# Book suggestions for children **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964 "2007-11-27T21:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/21 "2007-11-28T03:19:18Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] Those were fun when I was younger. 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. [/QUOTE] I’ve read those! The Borrowers! …I also remember an early 80s TV show about them, do you? Zombie Borrowers. That scene creeped me out so much as a wee lizardling. Hmm. I’d also recommend Farley’s other horse novelizations. That’s how I learned about Man O’War. Or Jack London’s dog books. I had an invisible wolfdog for a while after reading them. Er, I wouldn’t recommend any scary books. There’s a reason I firmly refuse to own any human dolls, besides the fact that my Oma thought giving me some scary-ass dolls as a toddler was a good one, and that’s a book involving a lonely girl and a magical dollhouse populated with two dolls who may or may not have been reincarnations of previous owners. Her uncle was the only one who paid attention to her, etc. The ending kept me up for weeks, and should’ve been a Twilight Zone episode. Oh! What about The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder? That one made me want to have my own secrets so badly. The Oz universe – “The Wizard of Oz” wasn’t the only one Baum did – he wrote a whole string of those books, and I tore through them when I was about the same age as the kids. I might be odd, but I had a complete “My Book House” set from the 50s with all sorts of abridged classics, and loved the illustrations and the stories. I remember hauling the various volumes around all the time. I’ve made it very clear to my parents that they are not to get rid of the set until I can mail them back here. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/22 "2007-11-28T03:27:10Z")
When I was a youngster I was very fond of Hugh Lofting’s _Doctor Dolittle_ series. Don’t let the execrable movies influence you; the books are charming and clever. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/23 "2007-11-28T03:41:54Z")
_The Egypt Game_ was an awesome book, I can’t believe I forgot it. And _The Indian in the Cupboard_. You guys are making me all nostalgic. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/24 "2007-11-28T03:50:47Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] When I was a youngster I was very fond of Hugh Lofting’s _Doctor Dolittle_ series. Don’t let the execrable movies influence you; the books are charming and clever. [/QUOTE] Movies? What movies? There has never been a Dr. Doolittle movie made. No sir, not even with Eddie Murphy. And yeah, I loved those books. However, I’d want to have a chat with the kid about some of the in-context portrayals, such as Bumppo and Long Arrow, son of Golden Arrow. Rather not PC. Oh, that reminds me. Within reason, I’d recommend the Tintin books. It’ll depend on the kids and their parents though. I remember The Golden Lotus was one of the first Tintin books I read, and I didn’t have a problem with it. Same issue with in-context portrayals of the natives. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/25 "2007-11-28T03:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] 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. [/QUOTE] Those were great! For kids, sure, but hilarious! I loved those. Also, the Bailey School Kids books–for younger readers. There were books like “Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots” or “Werewolve Don’t Go to Summer Camp.” These four kids meet a “scary” adult every book and are left wondering if the adult really is a vampire/werewolf/Santa (okay, sometimes it’s not scary). A lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/26 "2007-11-28T04:10:20Z")
I think books are awesome gifts and I congratulate you for giving them. But, as the voice of experience: In this age of beeping, brightly colored plastic toys, be prepared for their response to to be “Oh. A book. Thanks.” But IME books are appreciated by kids who like to read, even if they aren’t delerious with joy over them on Christmas Day. They enjoy them later. So give 'em anyway! My absolute favorite kids’ book for the age group you’re talking about is [The Westing Game](http://www.amazon.com/Westing-Game-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/014240120X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196221980&sr=1-1). Other recommendations: For boys, I like: [Carry On, Mr. Bowditch](http://www.amazon.com/Carry-Mr-Bowditch-Jean-Latham/dp/0618250743/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196222355&sr=1-2) [Holes](http://www.amazon.com/Holes-Louis-Sachar/dp/0440419468/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196222479&sr=1-1) [Hoot](http://www.amazon.com/Hoot-Carl-Hiaasen/dp/033044543X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196222562&sr=1-1) For girls: The Alcott books (_Little Women_, etc.) Robin McKinley’s [The Hero and the Crown](http://www.amazon.com/Hero-Crown-Robin-McKinley/dp/0441013058/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196222630&sr=1-1) and [The Blue Sword](http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sword-Robin-McKinley/dp/0441068804/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b) Karen Cushman’s [Catherine Called Birdie](http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Called-Birdy-Summer-Reading/dp/0060739428/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196222755&sr=1-1) and [The Midwife’s Apprentice](http://www.amazon.com/Midwifes-Apprentice-rpkg-Trophy-Newbery/dp/006440630X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196222755&sr=1-2) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/27 "2007-11-28T04:39:20Z")
