• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Children's Books

Witchchild

Witchchild

New Member
Hello Everyone,

I have 3 kids; 9 months, 6 years and 9 years old. Naturally they have tons of books... The 9 year old is quite independant and prefers to read comic strip books such as Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot and Garfield. He readily listens to Harry Potter, LOTR and Winnie the Pooh stories which we read to him.

The six year old seems stuck in baby books. His favorite is a Winnie the Pooh lift-the-flaps book... Any ideas for really engaging, age-appropriate books would be appreciated.

The 9 month old loves to be read to but it seems to really matter to him which books. He hates the Dr Seuss books but loves Sandra Boynton and the Baby Einstein books. Looking for suggestions here too!

Any ideas?

~Witch
 
Anything by Eric Carle for the six month old. Our favorite is the Very Busy Spider. Boynton is great, as you said. We have a lot of success with My First Word Book, DK Publishing, Inc. the board books are nearly indestructible. They have several other titles too. These were great for early vocabulary building because they are all pictures and words. (They were first put together in London, so some of the pictures were a little different that what you'd see in the U.S. but I think that bothered us more than the kids.)

Theres a website: http://www.dk.com/

Also Scholastic's I Spy series are great for reading and for finding the items mentioned in the story. Good stuff.
 
Anything with rhyme and repetition. Actually, you could read the yellow pages to your children and if you read it with enthusiam and attitude, they will love it. It is never too early or late to start reading classics. I read The Secret Garden to a group of 5th graders one year and thought they hated it. Now, ten years later, everytime I see one of them that is the book they most often comment on. Read things YOU enjoyed as a child to them. I read the Nancy Drew books to my 1st graders and they love them because I do. My al time favorite is Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders. We all have a very good cry at the end.
"If you can read this, thank a teacher!"
 
I have an 8-year-old and she loves the illustrated copy of Peter Pan that I've had for years. A 9-year-old boy might like Stevenson's "Treasure Island" or "Kidnapped," Theodore Taylor's "The Cay," Jean Craighead George's "My Side of the Mountain," or maybe Wilson Rawls' "Where the Red Fern Grows" if you think he can handle it (have tissues on hand).

At 6, my daughter loved Winnie-the-Pooh, and I think that's fairly age appropriate. Also Curious George was big with her at that age. Maybe Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" would make a welcome change of pace? Or Pooh could make friends with The Paddington Bear?

For the little one, I'd second whoever said Eric Carle (we still read the "Mixed Up Chameleon" at my house), David Kirk's "Miss Spider" series, and "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister. All have colorful illustrations and surprising and gentle storylines.

Irene Wilde

P.S. -- Kick myself for forgetting...the six-year-old might also like "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I'm 41 and I still like looking at the pictures. :)
 
The nine year old could be steered towards Roald Dahl - they're all excellent.

The six year old may enjoy animal stories - Shadow the Sheepdog was a favourite of mine at that age (Enid Blyton). In fact, the Secret Seven might also be an excellent series to try.

Swallows and Amazons is also a great book for kids.

Basically, remember your own mindset from that age - I know that I loved the thought of being in a special club; animals that could talk; adventure stories; camping - that sort of thing.
 
My favourite children's authors:
LM.Montgomery- though it would be rather for girls.
Astrid Lindgren-all
Johanna Spyri- Heidi and Cornelli
Edith Nesbitt
"In desert and wilderness" by Henryk Sienkiewicz- it's definitely for boys.
Erich Kastner
 
I've always enjoyed the "Carl" books - they have no words, just very detailed and illustrated pictures. It's great with the 5-8 year olds as they can tell you the story themselves and really works their imaginations.
 
The lion the witch and the wardrobe.In fact all the Narnia books.
I read them at about 9 and ive always held a special regard for them.
 
For the 9 year old, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Toni DiTerlizzi. They're fairly brief, but have great illustrations and a lively plot. Fantasy, but set in the real world, about two brothers and a sister who find a Field Guide about mythical creatures that they discover are actually living in the woods behind the house.
 
Your oldest child may enjoy The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart, illustrated by Chris Riddell. They are one of the best children's fantasy series in recent years (beaten only by the incomparable His Dark Materials in my opinion), supremely imaginative, blackly humourous and really quite dark in places. Superbly written, the descriptions of all the bizarre denizens and fantastic locales of the world are enhanced by the excellent illustrations. Definitely one to consider
 
I loved my side of the mountain too! Because you posted that I got a copy and read it to the older kids. They loved it. Thanls. :)

~Witch
 
Roald Dahl was my favourite author as a kid. I mean, who could forget classics like Fantastic Mr Fox and James And The Giant Peach?

My all-time favourite children's book however was Charlotte's Web. Anyone else familiar with it?
 
I have a non-reading son I've tried everything on. The one book that worked was my favorite from childhood: "Loretta Mason Potts" by Mary Chase. It was written 50 years ago, and was out of print until recently. It's extremely expensive, especially for a children's book, so I imagine your first stop should be the library. If they don't have it, grit your teeth and buy the book on Amazon - the reviews will tell you why!

My other favorite was "A Wrinkle in Time" by L'Engle.
 
I hope this isn't too pretentious, but check out "The Little Motorcycle" at www.motokid.com

Perfect for the 2-6 year old who's being read to, or just starting to read themselves. Unique subject matter to children's picture books.


Please let me know what you think. :)
 
I have a 7-year old and we love the following:

Secrets of Droon series by Tony Abbott
Maximum Boy series by Dan Greenburg
Franny K Stein series by Jim Benton
Monster Manor series by Paul Martin
Horace Splattly the Cupcaked Crusader series by lawrence David
Sidekicks series by Dan Danko
 
For the 9 year old

I have an 11 year old girl, so I am not sure your son will like the books she used to like at 9. Boys and girls usually make completely different choices at that age. Apart from Harry Potter, I read to her the Narnia books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and she loved them. She hated Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe, which she read herself, but it was probably because of the language. Other books she enjoyed were Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and The Secret Garden.
 
What about Enid Blyton? When I was around 6 I just loved The Wishing Chair and The Magic Faraway Tree books. In fact, these are what made me start reading on my own.

As for your 9 year old, Paul Jennings writes some neat books full of short stories. Perfect for kids with limited attention spans! Many kids who aren't into reading really enjoy these weird and whacky tales. There are some which might be a little more mature, but he can grow into them later. There's a bit of gross humour in some of them, but it's the kind of thing young boys really like.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top