The Summer I Turned Pretty For a list of books in this series click here.
The Rosie Project For a list of books in this series click here.
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Caraval For a list of books in this series click here.
I Am Number Four For a list of books in The Lorien Legacies series click here.
Lionboy For a list of books in this series click here.
Drowned Cities the second book if the Ship Breaker Series.
The Novice For a list of books in The Summoner Series click here.
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe For a list of books in the series click here.
Scythe For a list of books in this series click here.
The Apothecary She read the first one over the summer and wanted to read the other books in the series. For a list of books in this series click here.
Glass Sword (Red Queen series)
Mark of the Thief For a list of books in this series click here.
A Short History of the Girl Next Door
King’s Cage (the 3rd book in the Red Queen series)
Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
Partials For a list of books in this series click here.
Wonder Woman: Warbringer For a list of books in this series click here.
Passion on Park Avenue For a list of books in this series click here.
The Selection For a list of books in this series click here.
Intercepted For a list of books in The Playbook series click here.
Sharing is good karma:
Magyk For a list of books in this series click here.
The Outcasts For a list of books in The Brotherband Chronicles Series click here.
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
Notes From The Midnight Driver
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade
Airborn For a list of books in this series click here.
Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus
Leviathan For a list of books in The Leviathan Trilogy click here.
Tiger For a list of books in The Five Ancestors series click here.
The Way of the Warrior For a list of books in The Young Samurai series click here.
Mark of the Thief For a list of books in this series click here.
Arsenic For Tea: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery
First Class Murder: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery
Greetings from Witness Protection!
The Glass Sentence For a list of books in this series click here.
Small Spaces For a list of books in this series click here.
Watership Down For another book in this series click here.
The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street
The Golden Compass For a list of books in His Dark Materials series click here.
Tesla’s Attic For a list of books in The Accelerati Trilogy click here.
Ship Breaker For a sequel, click here.
Touching Spirit Bear For books in this series click here.
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 For a list of books in this series click here.
The Eye of Minds For a list of books in The Mortality Doctrine click here.
Sharing is good karma:
Harry Potter books My daughter decided to read all Harry Potter books again. She read them at the end of 2nd/beginning of 3rd grade. My son is now entering 3rd grade and is reading the fifth book so it caught my daughter’s attention. 🙂
The Lost Hero For a list of books in the Heroes of Olympus series click here. She started reading this series and wants to finish.
Moving Target For a list of books in this series click here. She also read Return Fire.
Mr. Terupt Falls Again and Saving Mr. Terupt
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell and other books in the series. Click here for a list. My son read the whole series and so did my daughter who is 2 years older.
Flunked and Charmed For a list of books in this series click here.
The Fourteenth Goldfish (reading level 8 and up but the themes resonate more with older kids)
Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel For a list of books in this series click here.
The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase
Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella (Tyme #2)
The Fairy Tale Detectives For a list of books in this series click here. I read the first one to my kids and they both read the rest of the series on their own.
Under the Egg This book deals with the topic of holocaust on a certain level so maybe it would be better to introduce your child to it before reading, some people recommend even age 11.
Swindle For a list of books in this series click here.
Sometimes I could not decide what age was appropriate for certain books. I’ve found recommendations for both 8- and 9-year-olds. If you are not sure it is probably better to read these either toward the end of 3rd grade or wait till 4th grade.
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief For a list of boos in this series click here.
Red Pyramid For a list of books in the Kane Chronicles Series click here.
Masterminds For a list of books in this series click here. My daughter re-reads this series once in a while.
Firegirl Read more reviews here.
The War That Saved My Life A wonderful book. We loved it–my husband does usually not join us for reading but he insisted we wait for him every night to continue.
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods We listened to the audio book as a family. I is very well written, funny and entertaining (kids were in 3rd and 5th grade)
Big Game Both my kids like the FunJungle series so we read this one together. For a list of books in this series click here.
The Fairy Tale Detectives For a list of books in this series click here.
The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog
A Single Shard This book may not be for everybody because I can imagine a lot of kids being bored with it. However, I read it to my kids when they were in 3rd and 5th grade and they enjoyed it (my fifth grader more than my third grader, also because she does pottery as a hobby so she could relate)
Serafina and the Black Cloak (Voted #1 Middle Grade Novel of 2015). We also read the sequel.
