Summer reading suggestions for 2nd grader at an advanced reading level?

[ktlm]

DD is going into the 2nd grade in the fall. She reads ahead of grade level and reads all the time, so I'm running out of ideas and could use some help. She burns through books so fast, I'm having trouble keeping up. Just because has the ability to read more complex and darker books, doesn't mean she is emotionally ready for that yet. She is somewhat sensitive and definitely prefers a lighter fare. She loves comedies and mysteries. To give you an idea of her tastes, here is what she has recently been reading:

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew- she made it up to book 13 before getting tired of them and ready to take a break and read something else

The Disney Princess chapter books-I'm pretty sure she has read all of these unless some new ones have come out in the past month or so.

The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary- she absolutely loves these books, but there are only 8, and the summer isn't half over and she has almost made it through all 8.

The Wide Awake Princess- she is currently in the middle of this one and is absolutely loving it. I was thinking about maybe looking for other books by this author if I can't come up with anything else.

I thought about the Little House on the Prairie series, but she showed absolutely no interest in it whatsoever when I showed her the books at the store last weekend.

Anybody got any good suggestions?

 

[DCbride]

Some of my favorite - kid friendly authors for grades 3-5 are:

Andrew Clements
Dan Gutman
Peg Kehret

I run the school Battle of the Books program and we always pick a book from each of these authors. If you want to extend these are tons of lesson plans online for the above authors books.

 

[laughinplace199]

Try the Mysterious Benedict Society series or the Flavia de Luce series.

 

[katiee37]

Magic Tree House may be a little under her reading level, but some of the nonfiction books based off the fiction ones are a little higher.

My third grade teacher would read us the Wayside School books. Your daughter could probably handle them. Bunnicula was also a favorite back then.

Dan Gutman's books are usually pretty funny so those would be good if she has a good sense of humor!

Several classic novels have children's versions. Anything ranging from the Wizard of Oz to Charles Dickens' works have children's versions that are easier to read with darker themes/events in the book removed or toned down.

 

[HappyHaunts999]

I would look on amazon. You can look by type and grade level.
This way you can get a better idea of what you might want to get her.
I know a lot of people like the Magic Tree House series. Anne of Green Gables. The Baby-Sitters Club has a graphix series. You could also try the American Girl Series.

 

[scrapquitler]

DD is going into the 2nd grade in the fall. She reads ahead of grade level and reads all the time, so I'm running out of ideas and could use some help. She burns through books so fast, I'm having trouble keeping up. Just because has the ability to read more complex and darker books, doesn't mean she is emotionally ready for that yet. She is somewhat sensitive and definitely prefers a lighter fare. She loves comedies and mysteries. To give you an idea of her tastes, here is what she has recently been reading:

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew- she made it up to book 13 before getting tired of them and ready to take a break and read something else

The Disney Princess chapter books-I'm pretty sure she has read all of these unless some new ones have come out in the past month or so.

The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary- she absolutely loves these books, but there are only 8, and the summer isn't half over and she has almost made it through all 8.

The Wide Awake Princess- she is currently in the middle of this one and is absolutely loving it. I was thinking about maybe looking for other books by this author if I can't come up with anything else.

I thought about the Little House on the Prairie series, but she showed absolutely no interest in it whatsoever when I showed her the books at the store last weekend.

Anybody got any good suggestions?

Encyclopedia Brown
Bobsey Twins
Wizard of OZ series
Pippi Longstocking Series
Magic Tree House

 

[scdak]

Box Car Children are fun at that age. I second Bobbsey Twins, I have some of my mothers from the 1940's in my garage plus mine from the 1960's!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Has she read other books by Beverly Cleary? The ones about Henry Huggins and The Mouse & the Motorcycle? All very entertaining. I completely understand your dilemma, as my oldest was also a very advanced reader and while other kids were reading the Harry Potter books in 1st or 2nd grade, I would not let him because of the dark subject matter.

What about some of the Judy Blume books? Fudge and Superfudge, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

ETA: Yes on the Boxcar Children books. My son enjoyed those, too!

 

[audrey2580]

Geronimo Stilton are fun.

 

[MSSANDRA]

What level does she read on?? What about some of the classic ones, Charlotte's Web, Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm etc.

