Good chapter book recommendations for 1st-2nd grade reading level?

[laurajetter]

My DS6 is reading really well and I wanted to give him some books that are bit more challenging than some of the shorter picture books we mostly have. For Christmas we got him the Diary of a Wimpy Kid... he saw the book at the store and seemed interested to read it and said someone else in his class had the book. He read it fairly quickly and seemed to enjoy it however I didn't like that it kept using names like "jerk" and "moron" in it (I didn't realize that until later).

I'm now looking for books whose content might be more age-appropriate for a first grader yet still challenging enough. The length and reading level of the Wimpy Kid was great for him and I know he'd like books that would at least have pictures every once in a while.

Do you have any ideas of books your kids loved to read at this level that were also a wholesome read? I wanted to get the "kid-tested-parent-approved" recommendations from you all before getting any more!

Thanks!

 

[1girln3boys]

My son loves Magic Tree House. Also A-Z mysteries are a good series.

 

[Erin1700]

Junie B Jones. I know she is a girl, but they are funny!

 

[rchristiansen]

Take him to the bookstore (we love going to half price books) and let him pick out some that he finds interesting.

I have found that if I tell DD what to read, she wont' read it. If she picks it out herself, she'll love it.

But to be honest, DD read all the diary of a wimpy kids books in 2nd grade. She's now in 4th grade and everyone is reading them and look forward to the new releases. They really aren't bad - in fact, they have some good themes about friendship and family. They remind me a lot of "The Wonder Years".

 

[laurajetter]

Take him to the bookstore (we love going to half price books) and let him pick out some that he finds interesting.

I have found that if I tell DD what to read, she wont' read it. If she picks it out herself, she'll love it.

But to be honest, DD read all the diary of a wimpy kids books in 2nd grade. She's now in 4th grade and everyone is reading them and look forward to the new releases. They really aren't bad - in fact, they have some good themes about friendship and family. They remind me a lot of "The Wonder Years".

I just want to avoid books with too much potty-mouth stuff for his age... he's a great, well-behaved kid but he's been getting into silly name-calling around the house and I don't want to give him more ideas; he's been doing it too much lately. I figured there it would just be easiest to pick books that don't have any of that in it.

 

[piglet too]

I second the idea of taking him to the bookstore. My son really enjoyed the Dragon Slayer Academy series.

 

[HunterBoo]

I teach grade one and I have a few strong readers that LOVE the Magic Treehouse books. They have good stories to them and they have pictures randomly throughout the book.

Flat Stanley has a couple of chapter books now too and I have seen these children choose those as well. Another earlier chapter book is Geronimo Stilton. I have daughters, so they have read Thea Stilton, but the boy version is Geronimo. They are a bit more challenging, but some kids enjoy them a lot.

I personally don't like Junie B. Jones all that much. They can be funny, but I also find her to be a bit bratty (?). That is from reading them with my own kids. (but that is just my opinion - they are popular, but I have never seen my stronger readers ever choose to read those books).

Oh - Judy Blume has Fudge and Superfudge - may be good too depending on his reading level. Sometimes reading a chapter book together is enjoyable too as you get to discuss a bit and maybe explain some of the parts that are a bit over their head developmentally.

Hope that helps Check your local library. They should have a section of earlier chapter books too.

 

[jrmasm]

My DD 7 loves the Weird School books but you might want to preread one. There is one character that the main character always calls a crybaby. You can 'look inside' the books on Amazon.

 

[mtemm]

magic treehouse, beverly cleary (ramona books and henry books), and a-z mysteries are huge hits in my house.

 

[Bunnyfeather]

I just bought a big set of Roald Dahl books at Costco. They would be a little advanced for the average 7-year-old, but if he can read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, he could probably do most of these. No language concerns, it's Matilda and Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A little dark, but fun.

 

[lemondog]

I just bought a big set of Roald Dahl books at Costco. They would be a little advanced for the average 7-year-old, but if he can read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, he could probably do most of these. No language concerns, it's Matilda and Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A little dark, but fun.

We got that exact same set for our 7yo for Christmas!

I will second the Roald Dahl books, also the Beverly Cleary Ramona series is popular with my 2nd grader. I will say she is a bit advanced with reading...has plowed thru all the Wimpy Kid books and now is working her way through the Roald Dahl books. Her twin, however, is more at the typical reading level for a 2nd grader and she likes Magic Treehouse, Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean, etc.

 

[wishing4PA]

I was going to suggest the Magic Tree House series, too!

