. Dolittle, Wings of Fire, that annoying cat series (warriors).
We just began reading The Mysterious Benedict Society as a family. It’s a series and the first book is 500 pages. We’re only a chapter in, but it’s been interesting and I kind of want to jump ahead and read more
We found it slooooow. But in the end, the story was good and we really liked it. the could definitely have cut out 200 pages. LOL
Oh yes the Dr Doolittle series too! I have an original copy of the first book that has been in my family since it was published. I have so many fond memories of it. The books are so descriptive and creative.
My son got the Guardians of Childhood series for Christmas, but that's definitely fantasy so probably not up your kid's alley, since the main characters are the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus and such.
CloudBee, I am super late on this but was scanning for ideas for my sensitive 8 year old. We are reading (together) the Little House on the Prairie series - brings up some questions about racism and gender roles but it's a nice way to discuss and nothing too terrible happens, at least not in the way that bothers her. She hates any books where people are deliberately mean to each other.
Have you come across the Daisy and the Trouble With series? A bit longer than the starter books and a fun girl character just doing fun things. My daughter is super into the Rainbow fairies and any sort of magical creatures / unicorns whatever but I do try to get her a bit of a range.
She loves the Zoey Rescue Zoo series - probably too easy but they're nice stories.
Judy Moody?
She liked the Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables (read them together - her comprehension is way above her ability at the moment) - she likes the older books best and will not go near Harry Potter at all.