One caution on the Judy Blume books. There is one of them, that addresses the Santa Clause truth a bit more bluntly than you might wise to do, and while we do like them and I read them with my 6 year old, I do ad lib a bit at times when the subject is a bit more mature than I want him exposed too. Maybe some non-fiction on a subject interest she has. Visit the library and ask for help there as well.

 

[Eureka]

My kids were reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge at that age. Judy Blume wrote another series called Pain and the Great One too. Not as good as her originals but still entertaining.

 

[Freesia123]

I'd also suggest Geronimo Stilton or Tea Stilton.

 

[Freesia123]

What about Encyclopedia Briwn? They are little mysteries and to find out how to solve them you have to read the answers in the mirror!

 

[2manydaves]

The disney fairy chapter books are great. Start with Fairy Dust and the Quest For the Egg by Gail Carson Levine. The series that takes place after is by many different authors, but is well-written.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Why not visit your local library?
2) Librarians are trained in such book list recommendations.
3) I bet they would be overjoyed to help an ambitious reader.
4) They LIVE for that!

 

[ktlm]

Thanks everyone who has posted so far! I'm looking forward to checking out all of your suggestions. Keep them coming!

MSSANDRA we aren't exactly sure what her reading level really is. Her school district only allows the teachers to test and classify kids to the end of the next grade up school year, so she is currently "classified" as end of 3rd grade level, but her teacher believes she is higher. Scholastic has the Wide Awake Princess classified as a 5th to 6th grade level, but she saw it on a display at the book store and wanted it and she is currently blowing through it with no problems and loving it so much that she is constantly telling us what is going on in the book. I just let her read whatever she is interested in as long as the content of the material is not too mature for her, but she often has a hard time finding or picking things out without some direction. I call her my little Belle, because her nose is always "stuck in a book", so the point where she has face planted trying to read while walking. I thought about Charlotte's Web, but I was traumatized by that one as a child, and I'm worried that she might cry for days after the end of that... or maybe not because the kid is terrified of and absolutely hates spiders.

Claire&theboys, I know where you are coming from. I love Harry Potter, but it is WAY too dark for how sensitive she is. DH and I thought about maybe letting her read the first one, but I know she will not want to stop there and she definitely is not mature enough for the rest of the series. This is the kid who every time a commerical for a crime show comes on tv closes her eyes and covers her ears and starts yelling "this is inappropriate for a kid my age- someone change the channel" I have to admit that they go way too far on some of the commercials these days.

She blew through most of the Gutman weird school series when she was in what I call her "Junie B. Jones" phase in kindergarten and 1st grade. Magic Tree House, I thought she would love, but she read 2 of those at the beginning of 1st grade and lost interest.

So far, I've only looked up a couple of suggestions from the first couple of posts. The Andrew Clements books definitely look like something she might like. The Mysterious Benedict Society looks pretty promising too. Peg Kehret looks like the themes might be a little too mature or intense for her yet- not sure about those. Looks like Flavia de Luce investigates murders? If so, I don't think the is there yet either (Nancy Drew Clue Crew usually just involves missing items, since it is written for the younger crowd). Both of those look like great suggestions for when she is a little older though. I'd forgotten about all the other Beverly Clearly books and Pippi Longstocking. I bet she will love all of those. I see some other really good suggestions in all your posts too. I will definitely check out all of the suggestions! Thanks again everyone!

 

[ginnygi]

Babysitters club. Bad Kitty.

 

[kristinradico]

My daughter is also going into 2nd grade and she mainly reads Junie B Jones (yes they are easier and she is done them quickly) and American Girl Chapter books! She loves reading about all the historic dolls and their stories!

 

[scdak]

I almost forgot my nieces favorites Goosebumps series by RL Stein there are several different series I can't remember which are for younger readers then they progress up from there. She loved them sort of silly spooky mysteries.

 

[texasteacher35]

Series of Unfortunate Events is a good series. My 2nd grader is advanced, too. It's hard to pick something that is appropriate content, but challenges the reading level of the child. Even though they are easy books, my DS7 reads all the lego chapter books...very easy for him, but at least reading something. Judy Moody is cute...Geronimo Stilton is also a good series...kids seem to like them, my daughter (another advanced reader) loved them...she's now 18. LOL