More favorite books for children

A year ago I tried to list the books and authors which have been real hits with Sam.

I want to update this, so I have a record I can refer to as Josh grows older.

Sam's out of picture books except for the occasional amusing one like How to Potty Train Your Monster. We've been in series territory for a while. In the past half a year we've read James and the Giant Peach, which was a hit, and Aliens on Vacation, which was a tremendous amount of fun.The latter is written for older kids, so it includes a kissing scene, which I summarized vaguely. Other than that, it's completely appropriate and Susan and Sam and I all enjoyed it so much we'd find time earlier in the evening to read it aloud.

I tried a couple of other things since then without getting any real traction. Most recently, though, we've begun the books by about the knights of the round table by Gerald Morris and Araron Renier. These combine humor with some good vocabulary and interesting plot twists. We've read the book on Lancelot (don't worry, the affair with Guinevere doesn't come up!) and are into Sir Givret the Short. Good stuff!

Prior to Aliens we went through the Magic Tree House books, the A to Z Mysteries, and the Ready Freddy series. Those were all excellent (though A-ZM started to wear a little thin). I am tempted to try Sam on Hardy Boys, but I am not sure about that yet. And Susan says Sam's too young for A Wrinkle in Time. The Indian in the Cupboard is also nearby for us to try when we need a break from knights. (Never read that one myself.) I would like to find something adventurous by Kipling. We'll see.

What would you add?