Books for an eight-year-old boy?

[Zhade]

Hey gang! I'd like to solicit some suggestions from you as to what books my eight-year-old son might like.

He's a typical kid, into the games and whatnot (I landed a Wii for him on Friday, woohoo), and like most he enjoys good scifi/fantasy/adventure - whatever takes him into a Big Realm Full Of Excitement.

The sad thing is that, while I've loved to read all my life, I can't really remember what kind of books I read at his age (except the Oz books, about which I was fanatical)!

He's pretty creative (writers on his dad's side of the family for generations, so that makes sense) and I want to encourage his love of story. Great books will do this. (And btw, they don't have to be limited to just fiction, if the nonfiction is very good and can hold a kid's attention - anything that encourages critical thinking will win you hugs from me).

Any thoughts?

[tigereye]

1. Harry Potter? Eragon?

books about knights, battles and history in general? All of these were quite popular around here when my son was 8. He also liked The Hobbit (LOTR when we were all reading them out loud) and some more pre-teen- oriented science fiction.


Oh, also those wonderful Time Warp Trio books by Jon Szecseska. (sp?)

[Zhade]

2. Der - of course! (the der is meant for me, not you).

He's read the HP books, I think.

As for Eragon...well, I've heard it's even worse in terms of made-up-fake-sounding than even Mercedes Lackey books (which is saying a lot), so he might not like it too much.

Tell me more of these Time Warp books?

[tigereye]

9. one of my son's buddies loved Eragon - read it numerous times!

Time Warp Trio books are short and sweet with a lot of wit and bad puns - simple in some ways. But fun.


here:

http://www.kidsreads.com/series/series-warp.asp Also my son likes the Goosebumps books.

And then there are the classics, like Wrinkle In Time and all those Caldecott winners.

[KurtNYC]

3. The Redwall books?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall

It was a big hit in my family. And hey if he likes the first one... you've got a whole bunch more gifts cued up!

[democracyindanger]

4. Lemony Snicket.

If you want to go old school, there's the Encyclopedia Brown series.

[blondeatlast]

5. For Christmas last year, I gave my son the complete Captain Underpants collection

and he read them, reread them, and still picks them up occasionally.

They are perfect little boy books and I love the author. This is the latest; I admit to having a giggle at it myself!

http://www.powells.com/biblio/0439376149

Few adults will care for them==they are written perfectly for the little guys.

Edit: It might help to mention that my son was 8 last year!

[Divameow77]

23. My 9 year old

has been reading those for awhile and he loves them!

[Sequoia]

25. His Dragon series books are great!

"A Friend For Dragon" and about 4 more. I got them all for my kid when she was small and we were going through a box of books and I could not part with them. One book where he goes shopping for food the VW is so crammed he can't get up a hill so he eats all the food then he's too big to fit in the car.

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0531070549.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Lavender Brown]

6. Check out Cornelia Funke's books

The Thief Lord, Inkheart, Inkspell, etc. They're definitely Big Realm Full of Excitement-type stories. :)

[blondeatlast]

7. For nonfiction--any Dorling Kindersley book on a subject he enjoys.

FWIW, I'm a librarian and even I love the DKs. Loads of illustrations and great text; you simply can't go wrong.

[Dora]

12. DK is great reference for all ages. LOVE THEM.

[likesmountains 52]

8. Try any of the TinTin books...Herge

[Patiod]

13. One of my friend's daughters is into Tin-Tin

He's surprised - he thought they were sort of "guy" adventures, but she loves them. I bring her back Tin-Tin figures from a little shop in San Francisco that sells European cartoon character stuff (there's a niche for you)

[likesmountains 52]

24. I like them b/c the characters are so un-PC...I think they are more

fun for kids...now that I think about it there are not many females in TinTin..just Bianca the opera singer..

[Patiod]

34. I got my friend's daughter a Bianca figure!

Also Tin-Tin & his dog peaking out of a huge Chinese pot

[Zhade]

10. Thanks to all who replied!

NT!

[Dora]

11. Chapter books? Novels? I loved Madeline L'Engle.

Started with "A Wrinkle in Time," then followed with "A Wind in the Door" and "A Swiftly Tilting Planet."

