These will keep him busy for awhile, and are completely safe, in my opinion:

1. The Hobbit (every kid needs to read this one)

2. Watership Down

3. My son Blake (fifth grade) likes the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. I think they're pretty good.

I can probably come up with more.

I, too, read far above my grade level as a child. I enjoyed a lot of the books by Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley (horse stories). I think a boy would like them, too, and I don't think they're too intense for a younger reader. I probably wasn't much more than 7 or 8 when I first read King of the Wind (by Marguerite Henry). It's a great story, though it takes the characters (an Arabian stallion and the Arab boy who cares for him) through some difficult times. But there are lots of good things along the way and I think it's an uplifting story.

I loved Black Beauty, too, and The Black Stallion.

I think being written many years ago, the stories are less intense than a lot of modern stories.

My suggestions start with these (though I could probably come up with many more, I love to read, have my whole life, and was blessed with a mom who has a degree in children's lit.)

1) Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
2) Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
3) The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (this is a mystery and there was a death, but it's not scary or explicit in any way - I have a low tolerance for nightmare inducing things and I never had trouble with this one.)
4) From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
5) The Wrinkle in Time books by Madeline L'Engle
6) The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (there are more in that series - but this was my favorite)
7) The Dragon King trilogy by Stephen Lawhead (In the Hall of the Dragon King, The Warlords of Nin, and The Sword and the Flame)

Call of the Wild-Jack London

The My Side of The Mountain trilogy By Jean Craighead George. These are great books with lots of details. Cool for boy but I liked reading them also.

I read the classics to my son. I couldn't read that junk like Barney and such so he was exposed to A Tale of Two Cities at a very young age. And Moby Dick etc. . . .

I read scores and scores of fantasy novels at that age (or maybe a little older), as well as all the non-fantasy Beth and Milly have mentioned, which I agree with; for E. L. Konigsburg I'd also specifically mention a newer one, The View from Saturday. Some of the fantasy is probably too old for him on other grounds (I did fine with the Taoist mindset of LeGuin's Earthsea books, for instance, but that might just be me), but I recommend stuff like Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books. Going for older books is a good idea, too--Rudyard Kipling, for instance, and a lot of Jack London. I always loved Roald Dahl. '50s boys' adventure stories, stuff like the Mad Scientists' Club books (which might be from the '60s, actually; whatever, they've recently been reprinted). The Three Investigators novels (same sort of idea as the Hardy Boys, but I always thought they were a lot better). Across Five Aprils, which is a novel of the Civil War from the perspective of a young boy; Irene Hunt wrote some other good books as well. Isaac Asimov--a great storyteller who dealt with adult ideas but rarely with heavy adult emotional stuff. And I know you specified murder, but I grew up reading classic detective fiction, too (Doyle, Christie, Sayers, etc.), and always loved it (still do).

Just a few thoughts.

Oh, and one more: check out Baker Trittin Press (www.bakertrittinpress.com); it's a local outfit, run by a couple of professional educators who are devout Christians, dedicated to publishing books for boys 8-12 years old.

I'll second Bill on The Hobbit.

There was another little book a ran across several years ago that I would strongly recommend called Out of the Dust. Wish I could remember who wrote it. It is the story of a struggling farm family in the Oklahoma depression-era dust bowl. Word of warning: it doesn't have the murder, kidnapping, etc. that you were worried about, but when I say this family is struggling, I mean they are struggling. It is a really heart wrenching story at times.

I'll second Mariner's recommendation of The Mad Scientist's Club books. Loved them as a kid and have nephews that do as well. Other similar series I liked as a young boy were the Encyclopedia Brown books and the Danny Dunn series. I think these fit into the type of books you are looking for.

And I don't think you are being ridiculous. So many 'modern' children books also seem to me to want to tackle social problems and issues, rather than focus on the fun, discovery, and wonder of being a kid.

