Scary or Funny books at a 2nd grade reading level

[TheAttachedMama]

My daughter (8) would like books at about a 2nd-grade reading level to read in her free time.    She will only pick up stuff that feels very easy to read.  (Which is fine with me.   I think some easy reading practice can only help.)   Her favorite book series she has ever read was the "Notebook of Doom" followed in 2nd place by "Eerie Elementary".   She has also read the branches Kung Pow Chicken and Dragon Masters, but she didn't like that as well.  

 

She wants something "scary" or "funny" to read.    Any suggestions?  

 

P.S.   She is NOT a girly girl.   Nothing with princesses or pink!  

[EmseB]

I just ordered some A to Z mysteries for my 7yo to try out. They were recommended to me as less challenging than Encyclopedia Brown, but interesting for a child that's beyond easy readers. So, I can't give feedback, but something to look at maybe?

[EmseB]

Oh, also both of my boys LOVE Tin Tin. They are graphic novels, but detailed, fun mystery stories.

 

And some people have concerns about character content, because the bad guys drink and such, but I found it to be acceptable as being drunk was not exactly written as a positive character trait. It's worth checking into if that sort of thing concerns you.

Edited April 28, 2016 by JodiSue

[Lori D.]

Notebook of Doom and Eerie Elementary are both series, so you might be able to mine those for more titles. ?

Not necessarily straight up scary, but some of Roald Dahl's books might be a fit.

Scary

grade 2-3 level:
The Witch's Hand (Utton)
Don't Open the Door! (Martenova)
Grandpa's Ghost Stories (Flora)
The Haunted Library series (Butler) -- ghost & girl solve mysteries (so, not so much scary stories)
Scooby Doo leveled reader series -- spooky atmosphere, but mostly mystery solving
The Littles and the Scary Halloween (Peterson)
Magic Tree House: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (Osborne)
Magic Tree House: A Good Night for Ghosts (Osborne)

grade 3-4 level:
The Monster and the Tailor (Galdone)
The Ghost-Eye Tree (Martin)
Five Creepy Creatures (Stamper)

grade 3-6 level
(short story collections might help her jump the hurdle into grade 3/4 books since they are SHORT)
Mysterious Journals of Archie Riddle series (Maggiore)
13 Scary Ghost Stories (Carus)
Favorite Scary Stories of American Children (Young)
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Schwartz)
In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories (Schwartz)
Creepies series: Scare Yourself to Sleep; The Flat Man; The Midnight Ship; etc. (Impey)
Goosebumps series (Stine) -- a "junk food" reader series, but a little junk is okay as long as you're also getting good nutritious reading in there, too ?

grade 4-6 level:
Bunnicula

grade 5-8 level:
Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful
Alfred Hitchcock's Supernatural Tales
Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery
Tales of Mystery, Suspense and the Supernatural (Erlenbusch)

grade 5-8 level:
Spiderwick Chronicles

__________________

Humorous
Commander Toad series (Yolen)
Fox series (Marshall)
Laff-O-Tronic series (Michael Dahl) -- Monster Jokes; Animal Jokes; School Jokes; Sports Jokes
riddle books by Hall & Eisenberg -- Creepy Riddles, Mummy Riddles, Batty Riddles, etc. 
McBroom's Wonderful One Acre Farm (Fleischman) -- and other McBroom books
Teacher from the Black Lagoon -- and sequels (Thaler)
Stink series (McDonald)

* Henry Huggins series (McCleary)
* Pippi Longstockings series (Langstran)

* = 3rd/4th grade level

Edited August 30, 2018 by Lori D.

[UCF612]

We are listening to a book called Zombiekins in the car right now. It is umm odd to me but my boys are cracking up! Not sure about the reading level of it though.

 

Eta It does mention witches and of course zombies but in a humorous way.

Edited April 28, 2016 by UCF612

[SilverMoon]

The shorter Roald Dahl books. The Twits, etc. When she gets closer to 3rd-4th grade level try Series of Unfortunate Events.

[raptor_dad]

DS7 really liked the "Dory Fantasmagory" books earlier this year. They are quick fun read and are a hilarious spoof on the whole ghost theme. DS9 who is reading things like Tolkien on his own also swiped them and enjoyed reading them in the car.

