Grades
PreK - 5
Finding a Friend: 5 Series for Early and Intermediate Readers
Your students will love following adventures with characters they know and relate to.
Series books are wildly popular — and for good reason! Their repetitive structure is comforting for younger readers, while older readers enjoy growing with the characters throughout their adventures. When a reader connects with a series, each book they open is like finding an old friend waiting.
As a teacher and mom, Meghan Everette knows how challenging it is to find a series that is a good fit for a child as an individual and which matches their skill level as a reader. But once you hook a reader on a series, you set them up for a steady stream of reading adventures, especially when your classroom library is stocked with every title in the series.
Below, Everette shares some of her favorite series for young readers — and similar series your students will love.
Have you ever met a young reader who doesn’t like Fly Guy, Buzz’s loveable pet fly? The original Fly Guy stories are entertaining and simple enough for emerging readers, while Fly Guy Presents dives into a wide variety of nonfiction topics, perfect for kids who love to learn about fun facts or to read alongside science lessons.
Elephant and Piggie are best friends, and they are exactly the kind of silly characters that kids love. Their relatable character traits are comforting — and funny — and beginner readers will build vocabulary as they follow along with Elephant and Piggie’s delightful antics as they navigate learning the dynamics of friendship and life.
Pete the Cat likes to celebrate the same simple joys that students do, like Rocking in My School Shoes, and feeling good in his Magic Sunglasses. Kids love Pete’s playful songs, while the text repetition helps students make connections to words on the page as they are learning to read.
Jack, Annie, and their traveling treehouse are the stars of this quintessential children’s series. Readers will love traveling through time and space to learn about history and science with a couple of relatable and adventurous siblings.
Collect all of the enchanting Magic Tree House books for your classroom library. Readers will also enjoy taking these amazing trips on the Magic School Bus, and when they outgrow the traveling treehouse, they will love the thrilling historical adventures of the I Survived series.
Even the most reluctant readers will be enthralled by the graphic novel format of the Captain Underpants series, while the silly adventures of the underpants-clad superhero keeps readers of all levels giggling.
Paperback Book
Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (#3)
Here is the complete Captain Underpants series. Series fans can explore the world of Planet Pilkey and find other delightfully illustrated books by beloved author Dav Pilkey.
(For more ideas on read-alouds your students will love, check out these favorites for grades PreK-3 and these nonfiction books to read as a class.)
Shop more popular book series below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store.
Eva Wingdale gets in over her head when she offers to organize a spring festival at school. Even with her best friend Lucy's help, there is NO way she will get everything done in time. Will Eva have to ask Sue (a.k.a. Meanie McMeanerson) for help? Or will the festival have to be cancelled?
If you could have any animal's hair, or ears, whose would you choose? Explore the outrageous and ridiculous illustrations and informative text in this collection of titles which introduces children to animal traits.
Just when you thought it was safe to come back to the classroom! The horror continues as the ever-comical picture books come to early chapter books.
Check out how these amazing real life creatures match up. Who's the strongest, fastest, biggest and baddest-in a fight to the finish, who would win?
Raise reading interest so fast, it's scary! These suspenseful thrillers are written especially for middle-grade readers by the popular, best-selling author of horror books.