I'm sure there are still some good kids books being written, but unfortunately I think they are rarer and I don't know of any I could recommend.

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. Keep them coming!

Quick note, I think part of the difficulty is getting into a SECOND GRADE mindset. AGE 7!

Just because a book is great for "kids" doesn't mean that includes 7 year olds. A few of you mentioned books that might be better for ages 10 and up.

Now I'm going to pick on my friend Bill :)

Bill, Watership Down? Are you serious? I know you are. I wish we were in person so you could see my warm and friendly body language. Dude, when's the last time you read that book? I remember it fondly as well. I read it in middle school, many times.

My vague memory is that it has murder, violence etc... I remember it being kind of "rough". I don't have a copy anymore, I need to get one and reread it. Wikipedia and Amazon.com mention mutilation, miscarriages, Rabbit mythology/religion (the sun god) etc... Many folks recommend it for Middle school and high school. I think it's awesome too, but I'm not sure about for a second grader.

But maybe I'm just overprotective?

Shrode

You may have a point. It's a great book (I love it) but maybe not for a second grader. Better for a junior higher.

How could I forget: Narnia

And while you're at it, after he reads the Hobbit, get him on The Lord of the Rings!

Obviously, The Little House books, E.B. White...have you ever heard of the book, "Honey for a Child's Heart" by Gladys Hunt? Exellent resource for parents on reading.

If he's reading on that level, the original Hardy Boys series would be great. I read them when I was not much older than he is, and liked them. Also, they were written quite a while ago, so they can be vocabulary expanders while still being pretty accessible.

The new Hardy Boys case files would be good to avoid, as they tend to be more violent, involve more adolescent themes like dating, and even the murder of one of the boys' girlfriends, and most of the mysteries revolve around murders. The originals, though, typically involved something being stolen, and the boys working hard to bring it back. There's my $.02

I second AM's mention of Alfred Hitchcock's 3 Investigators.

Our 7 year old is reading at a 6th/7th grade level, as well, but we have not run into the problem of finding books suitable for her. She's reading classics like "Secret Garden," "Little Women," "Heidi," etc., but also series like Boxcar Children, Judy Moody, Nancy Drew, etc.

It hadn't occurred to me that such a problem would exist except now I wonder if there is more available for girls b/c of the assumption that girls read more than boys.

I bet there's lots of series/books your son could read that are aimed at girls. :-/

Sucks to have a smart boy these days, I guess.

A few authors,etc.…Brian Jacques (Redwall series -about a warrior mouse),Lamplighter books, G.A. Henty, E. Nesbit, Kenneth Grahame,Jean Craighead George, Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereux is a great book, although Despereux’s parents say some really unkind things to him - the movie did a huge injustice to this book), Tony DiTerlizzi (Kenny and the Dragon is a wonderful, fun story - a rewrite of The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame), Elizabeth Enright (The Saturdays), John D. Fitzgerald (Great Brain), Lynne Reid Banks (The Indian in the Cupboard), Daniel DeFoe (Robinson Crusoe) and you might check out the 1000 Good Books List.

I'm a firm believer that just because a kid can read at a level doesn't mean that every book he reads must be at that level. There are a ton of fun series out there.

My family enjoys the My Weird School series, Judy Moody (and Stink) books, the Encyclopedia Brown series, Magic Treehouse books, and for all-out boy silliness try the Captain Underpants series, by Dav Pilkey. (Warning: the Pilkey books are full of things that 7-10yo boys find hysterical without being too inappropriate.) There's also a new series we're just getting into about a boy named Charlie Small.

Thanks for posting the question! It's great seeing everyone's answers!

I'd go with the 1950's era Tom Swift, the first series of books by Victor Appleton II. They're cozy, kid-friendly adventure starring Tom Swift, the brilliant child inventor.

