EPBOT Readers discussion

I figured I'd open another thread for the talk about books for the kiddos! Mine will be 9 in April and is somewhat of a struggling reader on his own, but his comprehension is good when he's being read to. We've read through all of Harry Potter and Narnia. He LOVES dragons so I think he'd probably like a lot of what yours has liked, Dakota! The Dragon Masters series by Tracey West has been a good one for him - it's got all of the elements he likes but it's easy enough that he can read it himself.

For read-alouds, maybe the Redwall books by Brian Jacques? No dragons, but all the characters are animals (moles, mice, shrews, otters, hares, etc.). Each book is an epic good vs evil fight and there's plenty of feasting and young animals who get into mischief. The full cast audio recordings are fabulous (with great accents).

I think these lists should all be publicly available. Kidbots are 21, 18, and 16 so these have been compiled over last 15-20 years.
Books for boys that a mom likes too
https://aadl.org/user/lists/10835
Favorites from my childhood (1970s)
https://aadl.org/user/lists/10837
Kid books I wish I had as a kid
https://aadl.org/user/lists/21536
Favorite picture books
https://aadl.org/user/lists/14795

Dealing with Dragons, and the rest of the series, by Patricia wrede might be good! The first one is a princess who is fed up with how little a princess is allowed to do so goes off to serve a dragon. The rest of the books follow different characters but are all tied together. I read them as an adult and they still hold up as fun!

One of my favorites for this age is the Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians series (Brandon Sanderson). On top of being a fabulous adventure, it’s also absolutely hilarious.

Ooh, I love this thread! Dragon-related suggestions to add: the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland (tbh I'm not sure what 9bot sees in this series, but he's on #11, I think, and still going strong), the Ice & Fire series by Chris D'Lacey, which starts with The Fire Within. I *think* he's also read and enjoyed The Girl Who Drank The Moon (I can't double check right now because apparently he took the book to his dad's house). We read through the Dragon Masters series too, and 9bot did like those.

Other non-dragon related suggestions: Red's Planet (I think you have to go direct to the artist/writer for that). Again, I'm not sure why he likes it so much, but like it he does. The Candy Shop War (slightly more advanced). Is Underground. The Secret of NIMH (which is nothing like the movie).

The description of Dealing with Dragons makes me think of The Ordinary Princess!

So many great suggestions! I never read the books myself, but does anyone know about the reading level of How to Train Your Dragon? He LOVES LOVES LOVES the movies so that might be a hit if it's at his level.

Shel wrote: "So many great suggestions! I never read the books myself, but does anyone know about the reading level of How to Train Your Dragon? He LOVES LOVES LOVES the movies so that might be a ..."

I was going to list HTTYD last night, and then spaced it! Yes, my kiddo has a couple of those and I'd put them solidly in that 3/4th grade reading level. They're a little different plot-wise than the movies, I think. But I honestly am not sure *how* different.

Does your kiddo have a Lexile reading score from the school or anything? Sometimes I'll use that info and go on Scholastic to look for suggestions.

And the other book that you talked about in the weekly check in, Where the Mountains Meet the Moon... THAT's the one I was trying to remember last night that he took to his dads. Although The Girl Who Drank the Moon looks really interesting too... maybe we'll have to check that out now. :P

Dakota wrote: "Shel wrote: "So many great suggestions! I never read the books myself, but does anyone know about the reading level of How to Train Your Dragon? He LOVES LOVES LOVES the movies so tha..."

A student of mine had The Girl Who Drank the Moon with her at school the other day (I teach 8th grade) and it caught my eye so I picked it up and read the back - it looks excellent!

It might be a couple years above his reading level - but The Last Dragonslayer series is awesome - it's sort of in the same universe as Jasper Fforde's books for adults, so if you like those, definitely check those out.