A Book Series for Every Age
Engaging Book Series for Kids
By Christa Fletcher
Reading a book series with familiar characters, settings, and themes is a great way to entice your child to read for many reasons. Not only is it fun to return to characters a child likes, in a world that fascinates, studies show it also improves their reading comprehension, fluency skills, and motivation to read. Having familiar and relatable stories encourages kids to immerse themselves in the storytelling and reinforces the who, what, where, and why of a story. There are many fun book series for kids of all ages. Here are a few your kids may like to read.
Piggie & Gerald by Mo Willems For young kids Piggie and Gerald books are great to build confidence. Not only are they silly, they teach valuable messages about friendship and patience. Mo Willems books are fantastic books for kids to practice reading on their own too.
The Questioneers by Andrea Beatty This series of books is one of our favorites. The illustrations and unique characters featured in class are a great way to appeal to kids with different interests. These books are much longer and rhyme. Beatty has a series of picture books and chapter books about Ms. Lila Greers students in grade two.
The Princess in Black by Dean Hale and Shannon Hale These are essentially long picture books with funny scenes and themes about a princess superhero and her collection of heroic friends. The great illustrations and silliness will keep you reading through the series!
The Magic Treehouse By Mary Pope Osborne Simple and formulaic, these books are great for younger kids because each book travels to a new realm with a familiar structured story. These are great bedtime read-alouds for younger kids and good first chapter books.
The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin This classic series about an eclectic group of friends who form a babysitting club is a staple for its themes of friendship and coming of age. Older kids can read the novels, and now there’s graphic novels for younger readers.
The Wild Robot By Peter Brown What happens when technology and nature collide? Find out in this award-winning series about a robot named Roz who awakes on an island where she must learn to adapt and survive. For ages 7-10.
The Penderwicks This series is about a family of sisters, much like the March Sisters of Little Women, however these books are more modern and for a wider range of ages. My 10-year-old loves these books.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordann This book of fantasy novels is set in the world of Greek Gods in the 21st century. It has become a film franchise and favorite among boys and girls alike.
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling As one of the most read and beloved children’s book series, I had to include the amazing books about Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The story is about a young boy who finds out he is a wizard and then must save the world with his trusted friends. The books get progressively more mature as the kids grow up each year.