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes I’ve read reviews by people who were bored by the book, but so many loved it that I decided to post it here. Read more reviews here. Note: We did not finish this book. The kids were rather curious how it would end but we found it a bit boring.
Cosmic (audio version fantastic, people love this book, a younger child might not appreciate the topics as much as a 10-year-old)
Sky Raiders (Five Kingdoms) For a list of books in this series, click here.
Cardboard He reread his favorite graphic novel.
The Dragon in the Sock Drawer He read the whole series and was disappointed to learn there are no more books in it. For a list of books in the Dragon Keepers series click here.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix He read another Harry Potter book. He began to read the sixth one too (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) but was no longer in the mood for it so this one is the last finished.
Moon Rising He read the first five books in the Wings of Fire series over the summer and I totally forgot that there are 3 or 4 more books in this series. He was so thrilled when I brought them home from the library and read them all. For a list of books in this series click here.
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell and other books in the series. Click here for a list. My son read the whole series and so did my daughter who is 2 years older.
How to Train Your Dragon For a list of books in this series click here. You can find them on Amazon here. He read the whole series and loved it.
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The Lemonade War For a list of books in The Lemonade War Series click here. He read the whole series.
Stranded For a list of books in this series click here. He read the whole series.
The Menagerie For a list of books in this series click here. Matous loved this series.
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda For a list of books in the Origami Yoda series click here.
The Unwanteds For a list of books in this series click here.
A Dragon’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans
Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures I think it is planned as a series (for sequels check here).
The Adventurer’s Guide to Successful Escapes
Song of the Poison Dragon (a very short book, more suited for beginning readers but my son read the series in 1st grade and since then new books came out so he wanted to read them)
Loki’s Wolves For a list of books in this series click here.
Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk My daughter read it eagerly right at the beginning of 4th grade because she loved Rump (I read it to my kids over the summer).
Spirit Animals For a list of books in this series click here. My son read the series at the beginning of 2nd grade but a new book came out so he read it now.
Dragon’s Egg A dragon story even for girls! Although there are not many reviews on Amazon, from what I have read elsewhere, it seems like a good adventure story for this age group. If you don’t care for dragons, skip it. Read more reviews here.
The Maze of Bones For a list of books in The 39 Clues series click here.
City of Thirst (a sequel to The Map to Everywhere)
The Fairy Tale Detectives For a list of books in this series click here. I read the first one to my kids and they read the rest of the series on their own.
One Dead Spy For a list of books in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series click here.
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
A Dragon’s Guide to Making Your Human Smarter
My son fell in love with the series Who was… What was… etc. So he read several of them, for example:
Who Was Alexander the Great?
Other books in this series he read:
What Was the Battle of Gettysburg?
Warriors For a list of books in this series click here. Check other series by Erin Hunter. The Warriors series has many sub-series, see them here. My son is in love with these books and reads one after another.
The Mysterious Benedict Society For a list of books in this series click here.
Swindle For a list of books in this series click here.
Sometimes I could not decide what age was appropriate for certain books. I’ve found recommendations for both 8- and 9-year-olds. If you are not sure it is probably better to read these either toward the end of 3rd grade or wait till 4th grade.
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief For a list of boos in this series click here.
Redwall For a list of books in this series click here.
The War That Saved My Life A wonderful book. We loved it–my husband does usually not join us for reading but he insisted we wait for him every night to continue.
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods We listened to the audio book as a family. It is very well written, funny and entertaining (kids were in 3rd and 5th grade)
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes Because our kids loved listening to the stories about gods in the car, I checked this out from the library and it is also a success.
The Fairy Tale Detectives For a list of books in this series click here.
Big Game Both my kids like the FunJungle series so we read this one together. For a list of books in this series click here.
The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog
A Single Shard This book may not be for everybody because I can imagine a lot of kids being bored with it. However, I read it to my kids when they were in 3rd and 5th grade and they enjoyed it (my fifth grader more than my third grader, also because she does pottery as a hobby so she could relate)
Serafina and the Black Cloak (Voted #1 Middle Grade Novel of 2015) We also read the sequel.
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes I’ve read reviews by people who were bored by the book, but so many loved it that I decided to post it here. Read more reviews here.
Floors For a list of books in this series click here. My kids listened to the audio book when they were 8 and 10.
Cosmic (audio version fantastic, people love this book, a younger child might not appreciate the topics as much as a 10-year-old)
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library My daughter read this book first in 3rd grade and loved it.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car (The audio book is fantastic. We listened to it when my kids were 6 and 8.) For a list of books in this series click here.
