Children's Books discussion

Hi Folks,

I have a friend who is looking for book recommendations for her 7 year old son. He's currently reading at a second grade level and is just getting into chapter books.

Can anyone recommend books in this range suitable for boys? He's particularly interested in sports series, if there is such a thing.

Thanks!

Tanya

Ballpark Mysteries Collection: Books 1-5: #1 The Fenway Foul-up; #2 The Pinstripe Ghost; #3 The L.A. Dodger; #4 The Astro Outlaw; #5 The All-Star Joker may be something he would be interested in.

Thanks, Brenda!

That's fantastic, Abigail. I'll go check him out. I understand the boy is an advanced reader for his age - I feel a moral obligation to foster that. :-)

Tanya wrote: "Hi Folks,

I have a friend who is looking for book recommendations for her 7 year old son. He's currently reading at a second grade level and is just getting into chapter books.

Can anyone reco..."

Mat Christopher has some younger chapter book sport stories.

That's great, June. I'll add those to the list, too. Looks like I'll be able to keep him busy for a while.

Flat Stanley is a hit with this age group...lots of adventures and fun reading.

I've just been reading a lot of the animal stories by Dick King-Smith. They're fun adventures about mostly realistic farm animals, with just a sprinkle of magic. Pigs Might Fly, especially, would probably be a great fit for a smart and spirited lad.

These are wonderful ideas. Thanks everyone. I've passed them on to my friend, and she's ecstatic.

I just gave my 8 year old nephew The Iron Man by Ted Hughes and The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame. He sat right down and read the Grahame book straight through. Hooray!

I will recommend a few books that are popular in my school library, but I admit that I've not actually read many of them:

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself -- I personally feel this book should be for older kids, but younger kids are all over it, and their teachers let them read it.

Sports books by "Jake Maddox" (actually a mix of authors). They are listed for ages 9 and up, but I have eight year olds who read them. They are similar to the Matt Christopher books, but have a fresher look and seem a bit easier. All kinds of sports are represented: Batter Up!, Pit Crew Crunch: Jake Maddox on the Speedway, Paintball Invasion, Face-Off.

Another series that every kid is interested in is Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It is hard for 2nd and 3rd graders, and I certainly cannot provide a long list of beautiful qualities, but kids love it.

Stink (Book #1): The Incredible Shrinking Kid is the start of a series that is pretty funny.

My son read Pee-Wee's Tale and liked it, and it is popular among girls and boys who like animals. It is a series about squirrels and guinea pigs living in Central Park, NY.

I'm also looking for books for my nephew. He is turning eight but reading at a fifth grade level. He enjoys the "Goosebumps" series and also just finished Holes and loved that so his mom suggested something along similar lines. Any suggestions? Thanks :-)

Let's see Artemis Fowl , The Lightning Thief, Beyond the Deepwoods and The Maze of Bones are just a few that I can think of. Although not sure on the age range for the books.

Skinnybones is a funny book with a baseball theme.

5th grade boys in the class I work in love "The White Giraffe" and its subsequent books, by Lauren St. John.

Kathryn, I second all of Brenda's suggestions--love The Lightning Thief and The White Giraffe as well. Jon Scieszka's Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka is quite funny, and kids from third grade through middle school seem to like it. It does have a chapter about when he got caught swearing at school--if that is something that would bother you.

Thank you so much for the great suggestions! My husband actually found out there is a sequel to "Holes" so we will give that to our nephew for his birthday this weekend but he's a voracious reader so we will probably use some of these suggestions for Christmas ;-)

Ooh sports... not my area of expertise. Anyone know any good football or basketball books for a just beginning reader in third grade? (read aloud is OK)

Nephew likes
Dogman 4 Book set: Dog man (

I bought him The Bad Guys: Episode 1
Hot Dog!

I spotted Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, WeirDo on the bookshelf at their house too.

Anything else good with similar humor less than $10 NOT at a big box store?

How about How to Eat Fried Worms? I really liked this in grade five when our teacher read this aloud to us but as an adult, I found the story really childish.

