Today Kevin started reading the "Andrew Lost" series. He went through two this afternoon, "With the Dinosaurs" and "In Time." They're chapter books that are suitable for readers beginning the transition from Easy Readers. While they are fiction, they have the added bonus of teaching science. Each book deals with a specific topic from underwater life to life in the jungle.
They seem to be a perfect fit for boys who enjoy reading in that they touch on some of the "grosser" side of science, like bugs, garbage, or life on a dog. In addition each book ends with True Stuff, additional facts that the author wanted to convey but may not have been able to put in the story or explanations of terms that may not be known, such as quicksand. True Stuff is followed with Where to Find More True Stuff, a bibliography of sorts encouraging children into non-fiction science books.
Kevin enjoyed that it was a series and says that he is looking forward to reading all of them. Specifically he liked that there was a time machine and how they were put into dinosaur times (side note: he's really enjoyed historical fiction lately). Overall, he rated the books: "Really good."
When I asked him if he learned anything, he said that In Time taught him that you should "Listen to your parents and show them respect, cause listening to your parents is respect."
Other things that he noticed about the series overall was that the beginning of each book is the same, so you can skip those pages and if you forget where you are there's a table of contents.
I enjoyed that the second book Kevin read sparked a discussion about what happens at the death of a star as well as the beginning of stars. It wasn't an in depth conversation, but it is an inroad into teaching more about astronomy. On the flip side, I'm disappointed that the author presents the Big Bang and Old Earth theories as absolutes. While she presents various information on dinosaurs as "We're not absolutely sure..." or "No one knows for sure..." information about the beginning of everything is presented as "Scientists have figured out..."
All in all, I would recommend this series for your young reader. The discussions that could result if you are engaged with what your children are reading are extremely valuable and easily dwarf the issue of presenting theory as fact. Of course, I would always advocate knowing what your children are reading about so that you can help guide them through issues that are presented in both their fiction and non-fiction reading.
After lunch today Kevin and I stopped by 