The Tail of Emily Windsnap For a list of books in the Emily Windsnap series click here. She read other books in this series.
The Thief Lord This was a must for us as we visited Venice this summer. 🙂
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin Both my kids loved this book so my daughter asked me to get the other one in the series. See below.
Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk
Stranded Find two sequels here.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase For a list of books in the Wolves Chronicles series click here.
The Mysterious Benedict Society She loved it! She read 3 books during the summer but finished reading the prequel in September. Click here for a list of books in this series.
Roller Girl (graphic novel) She loved it the same as Smile (she read it in one night).
The City of Ember For a list of books in this series click here.
Giants Beware! (graphic novel) Check out its sequel here. Both my kids (7 and 9) loved it and asked me to get the sequel Dragons Beware.
There’s A Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom
Fairest of All For a list of books in the Whatever After series click here. My daughter discovered this easy-to-read series and fell in love with it. She read three books so far.
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 For a list of books in the I Survived series click here.
Girl’s Best Friend (A Maggie Brooklyn Mystery)
The following titles are graphic novels because my kids discovered a few they really liked so I checked out several series from our local library.
The Stonekeeper (graphic novel) For a list of books in the Amulet series click here. My kids were actually almost fighting over these books (who is going to read it first) and were very sad that they have to wait for the 7th book until it comes out next year.
Cleopatra in Space (graphic novel) For a list of books in this series click here.
Rapunzel’s Revenge (graphic novel) For a list of books in this series click here.
The Misadventures of Salem Hyde: Spelling Trouble (graphic novel) For a list of books in this series click here.
Zita the Spacegirl (graphic novel) For a list of books in this series click here.
The Marvels
What Were the Salem Witch Trials? (What Was…?)
Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute: Lunch Lady #1 This is a graphic novel both my kids fell in love with. They read the whole series and every time I brought a new book from the library they fought over who was going to read it first. For the list of books in this series click here.
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (graphic novel) For a list of book in the Hereville series click here.
Cardboard (graphic novel)
The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events #8) She read the first 7 books last year and took a break there, so now she resumed the series.
The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events # 9)
The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book #10). She also read the rest of the books in the series (I believe there are 13).
Rain Reign Read more reviews here.
The Name of this Book Is Secret For a list of book in this series click here.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club For a list of books in this series click here. My daughter fell in love with this series and read the whole series.
Wonder They are reading this book in school.
The Name of this Book Is Secret For a list of books in this series (all with great reviews) click here.
Mission Unstoppable For a list of books in The Genius Files series click here. She read the whole series as did my son in 2nd grade.
Flashback Four #1: The Lincoln Project The first book of a new series–she wants to read the next one when it comes out.
What Was the Battle of Gettysburg?
The Isle of the Lost For a list of books in this series click here.
Fridays with the Wizards Last year my daughter read the whole series (for a list of books click here) and the next installment just came out so she was thrilled because she loved it so much.
The Case of the Missing Moonstone For a list of books in The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series click here.
The Sixty-Eight Rooms For a list of books in this series click here.
Space Case For a list of books in this series click here.
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics
The Templeton Twins Have an Idea (Check out the sequel here.)
Masterminds For a list of books in this series click here.
The Sixty-Eight Rooms For a list of books in this series click here.
Spy School For a list of books in this series click here.
Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood
Belly Up For a list of book in the FunJungle series click here.
Poached For a list of book in the FunJungle series click here.
The Lightning Thief For a list of books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series click here.
Rufus M. Although this is a very nice book, it is older and the style is different from the books that come out now. My son (7) loved it but my daughter (9) thought it was just okay. I’d probably agree with her. I don’t know how many kids her age would read it on their own. It is probably a good read-aloud.
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Dragon Slippers Both my kids loved it and we read all books. But I must say that the first two were fun to read, the the third one though was a bit boring. For a list click here.
Dealing with Dragons For a list of books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series click here. Both my kids asked for the sequels.
I created this category to save you from mistakes I made when I chose books from the large 8 – 12 age category on Amazon for my daughter only to realize later that she was either not mature enough to read them or they contained difficult vocabulary for her. If you are looking for safer bets this is it. My son read the books on this list in 2nd grade and he was fine with them unless noted.
