4KookieKids Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I have a kiddo who really enjoys mysteries and adventure books but is relatively sensitive. He's read all the Encyclopedia Brown books and all the A to Z mysteries (multiple collections). Recently he's been wanting more new ones, and checked out 39 clues, but I read some of them and I feel that they're not really appropriate for him right now and told him to wait a year or two to read them. I have a whole list of "classic" books that I offer him to read; he loves stuff like Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The Little Princess, and the Great Illustrated versions of a bunch of classics (Peter Pan, Moby Dick, 3 Musketeers, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc.). He's just not quite ready for the content in series like Harry Potter and 39 clues but he wants something like a fun series, so I'd love some more ideas! Thanks in advance! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 My children like the Land of Stories series. We are on book 2. ETA: May want to skip book 3 "A Grimm Warning". I lightly previewed that one and I'm thinking it may be a bit much for my kids. I need to go back and see if I can just skip I think it was the prologue I was reading part. Or at least the not so sensitive parts and see if it'll be ok to read then. The one after that seems fine though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 My son likes the Deltora Quest series. He's on book 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 There's also the Dragon Masters series by Tracey West. I'd like to know more too, so I'll be following. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 You do know Ron Roy has a calendar themed mystery series and the Capitol Mysteries, right? At that same chapter book level, there are also the Cam Jansen Mysteries and the Ballpark Mysteries and the Third Grade Detectives and aren't there some Boxcar Children mysteries? For read alouds, he might enjoy the Winston Breen books or the Lemoncello's Library books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 How old is he? My kids loved the Boxcar Children and there are tons of those (the first 19 are the best--they are by the original author.) What about Third Grade Detectives or Toothpaste Millionaire? Has he read the Redwall books or The Moffats? This page has reviews of a number of chapter book series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4KookieKids Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 My children like the Land of Stories series. We are on book 2. My husband just bought the first book for a read aloud! :) My son likes the Deltora Quest series. He's on book 2. This was one that we just found in the read-aloud handbook today and were going to check out for him. Thanks! :) You do know Ron Roy has a calendar themed mystery series and the Capitol Mysteries, right? At that same chapter book level, there are also the Cam Jansen Mysteries and the Ballpark Mysteries and the Third Grade Detectives and aren't there some Boxcar Children mysteries? No, I didn't! He reads those Ron Roy mysteries in half an hour or so, but he still enjoys them. thanks for the other tips! We got him the first boxcar kids one 6 months ago, and he enjoyed it but it was just slightly too advanced for him at the time. I think those will be perfect for him now and wish I'd thought of them sooner! :) How old is he? My kids loved the Boxcar Children and there are tons of those (the first 19 are the best--they are by the original author.) What about Third Grade Detectives or Toothpaste Millionaire? Has he read the Redwall books or The Moffats? This page has reviews of a number of chapter book series. Thanks! We'll check those out. Our library doesn't have any 3rd grade detectives books, which might be why I've not heard of them, but I'll look up the others you mentioned this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 Are the Hardy Boys too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 Enid Blyton had two series, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven, that might work. You might want to pre-read for dated social attitudes though: https://kristinking.org/2015/06/15/enid-blyton-on-gender-class-and-race/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcitedMama Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 My DS loves humor and his favorite series right now is My Big Fat Zomie Goldfish, which is a series of mad capped adventures. He also loves Timmy Failure, where the boy acts as a P.I. with his imaginary polar bear. If he likes science there is a series with Frank Einstein that are also fun, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 What is he sensitive to? Because if Matilda and James and the Giant Peach are okay for him, clearly we're not thinking about the same things. I don't want to go off-track and recommend something he can't have without bawling :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4KookieKids Posted July 1, 2017 Author Share Posted July 1, 2017 What is he sensitive to? Because if Matilda and James and the Giant Peach are okay for him, clearly we're not thinking about the same things. I don't want to go off-track and recommend something he can't have without bawling :) He got through those because we made sure he knew the adults were jokes before he even started them, so he viewed them more as comedians than villains. But the Little Princess about broke his heart and he gets too worked up over very stressful things (we tried those extreme adventure ones at one point... don't recall what they're called). This kid can't watch a Tinkerbell movie without tearing up (I'll probably delete that later, lest it come to haunt him during his teenage years, so please don't quote it...) It's hard to say what exactly bothers him - he can't really verbalize it. The idea of an adult disdaining their spouse, for instance (as came up in 39 clues and a few others) is very upsetting to him, and the inner turmoil of divorce/losing a parent in Spiderwick was also too much for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2att Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 An older series is the Happy Hollisters. Big family of kids always solving some kind of mystery. Not exactly classic literature, but fun for a young-ish kid in a mystery phase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My4arrows Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Greetings from somewhere is a series about two homeschooled kids who travel the world with their parents and solve little mysteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 The Danny Dunn series. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00PNPRBG8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499129209&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=danny+dunn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Hank the Cowdog! There's tons of books in the series, they are funny, and there's always some kind of mystery or adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthmerlin Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Are the Hardy Boys too much? I was also going to mention the Hardy Boys as well. My daughter likes the 'choose your own adventure' books too. I'm not sure if any are mystery-themed but they're popular at our house & I'm just throwing the idea out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4KookieKids Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 Thank you all so much for all the great ideas! We'll get started on them!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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