Books for a 6 Year Old Boy

Hi,

My son is also 6 and will be starting first grade in the fall. One of his favorite books is The Twits by the same guy who wrote James and the Giant Peach, the name has left me.

Enjoy!

Not sure if he could read it entirely by himself, but my son & I just recently finished reading Treasure Island together and he loved it!

ADDED: Two books my son LOVED reading are "If you Grew Up with Abraham Lincoln" and "If You Grew Up with George Washington."

Before someone else recommends it, I would like to strongly advise you to avoid Harry Potter. From what you've said it sounds like they are definitely not for him, even the first ones. The later books especially become MUCH too intense for young children, as many parents found out the hard way, and it's very hard to stop a child in the middle of a continuing story and say, "Sorry, you can't find out what happens next." There are many other wonderful books for young children to enjoy. My daughter at 15 has never read them nor seen the movies, nor have many of her friends; she's heard a lot about them though and feels that she has not missed a thing, so don't let anyone convince you that they are "required material" these days if they are not right for your family.

If he likes mysteries, "Encyclopedia Brown" and "Nate the Great" are good for beginners. Also the "Three Cousins Detectives" series, available at Family Christian Store and and maybe places? "Animal Ark" is fun, if he likes animals. Highlights used to put out a subscription series of short stories that my daughter loved; they were for boys and girls both. I think it was just called "Highlights Short Stories."

The Little House on the Prairies series had beginning reader books about the same size that were exerpts of the longer novels, though I'd recommend the long ones as read alous for you, especially "Farmer Boy" (about Laura's husband's childhood). There is a series called "Childhood of Famous Americans" that would be good for read alouds. There are a couple of series about Christian "Heroes" (some missionaries as well as other famous peopole who strongly lived their faith) if that would be of interest to your family - you can see the titles at the following link (but then check your library - some may be available there http://www.worldchristian.com/booksearch.asp?keyword=Chri...

Also, how about the "Chronicles of Narnia" (Lion, Witch & Wardrobe etc) for read alouds?

Finally, here's a page with lots of suggested reading lists - many you will probably recognize from your own childhood :-) http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/reading.html

Have fun! You are blessed to have such an eager reader - but you've obviously put a lot into encouraging that - so good for you, Mom! :-)

My son who is turning 8 next week loves the my weird school series. There are actually 2 series My Weird School nad My Weird School daze ( I think is for older kids) He may need help from you but they are very funny. My son HATES to read but will beg to stay up and read these books in bed!

My son liked the Jigsaw Jones mystery series and Cam Jansen. Both were available from our local library and we read them throughout the summer.

Nate the Great series is really good my son read alot of them when he was 6-7 We would each read a page and I loved them

MY SON WILL BE 7 AND IS IN THE FIRST GRADE. THE KIDS ALL LOVE THE JUNIE B. jONES SERIES BOOK AND MOST PARENTS BOUGHT THE WHOLE COLLECTION SINCE THE KIDS LIKE READING THEM.

I haven't re read them in a while but what about the Ramona Quimby books, beezus and ramona, etc

There is a series of three books called, My father the dragon that is kinda cute and more boy-ish.

Charlottes Web? might be a bit sad/scary

We just read the beatrice potter collection benjamin bunny, peter rabbit etc.
I"ll keep thinking but the suggestion to ask a teacher or the librarian is a good one.
Hooray for BOOKS!! And boys that love to read them!!

Just thought of a few more,
The littles or the borrowers the little guys with tails that live in the walls of the "biggs' House"
Stuart little who i think is different right?
Ralph and the motorcycle a riding rodent

have fun

Here are a few series that we have read but they don't fit under the truck and trains theme (I only have girls)

Junie B Jones (can be a tad annoying), Cam Jansen, Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, Horrible Harry, Roscoe Riley Rules, Ready Freddy, My Weird School, Geronimo Stilton and Rainbow Magic (could be too girly).

I don't think you should see reading as punishment over the summer. We incorporate it into every day all year long. You might also want to join the library's summer reading program and that will indirectly encourage reading over the summer.

Have fun!

My son loved Jigsaw Jones and Horrible Harry. He also liked some of the more girlie series like Junie B. Jones and Nancy Drew Clue Crew (not to be confused with the regular Nancy Drew Books). You can also try Pee Wee Scouts and the Berenstein Bears have a chapter book series that my son devoured.

Make books available to him and you may be surprised how quickly reading catches on for him. My son couldn't handle scary things either and didn't even like the Magic Tree House books at first.

Good luck!

K.,
Talk to your school or township libratian for suggestions. Most schools have a summer required reading and suggested book list that is grade/age appropriate. It's great that he is a good reader. My kids love to read as well!
Have a great summer!

Hi,

My seven-year-old son who was also an early and enthusiastic reader enjoys the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Captain Underpants series (and others by Dave Pilkey, if you can stand it), and the Magic Treehouse books. He also likes reading books with random facts, like the Scholastic Book of World Records, and short historical biographies -- Ben Franklin, Harriet Tubman, etc. The library seems to be loaded with this sort of thing, which is good because I save money by not buying things he might not be interested in. Some of the biographies (and other kids books and series) really click with his current interests, and some are a total miss, so I wait and see which library books he gravitates toward and then look for opportunities to get more in the same vein.

Good luck!

Junie B. Jones by Barbara Parks are really funny books. nothing scary

Andrew Lost series by J. C. Greenburg. This was one of my son's favorite series, we found all but the newest books at our local library. My son prefers humor and science to scary, (these books include science like Magic Tree House includes history) and at age 8 we still get the new books when they come out. The books "build" on each other, (at least 4 in a mini series I think), so make sure you read them in order.

He also liked Ready Freddy books by Abby Klein, these books are great beginning chapter books with humor.