Hedgehogs4 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 My dd7 just finished listening to all of the Chronicles of Narnia series (in less than one week) and she is dying to listen to something similar. We recently finished the Hobbit and her brother (11) is listening to all of the LOTR (the unabridged audio version). She is keenly interested in listening to it, but I think that it is "too much" for her--I just feel it is a more mature story. She has requested something else along the lines of Narnia (what is there, after Narnia?) Since LOTR and Narnia are the only real fantasy books that I enjoy, I don't have a clue about what she might like. Any suggestions? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Have you tried the Wizard of Oz series? My kids who loved Narnia also enjoy these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfletcher8091 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Have you tried the Wizard of Oz series? My kids who loved Narnia also enjoy these. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Not exactly the same, but my kids enjoyed Your Story Hour at that age, and started enjoying Odyssey (although some Odyssey are better for older kids--we've enjoyed a lot of them on family trips). Some of the imagination station episodes might help that desire for fantasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I wonder if Redwall would be interesting. (There are just so many book in that series, I almost hate to recommend them! :p) ETA: I see some posts that say these are too frightening, IDK. Perhaps they aren't age-approp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 ooh...W of O might be good. We read the first book a few weeks ago and she liked it. I'll look into that. More please? :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 What about the Eragon series? My girls loved those when they were 9 (and still do). Another vote for Redwall, too. What about The Heros of Olympus or something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdinaryTime Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I read The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit with my seven year old this summer, too, and he is dying for LOTR. I agree on waiting on it, though. We've tried to follow different strands of interest from the two. We kept reading books with anthropomorphic animals, like The Wind in the Willows. I think we may start Redwall soon, but am deciding if I want to do them as read alouds or save them for silent reading. We followed the Norse and Germanic heroic threads in The Hobbit by reading Ian Serraillier's version of Beowulf, which was surprisingly a big hit. That lead us to reading some other epic poems, like Katherine Paterson's retelling of Parvizal and Seraillier's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Now we're planning on following up on the Greek mythology references in The Chronicles by reading some Greek mythology. I think we are going to start with Mary Pope Osbourne's Tales from the Odyssey. There are so many ways to go beyond just fantasy books. Though a good fantasy series is always fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) Here are a few more individual titles, and some series ideas: - No Flying in the House (Brock) - The Shades (Brock) -- out of print, but worth looking for - Twig (Jones) - The Ordinary Princess (Kaye) - The Dragon of Lonely Island (and sequel) (Rupp) - Land of Oz; Ozma of Oz -- and others in the series (Baum) - The Rescuers; Miss Bianca; The Turret; Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines; Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharp) -- out of print, but SO worthwhile! (lots at Amazon used books) - The Borrowers (series) (Norton) - Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series) (Wrede) - Toots and the Upside Down House (series) (Hughes) - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (Betty MacDonald) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) - The Princess & the Goblins (George MacDonald) - Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid) - Peter and the Star Catchers series (Barry) - The Reluctant Dragon (Graham) - Half Magic; Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle; Time Garden; Seven Day Magic (Eager) - Five Children and It; The Phoenix and the Carpet; The Book of Dragons (Nesbit) - The Father Christmas Letters (Tolkien) - The Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Fleming) - Charlie & the Chocolate Factory; Great Glass Elevator (Dahl) - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) - The Never Ending Story (Ende) - The Inkheart trilogy (Funke) - Dragon Keeper Chronicles (series) (Paul) In general (of course there are exceptions! ;)), I found Eragon, the Percy Jackson Olympian series (and others by Rick Riordan), Harry Potter series, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy much better suited for older children (10+), although The Hobbit (Tolkien) could be a "go" at this age. Enjoy your fantasy world read aloud adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited October 30, 2012 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdinaryTime Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Oh, Lori D., mentioned some I forgot to mention: The Relunctant Dragon by Grahame and The Princess and the Goblin by MacDonald. Anything with a dragon or goblin was good after The Hobbit at our house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Here are a few more individual titles, and some series ideas: - No Flying in the House (Brock) - The Shades (Brock) -- out of print, but worth looking for - Twig (Jones) - The Ordinary Princess (Kaye) - The Dragon of Lonely Island (and sequel) (Rupp) - Land of Oz; Ozma of Oz -- and others in the series (Baum) - The Rescuers; Miss Bianca; The Turret; Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines; Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharp) -- out of print, but SO worthwhile! (lots at Amazon used books) - The Borrowers (series) (Norton) - Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series) (Wrede) - Toots and the Upside Down House (series) (Hughes) - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (Betty MacDonald) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) - The Princess & the Goblins (George MacDonald) - Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid) - Peter and the Star Catchers series (Barry) - The Reluctant Dragon (Graham) - Half Magic; Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle; Time Garden; Seven Day Magic (Eager) - Five Children and It; The Phoenix and the Carpet; The Book of Dragons (Nesbit) - The Father Christmas Letters (Tolkien) - The Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Fleming) - Charlie & the Chocolate Factory; Great Glass Elevator (Dahl) - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) - The Never Ending Story (Ende) - The Inkheart trilogy (Funke) - Dragon Keeper Chronicles (series) (Paul) In general (of course there are exceptions! ;)), I found Eragon, the Percy Jackson Olympian series (and others by Rick Riordan), Harry Potter series, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy much better suited for older children (10+), although The Hobbit (Tolkien) could be a "go" at this age. Enjoy your fantasy world read aloud adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D. The issue I have been having with a lot of these titles is that it is nearly impossible to find them on audiobook! Is there some secret I'm missing? My 5 y.o. fell in love with Half Magic, but it is the only one of the series I can get on audio (even with the dyslexic sources) and even though he is begging for the rest of the series, I can't read aloud as much as he wants. There are so many great books, but if you have delayed readers, there are not nearly enough audiobooks for them to consume! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) A series that is similar to Narnia, as well as to a number of other books, is Books of Beginning, Emerald Atlas. There are only 2 books so far. ETA: I know the first book is on audio because DD is listening to it this week. The second book was just published, so our library doesn't have the audio yet, but Audible.com does. Edited October 30, 2012 by crazyforlatin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 My dd8 loves the How to Train Your Dragon audio books narrated by David Tennant - they are abdridged, but wonderful audiobooks. Her other favorite audio books are Trumpet of the Swan, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, and Peter Pan. Her two newest audio books that are getting a lot of play time are Black Beauty and Moby Dick. We have Treasure Island queued up next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Oh, Lori D., mentioned some I forgot to mention: The Relunctant Dragon by Grahame and The Princess and the Goblin by MacDonald. Anything with a dragon or goblin was good after The Hobbit at our house. Yes! These were a hit with my 6.5 yr. old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 While we are talking dragons, there is Funke's Dragon Rider. The narrator is Brendan Fraser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Thank you for all the wonderful and well-thought-out replies. You gals are the best! :001_smile: I will start looking into all of these and see which seems a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Way of My People Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles ("The Book of Three" is the first) are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) The issue I have been having with a lot of these titles is that it is nearly impossible to find them on audiobook! Is there some secret I'm missing? Ah, I missed the need for audio books. My secret was I read aloud a TON every day for years and years and years and years... ;) Is it possible to invite a grandparent or relative or elderly friend to come over twice a week to read aloud to share some special time with your children? Or record books on cassette and send them to DC? How about some of these: - Clover Twig - The Castle in the Attic - Dragon Rider - The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Or browse titles from these free audio book download sites: Open Culture Books Should Be Free Librivox Ambling Books iTunes Project Gutenberg audiobooks And then this list of websites with free audiobooks/downloads: http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-books-audio Edited October 30, 2012 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 My dd8 loves the How to Train Your Dragon audio books narrated by David Tennant - they are abdridged, but wonderful audiobooks. Her other favorite audio books are Trumpet of the Swan, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, and Peter Pan. Her two newest audio books that are getting a lot of play time are Black Beauty and Moby Dick. We have Treasure Island queued up next. Are you using abridged for the others? We subscribe to audible.com. We just listened to "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne which was unabridged and a hit! We also listen to the Story of US by Joy Hakim which is enjoyable as an audiobook. We listen mostly on road trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Ah, I missed the need for audio books. My secret was I read aloud a TON every day for years and years and years and