Hi ladies! I home school my kids. I am looking for enjoyable books for my 9 year old to read. He just recently finished reading the 4 books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series that are out. He loved them and they were a good reading level for him (if not a tiny bit too easy). As a reward for reading the entire series he got the movie on blu-ray that we watched for Family Movie Night, Afterwards, had to do a report on how the book was different from the movie and what he liked or did not like about the differences. The situation is perfect and I would like to continue to do things like this as it finally got him to really want to read. But here is my problem. The Wimpy Kid books are all full of "fart jokes" and calling names and picking on others and selfishness and all sorts of annoying habits. And, he picked them up! At the end of the book the boy realizes that he wasn't a very good friend and that so many things he did were wrong and he apologizes and "sees the errors of his way". We've had the conversation that this is the moral of the story. My son acknowledges that what the character did was not nice etc. But yet..there he is..picking on his little brother, saying things straight from the book. It makes me so angry!
So, my question is...does anyone have any good suggestions for books that I can steer my son to that aren't going to have this problem but will keep his interest and excite him. If it was made into a movie even better because it worked so very well for us to do what we did with the Wimpy Kid.
Wow! There are some amazing books listed here that I forgot about that I read as a child and loved and some I never even knew about. I honestly didn't remember when I read what as a child which was part of my issue that prompted me to ask, I always had my nose in a book LOL. A few suggested we have bought before, some because I have read them myself and never get rid of books, but he doesn't want to read them right now, but I'm going to try to encourage him some more. Reading has always been his sore subject, he can but doesn't want to. He would rather read the instruction manual to the Wii front to back than a "real" book. We're trying to get him into more "traditional" books. The question as to if he'd like something that's "aimed at a girl", yeah, he would. He doesn't care about the gender of the character in that respect.
Wendy, that study sounds fascinating! Normally my kids are fine watching or reading anything and do not pick up the bad habits out of them like this. We are having some family issues that I won't elaborate on here which I think are making things worse so until things settle we're taking away any aggravating elements. They usually play superheros and other such things well just as you mentioned the "Power Ranger" set did. They've grown up watching Batman, Superman etc They usually don't copy the violence in fantasy situations and such. This is relatively new but at such an extreme that we have to hit it hard so to speak.
There was a catalogue mentioned that sounds great. I'll have to look into that. I also have a 6 year old and need good ideas for him. He's a bit behind reading wise, we only learned a few months ago that he needed glasses. He was struggling before that. He's catching up quick though!
Please keep the suggestions coming! I am taking notes and it looks like several others are following here as well.
Thank you ladies! You all are amazing!
PS: We were at Costco over the weekend and he found a box set of Flat Stanley books that he's reading right now. They're a little easy but he's reading something new that's quite a deal nicer so yeah!
Around that age my son read the Hardy Boys series. We ended p buying the entire series on Amazon!! They are sweet books and about the same level at Wimpy Kid.
Good Luck!
Definitely the Narnia series of books and what about the classics, Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer, Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Old Yeller, A Wrinkle in Time, The Great Brain, Robinson Caruso (sp?), Swiss Family Robinson, Hardy Boys series, etc.
2nding Narnia & Classics (Sherlock Holmes to Swiss Family Robinson).
Also: The Black Stallion, by walter farley. The first 2 books were also done into movies.
It depends on you okayness with violence and some nudity, but we're doing Black Ships Before Troy (adaptation of the Illiad) and The Wanderings of Odysseus in school right now, and are pairing it with the movie Troy.
Has he read the Chronicles of Narnia? We loved them, and the movies are excellent.
I also really enjoyed the Princess Bride. I'm not sure what age it is intended for, but if you've seen the movie you'll know if the premise is something your child is ready for. I cant remember what age I read it, so it might be a bit more advanced.
