Hi, My son LOVES the Magic Treehouse series of books (and the research guides that go with them). He is a non-reader so I read them to him or we listen to the CDs but we are almost through the entire series. What other book series have your kids loved? Some characteristics of the Magic Treehouse that I liked were: Chapter books, each book a new adventure, young kids as the main characters, creative stories but some elements of truth that we can research/discuss in more detail. I need a series with no teenage content (dating, peer pressure, etc) - Just content appropriate for elementary age or younger kids.
We tried a Ramona book but it didn't hold his attention. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you so much to everyone that responded. I now have a lot of fabulous recomendations that I can't wait to try out.
I know I'm dating myself but The Narnia series.
Oh, and my boys loved the Redwall books by Brian Jacques.
Sara -- I DISAGREE! I LOVED The Horse and His Boy.
Time Warp Trio
You might go on Amazon and type in Magic Tree House and see what other recommendations they have under "customers who bought this also bought..."
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The Boxcar children is really good too. =)
Try the Boxcar Children series. My children have loved them.
has he tried the Chronicles of Narnia? Start with the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and skip A Horse and his Boy. They're pretty good.
The Borrowers, The Hardy Boys......
I work with kindergarteners and my own kids are first and kindergarten. so this is right on our level. We also loved MTH, another author that i really liked for me to read to them is Ron ROY, we got started on the A to Z mystery series he has that we could borrow the audio cd of from our library. That series is very much on an age appropriate level although the main characters i think are in second or third grade. I also like that 2 of the 3 main characters are boys.
Anyhow that auther also has a series for younger kids called the "the Calendar mysteries" The main characters are the younger siblings of the Ato Z mystery kids and i think they are in Kindergarten. I would recommend them, I know January Joker is the first title and there is a Feburary book out.
Another series that you might want to try is little house on the prarie.
Kids this age LOVE, LOVE LOVE barbara Parks books Junie B Jones, they are about a Kindergarten girl. I hesitate to recommend them because while adorable the little girl uses very poor grammar and gets into HUGE trouble.
You might like the Roal Dahl books, James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they tend to have grim elements in my opinion.
We have a collection of Beatric Potter stories that my son is very into and he also loves to hear the Classic Winnie the Pooh. That are just sweet sweet sweet.
I totally second the non-fiction works! And he may enjoy some of the great kids magazines that are out there LIke Ranger Rick, Big Backyard, Highlights, etc.
Personally, i would wait on the chronicles of narnia and series of unfortunate events.
good luck Hope you find some great things to read!
Jigsaw Jones Series!!!! Although, buy them on ebay...much cheaper than Amazon. Or get them at your library.
You don't say how old your son is. But my son loved the Hank The Cowdog books. Gregor the overlander series, the Horrible Harry series and all books by judy blume and also judith voirst
My youngest son loved the Secrets of Droon series. When older (4th, 5th grade) he loved the Gregor the Overlander books by Suzanne Collins and the Artemis Fowl books.
What about the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan?
Little House on the Prairie? It is mostly girls, but does have that historical fiction bent.
Trixie Beldon - if you can still find it anywhere
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett
Hi K.-
I'm sure I'll think of more later but one of my son's favorite series is called The Box Car Children. Instead of explaining the series, I've copied and pasted a website that explains it in details.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boxcar_Children
My son who is nine is by my side right now and he says that I should mention to you to read non-fiction books too. He really loves reading about space, animals, countries, etc... Scholastic, Usborne Books and DK books are great for this but I know there are a lot of publishing companies out there who do a great job explaining non fiction facts for kids.
Oh... yeah... he also enjoys The Bailey School Kids is a great series. My son often reads these and gets AR points at his school. (Accelerated Reader)
Enjoy!
The A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy
Mrs. Frisbie and the Rats of NIMH
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by K. Di Camillo
Magic School Bus chapter books
Berenstein Bears chapter books
I'm sure I'll think of others later
Ron Roy has 3 series that my kids love: A-Z mysteries, The Calendar Mysteries, and The Capitol Mysteries. My son also adored the Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi, and the 'Stink' books by Megan McDonald. They are all perfect for the young age group. You might also try the 'My Weird School' books by Dan Gutman.
