My 8 year old son enjoyed the Harry Potter books so very much! I know they are of a higher reading level than most 8 year olds are at but truly he read them himself and loved them. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make him look like hot stuff.) Anyway, he's read the four that are out and in the meantime I need to find something else that would interest him. Does anyone know of something at about the same level and that would be similar in style that he might enjoy? Thanks ahead of time. ++++++++ 06-09-02, 10:41 PM coldfuse With the "movie wars" of 2001, the natural books that comes to mind are The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
A book I found fascinating as a child that appeals to a similar interest is A Wrinkle in Time.
06-09-02, 10:49 PM VivienneHa After Harry Potter my son enjoyed "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer ,there is also a sequel just out.Also try the "Series of unfortunate events" books by Lemony Snicket ,they seem to be extremely popular at the moment.
06-10-02, 01:24 AM DIXIEGIRL26 I admit that I, myself, got hooked on the Harry Potter series. I started reading them when I was doing the summer reading program for the library I was working at. Alot of the kids that enjoyed the Harry Potter series got just as involved in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. There are about ten books in the series so far, the first of which is Redwall, followed by Mossflower, and so on. If your son is only eight, he would probably enjoy the Beverly Cleary chapter books like Ralph the Mouse and Ramona Quimby. My daughter just turned seven and these are the chapter books I started her out on.
06-10-02, 12:59 PM Yevgeny Your son may enjoy the Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. It is an excellent award-winning fantasy series that I personally have read several times. The first book is "The Book of three." Another great series is the Alanna series by Tamora Peirce. The Lord of the Rings is, of course, also wonderful. He could also try Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Muskateers." It is excellent.
06-11-02, 12:54 PM deeptread As a child around that age, my father gave me two books that have forever been in my mind as two of the greatest books: Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
after that then,
White Fang, Jack London The Sea Wolf (maybe not til he is a bit older, 12 maybe as it deals with the struggle of idealism/realism), Jack London
My son always enjoyed any, and I mean any book by Gary Paulson
[This message was edited by deeptread on 06-11-02 at 01:03 PM.]
06-11-02, 01:36 PM mahal Some classics:
The Hobbit Lord of the Rings trilogy The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series
06-11-02, 01:37 PM DisLexicon I recommend the Narnia series (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe et al) and the Xanth series by Piers Anthony (they are hilarious, he's very punny smile ).
06-11-02, 04:34 PM tanman The Laura Ingle's series of Little House on the Prarie is very good.. it also gives a really good picture of how the West was tamed from a child's perspective.
I also liked "Nancy Drew" and "The Hardy Boys" mysteries. big grin
06-11-02, 07:01 PM mahal You know, when I was younger, short stories were very appealing to me. It occurs to me that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote mostly short stories (even his novels were short).
There are also a number of short story collections out, and he can get a taste of a lot of writers with one book.
06-11-02, 07:07 PM Firecow How about Terry Pratchett? I think the Discworld series may be a little old for him, but you might enjoy it yourself! It's very much like Harry Potter and the series comprises of about 20 - 25 books now. He has also written several childrens books along the same kind of theme. Try 'Diggers', 'The Carpet People'or 'Truckers'.
06-12-02, 11:04 AM Matiqua Try these series: the Chronicles of Narnia Redwall A series of Unfortunate Events Antarctica
Try these books: Castaways of the Flying Dutchman Artemis Fowl The Secret of Platform 13
06-12-02, 05:17 PM TMOM3 Thanks to everyone for all their input. I never dreamed I'd get this many responses. We are getting ready to travel 2500miles next week and I now have a great idea of some things to check out at the library for the trip. Thanks again.
06-12-02, 06:38 PM MrsS I can't recall the author right now, but "Magic Kingdom For Sale:SOLD" is wonderful. I fully agree with those who suggested the Narnia and Xanth books...both series being grand fun for any age reader. The Magician's Nephew, one of the books in the Narnia series, contains one of my all time favorite passages: Make your choice, Adventurous Stranger Strike the bell and bide the danger Or wonder, 'til it drives you mad; What would have followed if you had?
06-12-02, 06:53 PM dr.mlm Hi, I'm a reading teacher and can recommend a few titles that have sequels. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and the sequels involve a young boy lost in the Canadian wilderness and his ability to learn survival skills. Another title is Julie and the Wolves by Jean Craighead George about a young teenager who affiliates herself with a pack of wolves in the Arctic because she realizes this affiliation might be her only means of survival on the frozen, desolate tundra of the Arctic. These are both Newbury winners and are good (but interesting in a kid's perspective!) literature. I hope this is helpful.
dr.mlm
06-15-02, 12:48 AM redder Treasure Island by R.L.S. beats the pants off H.Potter and Co.!
06-16-02, 04:01 PM clarebear The Phantom Tollbooth. He won't be able to put it down. Either will you. smile
06-17-02, 08:51 AM deeptread I have to take The Sea Wolf off my recommendation on my earlier post. I must have been a teenager when I read it. Don't get me wrong, It is a GREAT book, but perhaps not for an 8 yo. I just re-read the entire book on-line last week in two days, no great feat, It is not that long, and have decided to recommend it to teenagers instead.
06-17-02, 01:15 PM Yelena I Highly Recommend the Chonicles of Narnia, hell be missing out if he dosent read it or something differnt (which Im surprised noone mentioned) is The Ghost in the Noonday Sun.
06-17-02, 03:37 PM Runic StormCrow All of the above are perfect. I have others. However, I can't seem to recall the authors of these books, and I have long discarded them. roll eyes
Animorphs P.C. Hawke Mysteries (check these, very murderous and hard to grasp for 8) The Golden Compass series The Sign of the Beaver Westmark (check also) Lost Swords series
Note: your son seems like an admant reader. Try to see how long he reads. This should give you the approximate level of his reading capacity. I'm a geek: I was reading Stephen King by 10. Your son seems like he could read all of these, and none are difficult to read. The concepts within them, however, might want to be skimmed over, just for your approval.
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