Every 30 years they redo the series with a new author (under the same name), but the 1950's was the best. (The 1920's originals are outdated in many ways--"Tom Swift and His Auto-Mobile" just isn't as cool as "Tom Swift and the Aerial Fortress.") I remember as a kid dreaming I could be a scientist like Tom Swift with a fireproof lab coat.

It's also a good series because (1) there are lots of them and (2) the older language is more difficult and will help improve reading skills.

Content-wise, there is probably a bit of violence (lots of people getting knocked out, that sort of thing) but nothing else that I can remember.

I agree that a lot of the books suggested are too high. Just because he CAN read the words doesn't mean he'll enjoy the story. I mean, adults have a hard time keeping interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sorry, I love it, but a TON of people don't because it's hard to keep track of all the people groups, places, wars and what-not. So many of the books suggested are not keeping the fact in mind that it still is a second grader you're talking about here.

Has he read the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing groups of books? They're on a 4th or 5th grade level so the story is completely appropriate for a 2nd grader but still a KID story. Along the same vein, there's another series, I think it's called Horrible Harry. These are kids books telling kids stories.

Also the Frog Princess series which I realize is kind of a girl story but I think it is interesting enough to keep a boy. It's a good story.

If he does need something a little higher even and more boyish, my son read the first in the series of Dragons In Our Midst and liked it a lot, but he wasn't as crazy about the next one so he didn't read the whole series.

Also, he LOVES the Pendragon series (there's like a million in that series - keep him busy forever)but I haven't read them myself to know what's appropriate in them or not.

And please tell me he's read ALL the Junie B. Jones books. You sure don't want to miss those. My teenagers stop and listen to those when I read them out loud to my youngest. They are second grade level chapter books, but if he reads that well then he could knock one out in an hour. They are DELIGHTFUL books. HILARIOUS even. Best character ever created for kids books.

Also, if you want to really push the limit (in terms of grammar and vocabulary) there's always the fairy tales of George MacDonald, the author instrumental in bringing Lewis to Christ.

Nothing he writes is offensive (except, perhaps, his Christian Universalist theology, which only creeps in with his adult stories.) But I'd only recommend the fairy-tales. He also wrote boring-as-drying-paint Dickensian novels and complicated-and-headachey allegorical stories for adults.

With McDonald, it's hard to go better than either "The Princess and the Goblin" or "The Light Princess and Other Fairy Tales."

I loved the Three Investigators books as a kid - highly recommend those. Hobbit and Narnia of course, as soon as they are able to hold his interest (some very young readers get bored w/ the descriptions of scenery, etc.). I didn't encounter the Prydain books until 4th grade but absolutely love them; if he likes Narnia and the Hobbit he's definitely ready for them. The Marguerite Henry books including King of the Wind. As a boy I enjoyed the "Little House" books. My mom read "Farmer Boy" to me b/c its main character was a boy, and I loved it so much that I wanted to read all the others too. He would at least enjoy Farmer Boy, for sure. Has he tried the various "Oz" books? There are a bunch of them. The James Herriot (Yorkshire country veterinarian) animal stories for children are great if he likes animals.

Another suggestion I have is to look for ideas at the Sonlight homeschool curriculum/catalogue for advanced 2nd or 3rd grade readers - especially the "read aloud" books. Sonlight is a literature-based homeschool curriculum and is full of great books. Look at "individual items" here:

http://www.sonlight.com/read-alouds-1-2.html
http://www.sonlight.com/read-alouds-k.html
http://www.sonlight.com/read-alouds-3.html

Our kids have enjoyed several from those Sonlight lists. Our 8 year old daughter recently read and enjoyed "Red Sails to Capri" and "Ginger Pye" and is loving "Detectives in Togas."

We have an 8 year old daughter who like your son, is reading way above age level. We do monitor what she reads carefully, but I'd encourage you to not shy away "too" much from books that deal with darker themes, if they treat those themes well. On that score I like C.S. Lewis's comments about fairy tales for children:

“Those who say that children must not be frightened may mean two things. They may mean (1) that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless: in fact, phobias. His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can’t bear to think of. Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil.