QNPoohBear wrote: "Ooh sports... not my area of expertise. Anyone know any good football or basketball books for a just beginning reader in third grade? (read aloud is OK)

Nephew likes
Dogman 4 Book set: Dog ..."</i>

Not sure on football or basketball.

My boys did enjoy [book:The Fenway Foul-Up -- but that's baseball and also a mystery so not sure if that would interest your nephew.

If nephew likes soccer, there's also a Magic Treehouse book featuring Pele: Soccer on Sunday

Manybooks wrote: "How about How to Eat Fried Worms? I really liked this in grade five when our teacher read this aloud to us but as an adult, I found the story really childish."

I actually have an autographed copy in my stash waiting for another year or two. I'm hoping nephew 1 will learn to read independently soon. He's been working hard on it. His brain works a little more slowly than average with verbal skills.

He plays football and basketball.

I ended up buying an overstock/used copy of Grime and Punishment for him for Christmas. It will please him but keep the suggestions going. I like to hand out books for rewards for doing well in school.

Nephew 2 likes animal stories. He's at "I Can Read" Level 2 or 3 plus gets read to a lot. They enjoy Roald Dahl as a family and are reading Beware the Clopper! (again) now both kids (12 and 7) are old enough to understand and appreciate the stories. Or at least they love the illustrator. I never get much feedback on the books I gift.

Nephew #2 wants the Magic Treehouse books. Any thoughts on how they hold up? No worries about kid imitation Jack and Annie and sneaking out at night. He won't leave the house. period. No going to happen not even for something fun- except to visit my parents at the beach. I'm concerned more about the science and the history, especially the history. I did read Thanksgiving on Thursday a few years ago and it was OK. Not too cringeworthy but not the best thing I've ever read either.

Tanya wrote: "He's particularly interested in sports series, if there is such a thing..."

I guess the youngster from the original post in 2012 is now about 16 years old. But for anyone looking for sports series for young boys, Matt Christopher wrote many sports stories for youngsters about 3rd grade level and up.
Mike Lupica has written several sports stories for older children.
I don't know if any of these are in a series or not.

Ok I see guess what I think is doesn't matter. Nephew is wants Dinosaurs Before Dark to read to his mom!

QNPoohBear wrote: "Nephew #2 wants the Magic Treehouse books. Any thoughts on how they hold up? No worries about kid imitation Jack and Annie and sneaking out at night. He won't leave the house. period. No going to h..."

My eight-year-old enjoys them. I haven't brought a lot of them home from the library because I do think there are better books out there, but he's read some. Quality can vary widely within the series, IMO. I liked the one about Jackie Robinson and the one about John Muir. The one where they go the moon was abysmal, definitely skip that. I think your assessment of "not too cringe-worthy but not the best thing I've ever read" is pretty accurate for the series on the whole. I think if Nephew is interested it probably won't do much harm for him to read them and will hopefully do some good, at least he's reading and there is some educational value.

Beverly wrote: "Mike Lupica has written several sports stories for older children."

He has a series out now that is perfect for 7-9 year olds, the Zach and Zoe Mysteries. My 8-year-old loves them. The Missing Baseball etc.

Revolutionary War on Wednesday is ridiculous and not so great but it's Revolutionary War history which apparently they don't teach in my state, at least not to that age group.

Civil War on Sunday not as bad as I feared but if I remember correctly, heavy on Lincoln.

Thanksgiving on Thursday - parts of it are a bit cringy but it does portray the "first Thanksgiving" more or less accurately based on William Bradford's account. With a side of supernatural anyway.

I think I did read Dinosaurs Before Dark and it was bad but nephew wants to read it to Mommy so I'll grab that one for him.

Polar Bears Past Bedtime is one I got my niece when she was younger and she loved it. I thought it was silly but it was in the Little Free Library and FREE is always good when it comes to gifts for kids I know they won't appreciate.

On ebay I see there are chapter books of the Magic School Bus series. Those might be more scientifically accurate. I do know my nephew is smart enough to ask to look up what he wants to know or find a non-fiction book so I guess I shouldn't worry. I ended up spending a lot of money on a little toy for Christmas yesterday so I have to buy fewer books for birthday.

