Books: Need Ideas!

I need your help!  Gus is truly a voracious reader.  He loves to read and wants to read all the time and I'm out of book ideas for him.  From browsing the library I can tell that there are lots of really great books for the 8-11 year old to read, and Gus could read some of the easier ones.  Except, they are too mature for him.  He just turned 6 and he is a little bit more sheltered that most 6 year olds because he doesn't watch tv or go to the movies.

His favorite books have been all the Eddie books and Betsy books by Carolyn Haywood, the early Little House books (before things get more serious), Tintin (a little over his head, but the pictures help with that and his vocabulary sure is growing!), the Ramona books and Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary, Nate the Great books (I love these!).  He also adored a little two-book series about a little roach named Maybelle by Katie Speck (oh I hope she writes more).  We've also enjoyed the Frog & Toad books, and lots and lots of biographies written for children (Gertrude Ederle, Amelia Earhart, George Washington Carver, Louis Cyr, etc.).  And he's read all 42 of the Magic Treehouse series (not my favorite, but he enjoyed them).

Humor is big--silly and funny beats serious and scary every time.  He's not one of those kids who enjoys being scared.

So...recommendations please!!!  If the book might be a little hard for him to read alone, but the subject matter is a good fit that is fine because I still like to read to Gus every day.

On my own reading I'm still really enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse vampire books and a series of mysteries by the same author (Charlaine Harris).  But I've also finished several more serious books and keep hoping I'll get around to writing real reviews, but in case I don't I'd recommend these:

Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely):  but I think this is one of those books for which you can't trust every explanation and conclusion he comes up with

Young Woman and the Sea (Glenn Stout):  if you like reading about sports, and particularly women and sports this one is great!  I loved it.

What I Thought I Knew (Alice Eve Cohen):  this is an amazing memoir, probably particularly of interest to women, but I think anyone could enjoy it and get something from it for their own lives. 

Comments

[Tracy B.]

Off the top of my head...My kids loved the Geronimo Stilton series and they are definitely on the silly side. They also enjoyed the old Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks. We listened to a lot of these on tape while traveling. A few other favorites include: Stewart Little, Charlotte's Web, Mr. Popper's Penguins. If I think of anymore I'll let you know.

[kristin n]

Maddy has one Ivy and Bean book that she enjoys. i think gus would like the one we have. they try to break world records (very silly) and they end up finding "dinosaur" bones. there is a whole series of ivy and bean.

i know a lot of kids like junie b jones but we haven't read any of those yet.

[April Smith West]

I have two crazy recommendations, based on what Vivi likes:

the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar
The Best (worst) ... Ever books by Barbara Robinson (she wrote the Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which was a TV movie, and there are two other books featuring the same characters). These books are hilarious, though of course they deal with bad behavior at school so you might want to read them aloud. The Louis Sachar books are much funnier read aloud anyway.

We have also read all the Wizard of Oz books with Vivi, and all the Mary Poppins books. She also really likes the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books.

We are also having a hard time finding books that are interesting for her but still tame enough.

[Rachel]

I second the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle recommendation. Also, did you ever read the Great Brain books? M and I loved those, and it sounds like he might like them too. You could try out the first one yourself and see what you think. And I know that Rebecca (almost 7) totally adores the Wayside books, so he might like them too.

[katie speck]

It was so much fun to find Maybelle mentioned here! Please tell Gus that the third book will be out after the first of the year. It's called "Maybelle at the Fair" and it's the wildest, silliest Maybelle yet (Hint: there's a little red race car in it).

Happy reading! :)

[maya gamble]

oh my goodness!  how wonderful--we loved those books and Maybelle; Im thrilled you are writing another one.  My sons teacher just had a daughter and named her Maybelle and when Gus told him about the books, he (the teacher) ran right out and ordered them for her library.

thanks for coming by.
Maya

[lisa]

I was just hunting around for more books for the girls to read and saw your book link! Mostly I come here to see what you're knitting. Anyway, Zahra loved The Moffats, which Gus might like since he liked the Betsy books and Mr. Popper's Penguins.

We've requested the Maybelle books from the library. I'm excited about other posters recommendations too.