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3rd/4th grade boy books
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I'm having trouble finding good books for my son. He's read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little...and loved them. Any ideas?
Does he like dragons? My 4th grade dragonologist son loves the Dragonology series, especially The Dragon's Eye by Dugald A. Steer. He is now reading Garden of the Purple Dragon by Carole Wilkinson. His class just finished their novel study of The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konisburg which we both enjoyed a great deal. He loves playing with Bionicles and has read many of the Bionicles short novels just for fun. Soon we will start the 39 Clues series but I'm not so sure how he will like them.
If he liked Sturt Little, he will surely like the Beverly Cleary "Mouse and the Motorcycle" books about Ralph S. Mouse. There are several. Also, Cricket in Times Square and the BFG (also by Dahl-author of Chocolate Factory)
What about some animal books by Dick King-Smith. He combines the humor of chocolate factory with the animals of charlotte's web/stuart little.Melvin Beederman books by Greg Trine about a bungling super hero. Hilarious books boys will fly through.
Pond Scum (Silberberg) is also extremely funny and combines humor and animals.
The classics you mentioned are hard to beat and the recommendations above challenge me to find some more good ideas. Has he read any Kate DiCamillo? The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane or the one they just made into a movie, The Tale of Despereaux, are excellent. For fantasy, the Spiderwick series is very good, as are the Snickets if he enjoys sarcasm. I see from the photo that you have two boys. Audio books are an excellent way for both ages to enjoy a story that one of them might not be able to read. Jim Dale does a wonderful job narrating the Peter Pan prequel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.A way to find some good books on your own is to utilize the tools from your local library. If you go to their website: http://www.toaks.org/library/, you can choose Online Research from the Services and Research box. From the next window choose Literature, Books & Reading. I particularly like Novelist and they have an option for K-8 books. Just enter a title your son likes, then you can find "read-alikes" or similar authors.
Happy Hunting!
My 3rd/4th grade boys love the following titles/series: Spiderwick series
Captain Underpants
Ricky Ricotta
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1 & 2)
Geronimo Stilton
Bone (the graphic novel series by Jeff Smith)
Anytime I find a book or series that intrigues both my high-level and lower-level readers, I take note. Are these great literature? Probably not. Fun? Definitely--and if they have fun reading these, they seem more inclined to keep coming back for more. Good luck.
I agree that Kate DiCamillo's books are very good, although a bit grim at points. (Thinking about poor Miggery Sow here)In newer books, I like "Billy and the Birdfrogs". (Else I'd not be giving away copies) But it might be a book you have to read you 3rd Grader. (No AR was available).
Also, I like the very good books on Odysseus that are out there. I read some to my children when they were 5 and 7 and they liked the stories a great deal. [I mean what's not to like. Adventure and man-eating monsters!:]
If anyone is interested I'll dig up the names of the authors we sampled. Sutliff is the only one that is coming to mind this morning.
The boys in the grade 4/5 class I taught loved Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates, and I love Holes by Louis Sachar.
My son loves the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan (young boy finds out his father is a greek god). Great for fueling interest in greek mythology.
How about the Shredderman Series by Wendelin Van Draanen. They are excellent! It starts off with Nolan not wanting to put up with a bully at school and becoming a superhero.
Ginnie wrote: "My son loves the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan (young boy finds out his father is a greek god). Great for fueling interest in greek mythology.[bc:The Lightning Thief|28187|The Lightning Thi..."
Ginnie, that sounds fascinating. My daughter loves Greek mythology. I think she'd like this book. Thanks.
My students love Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, by Jeff Kinney. They are snatched out of the book drop before I can get them back on the shelf.
My fourth-grade boys always liked George Selden's A Cricket in Times Square and Holes by Louis Sachar. For shorter selections, they enjoyed Red Writing Hood by Jane Tesh, Nights of the Pufflings by Bruce McMillan, and Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man was popular with both girls and boys.
I have so many books by Andrew Clements at our library and they are constantly checked out by boys. Check out this author.
I agree with a lot of these suggestions. Gotta love The tales of a fourth grade nothing series by Judy Blume, and anything Louis Sachar or Andrew Clements. I just finished reading "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix to my fourth grade class. There are some heavy topics to carefully aproach, and we had to have a few class discussions, but they hung on every word - both the boys and the girls.
You might want to consider my new book, The Idea Miners: The Lost Lake Dig. I think it’s a great book for boys and others seem to agree. It was just release in March. Some accolades and review snippets follow.“I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy and adventure. This book would probably be best for kids aged eight to twelve.” Ben Weldon (age 11), Reader Views
Featured in the “Books for Boys” edition of Out of My Mind About Books for Children.
Wonderful 5-star read for middle readers-and all ages. Julina K. Small, Armchair Interviews
“If you're up for an adventure, this book is guaranteed to thrill you. It's nothing like anything you've ever read before. This is a great, entertaining book for readers of all ages.” Erin Doran, Allbooks Reviews
You can look at the website www.TheIdeaMiners.com to see the full reviews and additional info.
Thanks,
P. W. Cross
My fourth grader and his friends cannot wait until the next 39 Clues book comes out! They are hooked!
Some recommendations I have are:
The Ghosthunters Series by Cornelia Funke and Dragonrider by the same author
Also, Dan Gutman's books-both sports and other
Kids who like Captain Underpants like Melvin Bederman books too by Trine
If savvy enough to read Percy Jackson, then the Gregor series by Suzanne Collins is excellent-boy and his two year old sister fall to the center of the earth where the people ride giant bats and battle giant rats, etc.
Also, Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver is a good start to a series. Look up these titles on Barnes and Noble's website to see reviews.
My son, who is now 16, loved the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo, Holes by Sachar and the Mr. Tucket series by Gary Paulsen at that age. The Ranger's Apprentice series is really good as well when he is ready for that. My son is still reading that one when new releases come out.
Has anyone read any of the books in the 39 Clues series? I picked up the first one this past weekend and I'm hoping to get my 9 year old (4th grade) to read it with me. I'm hoping he'll get hooked on them and actually read them. What I'm finding with him is that he checks out a book from the library (I'm the librarian at his school) and the next day he's back returning that book and getting another when I know he hasn't read more than a chapter or two of the book he's returning.
We picked up the first 39 Clues book from the library the other day but haven't started it yet.My 8 year old loves The Diary of a Wimpy Kids books and is about to start the last one today. Does anyone know of books that are similar? He was a reluctant reader for a long time and these books were really a turning point for him.
I would like to put forth my own humorous poetry books; they were written by me and illustrated by my son! Boys, in particular, love these books because they were inspired by the quirky illustrations of a 10 year old boy.
The first, Coolhead Luke and Other Stories, was nominated for a Cybils Award and currently enjoys a five star rating on amazon.com. The second, On the Edge with Coolhead Luke, was just released last month. I think it's even better than the first.
To see a few samples, check out our website at: http://coolheadluke.com/poems-and-drawin...
Let us know what you think!
Jen and Colin
Check out Nanny Piggins by RA Spratt. I'm a children's bookseller and constantly get people coming back saying how much their kids loved this.It's about a very un-PC nanny who happens to be a pig who escaped from the circus. These are hilarious. She gets into all kinds of adventures as she (sort-of) cares for the three Green children, and the adventures usually end in them eating chocolate for dinner.
Each chapter is more or less a short story so it can be read individually, and are great as read-alouds or individually for the more confident reader. I'd say 7+, but I'm 24 and I LOVED them!