Yeah, Dinosaurs Before Dark isn't that educational. My son just enjoyed The Secret Explorers and the Jurassic Rescue, which may be too young for your nephew, IDK if he goes for heavily illustrated chapter books? It actually does have some scientific info at the back and a bit woven into the story, though the premise of the story itself is fairly ridiculous (the kids have to go back in time to save a dinosaur egg). Most kids who are into dinos will probably know all the information already, though. I appreciate it does have more diversity with the main characters than the Magic Treehouse books, though.

Kathryn wrote: "Yeah, Dinosaurs Before Dark isn't that educational. My son just enjoyed The Secret Explorers and the Jurassic Rescue, which may be too young for your nephew, IDK if he..."

He really wants Magic Tree House to read to Mommy. He must have read it in school. I know he knows more about dinos but apparently the point is that it's a book he can read HIMSELF, one he liked and can read to show off his new skill to his mother!

QNPoohBear wrote: "the point is that it's a book he can read HIMSELF, one he liked and can read to show off his new skill to his mother!"

Ah, that is wonderful! :-)

OK since inaccuracies make me cringe I ordered
Dinosaurs Before Dark AND Dinosaurs: A Nonfiction Companion to Dinosaurs Before Dark

Plus I also ordered
Night of the Ninjas
AND
Ninjas and Samurai: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #5: Night of the Ninjas
since the family has a strong interest in Japan and Japanese culture. I thought my brother would enjoy reading that one with his son.

I also threw in Twister Trouble. I don't know what the chapter books are like but we LOVE the Magic School Bus picture books.

That should keep him busy for awhile until he bumps up a reading level and then I have a few books from my own personal collection I can pass on.
Stuart Little
My Brother Louis Measures Worms: And Other Louis Stories (autographed copy)
and probably more in a box somewhere at the other house.

Dinosaurs Before Dark The story is ridiculously silly but the science holds up. I checked.
Dinosaurs is the non-fiction companion. I skimmed it to make sure the science is still correct and it mostly is, with the exception of the reinstated Brontosaurs. What I love about these Fact Tracker books is that they teach kids how to do their OWN research so when the books get dated, the kid can see what's new in the field.

Night of the Ninjas Absolutely dreadful. Why on earth to the ninjas speak English? Numerous factual errors. I had to buy Ninjas and Samurai to go with it. This one is dense and full of great information. I found it interesting. I got this one mainly for my brother who has always had a strong interest in Japan and Japanese culture. He started with Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. He can read this with his son and they can learn together.

Twister Trouble Not quite as much fun as the picture books because the prose covers the action rather than the illustrations. The writing style is for slightly older kids than Magic Treehouse books 1 and 5 and has more science. I don't know much about tornadoes so I learned something new. Thanks Ms. Frizzle and everyone.

My nephew smiled when he saw Dinosaurs Before Dawn. I hope he likes the rest of the books too.

Might look into the non-fiction "What was ..." series for 8-12 year-olds. They cover all kinds of subjects, not just sports, but there are a number of sports titles. Various authors, but if you search for "Who HQ" as author, they should show up.
The titles all start with "What was", or "What is", the biographies with "Who was", "Who is".
Titles include What is the Superbowl, Who was Jesse Owens, What are the Winter Olympics, Who is Tom Brady, Who is Wayne Gretzky, etc
I've never read them, but I see them a lot.

Mike wrote: "Might look into the non-fiction "What was ..." series for 8-12 year-olds. They cover all kinds of subjects, not just sports, but there are a number of sports titles. Various authors, but if you sea..."

Thank you!

QNPoohBear wrote: "Dinosaurs Before Dark The story is ridiculously silly but the science holds up. I checked.
Dinosaurs is the non-fiction companion. I skimmed it to make sure the science ..."

