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I am looking for book recommendations for free reading time at school for my 6 year old science oriented son. He gets 10-15 minute slots at school throughout the day when he finishes his work quickly and instead of wasting his time waiting for others, his teacher allows him to "free read" any book from home or do an art project. He prefers to read than do art. He has taken quite a number of fiction books (Droon series, Magic Tree House etc) and a number of non-fiction books (a whole series on electricity, plants, dinosaurs) to school so far. I am running out of book choices to send in and I would love to hear your recommendations for them. I want to send in mostly non-fiction, but a few fiction books are fine too (he loves adventure). He reads at 4th grade level, his current interests are in space/planets, robots, ocean life and geography, though he will read any book with something new in it for him.
Thanks for your help!

Hmmm...nonfiction is harder. Why mostly nonfiction?

Common Core?

There is no real restriction on fiction or non-fiction.
I prefer non-fiction mostly because, I found out that reading fiction was causing too much excitement in the classroom because kids tended to gather around the person reading and get into noisy discussions (which leads to time-outs)! The last fiasco was when DS took in some Bionicle books and all the boys started getting into excited discussions without finishing their work.

Hmm--maybe limit the fiction to more obscure stuff not linked to toys or movies, etc? Something more classic? Nonfiction could be exciting too, after all--think cool photos of sharks...

ashley, my kids are older and I can't think of any specific titles for you, but we used to find a lot of good non-fiction at our local used book store - my ds really liked the type of non-fiction books that he could read bits and pieces of and then go back to other parts. You could also look for a higher level science textbook to send in. Just for the heck of it, you could look into your district's upper elementary or middle school level science textbooks - you might find something he could enjoy and at the same time demonstrate he needs more challenge

And if he's 4th grade reading level and he's ready to move beyond Magic Tree House etc, has he read any of the Rick Riodan or Erin Hunter series yet? If he's not quite ready for that level, you could try Lemony Snicket series or Wayside School. I think if you get books advanced enough that the other kids wouldn't have read them yet you might get past the distracting-other-kids factor. Bones and Holes are two others that my ds liked when he was younger... but they are above the level of Magic Tree House so they might be ahead of where he's at - I'm sorry I'm not that great with levels!

Do you think the teacher would let him listen to audiobooks? Or would that be way too distracting for the other kids?

And... are there books in the school library that he's allowed to choose? Could you visit the school library with him either before or after school to help him choose a few books to check out for class?

polarbear

Anyway, how about Roald Dahl? Fudge/Superfudge? (pick carefully with Blume, though--some themes are more mature) Beverly Cleary? Stuart Little? Trumpet of the Swan? The Stink series, by Judy McDonald? The Invisible Inkling series (author is Jenkins) is new and very good. Oh, my DS has really enjoyed a science-oriented fiction series called Franny K. Stein. Kind of silly, bit on the lower end as far as reading level, but fun.

Wayside School is a good suggestion. Snicket is actually pretty hard, and more than that, sophisticated humor--my DD9 didn't really "get" those books till recently, though she could read them earlier.

LOL - yeah the bionicle books - my son loves them... Talk about a way to get boys excited about reading!

My son is reading Tales from the Odyssey (he LOVES any kind of mythology, folklore, etc) and Osborne's version is really very good while being age appropriate at the same time.

At that age and reading level my DS loved the Pippi Longstocking and Dr Dolittle books. He also really enjoyed all of the Oz books which are around that level. Books of Wonder has great reprints of the original illustrated Oz books. There are ~3 Pippi books, ~8-9 Dolittle books(of which DS read illustrated version of the first 3), and ~12 Oz books. Plenty to keep you occupied if any these catch your fancy.