Good books for an 8-year-old advanced reader?

[mammom]

Hi All,

My little guy is a great reader and has been since he was five.  He got ahold of my Harry Potter books last summer and can't put them down (he is only allowed 1-3 and the tasks in #4).  He loves, loves, loves to read, but I need something that will take his attention away from Harry and Friends.

I would love a good series that will take him a while to go through.  (He doesn't care for Magic Treehouse, has already done the Narnia series... Someone mentioned the Droon books, but they weren't totally thrilled with them...)

Any suggestions would be wonderful!

Thank you!

[mandib50]

series of unfortunate events? spiderwick chronicles? charlie bone series? diary of a wimpy kid?

not sure if they are age appropriate mind you.

[kayabrink]

My ds has read at least some books from each of the series Mandib listed, and liked them all.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the series that he is reading right now (he's also 8). However, I'm not sure why you're not allowing the later Harry Potters (I can think of many potential reasons!), so I'm not sure if you would consider this appropriate. We let ds read all the Harry Potters; he was under 7 for sure, but I don't censure books because my ds will stop reading if he's too afraid.

Also the Edgar and Ellen series, not so advanced but my ds did like them, though he would read a book in one sitting. He also really liked the Raven Mysteries, but same thing: one book a night. So don't go out and buy them.

I just realised this was posted in Waldorf, so I'm going to assume there is a Waldorf philosophy that is limiting your choices. Sorry! I'm not too aware of Waldorf past the preschool/pre-reading years. This is not so very magical, but my ds loved the Borrowers, and I feel that that series couldn't be problematic. 

[blumom2boyz]

What about Boxcar Children or Hardy Boys?  Amazons and Swallows?  Good ole fashioned classic lit...King Arthur, Swiss Family Robinson, Robin Hood?  My Side of the Mountain?  (I am trying to remember what my son read at that age...he was also an "advanced" reader).  Can be tough, that's for sure as some of the material he is ready for reading level wise isn't really age appropriate.  Oh, he may like some of the Isabel Wyatt stories...King Beetle Tamer, Fairy Book of Princes, etc.  Also, King of Ireland's Son was a hit with my second grader.  

[mandib50]

all my kids loved the Boxcar children. i am curious as to what your son will end up reading!

[herbsmd]

Absolute YES to King of Ireland's Son!!  Both of my boys loved it.  They also loved the Little House in the Big Woods series, Stuart Little, The Borrowers, The Moffats, any Roald Dahl books, and if he has done the Narnia series, he may possibly like Madeline L'Engle's Time series (A Wrinkle in Time, Swiftly Tilting Planet, etc.)  

Oh...Beverly Cleary was always great and also my boys both LOVED the "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Fudge"/"Superfudge" books by Judy Blume.  I believe that they read those books when they were in second grade too.  They are sort-of a precursor to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books which we really didn't let them get into until fourth grade.  

Good luck...let us know if something else catches his attention!!  I'm a Waldorf teacher and Harry Potter is pretty popular with our students too!!  

Maggie

[herbsmd]

Oops...one more...  The Hardy Boys series are GREAT!!!