So this year I’ve decided to give my niece and nephews books for Christmas. I’ve been thinking back to my own childhood to come up with ideas, but I’d also like to hear suggestions from the Dope on other options.
I’m looking for suggestions for one brother’s two boys (8 and 10) and my other brother’s one girl (9). Both sets of parents are readers, so some of my initial ideas (The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Narnia, Shel Silverstein) are already in the family library. But I want to give them something that’s theirs, preferable for them to read themselves.
Browsing Amazon’s kid categories brought up a lot of my old favorites: Phantom Tollbooth, Little Prince, Roald Dahl, Dark is Rising series, etc. I even found this re-issue, which might go over well with any of them.
I’m thinking of getting each of them three or four books, so any and all ideas are welcome. I’m thinking mainly stories, although I might get each one something like an activity book or along the lines of “How things work”.
My daughter, who is 10, likes the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. It’s about clans of cats. You can get the first three books in a very inexpensive boxed set from Amazon.com.
She also likes the Lemony Snicket books, though I think they’re a little harder for her to read.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (unabridged, of course)
A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Keith Robertson’s Henry Reed books are great. I think the first two, Henry Reed, Inc. and Henry Reed’s Babysitting Service, are still in print – and they’re the best in the series.
The main character’s a boy, but his best friend is a girl, so all the kids may enjoy them.
My cousins daughters (starting around aged 8/9) loved Little House on the Prairie. It was good for me because I could just get them the next book when I felt like spoiling them a bit (or for birthday, etc.).
I always put in a bid for Jonathan Strouds Bartimaeus Trilogy in these threads. They have to be good readers, but if they can handle Harry Potter, they can handle those.
My kids also like the Peter Pan sequels written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The last one just came out.
My daughter loves the Redwall series, too.
Daniel Pinkwater’s latest, The Neddiad was also very funny.
I also liked the Black Stallion books, Redwall, Narnia–which have been mentioned.
Does anyone remember a series of books called the Borrowers? They’re little people who “borrow” objects from our world for their own use. And that’s why things go missing so often. Sort of like underpants gnomes, but not about capitalism.
I absolutely loved the Little House books as a child, and read them so often I can quote whole passages from memory.
Another series I liked started with a book called Bunnicula, about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables, the family cat that’s obsessed with defeating him, and the dog, the narrator and unwilling participant in the cat’s crazy schemes. There are several books, and they’re hysterically funny (even funnier now, because some of the jokes I didn’t get til I was older). The other books that I can recall the names of are Howliday Inn and The Celery Stalks at Midnight. I think there were a couple more.
If I hadn’t sold them to a used bookstore to finance my trip to England, I’d still read them. I started reading them in the third grade, about the age of your niece and nephews.
I also liked The House with a Clock in its Walls, a magical sort of book they might enjoy if they like Harry Potter. I think that’s a trilogy, but I don’t recall the other two books’ names.
To add to the list of worthy books already mentioned: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster; Watership Down by Richard Adams; and The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher. The last one is a bit sexist (in an implicit way) in that all the protagonists are boys and the girls are accessory characters at best, and so may be considered a “boy’s book”, but it was definitely a favorite of mine while growing up.
And by the age of 8-10 I would guess they’ve already read books like Charlotte’s Web?
