Staci in FL Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 My husband has been reading the Narnia series to our kids each night. Tonight he'll finish and he is so sad about it! He has absolutely loved working through each of the books with them. He never read them as a child, so it has been a real gift for him as well as the kids. Anyway, he asked me what he should read next. He'd like another series type. I'm wondering if you think ages 9 and 6 are too young to hear the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The kids followed Narnia extremely well as he was reading it. Maybe he should start with The Hobbit? Suggestions? Anyone? Staci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca in VA Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 How about the Redwall series of books? We are reading the first Redwall book now, and it's delightful. The books are well-written and the animal characters are very appealing. There are many volumes in the series, so if you're not likely to run out of reading material for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 My husband has really enjoyed reading the Peter and the Starcatchers series with my daugther at bedtime--he says they're great, well written adventure stories. Redwall, Pecy Jackson and the Olympians, Paddington Bear, Pippi Longstocking, Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series are among the ones we've done as read-alouds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 The Wilderking series- analogy of King David's life but set in swamplands- it's a great read-aloud, and perfect for your age kiddos. We love Narnia :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colleen in b Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Hello - I am a returnee to TWTM boards. They've changed since I was a regular. Hope I'm doing this right. I would suggest, if your dh and little ones like the series approach, the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My almost ten-year-old was a five y.o. the last time I was reading this series, and he remembers tons. They are well-written and have lots of great imagery. My dh also read many of Roald Dahl's books to our little guys. The BFG, Matilda, George's Marvellous Medicine, Fantastic Mr. Fox, etc. TH White's The Sword in the Stone is spectacular, though the books that follow it are a little less approachable for younger children. There are at least three Mouse and the Motorcycle books, which are so endearing. Currently I'm reading the Hobbit to the 9 y.o., though I think the LOTR would be a hard slog. Personally, I would not recommend the Redwall series as a read-aloud. I read the first one aloud to my oldest two, and found it rather dull going compared to Narnia. Having said this, I must add that two of my boys (so far) were ENTHRALLED with the Redwall series, and we own every single book, sometimes in more than one dog-eared, well thumbed, entirely memorized copy. regards, colleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I would suggest, if your dh and little ones like the series approach, the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My almost ten-year-old was a five y.o. the last time I was reading this series, and he remembers tons. They are well-written and have lots of great imagery. My dh also read many of Roald Dahl's books to our little guys. The BFG, Matilda, George's Marvellous Medicine, Fantastic Mr. Fox, etc. TH White's The Sword in the Stone is spectacular, though the books that follow it are a little less approachable for younger children. There are at least three Mouse and the Motorcycle books, which are so endearing. Currently I'm reading the Hobbit to the 9 y.o., though I think the LOTR would be a hard slog. Personally, I would not recommend the Redwall series as a read-aloud. I read the first one aloud to my oldest two, and found it rather dull going compared to Narnia. Having said this, I must add that two of my boys (so far) were ENTHRALLED with the Redwall series, and we own every single book, sometimes in more than one dog-eared, well thumbed, entirely memorized copy. regards, colleen Yes, the Redwall can get pretty formulaic, but we did them as both books on tape and as read alouds and didn't have a problem with them (I do admit to not doing all of them one after the other:)). The Roald Dahl and Beverly cleary books are fun as are the Little House. One that my daughter returns to over and over again is The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley. It's a marvelous story, even if not a series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I would wait a little while longer for Lord of the Rings. I started them right after finishing Narnia and the kids weren't quite ready for them. We read them a couple years later and they loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 ... "The Lord of the Ring" is much harder to follow. In between I recommend the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. There are 5 books in the series, the last of which won a Newbery award during the 70's. The first is "The Book of Three." These have that fantasy, other land, feel, but are much easier than LOTR but still quite well written. For just some good books that Narnia people tend to also enjoy, I suggest the books by Edward Eager--start with "Half Magic" which is extremely funny, and see how you like it. IMO, it is the best of the bunch, but the others are good as well. They are loosely connected rather than being a pure series, so the books stand alone pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staci in FL Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Thanks for all of the advice and recommendations. My husband is looking for literature that is Narnia-ish, so I really appreciate those recs. We'll probably try The Hobbit and then move on to some of the other books you all suggested. And Mindy, thanks for your comment. That was exactly what I needed! Staci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 You might try The Tale of Despereux. It has mice as characters, like the Narnia series, but humans, too. It is a bit of an allegory, fairytale-based, and is truly, truly wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I would hold off on the Hobbit, it's a wonderful book for 10-13 year olds but your 6 year old would be lost on it..so wait until he can enjoy it as well (or her)....I also agree that Redwall is better as a read than a read-aloud. My kids have ALL the books and read them all but not a great read aloud. Some suggestions for similar books.... 1. Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (I was skeptical with my kids..they were 7-8-11 when we read it aloud...it was one of their all time favorite books as a read aloud..the spoken language has just enough Olde English in it to make it challenging but the kids understood every nuance...it really was a wonderful read aloud. 2. The Princess and the Goblin..it does have a followup (Princess and Curdie?) but we enjoyed the first one the best. 3. A Single Shard/The Kite Fighters (Linda Sue Park..both great read alouds) 4. The Bronze Bow/ Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare...very good read alouds) 5. My Side of the Mountain 6. The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew 7. The God King 8. The Golden Goblet Those are some of our favorite read alouds (after Chronicles of course!) Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhudson Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 "At the Back of the North Wind", "Princess and the Goblin" and "The Princess and Curdie" by George Macdonald who was a favorite to both JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis. I would wait on the Lord of the Rings maybe Hobbitt but not LRR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I loved Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series and Lloyd Alexander's "Prydain Chronicles" growing up. I've also heard wonderful things about Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance" series but haven't yet read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorax Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 My daughter loved the Dragons of Pern series around this age. Not all of the books are age appropriate, but Dragonsinger, Dragonsong, and Dragondrums are fine. The Trilogy with the White Dragon works too with very mild parental editing in a few spots while reading. She also really enjoyed Dolphins of Pern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 BIG enthusiastic thumbs-up on the Edward Eager books. Some might think that the My Father's Dragon series is too young for ages 9 and 6, but I am still recommending it. My dd loved the Wolves Chronicles series by Joan Aiken (starts with Wolves of Willoughby Chase) but those get pretty odd as they go along, and not everyone likes that. Also, I can't leave without recommending my all-time favorite Roald Dahl book, Danny the Champion of the World. It's different than other Roald Dahl books; still somewhat zany, but very sweet and tender, too. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahv Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 When I was a kid, my dad read us the Narnia Chronicles followed by the Lord of the Rings. There were five of us kids, the youngest being in K when he began the Lord of the Rings trilogy. ALL of us TREASURE those memories with our dad. He started with the Hobbit, then went to the Fellowship of the Ring and the rest of the Trilogy. When the first movie came out a few years ago, we ALL went with dad. It was really cool. Your kids are not too young for the Lord of the Rings. My dad would read one chapter every night (with us kids HANGING on EVERY WORD), then go to close it, and we would beg, "PLEASE, dad, another chapter??" Most of the time, he would say we had to go to bed, but every now and then, he would say, "Ok, if someone would get me a glass of ice water...", and three kids would jump up at the same time, running to get him his water (because the voices he used always made his throat scratchy, funny, I know what that's like now. ;)) and on those nights we would get a bonus chapter. It's awesome that your husband is reading these to your children. Keep up the good work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 E. Nesbit was a Victorian author whose books C.S. Lewis enjoyed as a child. We have read them all aloud, and really enjoy them! (We are re-reading The Story of the Amulet now.) Her books are: Five Children and It The Phoenix and the Carpet The Story of the Amulet The Railway Children The Enchanted Castle The Story of the Treasure Seekers and more. Most center around a group of children having an adventure which involves magic. (The Railway Children is different; no magic.) Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emeraldjoy Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Mine are 7 and 9 and we have read the Hobbit and are almost done with Fellowship of the Ring. I feel like The Hobbit is very appropriate for this age group. The Fellowship ebbs and flows as far as tedium and depth, but when I close it for the night they beg for more, always. I think it is something we will read again when they are older and can get more out of it, but for now they are truly enjoying it. I break it up with more light reading though. A few nights of Fellowship and then something a bit lighter for awhile. So cool your kids have a daddy reading to them. Dads do better voices, dont they? Blessings. e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 My daughter loved the Dragons of Pern series around this age. Not all of the books are age appropriate, but Dragonsinger, Dragonsong, and Dragondrums are fine. The Trilogy with the White Dragon works too with very mild parental editing in a few spots while reading. She also really enjoyed Dolphins of Pern. I'm just finishing up the White Dragon...again. I read the covers off my paperbacks, lol. The Dragonriders of Pern is (obviously) a favorite of mine (I'm pretty sure I have all of the Pern books, in hard cover); I would probably not have read them aloud to my dc, though, and I'm not sure I'd consider them Narnia-ish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Another fun series (lighter than Narnia) is the Hank the Cowdog series by John Erickson. See here for information on the first book. There are some forty plus books in the series now. My husband read them, with different voices for various characters, from the time my teen was aged five to about ten years old. They both loved them. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.