My class is sort of on an book series binge lately. Also, I love young adult literature, so when I find a series I like, I tend to devour it. Those points in mind, I thought I'd post a Top 5 of my favorite books in a series.


This is just a classic. We're currently reading the first installment of this series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as our shared reading book. The vocabulary in these books is outstanding, and our class has had great things to say about what they're reading. The students in my class our quite interested in the rest of the series.

I love this series for several reasons. First, I love the style in which it is written. It seems as though the author, C.S. Lewis, is actually reciting the story to you as you read it. There are moments when he departs from the narrative of the story and talks to the reader. This is the kind of book where you can read it and take away the story, and then later in life read it again for even deeper meaning. Also, the magic in this book is great fun. How wonderful to discover a new world while playing hide-and-seek? Finally, I love the way in which the children have defining characteristics that make them separate from the whole. They need each other because they each offer something unique.


Speaking of needing one another, the Mysterious Benedict Society is such a great story. In this story, a group of children with unique talents join forces to save the world. I love the theme of everyone has to work together to achieve the task, and even the cantankerous little one is extremely important. This book is clever in that it involves riddles and puzzles to figure out.

I'm reading this story as our read aloud, and I've got a couple students following along as I read, and I have a few students ready to move on to the next story!


This is an AWESOME series. The premise seems pretty brutal: In a futuristic society, 24 children must fight to the death in order to bring honor to their land. However, the author does an excellent job of keeping the action going without being overly gruesome.

I read the three books in this series in a matter of a week; I couldn't put it down. Now, they are making the first book into a movie, and it comes out next month!


This series of books is awesome. They are funny and witty. I love them because they are easy to relate to, whether you are an adult or a fourth grader! They're written using cartoons, and so the books are fun to go through. It's like you're reading comics!


This series is epic. I couldn't make a list of series without at least mentioning this series. The books are amazing, and I love how the story gets darker and more intricate as the series goes on. It's like they hook you with a lighthearted tale in the first book, and then you're trapped in a much bigger story than you thought you would be!

In the case of fourth graders, the sheer size of the books can be intimidating, and it may be out of the reading level for some of them, but it's such a great story. The movies are good, but there is so much more in the books.


Books in a series a great fun. They have the ability to pique interest, and can hook you as you follow though a journey. There are several other series that are big with fourth graders (i.e. Percy Jackson), but these ones are my current favorites.