Sort of Parenting Related: Books for kids

My 8 year old is very interested in Star Wars - reading every book he can get his hands on.

I'd like to introduce him to different stories (history, mythology) because I think it has more value than discussing Darth Mol (whoever that is) .

Is there a series of books you can recommend that would be good for his age? To keep his interest, it's going to need some serious adventure.

I'm getting him a copy of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, but am looking for other options.

eta. Do you think reading Tom Sawyer is a good idea or a bad idea?

Message edited 6/23/2009 10:58:42 AM.

Re: Sort of Parenting Related: Books for kids

"My Name is America" is a good series. These are historical fiction titles that have either a boy or girl as the main character. At the end of each book is a section "Life in America" which provides a historical note of the time period.

A good adventure series is The Time Warp Trio, by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith.

The library should have both of these series.

Re: Sort of Parenting Related: Books for kids

Wondering if he's too young for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series- my students were sixth graders, and they ate them up! But I noticed that some of my struggling readers were even able to read them, so an 8 year old who is on/above level would be able to read them too.

Re: Sort of Parenting Related: Books for kids

I've heard a lot of great things about Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series but I'm honestly not sure what age they are targeted to. I know the main character is 11 or 12 and discovers he's the son of a Greek God. The author taught English and History so I'd imagine they are well written and the mythology stuff is canon. I'm pretty sure the first book has been optioned and is in movie development.

And maybe Harry Potter? My cousin read the first book when he was 8 or 9, but that was when it first came out so he couldn't read the scarier story lines (especially the last 2 books IMO) until he was older.