Young free readers - what do they enjoy?

[PhoebeMcPeePee]

Actually I've no idea if 6 is young or not , but my post is about trying to find some decent books for a 6 year old boy who can read very fluently but struggling to find age-appropriate books. At school the 'library book' ie non-banded section is full of Michael morpurgo, Harry potter, Percy Jackson etc which I really think are too old for him & guessing they're more 8/9yrs+.

Any suggestions apart from famous five & Roald Dahl?

My 7 year old is obsessed by Beastquest which I think it probably suitable for a 6 year old. He also liked Secret Agent Jack Stalwart books when he 6. I think it would be fair to say they are not great works of fiction, but provide good reading practice with a semblance of plot and plenty of action.

DD is 7, but last year she was enjoying Roald Dahl and the Ottoline books as well as all sorts of very girly books. I think that Beastquest and the Mr Gumm books were popular with the boys.

Ds is 8 and has been a free reader since 6/7. and loves beast quest books. He has just recently got into roald Dahl as well. He has read the first Harry potter but I think the later ones would be a bit much for him.

DS liked Horrid Henry, Beast Quest and Dick King Smith (the shorter ones). They gave him the confidence to tackle longer books like Mr Gum.

DD is not a free reader at school but reads a Lot of what the school deems as free reader at home.

Magic Tree House
Usborne Young Readers Series 3

If he has the stamina, Famous Five or Secret Seven are worth a try.

The easier Roald Dahl, the class read them last half term and it was very poplular.

The 'How to Train your Dragon' books - COMPLETELY different from the film/TV series, fantastic character names and very funny :)

My son loved the dinosaur cove series - very formulaic but he didn't mind (steer clear of number 11 - an animal dies. We suffered for WEEKS over that and the book is still in a drawer in DH's office). Beast quest hugely popular. Cows in action and astrosaurs he still enjoys at 8.

DD is 6 and allowed to read whatever she wants (within reason) at school.

She loves: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Horrid Henry, easier Michael Morepurgo books, Dick King Smith, Amelia Jane (not particularly girly), the first HP book, Heidi, Black Beauty and the biggest hit of all has been The unbelievable top secret diary of Pig.

Oh yeah ds loves the wimpy kid books too

The Claude books by Alex T Smith are fantastic for my 5 yo free reading ds (bought after recommended on here ) 3 for about £5 on Book People. :)

DD is 6 and loved the Agatha Parrot series by Kjartan Poskitt. I read them with her and I was nearly crying with laughter over Agatha Parrot and the Floating Head.

The main characters are all girls though - don't know if that will appeal (my dd isn't that keen on books about boys, except for a Horrid Henry phase. Speaking of which, have you tried them? Horrid Henry's Underpants was the funniest).

DD has been a free reader since reception (which is clearly nonsense, but still...). She enjoys/has enjoyed:
Secret seven
Famous Five
Pippi Longstocking - though she only read the first one or two
Some Michael Morpurgo
Some Dick King-Smith
Tumtum and Nutmeg series
David Walliams - Gangsta Granny etc
Mr Gum
Jeremy Strong
Enid Blyton - Faraway Tree, Circus books, Willow Farm, Amelia Jane
Horrid Henry
Magic Treehouse series
Mrs Pepperpot

Enid Blyton/ Alien Invaders series/ Mr Gum - my two also love the Beano etc

I am not so good on boy books as I have girls (one happily reading Roald Dahl level and one on Early Reader chapter books) but I would try Dick King Smith, The Worst Witch (she isn't girly so boys can read it too), have heard people mention Oliver Moon but we haven't tried any of them (most of ours are mermaids, fairies or princesses, Holly Webb animal ones). There are some called Mammoth Academy about some mammoths at school (?), Humphrey the Hamster ones are good, Enid Blyton, Original Paddington chapter books, Wombles chapter books, Winnie the Witch chapter books too (not girly).

We have liked the Usborne Young Reading series 1 books and a couple of the series 2 books but found quite a lot of the series 2/3 ones were a bit grown up topicwise for my 5/6 year olds. they have brought out some others though recently so definitely worth looking at as the format is very encouraging to young readers IMO.

My Dd is 7 and is a really good reader but has a huge confidence/endurance issue when it comes to reading chapter books by herself. She simply will not do it. We read Harry Potter together and other things that she really enjoys but I cannot get her to read the simplest thing by herself. She thumbs things like Ottoline and little WWF stories. I am keen to see her enjoying reading as much as I did and still do but scared of pushing her into it before she is ready. She is also the eldest of three and I wonder if having things read to her is one of her few opportunities to have me or DH to herself. Any words of wisdom from those who have been there done it?

Haven't been there, done that, yadah, but my dd much prefers me to read to her even though she's perfectly capable of reading it herself. I love it too, and frankly I'm not going to push her. She'll do her own thing when she's ready.

DD will occasionally read on if she wants to find out what happens next, so you or your H could sneakily break off at an exciting point and leave the room for a bit....

It's like battles over food. I personally don't believe in turning things into a power struggle if they don't need to be. Just focus on enjoying this stage. It will end soon enough.

The Michael Mopurgo books vary on age appropriateness - I remember reading Kensuke's Kingdom with my stepson at that age (who was also a good reader, 7 now) and he loved it, he used to read ahead by himself with no problems. It's a great adventure story about a boy who gets stranded on a deserted island.

He liked Beast/Sea Quest as well.

Look up the 'Flat Stanley' books, they are about the right size/length.

We got him a box set of books called "Sam Silver: Undercover Pirate" which were cheap in the Works (probably still there) and he enjoyed those.

The Enormous Crocodile - Roald Dahl.

Mr Men books. Nobody beats Arthur Lowe in reading them though.

Sorry, I overlooked the "apart from Roald Dahl" request bit, Phoebe.

Mr Majeika
Depending on interestb in football, many Rob Childs / Football Academy-type books
Jeremy Strong
Mr Gum
Magic treehouse

The Spydog/Spypup series were v popular with my DS (in addition to many of those listed above). Also Terry Deary has a whole load of early free reader novels (eg The Captive Celt, the Bomber Balloon) which my DS loved. There are much more challenging ones too, but often grouped by level of difficulty on Amazon, so quite easy to find what suits.

I would also add Mortimer Keene by Tom Healey and The Jolley-Rogers and the Ghostly Galleon by Johnny Duddle. I echo Mr Gum and Agatha Parrot and Claude. Some short Anne Fine books, set in schools are fun - Bill's new Frock for instance. And also Anna Wilson for funny animal stories.

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=dr%20roach

These went down a treat with my boy

My 7 yo loves Harry P and discusses them at baffling length at all opportunities
We have read all the usual mn favourites and I am at a loss
She loved the Roddy Doyle books might be worth a try

I should have said that he's 6 too. Perfect level of vocabulary. Not too scary or gruesome but still exciting. Lots of pictures so text is broken up and chapters are nice and short so good for building stamina.