Well, these books weren't made into movies, but my 8yo home schooled son LOVES them. I'm talking about Richard Kennedy's books, most importantly a book called "Amy's Eyes". It's mostly about seamanship, adventure and the bonds of family. It's a wonderful book with none of that crass business in it. It doesn't need it. They are also very educational if you do what we do and pick things out of the book to research. We spent a couple of weeks tinkering with barometers (built our own) and weather prediction/science because of this book amongst other things.
Also, get him reading the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (we read these last year too). They're being made into movies right now.
We also like the "Far Flung Adventures of Fergus Crane" and are going to look into the other books written by the authors Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.
There are tons of others too, you just have to get out there and look. I think a library card is a must for all homeschooling families especially as it allows you to "try on" books without having to purchase them. If you like them enough you can pick up your own copy. Maybe just take your son to the library and let him browse until he finds something that sparks his interest.
Good luck to you!
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Sorry to edit so quickly but I forgot to mention.... don't forget the classics! We're reading "The Swiss Family Robinson" right now. We also have "Treasure Island", "The Indian in the Cupboard", "Robinson Crusoe" etc... lined up on our reading list. I actually have these in my Kindle. Most of them are public domain books now because the copyrights have expired so you can download them for free or at most 99 cents. I'm also going to be working on finding the "Hardy Boys" series books for my son. I think they're good books for boys to read. For good wholesome reading for kids you just can't beat the classics!
Judt Blume's "Fudge" series is great and Charlotte's Web is a must-read for all kids (there's a movie too). When I taught 3rd grade, we read the book Stone Fox and watched the movie, then did a comparison like you mentioned. Also, maybe The Mouse and and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Good luck on your efforts to keep him reading and enjoying books!
How about the Encyclopedia Brown books? I still love those mysteries!
We homeschool, too.
Has he read the Magic Tree House series? My son would read one book every 2 hours and was done with them quickly, but he learned a lot and then they have research guides with more facts on the subjects.
Also, books end up costing me too much money, so we are visitng the library and he's checking out books every week. He's not interested in the Hardy Boys series....but I agree with you on the content of the books.
We have all of the classics, Around the World in 80 Days, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Moby Dick, etc.
My son has been reading comic books that were my husband's when he was a kid ALL summer and is loving them.
umm
there are many interesting books
charlotte's web
the cricket in times square
the wolves of beyond
where the red fern grows (kinda sad in parts, but beautifully written)
Hatchet Paulsen << that book is really good and about a kid surving in the Canadian wilderness..
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The sign of the Beaver
Walk two moons
How to Eat Fried Worms.. (you said, no farting books.. I don't recall this kind of stuff in the book) but it is of course about what the title mentions.. ) it's a fun book though.. many kids like it..
My family and I have enjoyed all these books
best of luck
My almost 9 yr old son enjoyed the Indian in the Cupboard serries I know they atleast made the Indian in the Cupboard into a movie, he has read the fudge books, I think I might get him James and the Giant Peach although this used to read this at the elem school he is going to. We don't have any but I my aunt recommends the boxcar kids her boys enjoyed them, he is probably a little too old for Nate the Great but I think there are some other mystery type books and I definately know that from the sounds of it Magic Tree House is definately too young for him.
My daughter loved the Magic Tree House series. She read them in 1st grade though so they might be too easy for him but I think she reads at a 4th or 5th grade level so maybe not. I'm actually trying to find some books for her right now as well. She enjoyed Goosebumps and of course Junie B Jones but that may be too girly and would definetly be too easy for him. I look forward to reading the responses you get on this one. Oh, how about James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Unless he's already seen those movies and isn't interested?
I second The Mouse and The Motorcycle - both my kids loved that. I read it first to my son when he was 4 and even I enjoyed it. One of the few books that I'd keep reading even though he had fallen asleep! LOL!
** I just read through the responses - GREAT STUFF! You all helped THIS Mom out too! Thanks!
I didn't see it listed, so I am going to throw in one that is still a favorite of mine: "Watership Down" by Richard Adams. It's about a society of rabbits trying to establish a new home and it's got a lot of adventure in it. It's long, but he could probably handle it 1 chapter at a time. There is an animated movie of it that I think was made back in the 70's.
