I need advice PLEASE!!!!

3rd Year Joined: May 30, 2004 Posts: 210 Sponsors

Don't forget, he is LISTENING to these books, he dosent have to read them physically. I save the Junie B Jones, Judy blume, Magic Tree House, Hank the Cowdog and stuff like that for him to read in actual book format. They are easy to read and short. I have ordered him LOTR today because frankly I forgot about it and he LOVES the movies. I tried to read the books to him, but I am in NO WAY interested, this will work for both of us because he begged me to continue.! LOL I also ordered him The Chronicles of Narnia, all the books. I am collecting all your answers so PLEASE PLEASE continue!

3rd Year Joined: May 30, 2004 Posts: 210 Sponsors

Someone wanted to know my final list! Wel I will give you the short list of what he has just in the past 6 months.

Listened too:

All the HP books (several times each, OOP 4 times at least cause that is the only one he owns)
Redwall
Mossflower
Indian in the Cubard
Charlottes Web
3 Little house on the prarie books (loves Um)
The Whipping Boy
Summer of the Monkeys
Book of Virtues (BIG book)
Where the Red Fern Grows
My Fathers Dragon
White Fang
Various Hank the Cow Dogs (if you have never heard this read, on tape, just for fun, find it, rent it, something cause it is HILARIOUS
Various Junie B Jones (just for fun, he mainly reads the books)
The New Testament Bible, American Standard Version (we're Catholic, and it is much easier to understand)
and about 15 more I can't even think of.

So that is what we have started with so far, He loves them but truthfully what has really got him reading? Garfield. Yes Garfield comic books, he absorbs them, he only has 4, I need to find him more, eBay, but it just gets so expensive, I just can't get all he wants, I am so thankful for this scholarship.

1st Year Joined: Mar 07, 2005 Posts: 46 Location: US

Alright obviously I really love this thread too but siriusly I've been addicted to novels for so long. If he liked the New Testament then I would also suggest finding some Old Testament stories. When I was about his age I read my entire children's bible one summer weekend 'just for fun' (I was also raised Catholic). My favorites were the old testament stories because they were so vivid. The story of the Ten Commandments is always good and most kids really enjoy Joseph also as well as Jonah and the Whale. Did you say were doing some Twain? I had books on tape when I was little too and I know there was a Tom Sawyer one and I'm sure you could find Huck Finn. Another really, really great book that is also an excellent movie is The Princess Bride and if he hasn't seen it you should really rent it. It's very sweet with a grandfather reading a book to his grandson. And he'll enjoy the swordfighting, pirates, and giants.

1st Year Joined: Mar 07, 2005 Posts: 46 Location: US

Okay wait two other suggestions. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary was always a favorite in school and if you want to try something totally different with him I highly recommend finding a book of Shel Silverstein's poetry. Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, The Giving Tree, and A Light In the Attic are all really great and some are silly and some just have lovely messages. He's a wonderful writer. Aesop's Fables are also great and I seem to remember reading and discussing those around third grade or so.

3rd Year Joined: May 30, 2004 Posts: 210 Sponsors

Emi,
Great suggestions, we allready own many of those books, again the small ones and the easier ones we save for him to actually read book in hand. We love Ralph!! Brooooooooooooommmmmmmm

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 04:28 AM

Oh, I loved "My Father's Dragon" series when I was young! I have them all now.

Some good books (but don't know audio status) are:

Black Stallion series - Walter Farley (a lot of girls love horses at age 12 or so, but the main character is a boy so perhaps it appeals to both genders)

Mushroom Planet series - Eleanor Cameron (space travel to an unknown planet, cute stories, I think there are five in all)

Danny Dunn series - science fiction for sure! Danny and the professor find some way to do something never been done before in each book! Space Travel, anti gravity, etc. I love these.

What about the Wishbone books? There are a ton of them, various authors, and some are mysteries having nothing to do with the tv show. I like the mysteries the best. Check half.com or eBay.

Half Magic - Edward Eager. Sets of children get involved in different magical events. Always boys and girls, so would appeal to both, especially if the reader has siblings. He wrote in pairs, so you could read two books about each set of children. He died before finishing one, though - seven books I think in all.

Eager is a self proclaimed fan of the author E. Nesbit, who wrote similar stories. But I like his stuff (Eager's) better than hers (Nesbit's).

All of the above are easier reading than Harry Potter, but are appropriate for his age range. Is that what you wanted or are you looking for the HP level?