"If they mean the first I agree with them: but not if they mean the second. The second would indeed be to give children a false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense. There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to the Ogpu [Secret State Police in the USSR, forerunner to the KGB] and the atomic bomb.

"Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker. Nor do most of us find that violence and bloodshed, in a story, produce any haunting dread in the minds of children. As far as that goes, I side impenitently with the human race against the modern reformer. Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end of the book. Nothing will persuade me that this causes an ordinary child any kind or degree of fear beyond what it wants, and needs, to feel. For, of course, it wants to be a little frightened.”

Shrode, forgive the double post but a couple more things. I saw the Great Brain books by Fitzgerald mentioned by someone. Yes!

Also, on the Sonlight website I would suggest in addition to their read-alouds (which are suggested for parents to read w/ their kids but our daughter has read several on her own even though they really stretch her), checking out their "Reader Packages and Literature" for suggestions on books that might be a little less challenging than the read-alouds, but which are still fun and interesting for kids like your son. See link to the main page - curricula are sorted by age on the left (for example "2 advanced reader packages and literature"), and after choosing a package to look at, if you click on "Individual Items" you can see the specific books they recommend. I'm not suggesting you buy the Sonlight package, just browse the website for ideas and then hit the local library:

http://www.sonlight.com/readers.html

DESCRIPTION (sounds like what you'r asking for - maybe more so than the "read alouds")

Readers 2 Advanced Package:
Excellent for students able to read anything you hand them, but who you'd like to protect from the grittier "realities of life" that more advanced books often deal with. We've chosen the titles in this package with special attention to their content. These books cover gentle topics.
The 20 books in the Reader 2 Advanced package will take your children on adventures from the Wild West to Marco Polo's travels.

"I mean, adults have a hard time keeping interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sorry, I love it, but a TON of people don't because it's hard to keep track of all the people groups, places, wars and what-not."

:-)

In my defense, I was kidding on Lord of the Rings (hence the smiley face after my statement). I wouldn't try that out until sixth grade at least.

That being said, any adult who can't handle LOTR needs to watch a lot less TV.

Have you tried the _Hank the Cowdog_ series? Yes, the starring character is a mangy mutt who works on a ranch and has a hilariously over-inflated opinion of himself.

My son loved them at about that age. And the "series" thing ... you could keep going for awhile.

& There's always Encyclopedia Brown.

Take care & God bless
Anne / WF

Bill
I did miss the gest in your comment, but TLOTR series wasn't the only over-the-head of a 7 yo series mentioned so I just wanted to bring a little 7 yo love to the conversation :)

Oh and how could I have forgotten to mention Where The Red Fern Grows. I can't get through that book without crying even though I know what's going to happen every time. The ending never changes, after all. I'm such a wimp.

I second the recommendations to check out Sonlight's book list. My daughter was a rather precocious reader and does quite well with Sonlight. I also highly recommend the Chronicles of Narnia. There's a series of books about baseball by Matt Christopher that are very appropriate for seven year old boys without the violence or other inappropriate things that you don't want. My son loves those. Definitely check out the Encyclopedia Brown series. My kids both loved the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books as well. I hope this helps.

Catherine

I always appreciate finding others who are concerned about helping children become readers.

That's because I grew up as a reluctant reader. And my father was the author of over 70 books. Now I write action-adventure and mystery books especially for tween boys. My blog, Books for boys, http://booksandboys.blogspot.com is # 4 on Google today.

Keep up your good work!