Favorites from when I was a kid included the Little House series, "The Trumpet of the Swan" by E.B. White (he also wrote "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web"), Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, "The Black Stallion", (the movie version with Kelly Reno and Mickey Rooney is awesome), "Where the Red Fern Grows", "A Wrinkle in Time" (and the 2 sequels), and "The House With a Clock in it's Walls". And now I love Harry Potter too.
My stepsons really enjoyed "Holes" - there is a movie version out now too that is only a few years old.
+Would Magic Tree House books be too easy for him? They are full of facts without being overbearing and you can get research guides as well.
+Enid Blyton's The Famous Five books are great - you can get them at Amazon on the 4 for 3 promo I think. Detective type books that are "tame"
+Don't know if this website will help
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/recommends.html
My boy is only 5 1/2 and enjoys Magic Tree House, but I'd like to get him on to The Famous Five when he is ready.
We love reading!
Hey Katrina, sorry I don't have time to read through all the other answers, but I have a younger son who I have been reading the Little House on the Prairie series to and he LOVES it. He is completely enraptured and he's 5. And it really does have plenty of boyish stuff throughout. We've never once thought of it as only for girls.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge and Fudgamania by Judy Blume. They are very easy for kids to relate to and yet clean.
Wow, you've gotten a ton of suggestions already, but I'll throw in my ideas too. My oldest son is a voracious reader; some of his favorites have been:
Percy Jackson
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The Bartimaeus Trilogy (favorite!)
Septimus Heap series
Bone
Peter and the Starcatchers series
Sisters Grimm series
Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn
Magic Treehouse books are fun, but probably way too easy for your son. Do you have any idea what his Lexile level is? The Wimpy Kid series is around 900 (if I remember correctly). You can check out lexile.com and search books in that lexile level.
My son loved A Wrinkle in Time, once he finished it, but it was challenging only because it is a slow read. My 10 year old started reading it at the beginning of the summer, and has gotten 3/4 of the way through and is really struggling to finish it. That seems to be a common problem with many of the "classic" books; they're just too slow and don't keep their interest. My oldest reads at college level, has started MANY classics (Around the World in 80 Days, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gulliver's Travels) but a few chapters in he stops reading it.
Trenton Lee Stewart's "Mysterious Benedict Society" books
Cate di Camillo's 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" and "tale of Desperaux"
My kids are 7 & 8, but they really enjoy the Magic Treehouse series, not sure if it would be too young either, but check it out, there are a lot of them!
You might get the Veritas Press catalog. They list books for each age/grade level. You can also just look on their website for the same info (vertiaspress.com), but the catalog is so yummy. :) They also have study guides for many books, which help make the books more enjoyable. They check for comprehension, but also have some fun projects to do that the kids enjoy. For Little House, we made corn husk dolls (for my girls, but that is just an idea of what they do). Also, Ballentine books are really good and full of adventure. Remember, what you put in, you get out, as you are seeing with the potty humor. Enjoy!
Boxcar Children series - about 4 siblings who have adventures. They are a bit dated from the 60's I think, but the kids speak maturely and the stories emphasize kids as capable individuals and loving supporting family members. There is 2 boys and 2 girls aged maybe 5-15..
I have to say both my son and I really enjoyed the Percy Jackson series. he also enjoyed some of the magic tree house.
He really enjoyed as did most all the boys and girls in 4th grade Swindle, there is a second book to it but I do not remeber the name.
You've gotten lots of good suggestions -- I want to add a couple more. My kids loved the Goosebumps series about your son's age. (OK, that was about 10 years ago, but I'm sure they're still out there!) They're a little scary at just the right level, but the emphasis is on friendship, courage, and teamwork. They also loved the Encyclopedia Brown series (you-solve-them detective stories with a kid hero). Two personal favorites of mine and theirs were "The Diamond in the Window" and "The Swing in the Summerhouse" by Jane Langton. Great adventure and a super introduction to some elements of American history and philosophy.
