Book Basket ~ My 7-year old's free reading list

I've been wanting/needing to update my 7-year old's free reading book basket. He's a voracious reader - and I want to keep him stocked with quality literature to choose from.

The problem I am having with finding books for him is that he is at a tricky reading level. He's past the Frog & Toad books ~ he can finish those very quickly, but he is not quite ready to read "Little House" books (and others like them) on his own. Actually, I think he could read them, but I think their length and lack of many illustrations intimidates him.


So I pulled out my Sonlight Curriculum and my Veritas Press catalogs (we don't use either of these curriculums, but I love using their catalogs for book ideas) in search of book suggestions. I chose these two catalogs because I knew their catalogs contained books that I consider "rich" and wholesome.

So here's the list I came up with:

• Balto and the Great Race
• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
• The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster
• Ice Wreck
• The Night the Bells Rang: touching story about a young boy growing up during WWI
• A Taste of Blackberries
• Gold Rush Winter
• The Boxcar Children
• Baby Island
• Owls in the Family
• Secret Agents Four: this book is by the author of the Encyclopedia Brown series
• The Railway Children
• The Velveteen Rabbit: I remember loving this book as a child, I can't wait to read it again
• Encyclopedia Brown books: I loved this series as a child, ds loves mysteries and I think he'll enjoy these books
• Clues in the Woods: this book (and the next 3 books) are by Peggy Parish (author of Amelia Bedelia); we love the Amelia Bedelia books here, can't wait to read this set of books~ I previewed this book in order to determine if my son should read it, I don't think I'm going to pass it on to him ~ it was a very good story that kept my interest, however, the siblings in this story did not get along very well (called each other "stupid" a lot), and they were also a bit sneaky when dealing with their grandparents with whom they were staying for the summer. Yes, I know that siblings do not always get along and kids can be sneaky, but we try to stay away from books that portray this behavior as being normal and acceptable.
• Key to the Treasure: we'll probably pass on this book due to above review
• The Mystery of Hermit Dan: see above
• Pirate Island Adventure: see above
• Bo and the Missing Dogs : this book and the 3 other "Bo" books were listed in the Second Grade Readers Collections in the Veritas Press catalog
• Bo and the Night Intruder
• Bo and the Roaring Pines
• Bo, the Famous Retriever
• Nate the Great series: ds loves Nate the Great mysteries
• The Chalk Box Kid
• Clara and the Bookwagon
• The Paint Brush Kid
• The Littles
• Riding the Pony Express
• Viking Adventure
• McBroom's Wonderful One Acre Farm
• Third Grade Detectives series
• Tippy Lemmey
• Jake Drake: Bully Buster : he's already finished this one and he really liked it

I gathered the ones that were already on our bookshelves and placed them in a separate basket. The titles that we don't own are on my library reserve list. As he finishes them, I plan to add reviews so that I can have a record for the future (if I don't write it down, I will definitely forget :))

Check out what others are reading at the Happy Housewife's Book Basket series.