Strongly seconding _The Westing Game_ and the _Spiderwick_ books. I’d also highly recommend _From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_. If any of them like that one, perhaps _Chasing Vermeer_, by Blue Balliett. It’s not a classic, but it’s fun, with puzzles and codes right in the book. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/28 "2007-11-28T04:43:03Z")
I humbly suggest the \*[Babymouse](http://www.babymouse.com) \* series of graphic novels for kids. All three kids are smack in the middle of the target age range. _[Queen of the World](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375832297/)_ is probably the best fit for your niece; you can get _[Our Hero](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375832300/)_ and \*[Rock Star](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375832327) \* for the boys. ---
**Author:** ![ThirdCultureKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@ThirdCultureKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdCultureKid)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/29 "2007-11-28T04:44:40Z")
There’s a wonderful canadian author called **Kit Pearson** whose books both I, my mother and my brother loved. The best is probably her WWII trilogy, whose first book is called _The Sky is Falling_, but she’s written a lot of amazing ones. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/30 "2007-11-28T04:48:38Z")
[QUOTE=PaperBlob] 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](http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Box-Set-Volumes/dp/0060891904/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196201254&sr=1-2) from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). [/QUOTE] I came in specifically to recommend Warriors. My son (9) loves these books. He actually never read for pleasure before discovering this series. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/31 "2007-11-28T05:16:30Z")
The two couples I’m closest to each had two daughters, and it has been my firm policy since the birth of the first (my god-daughter) in 1980 to give no gifts to any child _except_ books. They get plenty of shiny plastic crap from everyone else. From Uncle Commasense it’s books. Here is a nearly complete list of all the books I’ve given seven children (including the children of the first two girls) over the last 27 years. **Pre-teen** _40 stories by O. Henry_ _A Wrinkle in Time_ (L’Engle) _Alice in Wonderland_ _Andersen’s Fairy Tales_ _Bartholomew and the Oobleck_ (Dr. Seuss) _Beatrix Potter_ _The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins_ (Dr. Seuss) _The Giving Tree_ (Silverstein) _Huckleberry Finn_ _In the Night Kitchen_ (Sendak) _James and the Giant Peach_ (Dahl) _Lafcadio_ (Silverstein) _The Little Prince_ _Matilda_ (Dahl) _The McGuffy Readers_ _The One and Only Shrek_ (Steig) _Peter Rabbit_ _Phantom Toll Booth_ (Norton Juster) _Random House Book of Humor for Children_ _The Real Mother Goose_ _Through the Looking Glass_ _Tom Sawyer_ _A Treasury of Children’s Literature_ _Where the Sidewalk Ends_ (Shel Silverstein) _The Wizard’s Apprentice_ (S.P. Somtow) _Why Things Work_ (McCaulay) **Teens and beyond:** _1984_ _Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do_ (McWilliams) _Animal House_ (Orwell, not Lampoon!) _The Annotated Alice, definitive edition_ _Brave New World_ _Catcher in the Rye_ _Collected Stories of I.B. Singer_ _Complete Jane Austen_ _Complete Shakespeare_ _Complete Stories of Poe_ _Crime and Punishment_ _David Copperfield_ _Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care_ (When they had their own kids, of course) _Emma_ _Encyclopedia Britannica_ on CD-ROM _Griffin and Sabine_ trilogy _His Dark Materials_ trilogy (Pullman) _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_ (Hugo) _If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller_ (Calvino) Kafka stories The Koran _Memories, Thoughts, and Reflections_ (Einstein) _The More Than Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ _The Real World Aptitude Test_ _Science, Good, Bad, and Bogus_ (Gardner) _Shorter OED_ _When Do Fish Sleep?_ (Feldman) As you may notice, I am a firm believer in giving books that may be slightly beyond the child’s present age. ---
**Author:** ![ThirdCultureKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@ThirdCultureKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdCultureKid)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/32 "2007-11-28T05:23:01Z")
Will you be _my_ Unca’ **commasense**? ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/33 "2007-11-28T14:44:08Z")