For other ideas, you can always ask your local librarian! BTW, this is the easy time. My 12th grader just came home with a request to read "Portnoy's Complaint" for her AP lit class. What a quandary! If I said yes, I was giving her explicit permission to read a book with explicit descriptions of sexual perversity and negative Jewish stereotypes. If I said no, I knew she would just go to the library on her own and check it out, anyway! My solution was to say yes, but reread the book along with her so I could give her a more mature perspective on the material in it. Of course, I just found out this weekend that she watched the unrated, uncut version of "The Hangover" at a friend's house, so I guess the genie is completely out of the bottle now! Can't control them forever, LoL!
Hello, I don't know if they are just what you are looking for, but when I was caring for a physically challenged young man, I read him the series of "The Tales of Narnia". Very cute and held his attention. Another really cute book was "How to Eat Fried Worms". Also, Beverly Cleary books are good. "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" was one my 11 year old grandson enjoyed a couple of years ago, too.
Good luck with your precious family.
K. K.
I love the mysterious Benedict society. It's a great adventure/mystery book about 4 gifted children. Such a fun read. I am on the second book of three. It is a 6th grade reading level.
How to Train a Dragon. I believe it is a series and a movie.
I have paged through the book: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up... for ideas for my nephews that are your child's age. It has some amazing suggestions and things I totally forgot about!
Some of my favorites are:
The Phantom Tollbooth
Hatchet
Mossflower series (Brian Jacques)
The Black Stallion series
Anne of Green Gables series
The Little House books
Anything by Lois Lowry, Louisa May Alcott or Beverly Cleary
White Fang
My Side of the Mountain
Found this list online as well with some good stuff!:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1840813-angela-alcor...
Hi, Katrina - I homeschool both my kids as well. 11yr old daughter and 9 yr old son. I can relate to my son loving the Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants series. However, my son loved the entire Percy Jackson series - in fact he devoured them. It opened the whole world of ancient history with Greek mythology, etc. The next series we read was Fablehaven - which is written with a series of questions to discuss in the back - great for homeschooling!
That series has a character the boys can relate to - but also discuss the consequences of his actions, etc. Both great series. Hope this helps and have a great fall!
T.
I know things are different than when we were in school, but that was the age that I tore through the Chronicles of Narnia books...and there are the movies for that now too.
I also like the Little House on the Prairie books, but not sure a boy would be interested in those.
-M
Try the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley and his other series about the Island Stallion. As a 4th and 5th grader, I found them fun, full of adventure, and then there is the wonderful movie they made about it. Since the hero is a young boy, he should identify. I also loved the old science fiction series about a teen named Lucky Star written for children by Isaac Asimov under another name. The stories were aimed at about this age group. The stories don't hold up under current science, but they were old fashioned adventure fun. Don't forget the Hardy Boys mysteries. I know a lot of this is old fashioned, but the adventure and good values haven't changed through the years.
I have a recommendation for something that kids should NOT read: I got a book called The Homework Machine from a Scholastic Book order and read it aloud to my boys before I realized what it was like. I will not trust Scholastic book orders again!
In the book (leaving aside that the kids are cheating) there is a subplot where an adult stranger is sort of stalking the children (watching them, calling their home number, coming to their house) and not only do they not tell an adult (because they are afraid their parents will find out about the machine) but they actually open the door to this unknown man when he shows up at their doorstep (parents are not home).
Now...they think this man is a police man or government guy who knows about the machine, but he isn't, it's some other reason he was trying to contact them---so then they laugh it all off that they were so "paranoid" about this man. And the book ends!!! Even for the girl characters, there is no fear of strange men, only of getting caught by their parents for cheating.
I was shocked that a youth book was even published that gives child readers the idea that they should talk to and trust completely unknown men who stalk them. What were the author and publishers thinking??
