What about the Boxcar kids?
Or who is the male version of Nancy Drew? I know there was one but danged if I can think of their names.

I wouldn't let a 7 year old read Harry Potter either.

Beverly Cleary has a good series. One book is called "The Mouse and the Motorcycle".

Another popular set is "The Magic Tree House Series".

My boys loved the Hank the Cowdog books. I think that's what they were called.

The Hardy Boys! My kids loved those at that age.

Trish in SC

The Spiderwick Chronicles my kids loved this series, and the box set is available on Amazon.

Doreen

I too wouldn't do Harry Potter for a 7 year old...mind you I've read them all, it's just that after the first book the rest get very "dark" for a 7 year old.

Friend's son loved Dinotopia, not sure the age of that one. My son LOVED goosebumps.

Vickey-MN

Make a mental note that when he's a little older, he would enjoy Hatchet by Paulsen. Both my boys loved that one. If you can get him hooked on a book or two, you can get him hooked on reading.

Young Indiana Jones...my son loved them

Another vote for the Mouse and the Motorcycle series (Beverly Cleary) Ralph S.Mouse is great!

All the Beverly Cleary books are timeless for this age group.

What about R.L. Stines Goosebumps books? My daughters liked them a lot, they didn't seem to be solely feminine books.

I highly second the recommendation of the "Magic Treehouse" series. They are really fun, but do make sure to start him at the beginning. Even though you can read most of them randomly, he'll need the first five or so to understand why the tree house is there. All of the books teach the reader about certain times in history. I give those books complete credit for my sons love of reading. The Spiderwick series was good too, but were a little bit scary. I just asked my son if he would recommend them to a 7 y/o and he thought the pictures in them might be too scary.

The "Nate the Great" books are good too, and "Jigsaw Jones".

Have fun! I love kids books.

Also... see you got me started.

When he is a little older, check out the Percy Jackson books. That is the character name. The books are by Rick Riordan / Reardon, and they are so much fun. I believe there will be five books and only four are out now. My son and I both read them. "The Lightning Thief" -"The Sea of Monsters" - "Titan's Curse" - "The Battle of the Labyrinth". They are really funny and exciting and loaded with Greek Mythology.

I think Paulsen's "Hatchett" book is part of a series also.

The Indian in the Cupboard.

Make sure your friend gets "Farmer Boy" part of the Little House books it is about Almanso growing up in New York State I loved it

The Cleary books are great too and nice illustrations. if I remember right I had three boys and can't realy rememberwhat we read We'd all get on the bed at night and I'd read from the enormous stack of books from the library. My mother would call me around 11 to gt u p and finish my housework and ready for work the next morning.
Boys always seem to like books with dogs in them.

THE MAGIC TREE HOUSE!!!

My son really enjoyed the lemoney snickets series,I dont remember how old he was wen he read them,maybe 4th or 5th grade.He was dissapointed when he finished the series.

Shelley

I have an 8 year old (3rd grader) that reads at about a 5th grade level. He thinks Magic Treehouse is boring. He loves Comic type books right now.. Calvin and Hobbs and Diary of a Whimpy Kid are his two favorites. He also loves Goosebumps, Series of Unfortunate Events and something called Space Invaders...

Here is a link that might be useful: Scholastics~might find some direction here

My grand daughter has really gotten into a series called "Warriors"....its about groups of cats living in the wild in a forest in England. The books are geared toward teens (I like them too...LOL) and sometimes deal with "scary" things...(like death and survival). It is pure fantasy but is too "intense" for younger children. There are series of them (usually 6 books to the series) and its advised to start with the first book to follow events as they happen. We have them all and I'm about half way through the series...(yes, I really like them, too...). Something to think about for an older child....

~Kathy~

Here is a link that might be useful: Warrior Cat series

My daughter loved the "Dear America" series and the "My America" series. They have a lot to choose from on varying topics affecting Americans at one time or another. They have books on coming over on the Mayflower, the Civil War, slavery, the various wars etc. It is told in a diary format with the auther being a young person who would be writing the diary. While the stories are not true, they have a historical accuracy to it.

The boys in my 2nd grade classes always enjoyed the Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar. These books are about situations the kids can really relate to, and I enjoyed reading them almost as much as my students did.

Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar and I 2nd Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My Son loved Matt Christopher also.

Does that make him 2nd grade? I agree that Magic Tree House books are very popular. I also agree they are sort of boring. They are excellent for first independent chapter books, 1st and 2nd grade. But if he reads even a little above that level, they will not be challenging. They are not the kind of books anyone would want to read more than once. And not the kind that parents and kids would enjoy reading together. I cannot read them with my kids, can't stay awake long enough. ;o) I just don't care for the writing. However, kids do love them. At the book fairs, they fly off the shelves. There are non-fiction companion books with them and the author has recorded them herself on CD.

I also agree Harry Potter should wait a couple years. The first one is much easier and lighter than the rest. So a kid that is just old enough for the first is too young for the rest.

Me, I'd get him 2-3 nice Shel Silverstein books. Those are great for a 7 y/o and will be enjoyed for years, real keepers, and parents and kids love to read them together. The Silverstein books we have are among my kids' favorites even as they get older. They make great gifts.

Here is a link that might be useful: shelsilverstein.com for some excerpts from different books

What about the animorphs...or is that for an older age? I forget what my kids read at that age, but do remember that they liked serial books, and once I got them into a series they'd devour them as much as they could.

Vickey-MN

I was going to mention the Hardy Boys and Hatchet but someone else already did. My son and I read Hatchet together several times and if Mom or Dad is a reader it would be appropriate for a 7 year old. Other books that my son just loved were books of American folklore, tall tales like Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyon, and probably many others that I can't recall at the moment.