My son is six but a very advanced reader for his age. He’s been a keen book lover since before starting school, enjoying a wide range of books; but a few months ago he discovered Beast Quest and it quickly became an all-consuming passion: he lived, ate, slept and breathed it! Now after 10 series, the appeal is finally wearing off, and he seems to be at a loss for what to do and what to read next. A typical boy, he likes things which are part of a series that he can collect.
He is very keen on Harry Potter, but at six he is really too young to read it independently, and the later books are too scary.
He loves Greek myths, and has also recently become fascinated by the great fire of London and the gunpowder plot. Perhaps there might be some good historical fiction around for KS2?The series effect is very powerful especially, as you say, for boys. For young readers it is a huge advantage to know something - or even almost everything! - about a book before you start it. It gives them a boost in taking the plunge to get stuck in.
While adults will find this kind of series formulaic, and they are, they are also excellent for building confidence. But there are a number of series which offer the same reassurance but with more originality.
Although typically thought of for eight year-olds and older, Cressida Cowell’s How to Train your Dragon which introduces Hiccup the Viking and his wonderful Viking world could be the perfect book for your son to try next. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans. However, before he can become anything much, Hiccup has to pass the Dragon Initiation Test. Hiccup doesn’t seem to have many or even any of the necessary skills. Will he be able to do it? Certainly not if Gobber the Blech who is in charge of the Initiation test has anything to do with it.
Luckily, Hiccup is far clever than anyone had expected. Hiccup’s adventures continue in many more titles including How to Speak Dragonese, How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale, How to Break a Dragon’s Heart and How to Steal a Dragon’s Sword among others. Rich in imagination, all the stories are fully illustrated – including wonderful maps of rocky islands and raging seas - bringing the Viking world vividly to life in words and pictures.
For a quite different approach, and to satisfy your son’s interest in history, Teary Deary’s Horrible Histories are a brilliant way of getting a handle on the past. Measley Middle Ages, Terrible Tudors, Vile Victorians – you can take your pick of these topics - the Gunpowder Plot, for instances, appears in Slimy Stuarts – and of almost every period in between. Deary is an outstanding story-teller and he uses these skills to re-tell the biggest stories from long, long ago. And he’s good on facts, too, all of which become easy to absorb and even to retain through the action in which they take place.
For more excellent history from a much smaller series (it still runs to over 15 titles), Caroline Lawrence’s The Roman Mysteries take four “Roman” children are exciting and convincing adventures. The series begins with The Thieves of Ostia but the titles can read as stand alones as, although the children are the same throughout each adventure is complete in itself.
Alternatively, you could go for the author as the “series” and try Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which paves the way for its own sequel – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator – as well as all of Roald Dahl’s other, equally remarkable titles.
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