My kid has gotten into the Warriors (cat) series and Guardians of Ga'Hoole in 3rd grade.

Anonymous wrote:It may seem silly to some, but I would actually recommend Piers Anthony's Xanth sometime in the next few years. It's clean, there's tons of wordplay and lots of imagination.

Lots of sexism, too.

Different genre, but my second grader loved the Genius Files series.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find something similar in theme and difficulty for an eight year old.

It is nice your child can "read" these books but he can not 100% comprehend the books and understand them on his own. Plus, if you start with such advanced older books for 7yr olds, what will he be reading and appreciating at 10, 12, 14? Slippery slope of pushing your kids to grow up faster than they need to.

I can't speak for what PP's child will be reading in the future, but I was an advanced and voracious reader at age 8 and still found plenty of wonderful books to keep me satisfied at ages 10, 12 and 14.

I can't remember exactly what I was reading at 10, but by 12 I was obsessed with James Michener (started with the Source and then Space), and later on in high school I got into Herman Wouk (Winds of War) and Tom Wolfe (Right Stuff), in addition to all the popular teen and "young adult" books of the time. Somewhere later in high school I had a big Stephen King phase (Carrie, then The Stand, then all the short stories), plus whatever else seemed interesting at the library.

And that's just me. One person, 30 or so years ago, before Harry Potter and without the benefit of Goodreads, Amazon, book blogs etc.

To state the obvious, there's a HUGE world of books and literature out there. HUGE. There is absolutely NO RISK that PP's child will somehow run out of interesting and age-appropriate books to read in two, four or six years.

True readers see this as a problem of abundance -- too many amazing books, too little time to read them -- not a problem of scarcity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find something similar in theme and difficulty for an eight year old.

It is nice your child can "read" these books but he can not 100% comprehend the books and understand them on his own. Plus, if you start with such advanced older books for 7yr olds, what will he be reading and appreciating at 10, 12, 14? Slippery slope of pushing your kids to grow up faster than they need to.

Are you omnipotent, PP???

Seriously, do you know this child? If not, how in the world would you know what he or she can "comprehend . . . and understand" without adult help?

pp's just projecting about her own child. many kids read harry potter in second grade -- it's written for that age group/ability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find something similar in theme and difficulty for an eight year old.

It is nice your child can "read" these books but he can not 100% comprehend the books and understand them on his own. Plus, if you start with such advanced older books for 7yr olds, what will he be reading and appreciating at 10, 12, 14? Slippery slope of pushing your kids to grow up faster than they need to.

Are you omnipotent, PP???

Seriously, do you know this child? If not, how in the world would you know what he or she can "comprehend . . . and understand" without adult help?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find something similar in theme and difficulty for an eight year old.

It is nice your child can "read" these books but he can not 100% comprehend the books and understand them on his own. Plus, if you start with such advanced older books for 7yr olds, what will he be reading and appreciating at 10, 12, 14? Slippery slope of pushing your kids to grow up faster than they need to.

Look at the thread about reading 1984 in 7th grade. Posters are lamenting that a 7th grader won't get as much out of the book as a 10th grader would -- what's wrong with that? As long as a reader, at any age, is getting something from a book, then that's fine for me.

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find something similar in theme and difficulty for an eight year old.

It is nice your child can "read" these books but he can not 100% comprehend the books and understand them on his own. Plus, if you start with such advanced older books for 7yr olds, what will he be reading and appreciating at 10, 12, 14? Slippery slope of pushing your kids to grow up faster than they need to.

Anonymous wrote:It's just the usual bragging. Can't say "my kid just finished HP books, what next?" You have to say "my 1st-grader just finished HP books, what next?"

Get over yourself and whatever securities make you see the post as a brag. This is actually a question asked between a lot of parents. Drop the grade reference if it helps your ego. The fact is that Harry Potter is a series that once a child gets into, causes an obsession with reading that a lot of parents don't see previously. Not only are the kids interested in reading, but their ability to comprehend and discuss the story is amazing. So it can be sort of a let down once the series is over, and its hard to find the next thing. And sadly, there is really no other book series that compares.

I know tons of young adults who still talks about reading the Harry Potter series as a right of passage. If you don't get it, its not about the person writing the post, it just that you don't have the same experience. Kids reading abilities are extremely diversified. No one is saying because their kid read early that they are "gifted" or better than you kid. They are just trying to find that next book series that is the perfect combination of challenging reading, extremely enjoyable reading, and age appropriate. It is amazingly difficult given the number of kids who are good readers at 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. Harry Potter fills this need so amazingly. I would never be able to believe how quickly my son could read it - and still discus it- showing that he comprehend what he read. And reading it myself, I can say, it puts most adult books to shame.

The School for Good and Evil is a popular series for third graders at our school.

Percy Jackson, Narnia series, Hobbit

Anonymous wrote:It's just the usual bragging. Can't say "my kid just finished HP books, what next?" You have to say "my 1st-grader just finished HP books, what next?"

I don't see it as bragging. Second grade seems like the typical age for HP. Maybe a little precocious to have completed the entire series, but it's not like the kid's advanced[i] or anything.

What about the old classics? I never see them mentioned here… I was around 10 when I began reading The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years Later, Pollyanna, Heidi, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the World, etc. Those books were my gateway for my passion for reading. I have so many fond memories

Anonymous wrote:I am shocked that your second graders can read these books. Are they not too hard for a second grader? I do not think that DS can read them. He is still reading Squish and Magic Tree House.

Reading is one of those skills that some kids pick up early, so it can actually be hard to find books that are challenging enough to read but still appropriate. So I thin Harry Potter is a popular book for kids who picked up reading early. So yes, some kids can read them. But that does not mean your child isn't right on track.

It may seem silly to some, but I would actually recommend Piers Anthony's Xanth sometime in the next few years. It's clean, there's tons of wordplay and lots of imagination.