In my search for those literary gems at the higher reading levels for our advanced readers, I stumbled across The 10 Greatest . . . series. These are non-fiction books, but there’s one for just about any interest your kids may have, AND they have fairly challenging reading levels. Short bursts of interesting subject matter, at reading levels that will challenge their vocabularies . . .Just right for the Christmas Shopping list from the bookstore. However, you may have to order these online (or check your school or public library), so plan ahead . . .
The 10 Greatest Spies RL: 7.3
The 10 Greatest 21st Century Innovations RL: 7.7
The 10 Greatest Sports Dynasties RL: 7.2
The 10 Most Daring Escapes RL: 7.1
The 10 Most Amazing Animal Helpers
The 10 Most Fascinating Phenomena RL: 7.1
There are many more of these “10 Most” or “10 Greatest” books – I’ve just listed a few here, notably avoiding the “10 Most Extreme Fighting Styles” and “10 Most Heinous Acts of Mankind” – ok, I made that last one up! But, my point is, that most of these non-fiction books look fantastic, just keep an eye out for the ones that have potentially mature topics.
I read The 10 Greatest Spies book. The layout is appealing and the nuggets of information are intriguing. Did you know that 2 of the top 10 Greatest Spies are Canadian? Canadian?? I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on our neighbors to the north!
These international men (and women) of mystery will intrigue and challenge readers ages 8+.
This is nice to know. I'm always having parents of second-graders who are reading at seventh-grade levels ask me what their kids can safely read. Very often, YA is too mature for them. But steering them toward NF might be just the answer.
Non-fiction is almost always "safe" for kids. You might find my post about Thinking and Non-Fiction helpful as well, especially the link to Ink Think Tank.