 

[MNdisneymom]

I was fortunate, as my DS who was reading at that level at the same age thought the Wimpy Kid books were boring....

He loved some of the ones already suggested (especially Roald Dahl!), here are some more:

The author Andrew Clements. He has a series called Jake Drake, Bully Buster, that is slightly easier (probably what you're looking for). Also, he has many stand-alone titles that are harder. My DS especially loved Frindle, I remember him reading it in K and insisting that his pencil was a Frindle , which totally confused his teacher. (If you've read it, you get the joke...)


Graphic Novels of classic books. Some of the vocabulary might be a stretch, but my DS loved them at that age. He still has the same copy of 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea from 3 years ago!

Boxcar Children. There are (literally) hundreds of them. Very wholesome, highly approved by the small conservative private school my DS attended at that time. No pictures, but the chapters aren't that long.

Something to add on--if your DS likes the Magic Treehouse series, many of them have research guides to go along with the subject. Two favorites of his were the Titanic and Space books.

Hope you find something he likes

 

[Music City Mama]

I teach grade one and I have a few strong readers that LOVE the Magic Treehouse books. They have good stories to them and they have pictures randomly throughout the book.

Flat Stanley has a couple of chapter books now too and I have seen these children choose those as well. Another earlier chapter book is Geronimo Stilton. I have daughters, so they have read Thea Stilton, but the boy version is Geronimo. They are a bit more challenging, but some kids enjoy them a lot.

I personally don't like Junie B. Jones all that much. They can be funny, but I also find her to be a bit bratty (?). That is from reading them with my own kids. (but that is just my opinion - they are popular, but I have never seen my stronger readers ever choose to read those books).

Oh - Judy Blume has Fudge and Superfudge - may be good too depending on his reading level. Sometimes reading a chapter book together is enjoyable too as you get to discuss a bit and maybe explain some of the parts that are a bit over their head developmentally.

Hope that helps Check your local library. They should have a section of earlier chapter books too.

I love Judy Blume, but just a warning that in "Superfudge", the beans get spilled about Santa -- so, unless you're reading it to him aloud (and can avoid that part like I did), he will find out. Otherwise, HILARIOUS books. I read them when I was a kid, as well.

I'll just echo Magic Treehouse (DS liked these in early 1st grade). He liked Boxcar Children in late 1st grade/early 2nd grade. Roald Dahl books are great, too, for that age-range.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

My one daughter was not a big reader, very bright just not big reader.
Other one is fourth grade and has read 4 of Harry Potter Books already.

I remember one series the non reader loved was Kidie comedy story of Dr Frankenstein. It had a different spelling but he was a mad doctor. I think they were that level.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Just looked it up the books were about

"Franny K Stein"

So they might have been more girl themed than I thought. I do know she loved them and she was not a reader.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Boxcar Children

 

[Disneylvr]

These series are also currently popular for K-3rd grade readers, especially boys.

Cam Jansen by David A. Adler
Geronimo Stilton by "Geronimo Stilton"
Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures created by Jeff Brown
Ready, Freddy by Abby Klein
Encyclopedia Brown (yep, he's still around!) by Donald Sobol
BallPark Mysteries (if he likes sports, baseball in particular) by David A. Kelly
Pirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow by Rob Kidd (since this is a Disney forum)
Andrew Lost by J.C Greenburg
Bailey School Kids by Debbie Dadey
A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy
Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald (classic series)
Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline

 

[Ephany]

I just bought a big set of Roald Dahl books at Costco. They would be a little advanced for the average 7-year-old, but if he can read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, he could probably do most of these. No language concerns, it's Matilda and Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A little dark, but fun.

We got that exact same set for our 7yo for Christmas!

I will second the Roald Dahl books, also the Beverly Cleary Ramona series is popular with my 2nd grader. I will say she is a bit advanced with reading...has plowed thru all the Wimpy Kid books and now is working her way through the Roald Dahl books. Her twin, however, is more at the typical reading level for a 2nd grader and she likes Magic Treehouse, Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean, etc.

Great minds must think alike, LOL, DD got both the Roald Dahl pack and the Beverly Cleary set for Christmas. She's reading the Witches and loves it.

She also really liked the Roscoe Riley books; he reminds me a lot of Dennis the Menace, doesn't mean to get into trouble, but boy it finds him. They're fairly easy to read and very funny. We also have the Magic Treehouse books and Flat Stanley.

 

[HM]

Boxcar Children

This is great set of mystery stories. The only problem a lot of kids have with them is how old they are making them a bit hard to relate to. You should try one and see what he thinks.