As an avid bookworm, I was overjoyed when my eldest son developed a love of reading. This week, I asked him which books he thought were the best ones for his age. So here’s a list of 10 awesome books for kids!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

When books for kids get interesting!

I taught my son to read. Amazingly. And as he devoured several books a week from the age of 3, I thought I was done. He’s happy reading!

But I was wrong.

As he grew up, his reading tastes changed. Suddenly, the novelty of knowing how to read had worn off and he wasn’t happy to “just read anything”. He started to develop his own tastes, his own likes and dislikes. Turns out, teaching kids to read is the easy part – finding books for kids to enjoy is the challenge!

Over the past year, his reading journey took another interesting turn. He was interested in the same books I was reading! I caught him curiously flicking through the books on my shelf. As a writer with a keen interest in the YA (Young Adult) genre, I noticed something amazing – our tastes were overlapping! We could suddenly share our love of reading in a new way by reading and enjoying the same books.

It took my son a while to figure out the types of books he liked, and we did go through a phase of him barely reading anything because he couldn’t find something to excite him.

But now we have found his genre. My son loves adventure and magic. He loves stories of kids doing extraordinary things. He loves fantasy and mystery.

So, I sat down with him and we developed a list of the top 10 books he’s read recently. Instead of me telling you about them, I thought you might like to hear what he has to say…

10. The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan

We read this in class and I enjoyed reading along with my teacher. It was full of imagination and excitement. I like the idea of writing about 2 children who made their own world just with their minds.

9. Floors by Patrick Carman

It was really long so I didn’t finish it too quickly. Every chapter was exciting. I like how the writer has written so many chapters and each chapter was about a different floor in the hotel. The hotel was really weird and mysterious. You had one floor where everyone was ducks, another that was flooded and other floors were based on animals.

8. The Nameless Hero (Joshua Dread #2) by Lee Bacon

It was full of superheroes and special powers. I love how he has really cool powers. It made me jump up and down in my seat. I liked the other characters’ super powers. There was mind-reading, flight and some even had hover boards.

7. Suitcase of Stars (Enchanted Emporium #1) by P.D. Baccalario

I loved it because it involved magic, mysteries and myths, like giants. I like how surprising it was when he had a lame job but still ended up saving the world. He was very sarcastic and it made me laugh a lot.

6. The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) by Jessica Townsend

It was exciting because every time things started working out, it dipped with a twist and more things started happening and it kept me excited. It had a lot comedy that made me laugh. This book was interesting because the goals kept changing. First she just tried to stay alive and then she had to get to Nevermoor and then she tried not to get eaten alive. The story kept changing and it was exciting.

5. Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja by Marcus Emerson

It was cool and full of action and fighting. And it had amazing jokes. His sarcasm was hilarious and kept making me laugh. He was always investigating mysteries and that kept me interested because I wanted to know how he solved it.

4. Hello, Nebulon! (Galaxy Zack #1) by Ray O’Ryan

There wasn’t much to read on each page so I read it quickly and it was all exciting. I found it really interesting because it had a lot of advanced technology and it talked about new sources of energy. I liked how many adventures the main character had even though he was only young like me.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (The Harry Potter Series #3) by J.K. Rowling

It is full of action, adventure, magic and mystery. I love interesting twists and this book had one near the end. This is my favourite Harry Potter book so far because it has some of the best scenes in it. I like Harry Potter because how Harry survived Voldemort even though he was a baby is a big mystery and there are clues in each book telling you how he might have survived.

2. The Journal of Curious Letters (The 13th Reality #1) by James Dashner

It was full of mysteries, riddles and jokes. This book was nice and long so it kept me busy reading. Each chapter had a big mystery. I was able to work out the clues for myself and I enjoyed that.

1. The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) by Chris Colfer

Every page of that book kept me wanting to read more and more. This book was the most exciting and had really big, shocking twists in it. My favourite character is Connor because his sarcasm is so funny. The Land of Stories is full of characters from all stories in the world and they always had a happy ending.

Which books do your kids love?

In this house, we are always looking for book recommendations. I don’t have time to read every book before my children do, so I rely heavily on reviews from other parents and children. Post in the comments below and let me know which books your kids love!