My second grader is 8 and since early on in kindergarten has been an exceptional reader. He is almost reading at a fourth grade level and when he finds a series he likes, he devours as many as possible.

This list of the most popular series for 7 and 8 year olds is curated by my son. We sometimes struggle to find books that are challenging enough for an advanced reader but still age appropriate topic wise.

The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne was probably the first series he got into, as young as age six. This is a fun series because it blends historical events with mystery solving adventures. The brother-sister combo of Jack and Annie traverse many lands and time periods. Each book can stand alone but some do reference past events with other characters, so reading in order is recommended but not crucial. Series starts with Dinosaurs Before Dark (1992) and there are currently 36 titles in the main Magic Tree House series plus another 27 Merlin Mission books geared towards 7-10 year olds. There are also 44 non-fiction Tree House books and probably some more that I am missing.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell is more well known now because of the movies. But I started reading this to my son when he was six and he loved it even then. Now he has read the whole series and even has a stuffed Toothless dragon from Build-a-Bear. The series follows Hiccup as he struggles to fit in amongst his Viking peers. And of course, there are dragons! (Side note here: my son usually steers away from fantasy, but this series he loves.) I believe there are 12 books in the series, the first one published in 2004.

Goosebumps by R. L. Stine is well known for being creepy and spooky. Not every book in the series works well at finding the right balance of scariness. But the books are mostly well written and as long as your child can handle a bit of spookiness, than these are great. There are 62 books in the main series plus many other spin-offs.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is a well-known series full of laughs. The stories jump around a lot and might be more suited for older 8 year olds. The artwork is fairly basic but unique.

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey follows a superhero police dog that causes a bit of trouble as he fights crime. Many of the titles in the series play off of classics of literature. “A Tale of Two Kitties”, “Grime and Punishment”, and “Mothering Heights” to name a few. These silly graphic novels provide a lot of laughs and are pretty enjoyable for a lot of age groups.

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey is probably more well known for the cartoon series, but the books are great. If your kid 7 or 8 year old is into potty humor (aka every kid) than this series provides toilets full of laughs.

With 11 books out so far, The 13-Story Treehouse series is hilarious and underrated. Written by Australians Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton. Each successive book in the series adds another 13 stories to the treehouse. So the most recent book, #11, is The 143-Story Treehouse.

Stick Dog by Tom Watson is a fun series with a great mix of illustrations and text. The artwork is simple, it is “stick” like, but it works well. This is one of the best balances of readable text with graphics. Great way to keep readers interested and still reading complete paragraphs vs “comic text”. 12 books in the series thus far.