# I'm looking for some good children's books. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776 "2002-08-27T14:11:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/21 "2002-08-28T18:00:10Z")
The Wizard of Oz series. If you can find it, for girls, The Campfire Girls. They’re rather old, 1930s-40s, but they’re very fun to read. I liked Encyclopedia Brown too. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/22 "2002-08-28T18:05:11Z")
_The Princess Bride_–William Goldman rocks! _Where the Red Fern Grows_ was always one of my _very_ favorites. _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn_–that might be a little above them yet, but still a great book. Plus, I’d actually like to suggest Stephen King’s _The Eyes of the Dragon_. There’s maybe a sentence or two you’d have to skip over if you’d rather avoid sexual questions, but overall it’s a very “clean” work. King actually wrote it for his children, IIRC. It’s got dragons and wizards and true love and kings. Very exciting and fun to read. bella ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/23 "2002-08-28T20:14:47Z")
What a lovely tradition, **Dragongirl**! Like **Beadalin** , I really dug _Harriet the Spy_. She’s just so appealingly unlovable, if that makes sense. Lloyd Alexander is wonderful children’s author. His _Prydain Chronicles_ were among the first books I was ever super-enthused about. They’re fantasy adventures, with plenty of both scary and funny bits. I read the first of the series, _The Book of Three_ when I was about eight, so they should be around the right level for your young’uns. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/24 "2002-08-28T20:22:42Z")
I will third the Series of Unfortunate Events…my son, who’s 8, and I are on 5 now and we’re really enjoying them. I started with them as a fill-in 'til the next Harry Potter book, which we also enjoyed very, very much. My son likes books with lots of action, so he liked Roald Dahl’s _The Witches_ and both Willy Wonka books, but found _A Cricket In Times Square_ slow. I’ve read through the original Dr. Dolittle with him and he found that a little dull as well. We started on _The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe_ but he was a little spooked by that, so we stopped – but that was quite a while ago. Also, _The Westing Game_ and _A Wrinkle In Time_ were by far my favorites as a youngun. I’m waiting a bit to introduce them to my son, but I think it’ll be time once we finish the Unfortunate Events books. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/25 "2002-08-29T04:39:58Z")
Any of the Paul Jennings books. They are heaps of them… Some of them off the top of my head are [Uncanny](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670841749/qid=1030595032/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unreal](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140349103/qid=1030595032/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unbearable](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670862622/qid=1030595032/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unmentionable](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140373993/qid=1030595230/sr=1-13/ref=sr_1_13/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Undone](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140383980/qid=1030595368/sr=1-21/ref=sr_1_21/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unbelievable](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140383980/qid=1030595368/sr=1-21/ref=sr_1_21/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books) and[Uncovered](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670868566/qid=1030595444/sr=1-49/ref=sr_1_49/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books) among many others. They’re short stories, usually hilariously funny, and often very disgusting (one story that springs to mind is called “cow dung custard”) but they’re the kind of stories kids love (especially boys, in my experience), and they’re pretty easy to read. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/26 "2002-08-29T04:46:24Z")
Any of the Paul Jennings books. They are heaps of them… Some of them off the top of my head are [Uncanny](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670841749/qid=1030595032/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unreal](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140349103/qid=1030595032/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unbearable](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670862622/qid=1030595032/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unmentionable](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140373993/qid=1030595230/sr=1-13/ref=sr_1_13/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Undone](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140383980/qid=1030595368/sr=1-21/ref=sr_1_21/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books), [Unbelievable](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140383980/qid=1030595368/sr=1-21/ref=sr_1_21/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books) and[Uncovered](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670868566/qid=1030595444/sr=1-49/ref=sr_1_49/104-9762632-2026350?v=glance&s=books) among many others. They’re short stories, usually hilariously funny, and often very disgusting (one story that springs to mind is called “cow dung custard”) but they’re the kind of stories kids love (especially boys, in my experience), and they’re pretty easy to read. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776/27 "2002-08-29T07:24:42Z")
There’s a guy named Bruce Coville who writes fantasy and science fiction for that age group. Kids find them hilarious, though they fall a little short for adults. My favorite during the fifth grade was _Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher_. I first read _The Lord of the Rings_ when I was 8, although I get the impression that most people don’t tackle those until they’re older. I’ll also add another vote for _The Phantom Tollbooth_ and _Cheaper by the Dozen_, both of which I read many times during my youth. _The Wizard of Oz_, on the other hand, is a perfect demonstration of the fact that a book can be a classic without being good. James Herriot’s books are good for that age group as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-some-good-childrens-books/125776.md?page=1)