I suggest you also check the category My Daughter in 2nd Grade or My Son in 1st Grade. My son is a good reader and a lot of the books he read last year are perfectly suitable for second graders as well.
Always check the previous age categories to see if there are titles my kids haven’t read yet. Many books have a wide age range and I tried to place them in the lowest possible age category (i.e. in the age group when I thought kids could read the book on their own, not listen to it.)
♥♥♥Spirit Animals For a list of books in this series click here. He called it the best audio book ever. He listened to the first three over the summer on his iPod and when we got back home, he read #4 without a problem. He started reading #5 but 20 pages into the book he said it was not as exciting as the other books. So we put the rest on hold until later this year. These books are probably at a 3rd grade level and are not the easiest.
♥Power of the Fire Dragon (Dragon Masters #4) My son was excited the fourth book of his favorite series from 1st grade came out over the summer and finished reading it in no time.
♥♥♥The Sasquatch Escape He LOVED it as did my daughter when she was in 2nd grade. For a list of books in The Imaginary Veterinary series click here. He asked me to get all the other books in the series. He is reading one after another.
♥♥♥Giants Beware! (graphic novel) Check out its sequel here. Both my kids (7 and 9) loved it and asked me to get the sequel Dragons Beware.
♥♥Sidekicks (graphic novel)
♥♥Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire The second book in Mr. Gum series, check the reviews here. My son seems to like this series a lot. For a list of books in this series click here.
♥♥The Knights of the Kitchen Table Check out other titles in the Time Warp Trio series here. For a complete list click here. My son read several of them and liked them.
♥♥The Pirate Who’s Afraid of Everything My son really liked this one and asked if it is a series. There is another one coming out in February 2016: The Pirate Who’s Back in Bunny Slippers
♥♥Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School For a complete list of books in this series in order click here. He has read 2 so far.
♥♥♥Zita the Spacegirl (graphic novel trilogy) You can find the titles and reviews here. He read all three almost in one sitting.
♥♥Dinosaur Habitat I read it to my kids when they were 5 and 7 and they loved it.
The following two has almost no words but my son just fell in love with graphic novels and they are a welcome break from books he has to focus on.
♥♥♥The Stonekeeper Another graphic novel, my son read it in one sitting and asked for sequels. It turned out his sister (age 9) also fell in love with this series and both of them read all books that came out so far and were really sad to learn that they have to wait for the 7th until next year. For a list of titles in the Amulet series click here. Before you give this to your child to read, read a few reviews–if your child is very sensitive, you might want to wait because of the content (parents die in the first book I think). My daughter usually does not like any stories with something so serious happening but she was totally okay with it here and devoured all the books.
♥The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party
♥Explorer: The Mystery Boxes (graphic novel)
♥♥Jellaby (graphic novel)
♥♥♥Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute: Lunch Lady #1 This is a graphic novel both my kids fell in love with. They read the whole series and every time I brought a new book from the library they fought over who was going to read it first. For the list of books in this series click here.
♥♥♥Cardboard (another graphic novel my son loved)
♥♥♥Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang He also read other Jacob Two-Two’s adventures: Jacob Two-Two-‘s First Spy Case Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
♥♥Target Practice For a list of books in the Cleopatra in Space series click here.
♥♥♥Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear
♥♥♥Binky the Space Cat (graphic novel) For a list of books in the Binky series click here. He read all of them.
♥Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (graphic novel) For a list of book in the Hereville series click here.
♥Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (toward the end of 2nd grade?) For a list of books in the Ghosthunters series click here.
♥♥♥Owly For a list of books in the series (graphic novel) click here.
♥♥♥Marty McGuire. He asked for the sequels and read them immediately: Marty McGuire Has Too Many Pets! and Marty McGuire Digs Worms!
♥♥♥The Mouse and the Motorcycle He read the whole trilogy (Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse)
♥♥♥Akiko on the Planet Smoo For a complete list of books in this series click here.
♥♥♥The Chocolate Touch
♥♥♥Dragonbreath #1 For a list of books in this series click here. My son read all the books in this series.
♥♥♥Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked He refused to play games with us (which he loves) because he wanted to finish reading this book (he read it in one sitting). He read the other books in this series as well. For a list click here.
Copper (graphic novel collection)
The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde
The Knights of the Kitchen Table #1 (Time Warp Trio)
Treasure Hunters For a list of books in this series click here. He read the whole series.