Most will be available on half.com or eBay. Or at least that's where I got most of mine. Used bookstores are great, too. I may have skipped over what your program approves of for purchasing.

Garfield is full of sarcasm. If that is what he likes, perhaps he might like Fox Trot or Calvin and Hobbes comics.

If he is crazy about Harry Potter, have you considered reading him some of the fanfics appropriate for his age?

3rd Year Joined: May 30, 2004 Posts: 210 Sponsors

He actually dosent purchase them, he rents them for a yr. BUT the player and fee's and such usually amount to 4 or 5 hundred dollars! I have also found the library of congress, they have every "paper"book you can find in the public library, in audio format!! AND he can qualify FOR FREE to recieve as many as he wants for 6 or 8 weeks each! WHOO HOO I am so excited, going to do the paper work TODAY, they even have stuff he can access online and listen too from the net!.

I have no clue about the level, I have been getting him stuff he could not Physically read to save the easier books for that. I admit he can understand and listen to stuff that BORES me to death (no offence, could NOT get through LOTR or Redwall) EEEKKK and he has complete understanding. So maybe I should say as long as it dosent have explicit sex (read original post) and dosent have extreem graphic violence or blatent drug using etc.... as long as the story is just not chocked full of crude I don't care if it is an adult level novel or not, he loves any and all. In fact his vocabulary can only increase so if there is a good clean novel out there please suggest it.

Has anyone read "Eyes of the Dragon" by King. I have read it(several times) and can't recall anything too bad, don't wanna reread it right now I have 3 of my own going. Anyone remember anything bad???

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:22 AM

If he liked Little House on the Prarie series, he may like the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery.

There is also the Septimus Heap Series by Angie Sage that just came out.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Dragon Rider and Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Atemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo

Keys to the Kingdom Series by Garth Nix

Pendragon Series by D. J. MacHale

Cirque du Freak Series by Darren Shan (my friend's son read these really fast because they were so good and JK recommends them also)

(I have a few moms that have sons around the same age and older pitching in on this.) Very Happy

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:40 AM

Wow, I don't know what happened up there, it told me it didn't post at all! Is there any way to delete posts?

As for the books I couldn't remember, I would seriousley recommend Space Demons and Sky Maze by Gillian Rubinstein. I read them for school at about his age and thought they were great. I'll keep looking and get back to you if I think of anything else.

3rd Year Joined: May 30, 2004 Posts: 210 Sponsors

annasmum,
you should not have told me that, as I was reading I was beggining to think you were reading my mind for exactly what I was looking for! LOL
It is amazing how many of these books I am going, OH DUH! I forgot about that one!

Post subject: His Dark Materials Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:46 AM

I saw that someone was mentioning His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. And I just wanted to recommend it strongly.

You said that he loved scientific books. His dark materials is about astronomy, religion and parallel universes. It's a very catchy book. If he likes Harry Potter he should read it.

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:37 PM

I am not sure if these would be apporpriate or not, (as I remember reading them when I was 12, so a little older than your son is now) but I loved the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. I really loved reading the original series (The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara) as well as the second series that has 4 books: The Scions of Shannara, The Druid of Shannara, The Elf Queen of Shannara, and The Talismans of Shannara.

And he also has The Magic Kingdom of Landover series, which may be more age appropriate or easier to listen to. Forgive me for not being completely certain--I was in 7th grade when reading these, so it's been awhile! But I don't remember anything inapropriate in them at all, and don't think any of the violence would be worse than what is in LOTR.

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:47 PM

OK, I remembered a few more.

Earth's Children Series by Jean Auel. I remember reading them around that age. They are large books.

Dr. Doolittle by Ellen Miles

James Herriot has a wonderful series about a veternarian that starts with All Creatures Great and Small. I can't remember the rest of the titles.

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 01:29 PM

I've read that King book - Eye of the Dragon - isn't that where the guy gets locked in that tower? Since it's so unlike the rest of his stuff, no, I don't remember anything crude in it.

I think I might have to read some of the other recommendations...

Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 02:28 PM

I'm no expert, but Mark Twain sounds like a nice choice. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and The Prince and the Pauper are great books for kids.

Also, Oliver Twist by Dickens might be a good choice. Hmm, perhaps David Copperfield and Great Expectations too.

Mm, what else, Robin Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, Kipling's Jungle Book, Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels', and yeah, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, plus the Silmarillion and The Hobbit.