Helping emerging and developing readers find series they love to read.
When children are 6 to 9 years old it can be often be tricky to keep them engaged and interested in reading. As I discovered with my own two children, even a 7 year old who has enjoyed reading can quickly start to loose interest if they do not find books that are right for them. Many parents, grandparents and teachers talk about how if is often difficult to find a good variety of stories for this age group. Yet if you know where to look and what you are looking for, there are plenty of wonderful stories to engage all sorts of readers.
The quality of books of books for 6 to 9 years that has been published in the last few years is amazing. However, experience has taught me that not all books or series for this age group are equal. There are some stories that are more likely to appeal to a wide range of readers, and some which will open doors to middle grade fantasy in the future.
I showed my 10 year old son (who is a reader) a selection of 17 series (some of which appear in the pictures below):
‘If your cohort, their parents and their teachers had know about these books when they were in year 2, 3 and 4, how many of them by the time they got year 5 would be enthusiastic readers of middle grade fantasy fiction and adventure?” His answer “most of them”.
In the past two years I have had some great conversations with parents and teachers of 6 to 8/9 year olds. Which has helped to inform my recommendations below.
Whether you looking for a book for an individual child or reviewing your collection of chapter books for children in years 2, 3 and 4. I have dived some of my recommendations into:
- Books to read aloud to year 2 and year 3
- Illustrated first chapter books
- 8 series I would highly recommend for KS2
- Stand alone stories for KS2 – adventure fantasy and historical fiction that will open doors to future reads.
