For the parent of the adventurous five year old, I've got the perfect series, "The Magic Tree House" by Mary Pope Osborne. A seven year old girl named Annie and her eight year old brother Jack encounter a mysterious treehouse filled with books. The books transport them to far away times and places, where they learn about dinosaurs, knights, Egypt, pirates, the moon, etc. Along the way they have mysteries to solve. There are now 18 books in the series. It makes the most sense to read them in sequence, as the first 8 lead up to a particular discovery, then the next batch constitute a particular quest.

Number one is called Dinosaurs After Dark, #2 is The Knight at Dawn, #3 is Mummies in the Morning, #4 is Pirates Past Noon. You get the idea. These books appeal to both boys and girls, to about age 9. They are "chapter books" about 70 pages long (we usually finish them in 2-4 nights), and cost only $3.99. You can get them through Amazon.com, and I've also seen them at Cody's, Mr. Mopps, and Borders.

This is for the parent who was seeking good books for her 5-year old son. I highly recommend a book called "Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children," by Valerie Lewis and Walter Mayes. It is the most readable book on great books for kids I've ever seen. It offers thumbnail descriptions of books they love and highlights terrific authors. Walter is well-known in the Bay Area as "Walter the (Storytelling) Giant. He reads and acts out books all around. Valerie owns Hicklebees, a children's bookstore, in San Jose. I love to thumb through this books and select things for my 6 year old and 3 year old to read.

Adventure books: "My Father's Dragon" is great and non-violent. depending on your child, the Narnia series by CS Lewis may be too old for him, but soon...