Those were my feelings about Dinosaurs Before Dark, too. I didn't feel inspired enough to check out the non-fiction companion book, so I'm glad to know that it's decent. Maybe I'll go ahead and check it out for my son as he's enjoying dino books right now. As you said, it's important for children to learn how to do their own research! Happy to hear your nephew is smiling over these books :-)

The Magic Treehouse non-fiction books are still old but the science I looked up online mostly checked out. I know they're discovering new fossils all the time so it would be impossible to keep up but at least the tips for research will help. I'll report back if I get any feedback.

Tanya wrote: "Hi Folks,

I have a friend who is looking for book recommendations for her 7 year old son. He's currently reading at a second grade level and is just getting into chapter books.

Can anyone recomm..."

Hi Tanya, These are great reads for 7 year old boys who love sport The Breakfast Club Adventures and [book:Kicking Goals Journal

I asked nephew #2 (9 and 3 months) last night for an update and he still really likes the Magic Tree House series but he isn't reading them because he wants to read them in order and oh silly me didn't buy them in order.

He did read and really liked Science Comics: Whales: Diving into the Unknown. He's REALLY REALLY smart and I thought he would know all that already but I guess it was informative enough.

His mom read him the Fudge books The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo and he giggled a lot over those.

I still need suggestions for nephew #1 who struggles with reading! I went back to DogMan Dog Man: Mothering Heights because I found it for 50 cents at the library. I tried There's a Zombie in My Bathtub because he loves zombies and it's written in a dyslexic font. No feedback from him or my sister on that one. *sigh*

I may have to revert to A Scare of a Dare.

I would highly recommend for sporty kids of this age group:





Happy reading

Nephew #2, recently turned 9, really liked the Science Comics book I got him for Christmas. I thought the text might be too hard for an 8 year old so I held onto it for awhile. With help and the aid of the illustrations, I think it could be a good educational book for 8 year olds.

A few that my sons enjoyed/are enjoying for this age group:

The more recent Boxcar Children series, including:
the Creatures of Legend series
Great Adventure series
Interactive Mysteries series
Endangered Animals series
(each of the above has about four books per the series)

Wind Riders series: Rescue on Turtle Beach

Dinosaur Club The T. rex Attack

Hardy Boys Clue Book series

Rain Forest Relay series

DK's "Secret Explorers" series

Next I might try Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel

I remember the story being funny and not scary.

Bunnicula was the LAST book my mom read to my sister before my sister got "too old" to be read to. She was probably around 8 or 9. The last book my sister read as a child was a vampire book. When she picked up a book next as an adult, it was a vampire book.

I'm not sure though because right now nephew #2 is into the Revolutionary War and really wants to go to England and he's also catching up to his grade level (5) finally.

Kathryn keep the recommendations coming! While my nephews are getting older, my little cousin will soon be a dad of two boys!

QNPoohBear wrote: "Next I might try Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel

I remember the story being funny and not scary.

Bunnicula was the LAST book my mom read to my sister before my sister got "too old" t..."

Oh gosh, turning everything into a graphic novel now, huh. I wonder if any readers of this will go on to read the rest of the series, or even the original in plain text? I love graphic novels, but often the best part of reading a story is using one's imagination to make the images in one's mind.

Cheryl wrote: "... often the best part of reading a story is using one's imagination to make the images in one's mind.

"

I agree! I find graphic novels don't have enough story for me and I barely look at the pictures but for kids with learning differences/difficulty reading/ADHD graphic novels are great.

Yes. And sometimes they're great if the art is appealing and integral, as it is in good picture-books. In my opinion.

I do think The Diary of Anne Frank graphic adaptation succeeded (though I hope young people still read the original), but so many adaptations don't need to be. Imo.

For kids who like scary stuff

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series remains popular

I also gifted nephew #1 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I get no feedback from them on the gifts I give so I don't know if they read it.

One book for this age group that caught nephew #1's attention was The Book No One Wants to Read

He's now almost 11 and finally catching up to "normal" grade level learning! I think graphic novels are still best for him. Nephew #2 is crazy smart at only 9 1/2 and reading above grade level! I won't be gifting him graphic novels but for the one who struggles with reading, as long as he's excited about reading the book, I don't care what it is as long as he WANTS to read it.