[Lilaclady]

Matilda

[Sahamamama]

Ramona the Pest (and other Ramona books, funny)

Henry Huggins (funny)

Mr. Putter and Tabby series (funny)

Mrs. Pigglewiggle (funny)

If You Give a Mouse... (and others like it, funny)

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (hilarious)

Tikki Tikki Tembo (funny, and builds your lung capacity)

Millions of Cats (funny)

The Parrot Tico Tango (funny)

Miss Nelson Is Missing (funny)

Miss Nelson Is Back (funny)

The Children of Noisy Village (funny)

Pippi Longstocking (funny)

Milly-Molly-Mandy (funny, no princesses, but some things are pink)

Betsy-Tacy (funny)

Magic School Bus books (funny, even though they are supposedly non-fiction) ;)

 

 

Where the Wild Things Are (scary? and funny)

Sarah Whitcher's Story (somewhat scary?)

The Cabin Faced West (a little scary?)

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (a little scary?)

Sam the Minuteman (slightly scary?)

The Matchlock Gun (barely scary?)

 

Hmmm... I can't seem to come up with much that is scary. :) I suppose we don't "do scary" here? Huh. :huh:  Well, we do like to laugh! :)

[Sahamamama]

Matilda

 

:iagree: Yes, definitely! She is a riot!

[TriciaT]

Funny series that hasn't been mentioned yet- Ivy and Bean. (Even I laughed reading these, and Bean is exactly the opposite of a girly girl.)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheAttachedMama]

So, my daughter says the Roald Dahl books are too hard.   She can read them just fine when we read together, but I guess they feel like too much work for her "for fun" reading.   Those were my FAVORITE books as a child and what finally got me reading regularly.  So they hold a special place in my heart.  :)  I also loved a series of unfortunate events as an adult.  (hahaha)   But still too hard for her "for fun" reading.    We will definitely be trying all of these later, though.

 

We've exhausted the Notebook of Doom and Eerie Elementary series.  (I should have been more clear about that.)   We've also read the Littles Halloween book and the two magic tree house books mentioned.  

 

The haunted library series might work.   I'm going to try one of those.  :)   And also maybe one of the Dory Fantasmagory books.   

[alisoncooks]

Is the Spiderwick Chronicles too intense?  

 

We just picked up Bunnicula from the thrift store.  I remember reading it and liking it as a kid, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

(These may be more of a 3-4th grade reading level, though...)

 

Amelia Bedelia? for funny?

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

My kids have all loved Bailey School kids, silly spooky stuff.  

[TheAttachedMama]

Is the Spiderwick Chronicles too intense?  

 

We just picked up Bunnicula from the thrift store.  I remember reading it and liking it as a kid, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

(These may be more of a 3-4th grade reading level, though...)

 

Amelia Bedelia? for funny?

 

We tried Bunnicula already but it was too hard.   She needed help with too many words to read it independently.   

 

Amerilia Bedellia she didn't like.   She liked the early readers when she was in first grade.   But the chapter books were too girly for her.   She has one of these books at home and won't even pick it up to try.   (I don't know why she says this, but she refused to read.)   

[Lori D.]

Some more ideas:

More Branches series:
The Data Set (Hopper)
Looniverse (Lubar)
Galaxy Zack (O'Ryan)
Monkey Me (Roland)
Monstrous Stories (Roach)

These are all "step 2" readers:
Lulu Witch series (O'Connor) -- not scary, but a witch goes to school
Monster School series (Keane)
Flat Stanley and the Haunted House (Brown)
Plants vs. Zombies: Save Your Brains! (Hapka)
Ghosts! Ghostly Tales from Folklore (Schwartz)
Never Kick a Ghost and Other Silly Chillers (Sierra)
Inside a House that is Haunted (Capucilli)

step 3 readers:
Little Witch series (Hautzig)

step 4 readers:
The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches (Low)

2nd grade reading level:
Glenda (original hardback), or, Glenda Glinka, Witch at Large (paperback version) (Udry) -- out of print, but fun -- a witch transforms into a girl to go to school, and still is very witch-like

Edited August 30, 2018 by Lori D.

[SilverMoon]

Maybe the Magic series by Eager?

[SparklyUnicorn]

I might get flamed but Captain Underpants.  

 

 

 

 

[nature girl]

These are a ton of fun...First time I've seen my daughter snickering while huddled with a book. :)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Wayside-School-Boxed-Set-Stranger/dp/0380791714/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462215209&sr=1-1&keywords=wayside+school

 

ETA: There's also the Droon series, which are on the scary side, my DD was obsessed with them, as well as the Franny K. Stein, Dragon Slayer's Academy and Looniverse books (these are Branches level series--more funny than scary.)

 

I'm following, because she has exactly the same tastes. Notebook of Doom was her FAVORITE series ever...

Edited May 2, 2016 by Anna's Mom