Magical, realistic, and intellectually stimulating. I was hooked for years.

[trof]

14. Tom Sawyer? Huckleberry Finn?

Too old for him yet?
They can be enjoyed by several age levels, kid to adult.

[Sequoia]

16. I just got those for my kid.

I read them when I was older, and got Tom Sawyer for my nephew years ago and he said it was the best gift that day (even better than his SF Giants sweatshirt). I told someone about these books and how the schools should have kids read the old classics instead of new dopey books that are written badly. The answer I got was: That's for high schoolers (mind you the kids in the book are all around 11 or so), and that these books are politically incorrect, bla, bla, bla. Some people are so dense it's a wonder they actually enjoy life.

[trof]

18. I think I was around 10.

Not too long after I learned to read I found out about this place where you could get books for FREE!
I've been a library groupie ever since.
I read all the Bobbsey Twins, Tarzan books, Tom Swifts, etc.

[AllegroRondo]

15. My daughter liked Guardians of Ga'Hoole

its a fantasy story about owls, kind of like Watership Down. Lots of fun, and age appropriate.

[caty]

17. Books by Edgar Eager...

http://www.just-for-kids.com/REVEAGER.HTM

Perfect for that age.

[WhollyHeretic]

19. Philip Pullman writes kids novels as well. I just picked up one for my son this afternoon

http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-After-Words-Philip-Pullman/dp/043985623X/sr=8-8/qid=1165872620/ref=pd_bbs_sr_8/105-3656751-2614036?ie=UTF8&s=books

[MrCoffee]

20. a wrinkle in time, the westing game, asimov's Foundation series.

[Efilroft Sul]

21. "Why Does Daddy Drink?" by Efilroft Sul

That's the book I should write, since I have two little boys.

But since you asked about your eight-year-old son, "The Hobbit" comes to mind very quickly. A trade paperback edition of "Ultimate Spider-Man" by Brian Bendis might be something that works, too.

[Arugula Latte]

22. I loved The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Also -- Roald Dahl books are always fun.

[Redstone]

26. Anything by Roald Dahl. Especially "The Twits."

"...It's the Dreaded Shrinks!"

Redstone

[KamaAina]

30. Careful. Dahl wrote some very grownup stuff as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl#Adult_fiction

My Uncle Oswald, plus a number of short story collections. The rest is a good introduction to satire for kids.

[Redstone]

33. That he did, but "The Twits" is PERFECT for an 8-year-old boy.

And for those of us adults who are still eight years old at heart.

Redstone

[philosophie_en_rose]

27. Diana Wynne Jones, Garth Nix, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snickett

Anything by Diana Wynne Jones - especially Howl's Moving Castle or the Chrestomanci books. better than Harry Potter

Mr. Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, Sir Thursday, and Lady Friday by Garth Nix - A great series for kids.

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker - Mildly scary. Sort of a Hansel and Gretal with no gore.

Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett

Peter Pan in Scarlet - the new official Peter Pan book, very cute

[crim son]

28. I don't know how advanced a reader he is.

My oldest boy loved the "Magic Treehouse" series at that age. Every book takes the young protagonists to a different time in history. Even my oldest son who doesn't like to read, read every one in the series.

[Mrs.Matcom]

29. The Lion the witch and the wardrobe..

Whole series of them, LOVE them! Very good books with lots of twists and turns.

[Zhade]

32. No thanks...but thanks for replying.

Saw the movie, it was really boring.

And while I don't want to push my lack of belief as an atheist on him, I have no desire to reinforce religion in any way whatsoever.

Sorry! :^\

[GirlinContempt]

37. Books are better than movies

and the books aren't religious unless you want them to be.

[Patiod]

35. I LOVED those books when I was a kid

couldn't get the next one out of the library fast enough

[miss_american_pie]

38. I still love those books

And I'd hardly describe them as religious. :hi:

[KamaAina]

31. The Hobbit. Oh, sure, they say 9 and up.

It's the gateway Tolkien. :-)

[GirlinContempt]

36. I loved Madeline L'engle, CS Lewis, and surprisingly

those OLD books for kids based on either greek and roman history, or greek and roman mythology. I checked out some of the new myth ones, not nearly as good as the old.