A few ideas:
The original series of books that inspired the movie How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell. LThere are five in the series I believe (movie was based on one). Lots of humor and excitement, bravery, unusual characters and not overly gross. Vocabulary and writing style are also above the average.
Beast Quest series: not sure how you feel about anything that's aligned with wizards and spells, but my son liked these books. A young boy sets out on a quest to save his village and his country from good beasts that have been charmed by an evil spell; lots of action, but courage and bravery, good vs. evil are central to the stories. He has a girl helping him along the way. Each book follows a similar plot, but the vocabulary and writing style are good (written by an English author).
"George's Secret Key to the Universe" and the follow up book (forgot the name), but Stephen and Lucy Hawking.
Magic Treehouse books, although these might be a bit young.
You might also try some of the classics, and work with an audiotape from the library. My son has enjoyed books this way because the narration is usually so good.
If your son likes sports there are all of the Matt Christopher books. I'm not sure about the reading level of this book (I remember reading it when I was young, but I don't know how old I was) The Indian in the Cupboard. I remember loving the book and then I saw the movie not too long ago on TV and it was really enjoyable.
Good luck,
K.
Hi Katrina,
As an educator, I came across a study about children and literature. When the Power Rangers were popular, many folks thought they would turn their kids into aggressive bullies. So a group of pshychologists did a study, one group read the Arthur books about moral lessons, the other group read Power Ranger stories. The group that read the Arthur stories had a remarkable amount of children who began to use psychological bully behavior on their peer group. Where the Power Ranger group played cooperative imaginative games often mimicking the Power Rangers, without the bully element. The psychologists who conducted the study concluded that the Arthur books modeled sophisticated bully behavior the children picked up on. Since your son is home schooled, his models are more inclined to be from literature than in a large setting with many children. Bullies use their behavior to control others, and often it works. A child who is mainly socialized with adults may use these tactics to attempt control of his environment.
Just a thought,
Good luck,
Wendy
Bless you for asking this question!!!!!!!! I have a 9 year old too, and was about to jump on the mommy bandwagon to ask for suggestions. I will second, third, fourth and fifth Fablehaven. It may be a bit of a challenge, my 5th grader read them and loved them. He also has a bit of a reading delay, and is about half a grade level behind his peers.
My 9 year old sony just picked up the first of the Lemony Snicketts series and so far loves it. If I remember correctly, there are five books in the series, maybe seven, and the movie that was make with Jim Carrey combined elements of most or all of the books. That might make a great reading project.
Now I'm going to make a wonderful list of reads for my son from your great answers. Lucky me!
Hello!
Any of the Harry Potter books is great and then the movies are all available. My daughter loved them all, we statrted reading them when she was 6 and must have reread them a good 3 times. She is always excited to compare the books to the movies. Currently we are reading the Percy Jackson series which are great and involve Greek and some Roman mythology so I can see how you could do a whole lesson around it. The first book has been made into a movie and there are plans for the next one already.
Although we haven't read the Narnia series or the Lord of the Rings series they both have movies. They are a higher level reading but if he is up for it I also know other kids who loved them. They were about your son's age but they did some of the readng aloud with a parent which is also a good teaching tool for comprehension and vocabulary.
I second the Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn novels. I read them as a kid and I had all kinds of fantasies of travelling down the Mississippi. I can only imagine what a read it is for a boy! There are a few versions of the Tom Sawyer movie.
Hope this helps.
How about the Harry Potter books?
Judy Blume books. How old is your child? Or what grade level?
the judy blume fudge series
beverly cleary romona books
percy jackson books
We like the Hank Zipzer books by Henry Winkler (Yup - Fonzie!) The protagonist is a 4th grade boy. It's a really nice series about friends and family.
My son loves the books by Andrew Clements. "Frindle" is a best seller, very creative and engaging. It's about a boy who renames pens "frindles". Checkout andrewclements.com for more info.
