My son is 7 (2nd grade), but he's a very advanced reader. He breezed through most of the series books recommended for his age level, which are the books the school librarian steers his class toward (Magic Tree House, Junie B Jones, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Ramona, Mouse & the Motorcycle, Nate the Great, Horrible Harry) in kindergarten and first grade. He's read some of the Roald Dahl books (Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and he loved those. He re-reads a lot of books, but I'd really like to find another series or author for him. It's hard to find books that are advanced enough for him (the Magic Tree House books take him about 45 minutes to read, and he's bored with them), but don't have themes that are over his head (like dating, gross-out humor, or - my biggest fear - a mention of Santa not being real). He and I have read the first two Harry Potter books together, but I don't think he's quite ready for the rest of the series. My husband and I are pretty protective (or maybe overprotective ...) and I don't want him to have bad dreams from some of the darker imagery in the books. Does anyone have suggestions for books that are acceptable, content-wise, for a 7 year old, but would be a bit more challenging than the books he's allowed to check out at school?
39 Clues series
My Side of the Mountain trilogy (by Jean Craighead George)
The Tripods Trilogy (by John Christopher)
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Indian in the Cupboard
The Borrowers
A Cricket in Times Square
Hatchet
Julie of the Wolves
Holes
Where the Red Fern Grows
All of these are excellent, and many award-winning books. You might also find out what his Lexile scores are and search according to his reading ability.
Best of luck!
The Seekers series may be an option. It's a series about Bears. I got part of the series for a cousin who was also an advanced reader. She became obsessed. Another one I have heard a lot about, is the Warrior series. It's about cats. The same author, Erin Hunter wrote both series. From what I understand, kids get addicted.
Some other you may want to look into (not all of these are a series):
The Neverending Story
The Chronicles of Narnia (series)
The Golden Compass (series)
Holes
Number the Stars (about the WWII, it's excellent historic fiction)
Harriet the Spy
The Borrowers
The Boxcar Children (series)
Encyclopedia Brown (series)
Junior Jedi Series (if you are ok with Star Wars)
Has he read the Incredible Journey of Edward Tulane?
What about some classics like Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn?
James & the Giant Peach, Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator? (Dahl)
ETA: Sorry--The MIRACULOUS Journey of Edward Tulane!
How about the Narnia series?
I have and advanced 7 yr old (first grade )reader , he loves Geronimo Stilton , He just started reading the Guardian's of Ga'Hool book 1. He is really enjoying it.
Um
A to Z mysteries
Magic Tree house Merlin series
He's read HP #1
Time Warp Trio.
Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet
Encyclopedia Brown
And waiting in the wings he's got
The Dragon in the Sock Drawer
My son also reads the smaller books in no time but that also means he can read more of them. so he has a couple of them at a time.
I'm not sure if you would allow your son to read these but here are some books that my 2nd grade daughter have/is reading:
The Call of the Wild - Jack London
The Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
Dracula- Bram Stoker
The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams
The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder
My son is in the same boat. Some of the best series we've read and liked are: Chronicles of Narnia (all 7), 39 Clues (10 books, plus new spin-off series just started), and Geronimo Stilton. Right now he's reading The Magic Thief series by Sarah Prineas. Try asking at the public library, since they have a larger selection than the school library. Not sure how advanced you're looking for, but I just finished the Fablehaven series myself. The library had it in the teen section, but it's family friendly content. I'll be checking out other responses for ideas for my son too :)
My son loves the "How to Train a Dragon" series. He reads them very fast, but just eats them up!
He is in 4th grader and is a great reader (has always been advanced reader like yours), but he is pretty innocent. It has always been hard to find books to his reading level, but with content that he interested in. Even in 4th grade its still hard to find books that he doesn't read in one sitting!
It looks like you have looked into Beverly Cleary books, those were always good. Oh yeah, he also likes the Wayside School books.
Does he like sports? Matt Christopher has a seemingly endless series of books about kids and sports. I have "reluctant readers" and they all enjoyed these books. They would be quick reads for your son but are age-appropriate and there are literally something like 75 books.
How about Judy Blume and more Beverly Clearly? Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Super Fudge, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, and the Beverly Cleary "Henry" books are all favorites in my house. I also really enjoyed the Encyclopedia Brown (the kid detective) books when I was around that age.
ETA: our elementary school (K-2) did The Incredible Journey of Edward Tulane as its "one book, one school" selection last year (parents and kids read together). It was a great story but a little heavy and rather sad in parts. If you read it, it might be something to read together. The school is starting The World According to Humphrey tomorrow for this year's one book, one school selection. I don't know anything about it but you might want to look into that too.
The Mysterious Benedict Society is a great trilogy and my kids LOVED them! We homeschool and read through them last year as a read aloud. I have to second the recommendation of the My Side of the Mountain trilogy. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, White Fang, Rascal, Swiss Family Robinson, Call of the Wild, Old Yellar, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, Hardy Boys, Wind in the Willows, The Trumpet of the Swan, Mr. Popper's Penguins, 21 Balloons.
We love to read! :)
Blessings and good for you keeping an eye on what your child reads.
How do you feel about sci fi?
I fell in love with Anne McCaffrey books when I was about ten maybe. Isaac Asimov has some stuff that is good. 7 is really young, but I have been horrified at stuff that wins Caldecott and Newberry awards and such --- waaaay too dark.
My son is older, but is an avid reader and enjoyed books that were more challenging at an early age. Some of the books that we have both read are the Percy Jackson series beginning with "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan, "The Ranger's Apprentice" series by John Flanagan, the Septimus Heap series beginning with "Magyk" by Angie Sage and "The Youngest Templar" series by Michael Spradlin. Most of these he started when he was about 9. He loved them so much that he demanded that I read them, so I did and I loved them too. They do involve being orphaned, magic and a lot of fighting, so not sure if you would want your son to read them. Definitely tamer that Harry Potter.
My 8 year old niece has read the first four Harry Potter books, but they get darker beginning at the end of Book Four. Both of my sons stopped reading them in the middle of Book Five and then finished them when they were older. As in Harry Potter, most series begin with a younger kid and as they grow up, the books become more "grown up." I would highly recommend that you read any books that are above his grade level first, to be sure that you want him to read them. You can best decide his maturity level and understanding. It is also nice to be able to discuss them with him.
You've gotten such wonderful suggestions. Here are a few more:
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler
The entire Wizard of Oz series
The old Hardy Boys books
A Wrinkle in Time and the other related books by Madeleine L'Engle
And if you don't mind war-related books, Across Five Aprils, Rifles for Watie, and Johnny Tremain are all wonderful.
Thanks for posting this question. My son is in 2nd and in the same situation. A lot of books for his age aren't challenging enough, but some of the more challenging books are hard to understand for him because he's only 7 years old. He can read the words, but just doesn't get the meaning and for some reason is intimidated by really lengthy books. Thanks again!
I don't know if he would be past these yet, but my kids really like the Indian in the Cupboard books. My oldest is in 1st grade so I read aloud to him, but he really enjoys the stories.
You have a lot of wonderful suggestions. I'll only add one more to the list. My son read "The Hobbit" when he was 7. We started reading it together, when he decided that he could do it on his own.
Read them yourself first to be sure they're suitable for your son (and because they're AWESOME books!) but I LOVED the Fablehaven books by Brandon Mull!
My 2nd grade son can't get enough of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books.
We love all things Kate DiCamillo. (The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician's Elephant, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn Dixie). I have an extremely advanced kindergartener who is 6 and loves all of those books. (Now we'll be looking at the other suggestions here!)