Max Elliot Anderson

GinH, I don't mean to pick on you b/c I think you brought a needed reminder/caution into the discussion. But it's funny what different people will consider age appropriate. I'd probably be in favor of a 2nd grader reading some of the books (though not all) that you've i.d.'ed as too "old" for a second grader. But as much as I loved Where the Red Fern Grows as a kid, I have thought about that one and definitely decided that my 8 year old daughter needs to wait at least a year or two before undergoing that gut-wrenching emotional experience. :)

The Cul-de-sac kids! That was my favorite series as a kid! There is like 20 something books in the series, and they are very clean. I don't know if a boy would like it,but it wasn't extremely girly or anything. They are awesome.

Those actually might be a little too kiddy, since he reads upper level. So... I don't know.

maybe someone else already read this, my favorites that the middle schoolers are reading right now are THE GIVER and THE MESSENGER by LOIS LOWRY, and I'm sure anything else written by her is probably awesome.

however, they both have death and murder...so perhaps not yet.

This post might be helpful, but all of the books on it may have already been suggested. I'd also second the suggestion to check out Sonlight.

http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=1313

You know, I also liked _The Great Brain_ series at about that age.

um, how about the Bible?!
Seriously, my 1st grader reads at a high level and we've begun reading through the NT (he started in the OT, but it was very difficult when we hit geneologies)
I'm sure he's not comprehending all of it, but it leads to great questions and discussions and he's getting the word into his heart very young!

I personally like the old Sugar Creek Gang series much better than the updates. The best 2nd grade book iMHO are the Childhood of Famous American biographies. I downed them as a reading child. Once again try to avoid updates. I also second Hank the Cowdog. My own second grade son is downing Thornton Burgess books, a few easier Landmarks, and dog stories, Beverly Cleary, Jim Kjelgaard, Walter Farley, Walt Morey, Marguerite Henry, Albert Terhune Payson etc.

Shrode,

We've got a 7-yr old who's an advanced reader too. Here are a few titles he's (we've) enjoyed over the past year:

The Door in the Wall (Marguerite De Angeli)
Adam of the Road (Elizabeth Janet Gray)
Dangerous Journey (A retelling of The Pilgrim's Progress for kids, Oliver Hunkin)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O'Brien – great book, not so great animated flick)
The Story of Rolf and the Viking's Bow (Allen French, might want to wait on this one for a few years, but great story)
The Wind in the Willows (which you probably already know)

Enjoy.

Also, if it hasn't been mentioned, you might check out a book called A Landscape with Dragons. It's for parents and gives a thoughtful critique of children's lit today. I found I didn't agree with the author everywhere, but it's valuable and interesting nonetheless.

Also, in the back of that book, there is a great bibliography of over 1,000 titles broken down by age-ranges – books recommended by the staff of Bethlehem Books. This is gold. You can check out their website at bethlehembooks.com to get a feel for where they're coming from (a Judeo/Christian worldview and all.)

Oh, the author of A Landscape with Dragons is Michael D. O'Brien.

The Golden Compass?
just joshin

take a look at gone-away lake by elizabeth enright. it was a 1957 newbury honor book. and what about charlotte's web?

a great resource book for high quality and enriching books for children at varoius stages is gladys hunt's honey for a child's heart. highly recommended. i'm a father of six and an english major.

I would certainly second (third, whatever we're on now) the Little House books. I'm 22 now, and I still enjoy them, but I read them for the first time in second or third grade.

Another book I read when I was eight (pretty close to seven, right?) was Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray. To quote Amazon, it "follows the adventures of eleven-year-old Adam as he travels the open roads of thirteenth-century England searching for his missing father, a minstrel, and his stolen red spaniel, Nick."

I don't remember being scared or intimidated by the content, and it provoked a fascination for all things medieval that lasted a good year or two. I couldn't get enough! I re-read it a year or so ago, and it still felt magical.

http://www.bookadventure.com/

Bookadventure.com is a free childrens' reading program that offers a search engine of 7,000 book titles that can be driven by age,subject and reading ability. Readabiilty levels and synopsis are given for most books. Try it out~ (you do not have to register, just go to KID ZONE and BOOK FINDER once on the website)