Mission Unstoppable For a list of books in The Genius Files series click here. He read the whole series as did my daughter in 4th grade.
Classic Starts™: The Three Musketeers
The Haunted Library For a list of books in this series click here.
The School is Alive! For a list of books in the Eerie Elementary series click here. He read the whole series.
Circle of Heroes I started reading The Familiars series to my kids several months ago but we read only two books and now Matous picked up the third installment and eagerly read it on his own–he can’t wait to read the next one! For a list of books in this series click here.
Into the Land of the Unicorns Matous loves books by Bruce Coville because they are full of adventure. He is in love with this Unicorn series and has read several of the books despite their size. For a list of books in this series click here.
This Side of Magic He read the whole Keyholders series. For a list of books click here.
Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger You can imagine how he loved this one! Definitely good for boys!
Lunch Lady Another graphic novel series that seems to be popular. For a complete list click here.
Deltora Quest #1: The Forests of Silence For a list of books in this series click here.
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom My son read this book and its sequel.
The Day My Butt Went Psycho My son read it in 2nd grade.
Jinx For a list of books in this series click here. He read the first two books and is planning to read the last one.
The Dragonet Prophecy For a list of books in the Wings of Fire series click here. He read the whole series.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone He read four Harry Potter books in about three weeks. Unfortunately we could not find the fifth one in Europe but he is planning to read that one now, at the beginning of 3rd grade.
The Secret Zoo For a list of books in this series click here.
The Dragon in the Sock Drawer For a list of books in the Dragon Keepers series click here.
Palace of Dreams He finished the last book of The Familiars series. For a list of books in this series click here.
The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw He loved the last book of his favorite series.
Belly Up For a list of book in the FunJungle series click here.
Poached For a list of book in the FunJungle series click here.
The Wishing Spell For a list of books in The Land of Stories series click here.
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (vocabulary is not easy)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Crenshaw My son was the only one who enjoyed this audio book in the car so maybe it is not for everybody.
Fablehaven I think we listened to 3 books so far. they are very long. It is a very nice series and we loved the first one but as you read (or listen) further, the adventures are somewhat similar, just with new monsters, etc. My son would like to continue reading it but the rest of the family is kind of tired of it. 🙂 But I definitely recommend the first one and then you can decide if you want to read further.
Dragon Slippers Both my kids loved it and we are about to finish the last book of this trilogy. For a list click here.
Dealing with Dragons For a list of books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series click here. Both my kids asked for the sequels.
Floors For a list of books in this series click here. My kids listened to the audio book when they were 8 and 10.
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Apart from Kindle where you can download a lot of books for free, I’ve found two websites where you can find picture books and other books for kids.
If you don’t have time to make it for the Story Time at your library, you can always find very nice stories online. Just click on a title and let someone else read the story to your child.
International Children’s Digital Library
Here you have to read the books yourself but it is a good resource if you travel and can’t take actual physical books with you. Read the directions how to find books in English (there are books in other languages there as well)
There are also thousands of books available for free online on the Project Gutenberg website. (e.g. books by L. Frank Baum here)
Librivox Free audiobooks, including children’s audiobooks.
Librophile Free e-book sand audiobooks, including children’s books.
Storynory Free audio-stories for kids.
Lit2Go Free ebooks with audio.
Open Culture 200 Free Kids Educational Resources: Video Lessons, Apps, Books, Websites & More
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I was afraid that some of these books would go unnoticed if they were a part of a long list. The following books are also great for a wide range of ages so it’s hard to place them in a certain list.
My kids love it when we sit down at the end of the day and read a few poems together. I was actually surprised how often they ask to read them instead of a story. Then I listened to an excerpt (click on the audio from the film) from the audio recording by Jim Trealease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook and learned that the book kids most often steal from libraries is a poetry book by Shel Silverstein: Where the Sidewalk Ends. Unbelievable, right?
Look for other books by Shel Silverstein, they all have great reviews.
Here is one that is a fabulous book for little kids:
Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young by Jack Prelutsky
My kids also liked A Bad Case of the Giggles that I picked up at our library. They like silly poems. See more ratings and reviews here.
Another hit at our house is The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky.
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems
The following two paperbacks are not poetry at all but I had to list them somewhere because my kids love them and when they are together with friends, they like to take them out and read the jokes together. They were both cheap, and I think worth the money spent when I hear the kids giggling. My daughter left the first one somewhere and was so sad that I ordered it again.
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