years... ;) Is it possible to invite a grandparent or relative or elderly friend to come over twice a week to read aloud to share some special time with your children? Or record books on cassette and send them to DC? I did this too, but I appreciate having an audiobook now and then now that he is older;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Ah, I missed the need for audio books. My secret was I read aloud a TON every day for years and years and years and years... ;) Is it possible to invite a grandparent or relative or elderly friend to come over twice a week to read aloud to share some special time with your children? Or record books on cassette and send them to DC? Maybe. This probably sounds terrible, but I am working so hard this year just schooling both of them that reading aloud any more than my typical 1-1.5 hrs sounds like an unattainable feat. :tongue_smilie:This has been tough year so far with nobody being independent and my only time of sanity is the 2 hour quiet time where they listen to audiobooks and not me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Playing off Lori's list, we really liked the audio version of Half Magic, though we had read aloud the rest of Eager, so I don't know about those. It does use different voice actors for the different parts, which isn't the norm, but it's a good read. We also enjoyed the audiobook of Ella Enchanted. And, seconding the audio version of Cornelia Funke's Dragonrider. It's is really good. And really long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I edited my post to add links to free audiobooks. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Are you using abridged for the others? We subscribe to audible.com. We just listened to "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne which was unabridged and a hit! We also listen to the Story of US by Joy Hakim which is enjoyable as an audiobook. We listen mostly on road trips. Nope, How to Train Your Dragon is the only abridged we have. The narrator is awesome and worth a breach of my rules against abridged books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommybee Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Here are two free audio we love here. The Princess and the Goblin The Princess and Curdie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 How do you get your kids into audio books. Mine will listen for hours if I read but... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaraH Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 We're also big Narnia and Hobbit fans and all long books we read are audio in the car! We've also enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, the first Harry Potter, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (lovely with a girl hero), and The Castle in the Attic. I've also got Thor's Wedding but we haven't got to it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I've also got Thor's Wedding but we haven't got to it yet. Is there an audio of this? Both boys want to listen to it so badly but our library doesn't have an audio version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 How do you get your kids into audio books. Mine will listen for hours if I read but... We only listen to audio books in the car. Captive audience...literally. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Is there an audio of this? Both boys want to listen to it so badly but our library doesn't have an audio version. On Amazon, it's here. There are two samples of the audio here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 How do you get your kids into audio books. Mine will listen for hours if I read but... We don't have a TV and our computer has a password. There is nothing to do here except read, draw, build, and listen to audiobooks. :001_smile: A good narrator or a full cast of characters could make a difference. Bruce Coville's books tend to have a full cast of actors. Jim Dale is one of the best out there, so I tend to borrow anything that he reads. Still, listening to him makes me feel that someone in HP will jump out in Alice or Emerald Atlas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Another vote for The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. They've been my favorite books since I was a child. I think I've read them fifty times (seriously) and I still adore them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 How do you get your kids into audio books. Mine will listen for hours if I read but... We listen over breakfast, over lunch, over tea-time...whenever we are gathered together. I don't know exactly how I got them "into" audiobooks except I said "let's try this..." and we were all hooked. I could clean up the kitchen and we'd be into a book. They could then worm their way out of hours of schoolwork by listening to a book with me...long after I would have tired out. Maybe THAT is the hook! :lol: "PLEASE, MOM, PLEASE?" JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER?" DD is not at a reading level to read a lot of these books independently. She's getting there--she is able to do much more than she realizes. She still thinks it is "hard" and "tiring." She doesn't realize that she can read much longer than I even ask of her when we do SSR. I don't force her though. She dutifully reads what I ask her to read, but would rather listen, still. I know it will come in time. She has been exposed to so much complex vocabulary and literature, it's practically inevitable. If (God forbid) it turns out that she is not a reader, then at least I've exposed her to really great literary texts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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