OT.....????? for teachers, students, parents

[dalmatian101]

My DD read Series of Unfortunate Events (they are also on the dark side) but she loved them. I let her read Harry Potter at 8 (seems they all do by then) and she read all of them within a few months, she is reading Artemis Fowl books now. The accelerated reading teacher at school recommended them to her, I haven't read one yet though so can't comment on them but she loves them.

[muppetquilter]

Bunnicula is great fun. It won't challenge him with the reading level but he might really enjoy it and feeding that love of reading is never a bad thing.

[mom4four]

I'm going to suggest The Spiderwick Chronicles SpiderWick Chronicles It says it's for ages 9-12 , but my son read them in 1st grade, he is an advanced reader my other son read them last year in 2nd grade, they are much easier than Harry Potter and a bit lighter on the content as well. There are 5 books and I wish there were more

[AG Seamstress]

Okay, I've made a list of everything everyone has recommended, plus comments, and decide later today on what to order.

On the subject of books.......is anyone familiar with "A is for Annabelle"? I thought all the doll lovers would like to have a copy of this, no matter what your age. It's a Tasha Tudor alphabet book, in rhyme, about Annabelle, grandmother's doll. It was given to my daughter over 30 years ago, for her first birthday, and has been her favorite book, since then. We started a tradition, she and I, of giving a copy of this book to all of our friends and family when someone has a baby girl. Between us, we've given away a dozen copies in just the last 3 years. I order them, 6 at a time, so I always have one on hand. I just gave away my last one, a couple of months ago, and now I need 3 more.
This was out of print for a number of years, and was re-released about 5-6 years ago. It's available in both hardcover and paperback. The illustrations are just gorgeous!

[dolllover]

I started reading the Harry Potter series around age 8 or 9, they weren't scary to me. I do read a lot of darker things though, so it could just be that I was an advanced reader and knowing that everything is fictional about Harry Potter helped make it less scary. Just my [img]graemlins/money.gif[/img] .

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ August 31, 2006 02:16 PM: Message edited by: AGfanatic ]</font>

[PrincessRuthie]

Personally, I just got in to Harry Potter. I've always been an advanced reader (read Gone With the Wind in 6th grade), but I just wasn't interested in Harry until last year. Then I couldn't put the books down! So it just depends on how strong a reader a kid is, if the topic is interesting, and such. Harry Potter also seems like a good book to read with younger kids...you know, the parent reads a paragraph, the kid reads a paragraph, at least for book one or two.

[TexasMom]

My 8 year olds son LOVES the Hank the Cowdog series by Johnn Erickson. He started reading them at 7.

Encyclopedia Brown and Boxcar Children are also big hits here.

and Hardy Boys, and . . .

He is an avid reader! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[kikilives]

I won't repeat any advise anyone else has given you but I have a 8 and 9 year old so I wanted to add the name of a couple series my son particularly enjoyed when he was in first grade. The first is the Zack files and the second was the Shredderman series. There are a ton of Zack files books but I haven't had an easy time finding them at book stores. They are pretty easy to read. The Shredderman series I think only has 4 books but they are fun to read as well. Neither are quite at the level or length of Harry Potter but boys seem to like them. If he hasn't discovered Captain Underpants, well I haven't met a boy who doesn't like those books. My 8 year old likes to read books he knows he can finish in a day or two so he hasn't read any of the HP books himself yet but I've read some of them to him. My 9 year old started reading them when she was 7 (and in the second grade). Good luck and if you haven't read HP you should, I absolutley LOVE them and have reread them many times myself.

Kristin

Oh, another book my son loved reading when he was 7 was Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

[*AG Star*]

When I was in second grade, I was a fifth grade level reader and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (book one). I absolutely hated it and didn't understand it. From then on I hated Harry Potter. Then, last year as a seventh grader, I decided to read them again and absolutely fell in love with them. I now visit Harry Potter fansites every day and listen to two Harry Potter podcasts every week. I would wait until he is older to get him the books. He'll be able to understand them and appreciate them more.

[Prewitt05]

My DH enjoys reading the Encyclopedia Brown series. Also ones I read as a child: Cricket in Times square, Stewart Little, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle The Great Brain, & the Chronicles of Narnia. I kept many of my childhood books and he gets a kick out of reading something his mommy read. I also loved Box Car children, but DH wasn't interested in them only DD. Good luck and have fun shopping!

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ August 31, 2006 12:18 PM: Message edited by: havimom ]</font>