Guest janainaz Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I need recommendations for some GOOD books for my 8 year old son. I really want him to enjoy reading and I have a difficult time finding books that are written well and interesting. I have never read Treasure Island or Moby Dick, would those be too much over his head? He is very bright, but I want something exciting and written with interesting language. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat in GA Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 What about "Summerland" by Michael Chabon? It's a great book (I liked it a lot!) that combines baseball, other worlds, faires, Norse mythology, tall tales and great adventure into one amazing story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 My son has loved all of these. Cynthia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetest Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 How about E.B. White...Trumpet of the Swan (my favorite), Stuart Little, and, of course, Charlotte's Web The Little House series...I think these are actually very boy friendly, of course I have a 7yo girl so I may not be the best judge Also check out www.amblesideonline.com they have additional reading selections for every year and I use these to find good quality books for my dd to read Not sure how you feel about Harry Potter...but my daughter is devouring these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 My ds7 loves reading The Little series, all of the books by Thorton Burgess (very well written), Mrs Piggle-Wiggle books, My Father's Dragon Trilogy by Ruth Stiles Gannett (a favorite!) and we are just getting into books written by Douglas Bond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest janainaz Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 thanks, ladies! I wrote down all the suggestions and specifically, I remember loving the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books when I was a little girl. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraDumas Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 At first I was really hesitant about this series. i thought it would be morbid when there parents die, or they would be living in the boxcar the whole time. But they go back with their grandfather. I LOVE THESE books! The children are honest, resourceful, and their biggest trait is that they are HARD WORKING. They are polite and well mannered and when they make mistakes they apologize and admit they were wrong. They also honor their grandfather and really appreciate all they have. The series is a mystery series, and my kids love to hear the stories. They are pretty complicated- enough that it's not an easy guess and there's no murder or anything bad. For example the pizza mystery was about why someone was making the pizza parlor lose business on purpose by cutting their electric lines and things like that. The first book doesn't really deal with death and dying at all. It just mentions that the parents are dead. The children cling to each other and love one another through all of that. But if you really hate the idea of ds reading about that then you can just skip the first book. (which I wouldnt' recommend because it's such a touching story about 4 kids who work so hard to take care of each other!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I use several lists for good reading for my kids. The Good Books list from The Great Books Academy, Logos School's reading list (go to the online catalog and page through until you find the page it is on. Irritating to find but worth it), and The Highland Latin School summer reading list. My kids have listened to Treasure Island and Kidnapped. They agree Treasure Island gets boring and drawn out at the end. Moby Dick, in a child's version was a BIG hit here. Same with Kidnapped. But my husband is a Scots so that might have had something to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herding Cats in NC Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Well, ds10 has enjoyed The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman; Hatchet by Gary Paulsen; Lawn Boy, also by Paulsen; My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. And ds loved, loved, loved The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BizyPenguin Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 You'll find some good suggestions and KidsRead.com and BookAdventures.com. For twaddle free lit check out the literature recommendations at SimplyCharlotteMason.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mogster Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Classic Starts are wonderful. My son really enjoyed White Fang and Tom Sawyer. These might be too easy depending on your child's reading level (I believe they are around 4th grade reading level?) -- they are great for independant readers though. Good stories with wonderful plots... Here is a link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=classic+starts&z=y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verena Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 My ds really enjoys: Encyclopedia Brown, Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks, Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren, Douglas Bond books, My Father's Dragon books. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Hood Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I do think Moby Dick would be over his head, Treasure Island might be doable. My 2 9yo dd have read a few classics in a kids condensed version and they love them better than other books. I had read a few reviews on amazon.com on some of these versions where the poster said reading the condensed version as a child enhanced their desire to read the real version as an older person. I went with it and although it is a bit dumbed down, my 2 dd at least have knowledge of the classics and as other people talk of what they have read, my 2 dd now join in, even though they're a bit limited in their knowledge and understanding of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in GA Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 You may want to wait a couple of years for Treasure Island; Moby Dick would definitely be over his head. SWB herself confesses to only getting through the first half. :eek: Some other suggestions (recently read by 8yo ds) are: books by Clyde R Bulla (Three Dollar Mule, etc.) Redwall series, definitely. My ds can't put them down (just turned 9). Encyclopedia Brown series The Sword in the Tree (ds loved it) Robin Hood by Bob Blaisdell (Dover Children's Thrift Classics The Sign of the Beaver (We watched the so-so movied version, which got him interested enough to read the book. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 The "Great Illustrated Classics" series is a fun way to introduce a 2nd-4th graders to abridged versions of the classics. Don't miss out on the opportunity to have your child read classic *children's* literature, or to read great books out loud together! : ) Below are some ideas. We've especially enjoyed books from lists from these two sources. Enjoy your reading journey together! Warmest regards, Lori D. - 1000 Good Books: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html - Sonlight Curriculum: http://www.sonlight.com/ Classic Children's Books for 3rd-5th grader SOLO READING: US History / Historical Fiction - Skippack School (de Angeli) -- Colonial U.S. - The Matchlock Gun (Edmonds) -- Colonial US - The Courage of Sarah Noble (Dalgliesh) -- Colonial US - Phoebe the Spy (Griffin) --American Revolution - true story - Sarah Plain and Tall; Skylark; Caleb's Story (MacLachlan) -- US - pioneer times - Caddie Woodlawn (Brink) -- pioneer times US - The Sign of the Beaver (Speare) -- Colonial US/Native American World History / Historical Fiction - Detectives in Togas; Mystery of the Roman Ransom (Winterfeld) -- Ancient Rome - A Single Shard (Park) -- 1100s Korea - The Kite Fighters (Park) -- 1400s Korea - The Sword in the Tree (Bulla) -- Medieval England - Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? (Fritz) -- and others in this series by Fritz - Brendan the Navigator (Fritz) - Archimedes and the Door of Science (Bendick) - Along Came Galileo (Bendick) - The Big Wave (Buck) -- Japanese survivors of a tsunami - Twenty and Ten (Bishop) -- WWII French children hide Jewish children - The Little Riders (Shemin) -- WWII occupied Europe Biography - Lincoln: A Photobiography (Freedman) - The Story of Thomas Alva Edison (Davidson) - Helen Keller (Davidson) - Louis Braille (Davidson) - Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman (Henry) -- inventor of steam engine as a boy - Naya Nuki: The Shoshone Girl Who Ran -- friend of Sacajewea - Behind Rebel Lines (Reit) -- teen girl disguised as a boy / Union spy in Civil War Real Life - People - The Toothpaste Millionaire (Merrill) - Henry Huggins (series) (McCleary) - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Konigsburg) - Five on a Treasure Island (Blyton) - Call it Courage (Sperry) Real Life - Animals - Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa (Kalney) - Daughter of the Mountains (Rankin)-- Tibetan girl tries to recover her dog - Rascal (North) - Shiloh (Naylor) - Ginger Pye (Estes) Fantasy - Land of Oz; Ozma of Oz (Baum) -- lively sequels; skip Wizard of Oz (dull/long) - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (MacDonald) - My Father's Dragon (Gannett) - Half Magic; Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle; Time Garden ; Seven Day Magic (Eager) - The Borrowers (series) (Norton) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Fleming) - Charlie & the Chocolate Factory; Great Glass Elevator (Dahl) - Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid) Fun Tall Tale - The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (Dalgliesh) - The Whipping Boy (Fleischman) - McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm (Fleischman) - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) - Holes (Sachar) Classic Books to READ ALOUD to a 3rd-5th grader: Adventure - Paddle-to-the-Sea, Tree in the Trail, Seabird, Minn of the Mississippi (Holling) - Rikki Tikki Tavi; The Jungle Book (Kipling) - Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell) - Black Ships Before Troy (Sutcliffe) -- illustrated/abridged version of Homer's Illiad - The Adventures of Odysseus (Sutcliffe) -- illustrated/abridged version of Homer's Odyssey - Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain) - Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (and others by Howard Pyle) - Treasure Island (Stevenson) - Swiss Family Robinson Real Life - People - Kildee House (Montgomery) - Little Britches series (Moody) - Family Under the Bridge (Carlson) - The Wheel on the School (de Jong) - In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (Lord) - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson) - Treasures of the Snow (St. John) - Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery) - A Little Princess (Burnett) - The Secret Garden (Burnett) Real Life - Animals - The Incredible Journey - The Black Stallion, The Black Stallion Returns, Island Stallion (Farley) - My Side of the Mountain (George) - Where the Red Fern Grows (Rawls) Talking Animals - Mr. Popper's Penguins (Atwater) - The Cricket in Times Square (Selden) - Charlotte's Web; Trumpet of the Swan (White) - The Mouse and the Motorcycle (McCleary) Fantasy - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) -- Victorian-like setting - Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis) - The Story of Dr. Dolittle (Lofting) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) - Five Children and It; The Phoenix and the Carpet; The Amulet (Nesbit) - The Book of Dragons (Nesbit) -- 7 short stories; very fun and creative - The Father Christmas Letters (Tolkien) - The Ordinary Princess (Kaye) -- VERY fun and funny! - The Princess & the Goblins; The Princess & Curdie (MacDonald) - The Phantom Tollbooth (Juster) -- boy journeys through a mathematical land - The Never Ending Story (Ende) - The Hobbit (Tolkien) Fun Tall Tale - The Great Turkey Walk (Karr) - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) - Hitty, Her First Hundred Years (Field) - Holes (Sachar) - The Twenty-One Balloons (DuBois) -- Jules Verne-like story, 1800s inventor History / Historical Fiction - Pedro's Journal (Conrad) -- Columbus' voyage - Diary of an Early American Boy (Sloane) - The Journeyman (Caldwell) -- Colonial US - Johnny Tremain (Forbes) - Across Five Aprils (Hunt) -- Civil War - Sounder (Armstrong) -- post Civil War South - The Great Wheel (Lawson) -- building of the first Ferris Wheel in 1893 World History / Historical Fiction - Adam of the Road (Gray) -- Medieval England - The Door in the Wall (de Angeli) -- Medieval England - The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn (Hoobler) -- 1700s Japan - boy detective - Number the Stars (Lenski)-- WWII Dutch girl helps her Jewish friend - Snow Treasure (McSwigan))-- WWII Norweigan children hide the country's gold - The Golden Goblet (McGraw) -- Ancient Egypt - The Bronze Bow (Speare) -- Ancient Rome/Israel Biography - Land I Lost; Water Buffalo Days (Nhuong) -- memories of pre-war rural Vietnam - Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (Latham) early US man who improved naval navigation - Lincoln: A Photobiography -- beautiful photos / text telling Lincoln's life - Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun (Blumberg) - Born in the Year of Courage (Crofford) Talking Animals - Ben and I (Lawson) - The Rescuers, Miss Bianca, Miss Bianca in the Orient (Sharpe) - Basil of Baker Street (Titus) - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (O'Brien) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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