This summer, I’m determined to keep my son from playing Minecraft, Roblox, Blocksworld, Eden, Terraria, Splatoon, Disney Infinity, and any other game he has an obsession with 24/7.
Instead, I plan on helping him keep this new found love of reading by stocking his bookshelf with interesting things to explore. It’s taken a long time for us to get him into the world of the written word and I don’t intend for him to slip out of it over the summer.
I reached out to Scholastic Books for help and not only did they send me a few recommendations, but they nailed it by sending books that matched my son’s interests. In fact, he couldn’t grab one of the books fast enough.
The Unbelievable Top Secret Diary of Pig by Emer Stamp
“This is me. I is Pig! If you is reading this, you can read Pig, and you is very clever. Unless you is an Evil Chicken, in which case, don’t read this!”
Those are the first words in Pig’s diary and it only gets funnier from there. To get my son interested, I only had to tell him about Pig farting on the evil chickens in revenge. After that, I never had to argue with him to read it again.
Recommended for ages 8 to 12, but I’m positive that younger children will enjoy having this read to them.
Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce
If Mr. Dolittle had a child with J.K Rowling, this book would be the end result.
Pip Bartlett is a young girl who can talk to animals. Not just any animals. Magical animals. Her gift gets her in trouble and in response her parents ship her off to her Aunt’s house for the summer. This was hardly punishment because Pip’s Aunt Emma owns the Cloverton Clinic for Magical Creatures and she was set for an entire summer of talking (without anyone else hearing of course) to the various creatures at the clinic. It’s a summer full of new experiences, new friends, and a disaster that almost destroys a town.
Recommended for ages 8 to 12.
The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Any fan of Harry Potter will want to take a look into this new series.
As an adult, the similarities between this title and Harry Potter are hard to ignore. A child, on the other hand, might take comfort in the fact that the formula of Harry Potter and The Iron Trial are the same. The familiarity of the story could be what keeps them reading.
Recommended for ages 8 to 12.
Captain Underpants by Dave Pilkey
A superhero who runs around in his underwear and has hilariously heroic adventures? Sign my son up.
When my son saw that Captain Underpants was included in the books Scholastic sent me, he screamed with joy. Apparently he had been introduced to it at school and he was hooked. I have no idea what the appeal is, but if it’s getting my son to read, I’m cool with it. In my son’s words, “It’s awesome. It’s about a principle becoming Captain Underpants and it’s got him taking down bad guys in it. Two kids come along to help him.”
My son was also quick to point out that he likes the full-color versions best.
Recommended for ages 8 to 12, but I could see younger children enjoy looking at the pages.
Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan and Jedi Academy: The Phantom Bully by Jeffery Brown
Star Wars + middle school = a year of catastrophe for the force and its students.
This is a comic book style series that has a journal like feeling to it. The pages are not in color, which I think is a hinder to my son, but it’s still a cute series that I plan on encouraging him to at least try. The main hero is Roan, a young Jedi padawan who is eager to become a pilot. He attends the Jedi Academy with various other students from other walks of life. There are some familiar faces in the series including Master Yoda and some other familiar faces with different names (T-3P0 and RW-22).
Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan is the second book in the series and The Phantom Bully is the third and final book in the series, covering Roan’s last and hardest year at Jedi Academy.
Recommended for ages 8 to 12
If you are looking for books for your incoming fifth grader, you can rest easy in picking up any of the titles above. My son loves them and that’s enough for me to scream from the mountain tops for everyone to READ THESE BOOKS!!
Disclaimer: GeekMom received a review copy of these titles.
My 6 yo read the secret diary of pig. She liked it.