Fiction at Almost Eight

Two's reading ability has taken off like a jet plane (he'd like that analogy, I think). He has to read for 20 minutes every night as homework, and he's taking part in the Name that Book competition at school. The pre-test was today to see who makes the team: he's read 30 books for it, so I'm really hoping his hard work will be rewarded and he will make it. We'll find out soon.
Some of what he's enjoying:

Secret Agent Jack Stalwart: Book 1: The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur: USA. The first in the series. He's getting a few more for Christmas. Shhh.

The Spiderwick Chronicles. He read the first three and then got a little tired. He'll pick the last two up eventually: he really likes the series as a whole. It's a flash-back for me, since these were some of One's favorite books in 2nd grade.

Judy Moody Predicts the Future, by Megan McDonald. This was one of the Name that Book reads, and he loved it.

The War with Grandpa, by Robert Kimmel Smith. Two sided with Grandpa in the war.

Some of the Secrets of Droon books. These looked a little freaky to me, but he didn't have any nightmares, and if Two is scared it comes out in nightmares, so I guess we're okay.

Mortimer and the Powerful Sword, by Kevin Kurtz. Lots of adventure and lots of laughing.

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great. Two enjoyed this one so much, he's getting The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short for Christmas. Shhh, again.

The second Alvin Ho, which like the first was a hit.

Three of the Flat Stanley books. Quick easy reads.

Fantastic Mr. Fox. A favorite since we read it to him several years ago, he likes it even more since the excellent movie adaptation came out.

For read-alouds, we've done everything magical:

The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Story of the Amulet, and The Phoenix and the Carpet, all by Edith Nesbit. I think the last is my favorite, but I don't know if Two could pick one.

Edgar Eager's Half Magic, and Magic by the Lake. We're actually not quite through the latter, and we plan on reading the other five books he wrote as well.

I'm so proud of the work he's put into Name that Book so far; he loves the picture books that have been assigned just as much as the chapter books. Proving once again that you shouldn't put your child's picture books away until they're covered with dust. Sometimes there's nothing like curling up with a brightly colored old favorite, even if you suspect you might be a little too old for it. Really, you never are.