What, no love for Gary Paulsen? Like **comma** , we too are the aunt and uncle who only ever give books for every possible gift-giving occasion. Our nephews are starved for reading material, and sometimes are more excited about the books than the latest noisy plastic thing. There is a wonderful book list here, and I’ll be sure to print it out as it grows. I’ll toss into the arena the following, off the top of my head: _Hatchet, The River, Dogsong_, Gary Paulsen _Where the Red Fern Grows_, Wilson Rawls _The Giver_, Lois Lowry _Coraline_, Neil Gaiman _Caddie Woodlawn_, Carol Ryrie Brink _The Cay_, Theodore Taylor Anything by Beverly Cleary, but you’ve got to buy them used published prior to 1984. I think that some of them have been “updated” and I don’t think they read as well as they did before. _The Jungle Books_, Rudyard Kipling _Haroun and the Sea of Stories_, Salman Rushdie–this is one of my very favorite books of all time. Hooray for books! ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/34 "2007-11-28T14:45:13Z")
Ooh-- Also good, which I just finished reading: [The Fog Mound: Adventures of Thelonious.](http://www.amazon.com/Travels-Thelonious-Mound-Susan-Schade/dp/0689876858/) It’s about a post-apocalyptic world (it’s unclear what happened … all the humans are just gone) in which many of the animals can talk, and have taken over the ruins of human cities, etc. Part novel, part graphic-novel. Good for the boys, I think. Ah! And I see its sequel is out. I’ll have to get that… ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/35 "2007-11-28T15:34:48Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] My absolute favorite kids’ book for the age group you’re talking about is [The Westing Game](http://www.amazon.com/Westing-Game-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/014240120X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196221980&sr=1-1). [/QUOTE] I loved Raskin’s books as a kid. My favorite was “The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon, I mean Noel.” Add me to the fans of Hoot and The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler as well I think that age is challanging. My daughter is eight, my son is nine. They are both considered “good readers” but neither of them is voracious. They are a little old for the Magic Treehouse books, a little young for most of the chapter books a step up from them. My daughter loved The Tale of Deparaux - well written and readable for a precocious eight year old. My son is struggling through, but enjoys, “So You Want to Be a Wizard.” However, he is currently distracted by Tin-Tin graphic novels. My daughter is just starting the Little House books. She LOVED the Maud Hart Lovelace books (the Betsy-Tacy books) through about #3 (they get progressively harder as the girls age - and she lost interest when the girls got older than her), but they are sadly out of print (again). There is some talk that the Minnesota Historical Society Press will pick them up. ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/36 "2007-11-28T17:11:30Z")
Thanks for all the great suggestions. And in many cases, a trip down memory lane. I haven’t thought of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler in probably 20 years. I had considered Pratchett’s “Wee Free Men” and Lemony Snicket, but had thought those were for a slightly older audience. But I guess it’s better to give a boot that stretches them (or their parents can read to them, or they can pick up again in a year or two) than something too “babyish”. Keep the suggestions coming, I’m taking copious notes! [QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=308215) thread should give you some ideas. [/QUOTE] Heh, I can’t believe that list left out the old classic **Daddy drinks because you cry**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/37 "2007-11-28T17:20:34Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] 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. [/QUOTE] I haven’t read the books, but I know there was a movie made (with John Goodman) several years ago. [QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] 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. [/QUOTE] Those would be by the late great John Bellairs, who wrote quite a few gothic-horror-ish books for kids. My own recommendations, at least for boys who like to read, based on what I remember reading and liking when I was around that age: I can enthusiastically second the Oz books, the Narnia books, the Prydain books, the Dr. Doolittle books, _A Wrinkle in Time_, _Tom Sawyer_, and _Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass_. And I will add The Great Brain books John D. Fitzgerald The Freddy the Pig books (after whom a Doper is named) by Walter Brooks The Three Investigators books by Robert Arthur The Encyclopedia Brown books by Donald J. Sobol ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/38 "2007-11-28T17:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] _Caddie Woodlawn_, Carol Ryrie Brink [/QUOTE] Seconded! And seconding (thirding) The Borrowers–I loved the descriptions of everyday human objects used in very different ways by tiny people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/39 "2007-11-28T17:30:29Z")
I should have suggested another favorite of mine I haven’t seen mentioned: _The Weirdstone of Brisingamen_. Maybe after Prydain (which I should have seconded or thirded or whatevered). ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964/40 "2007-11-28T18:28:58Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] The series of Oz books would be cool. I loved all the characters in those, and all the different stories in addition to The Wizard of Oz. [/QUOTE] I have those, including a couple written by other authors. My daughter turned me on to **Artemis Fowl** , and I can highly recommend those books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-children/427964.md?page=3)