The Riot Brothers was such an entertaining book series to read when I was a kid
this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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A wizard of Earthsea. Might be a tad old for them but not by much and Usula K Le Guin is super based.
Also A Wrinkle in Time was a favorite of mine when I was a kid
I literally came to recommend A Wizard of Earthsea. I think it would maybe be a little hard for someone of that age to read on their own, but if an adult is reading it to them I think they'd love it.
Just don't let Dad read the author's notes, she's pretty explicitly based in those.
Props to earthsea, the first one in particular is very accessible.
Came here to say this. The second book, Tombs of Atuan, is also very evocative and has extremely accessible and explicit themes about the exploitation and isolation of fem people. The Hainish Cycle books are also uniformly awesome and Important Reads for themes like racial politics, gender politics, ecopolitics, anti-colonialism, and revolution. Left Hand of Darkness may be a bit heavy on direct sex talk for young-young kids, but if you're reading to them it's fairly easy to elide some details without losing much.
At that age, especially considering potentially being read to: The Phantom Tollbooth
The Strega Borgia chronicles (starting at 6 or 7) and then into Series of Unfortunate Events (which is a really stellar way to build vocabulary in young readers).
Dr. Seuss books are very accessible at that age. I particularly like Oh The Places You'll Go. Richard Scarry's Busytown is another fun series. Then there are the oldschool Magic School Bus books. Another all time favorite is Dinotopia just for the imaginative worldbuilding of a utopian society. As they grow older you can't go wrong with Roald Dahl.
I'm also going to second A Wrinkle in Time.
Babysitters Club, Bailey Schools Kids, Wayside School (Louis Sachar, who did Holes but Holes is a little older) and especially Magic Tree House are all great series for early readers
Robert Munsch (I really like Paper Bag Princess) is also good for solo reading for early readers)
If they're strong readers and into fantasy, Deltora Quest series is a really great way for kids to get into epic fantasy, but it skews a little old for most 6 year old solo readers. Huge hit for the 8-10 crowd though
Same with Septimus Heap.
Roald Dahl was a bad dude, but Matilda and the BFG are still great books.
My 5yo nephew is really into a kids book about wastewater treatment plants lmao. Folks have posted very good recommendations (I was going to recommend Calvin and Hobbes)- so I’m just sending positive unc vibes.
On an adjacent topic, I’ve also had luck with giving cooperative board games to nibs in that age; basically board games where you work cooperatively to win together rather than competing to win individually. Figured that’s another good way to turn them into lil commies lol
ooh what are some good co-op board games??
“Castle Panic” and “five minute dungeon” were both well received by 5 year olds!
The little prince has been done to death, but there's a reason it's so popular.
One Piece
I haven't revisited them since I was a kid so no idea if there's any... themes but I read a lot of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques as a little one.
I'm just realizing I read more then than I do now 