AIBU to wonder if there are any exciting books for 7yr old boys that aren't violent and about good vs evil?

[withinacceptabletolerances]

Ok not the best AIBU but I'm getting frustrated with my 7yr old autistic DS and the books available to him. He's an advanced reader, reading on his own for enjoyment. Great. But emotionally and socially he's v immature and regularly confuses fantasy and reality. All the books he chooses from the library or we try to buy him involve fighting, quests to defeat evil overlords or some other violence. So when he plays with friends or his brother, he lapses into these fantasy worlds and unsurprisingly starts being violent. So an example was pretending to be a beast from Beast Quest and intentionally scratching with his 'claws'. So aside from helping understand the difference between fantasy and reality, we clearly need better reading material. (We disciplined him for the scratching before anyone points that out).

Soooo I know I'm not BU, but can anyone recommend any exciting books for him that don't involve violence? He's read Beast Quest, How to Train your Dragon, various Ninjago/Star Wars books, Harry Potter 1&2(which were fine but no 3 is quite dark)..... Help mumsnet!

My boys like Diary of a wimpy kid.

Wimpy Kid
Famous Five

I just came on to say diary of a wimpy kid too. If he likes graphic novels you could look at the dogman series by Dav Pilkey. Also the Fergus series by Chris Hoy.

Tom Gates (though he might start writing on everything)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Five Find Outers / Famous Five - adventure but not, as far as I recall, actual violence.

Pippi Longstocking
Oliver and The Sea Wigs
Ottoline series by Chris Riddell
The Jolly Rogers
Hilda Series by Luke Pearson

My ds enjoyed lots of Enid Blyton (especially Famous Five, the Adventure series) when he was 7. Might be a bit young though for your son’s taste. Also Swallows and Amazons and all the sequels. We’ve read lots of the Just William books over lockdown. He’s enjoyed lots of Dick King-Smith, Roald Dahl. Just making our way through the Philip Pullman modern fairy tales at the moment - some good vs evil but not in a violent way, nice story telling. Also enjoyed the Mr Penguin books by Alex T Smith.

I’ve found it a difficult age for him as a competent and confident reader. Our problem is that he doesn’t like toilet humour, and so many ‘boys books’ seem to rely on it at this age. Agree that things they can read but aimed at older children are often a bit dark so it’s tricky.

Maybe David Walliams too. They're badly written but children seem to enjoy them.

www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Boys-Who-Dare-Different/dp/1787471985/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=goodnight+stories+for+rebel+boys&sprefix=goodnight+stories+for+rebel+&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1599516644&sr=8-1 this would be good.

Seconding Swallows and Amazons.

The Indian In the Cupboard
Stig of the Dump (as long as you don't live near any chalk pits!)
The Moomins (Finn Family Moomintroll has lots of adventures in it)

The insert number Storey Treehouse books

What about some of the older classics? Off the top of my head- adventure books like Enid Blytons famous five/ secret seven/ mystery books, Swallows and Amazons, Charlottes Web. Terry Pratchett has written some books that would be suitable for an advanced reader at that age, such as the Carpet People trilogy- the books are called Truckers, Diggers, Wings.
There are also classics like the Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Little Lord Faunteleroy. The Narnia books could be good too, but The Horse and His Boy can be a bit hard going- maybe start him with the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Or Brian Jacques wrote the Redwall stories, about talking animals that live in an Abbey.

Horrible Histories?? Obviously they do involve some pretty yuk /violent stuff such is the nature of human behaviour but would he find it easier to differentiate because it's so obviously history??

The Tom Gates books. To look at they are a bit like the wimpy kid books but I find the content much more pleasant.
There is a serious which starts with the 13 storey treehouse which my 7 year old loves, with a slightly silly sense of humour.
Rabbit and bear - has beautiful illustrations. I'm not a fan but DS and DH enjoy them.
All the Roald Dahls.
Ben Elton has written a few kids books. My 7 year old hasn't read them yet, my 8 year old has though.

Ah yes Famous Five is a good shout. He did read a couple and his grammar and syntax went all old fashioned for the day. Hilarious! Is Wimpy Kid too old for him? He's only just 7 so year 2. I'll have a look and some of the others here thanks. A friend mentioned 115 Story Treehouse- is that quite gentle? It's scary how much these books have influenced him. I dread him being older and wanting an xbox or something with Fortnite etc....

My Side of the Mountain

Mine loves the David Walliams despite me hating them. Has also read all the Road Dahls and lots of Enid Blyton. Currently starting Michael Morpurgo books.

I second the Enid Blyton Adventure series books. My DS age 9 loves them. They’re full of mystery and adventure without anything dark. A bit dated in parts but so timeless.

But it sounds like your son is drawn towards fantasy books which I can’t help you with because my kids don’t really enjoy them.

How about Roald Dahl books? We’ve read Danny Champion of the World many times, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the BFG.

Forgot The Indian in the Cupboard - we loved that. Just about to start the third in the series.

Oh and David Walliams, there’s loads of those!

The treehouse books are fine if very silly. My ds loves them.

Goodnight Mr Tom
The Wind in the Willows
The Borrowers

Try FrostHeart.

Or for a different tone altogether - One Dog and his Boy by Eva Ibbotson. Just delightful. Proper old fashioned storytelling in a modern day.

My 6 year old advanced reader has ploughed through the Tom Gates and Wimpy Kid series. They're light, funny, and easy to read.

For fantasy try Eva Ibbotson, I've only read a couple of her fantasy but IIRC they're generally gentler than most fantasy. Her non-fantasy writing is lovely.