Fantasy series at Moongobble level.....

[PGTlatte]

Our 7.5 yo DS has reading delays due to vision/processing issues, and his level of what he can listen to read-aloud is also delayed. He has never before been very interested or tolerant of me reading anything aloud to him, and he does not read himself beyond what is required for school work. His read-aloud-listening level is in the grade 1-2 range.

We were very fortunate to stumble on the first of the Moongobble series on the sale shelf at the library - finally !!!! He loves this series !!! We are starting the last book in this series tomorrow. He has wanted me to read to him every night and this is a dream come true for me...I really want to keep this momentum going. So I am in a hurry to find some very easy chapter books at the same level as the Moongobble series, with really short chapters, that include magic and fantasy, that have a few illustrations, and that have a bit of humor. I would also love for there to be a new series we can begin, because he has really been looking forward to getting into the next book in the series.

I would like to avoid anything with a focus on a character's days at school (we are homeschooling and the school focus in many books is an issue). I am ready to read him the Narnia books etc, but he is just not ready to listen to them...I have tried and he can't follow through even half of one chapter. I am relieved to have found something that he likes and that works for him, and I really want to find more like this. Thank you for any recommendations !

[ollyoxenfree]

I wasn't familiar with this series, but I looked it up and the author, Bruce Coville is well known and has several series. I'd start with some of his other books. I think DS enjoyed the Sixth Grade Alien books, but I realize those aren't quite right for you because of the school setting. BTW, although it sounds like your DS likes the fantasy stuff, if you want to try something else at some point, Coville's Shakespeare retellings are pretty good.

Another author that DS liked was Richard Scrimger. The Nose From Jupiter marries fantasy and humour very nicely. There are sequels too. It's been a long time since I read them and I think there is some school stuff, so they might not be perfect for you.

You could try the Pure Dead Wicked series by Deb Gliori . They are a little more advanced than the level you are looking for, but they have that same blend of magic and humour and gore that kids love, so perhaps that will keep him interested as a read-aloud. It's funny, the Lexile measure for Pure Dead Wicked is higher (1020L) than The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (940L) but I would have pegged Pure Dead Wicked as much lower.

Also at a higher level, but I'll mention them because DS loved them at that age:

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and illustrated by Chris Riddell

If you don't get other suggestions or can't find anything else, it might be worth trying them. I found that if the stories were really good, my kids could listen to a fairly high level of writing. Another thing you can try are illustrated books of myths and legends - Greek, Roman, Norse, Asian, Aboriginal etc.