The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) The Lightning Thief discussion


440 views
Lower reading level?

Comments Showing 1-29 of 29 (29 new)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

Eden Fenn Hey everyone!

I'm tutoring a child and we've been reading The Lightning Thief. When we tried to move from assisted to independent reading, the book turned out to be too hard.

Can anyone suggest a book at a lower reading level than Lightning Thief/Sorcerer's Stone that's still fairly long and mostly text (few or no pictures)? The space between The Lorax and Harry Potter is a gap in my children's lit knowledge.


Charlene I don't know whether your child is a boy or girl, that does make a difference in what they like to read but here are 3 books either would like to read and may be easier than The Lightning Thief.

Wonder - R. J. Palacio (8-12 years) Keeps going out at my library every time it comes back.

The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner (7 - and up) These are older books but still very popular and easy to read.

The Fairy Tale Detectives - Michael Buckley (7 - 13)


Charlene I'd also like to include (cause I just thought of them)

The Borrowers - Mary Norton (7 - 12 years) great story.

The Castle in the Attic - Elizabeth Winthrop ( 8 - 12 years)


Linda Depending on the child's age and gender, perhaps books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, My Weird School series. Is there a reason you don't want pictures? My son was able to go from "graphic novels" such as the Big Nate graphic books to more standard chapter books. Otherwise, the Magic Treehouse books might be a good choice.


Kazia A lot of Ali Sparkes' books might be worth looking at- I love her Shapeshifter series!


message 6: by Marie (last edited Oct 25, 2013 01:54PM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Marie "Chronicles of Ancient Darkness" series by Michelle Paver! Incredible series and an easy read, a little scary in parts though, depending on the maturity of the reader x


Jacquelyn Evan wrote: "Hey everyone!

I'm tutoring a child and we've been reading The Lightning Thief. When we tried to move from assisted to independent reading, the book turned out to be too hard.

Can anyone suggest a..."

I think Inkheart is really good! Or The Thief Lord or Dragon Rider
The Magic Tree House books are good


 Little "Dani" Blue I would need to say the Pendragon books- for young readers but ten books long (not about dragons)


Holly Jacquelyn wrote: "I think Inkheart is really good! Or The Thief Lord or Dragon Rider
The Magic Tree House books are good"

I'd think that Cornelia Funke books are actually a lot harder than the Percy Jackson books, imo.

But I definitely think that The Magic Tree House books are a good idea. I used them when tutoring a third grader who had some trouble reading. They're sort of beginning chapter books - more complex than (most) picture books, but less difficult than middle grade books. And unlike most books for that level, they're not totally boring. They involve a magic tree house than can travel through time and space, so that's cool. And I'd like to second the recommendation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I know that kids really love those books, and the doodles probably add to reading comprehension (but they're not really "picture books"). I think when a kid is really interested, he'll try even harder :]


message 10: by James (new)

James I would go with the Magic Tree House series.


Kazia James wrote: "I would go with the Magic Tree House series."

By the Magic Tree House, do you mean the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton? Or something else?


 Little "Dani" Blue Kazia wrote: "James wrote: "I would go with the Magic Tree House series."

By the Magic Tree House, do you mean the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton? Or something else?"


No I think they mean the Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborn


message 13: by James (new)

James Kazia wrote: "James wrote: "I would go with the Magic Tree House series."

By the Magic Tree House, do you mean the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton? Or something else?"


I mean the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osbourne.


Jonathan Peto There is a series that may do the job. The first book is called the Warriors. The Geronimo Stilton books are very popular too.


Emily Colby You could try The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I love it, and much of the book is made up of pictures, but it is still a novel.


message 16: by Chey (new) - rated it 4 stars

Chey The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner, Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene, The Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon, Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney, The Chronicles of Prydain - Lloyd Alexander, Fudge - Judy Blume. Those are some good ones to try. Some of these are the books that really got me into reading when I was little.


Amelia These are some of the most popular books that I remember my brother, people at school and I read from prep to year two which is 5 to 8 years old.

- Rainbow Magic series- Daisy Meadows

- Go Girl series- Assorted Authors

-Zac Power series- Assorted Authors under the name of H.I Larry

- The JUST! series- Andy Griffiths

- Aussie Bites series (I think there are Aussie Nibbles and Chomps as well.)- Assorted Authors

- Emily Eyefinger series- Duncan Ball

- Selby series- Duncan Ball

- The Philomena Wonderpen series- Ian Bone & Janine Dawson

- Anything Enid Blyton


Amelia Almost forgot Roald Dahl but anything by him is good too.


message 19: by Mary (new) - rated it 5 stars

Mary The Sisters Grimm, Goosebumps, Nancy Drew


Blogger Girl anybody like nancy drew? I DID


message 21: by Sara (last edited Oct 31, 2013 09:43AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Sara The BFG or The Trumpet of the Swan or Charlotte's Web. The 39 Clues Series. All the Narnia books. Magician's Nephew is the first one, then Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Swiss Family Robinson maybe?


Heather James I work in a school library and Percy Jackson is one of or mid-level books (we use the Accelerated Reader software - their website can be a good way of gauging how hard a book is - http://www.arbookfind.co.uk/UserType.... )

There is a graphic novel version of the Lightning Thief, which might be more accessible if they were enjoying the story but struggling with the language.

What about Noughts & Crosses?

Cathy Cassidy is a good author for girls, as is Helen Dunmore

Roald Dahl and Anne Fine books are a slightly lower ability too.

The hugely popular (but not too difficult) books at school at the moment are the Tom Gates books. They are quite long, but the kids LOVE them.


message 23: by Eden (new) - rated it 5 stars

Eden Fenn Thanks so much for the great suggestions, everyone! I put together what I think will be a really helpful list to pass along to the pupils' parents.

To the people who asked why I was trying to steer away from books with a lot of pictures, that was a parental request. The list I ended up giving them did have some picture-heavy books (but lots of text too).


Erika Hébert When I was younger I loved the Goosebumps series. Though they're much shorter than the Lightning Thief and Philosopher's Stone.
Also the Warriors series is a book that I totally fell in love with.


Katie Cota Maybe Savvy... Its kinda along the magic theme.


 Little "Dani" Blue Maybe a Diana Wynne Jones book like "Howl's Moving Castle"


Katlyn Warriors by Erin Hunter.


☽Ƹɱɱɑ☾ Most if not all of these books belong to a series:

The Case of Camp Crooked Lake (The New Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley, #30) by Carol Ellis The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, #1) by Gertrude Chandler Warner My Name Is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton (Geronimo Stilton, #19) by Geronimo Stilton Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, #1) by Mary Pope Osborne Dawn and the Impossible Three (The Baby-Sitters Club, #5) by Ann M. Martin Kittens in the Kitchen (Animal Ark, #1) by Ben M. Baglio


message 29: by Em (new) - rated it 5 stars

Em There's the Junie B. Jones series. That could be a good series to help shorten the gap. The books are 'fairly long' and 'mostly text'.


back to top