Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Need more book suggestions for DS6

I highly recommend the Lucy and Stephen Hawking books starting with George's Secret Key To The Universe. My DS6 has read all three twice and can't wait for the fourth to come out in June! It inspired a great interest in physics!
Also, I second Grace Lin. We loved Starry River of the Sky and he is currently reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
I am reading Inkheart aloud to him right now, but I'm a little worried it might get too intense!
Oh, and Brian Selznick. The Invention of Hugo Cabret! A family favorite!

Completely agree on the Hawking series. Someone recommended those recently and DS7 is almost through the third one. I'm glad to hear there is a fourth one coming out. DS also enjoyed the Dragon in the Sock Drawer series.

I really wish I had kept a list, because we have been through this with our son. Basically, I wander through the library trying to find books that look appropriate and in the best case, are part of a series. We are fortunate to have an excellent children's section.

I will try to remember to ask DS his favorites and post here.

Using guided reading levels, Scholastic ranks "The Wizard of Oz" at level V which they rank at 6th grade. Harry Potter is also ranked by Scholastic as a level V book. So by current scales the reading levels look comparable but in my experience "The Wizard of Oz" is more approachable due to print size and illustrations. If the OP's kid is reading HP... Oz is certainly feasible. The last book DS read before devouring all of the Oz books was "My Side of the Mountain" or maybe one of the "Swallows and Amazon" books.

Well before reading the Harry Pottter books DS read all of the CS Lewis Narnia books. I'm not sure of reading levels but those are probably in range.

Around that age we also did a large mythology kick... with the Geraldine McCaughrean's books, and the D'Aulieres, and Mary Pope Osborne's Odyssey, etc.

The Animorphs series was a big hit with my son at that age (actually he's just re reading them now at 8). They have violence but my sensitive son is fine with them. Not sure that they're read in the US so much but Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Island books were also a hit at six. Simply written but my son loved the premise that 4 kids, only slightly older than himself, just go off for days and have adventures. Captain Underpants and Andy Griffith's 13 Story Treehouse for laughs along with Asterix. He also did The Hobbit and the first of the LOTR as an older 6 along with Jules Verne. It's a pretty eclectic mix. Never quite sure what will capture him.

Dark is rising (which I love) has sad, scary parts IMO. Cooper has one about Shakespeare, the king of shadows?

I just read Frindle because dd is reading it in guided reading and it's great.

Dd just started The girl, the dragon and the wild magic and likes it.

If he read Narnia he could probably handle Wrede, whom we love!

What about The Sherwood Ring or Perilous Gard? Though they can be a bit mature...

How to train your dragon? We just requested these.

Lloyd Alexander? Some of his are intense but Vesper Holly is hilarious.

((Pardon my left handed phone typing and probably missing things said up thread as I near the third hour of bedtime here with my 3yo))

I may have to reread them myself to review the details I may have misremembered.

The Melendy Quartet series (starts with The Saturdays)
Nick and Tesla's High Voltage Danger Lab
Tuesdays at the Castle
Nim's Island
Franny K Stein series (starts with Lunch Walks Among Us)
The Time Warp Trio series (starts with Knights of the Kitchen Table)
Boxcar Children series
The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm
Peter Pan
Inkheart
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

DD7 *loves* mysteries, but these are some suggestions of the books she's enjoyed that aren't (oops, some of these already suggested I see - I'm seconding them in that case!)

btw, She read Series of Unfortunate Events around the same time as Narnia and Harry Potter, so mightn't be too hard?

He enjoyed Franny K. Stein. I think Mrs. Frisby is too sad (it has deaths, doesn't it?) and isn't Inkheart pretty intense as well? He loved Dragonrider by Funke, but that one is geared younger.

I was thinking about Alexander but don't recall if it has deaths. Oh yes, Warriors has sad deaths too, doesn't it? I remember DD crying over some of those books. Will try Lin and Hawking (DD didn't get into the Hawking book but we'll see if DS does--they looked so cool). He has read Narnia. I was a little surprised that he could take on Potter, but he is powering through it, though I'm sure he's missing stuff.

I will try some of these others that I don't know.

Maybe the "Mad Scientists Club" series? I liked them when I was little.