# What Are You Reading To Your Kids? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051 "2007-08-01T23:06:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/1 "2007-08-01T23:06:11Z")
I’ve been reading _The Hobbit_ to my five year old son: we’re nearly finished - The Battle Of The Five Armies has just been won, and there were a few tears shed over Thorin’s death, but in the main he’s loving it. It was a little slow going at first - some of the tougher or more archaic language needs an off-the-cuff edit - but once we got to the trolls it was all gravy, and the fight with the spiders in Mirkwood was a particular delight, which is regularly renacted by jumping on and off the sofa, brandishing a plastic lightsabre and yelling “Attercop! Troglodytes! Jellyfish!” {Bilbo has mysteriously become conflated with Captain Haddock, for reasons which escape me}. We are also now supplied with enough pictures of Smaug in his lair {with cameo appearances by Gollum and the spiders} to paper the living room, and have had endless fun sitting down drawing dragons - I still can’t figure out how to do realistic wings - and figuring out how to depict invisible hobbits. What are you reading to your kids, and how’s it going? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/2 "2007-08-02T01:05:39Z")
I’m reading to my son the Tintin comic books. His grandmother is not too happy about the frequent use of guns but my son loves them. He has built the spaceship that carries Tintin to the moon out of legos. He is 4 and a half. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/3 "2007-08-02T01:10:57Z")
Right now I am reading \*Tom Sawyer \* to my 9 and 12 year olds. We do a lot of read aloud, especially in the summer on hot, lazy afternoons. Bedtime read aloud to my 9 year old is _Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing_. The 12 year old is reading Harry Potter. We still read aloud to both of them, just 'cause it’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![billyb0b](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@billyb0b](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billyb0b)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/4 "2007-08-02T01:58:41Z")
I am reading those _Alice in Bibleland_ books to all three (9,7,5); Tom Sawyer to the 9 & 7; and _The Oak in the Acorn_ to the 5 y/o. They love to be read to out loud, even thought all three can read at some level. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/5 "2007-08-02T02:01:12Z")
During the school year, I read The House With the Clock in Its Walls to my students. I highly recommend it to anyone. It’s aimed at grades 6-8. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/6 "2007-08-02T02:16:31Z")
We are reading _The sword in the stone_ right now, and we just escaped from Madame Mim. The first night we tried it I read two chapters, and my 7yo daughter loved the real-information bits and _hated_ the way Sir Ector and King Pellinore talked. It wasn’t knightly enough, and it was too weird and modern. She decided to go for a second night to see if she could stand it, and now she likes it. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/7 "2007-08-02T02:18:30Z")
I just read my 7 year old _[Follow My Leader](http://www.amazon.com/Follow-My-Leader-James-Garfield/dp/0140364854)_. Loved and remembered this book from my youth… about a kid who is blinded and gets a seeing eye dog. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/8 "2007-08-02T02:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] I’m reading to my son the Tintin comic books. His grandmother is not too happy about the frequent use of guns but my son loves them. He has built the spaceship that carries Tintin to the moon out of legos. He is 4 and a half. [/QUOTE] Yeah, we’ve done all the Tintin books, and they’re abiding favourites: Captain Haddock is a particular favourite, and the young un’ even went to a fancy dress party last Christmas dressed as the good captain, complete with pipe - although I drew the line at a whiskey bottle. No, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/9 "2007-08-02T02:42:21Z")
HP7 for my nine year old. He likes me to read aloud to him. Last book we read aloud was DragonRider. He reads (and loves) the TinTin books by himself. He is my reluctant reader–I am very grateful I cottoned on to Tintin. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/10 "2007-08-02T03:17:23Z")
Fox in Socks, for all three of mine (6, 2 and 1). A dozen times a day. Shoot me now. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/11 "2007-08-02T03:23:56Z")
We (my 11-year-old and I) are still reading _The Count of Monte Cristo_ which we’ve been doing for a couple of months now. (Took a break while he went to camp, another break while he read HPand the Deathly Hallows). Between the 700-page book and the 1400-page book he’s logged a lotta words this summer. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/12 "2007-08-02T03:29:31Z")
[QUOTE=MissGypsy] Fox in Socks, for all three of mine (6, 2 and 1). A dozen times a day. Shoot me now. [/QUOTE] Wanna trade? I got _Chicka Chicka Boom Boom_ and three toddlers (1,2 and 3, but only one is mine. The others are just here all the time.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/13 "2007-08-02T04:41:36Z")
My youngest is going into her junior year of college, but I read to her right through high school. What I remember off the top of my head, over the years The Black Stallion all the Ramona books Animal Farm To Kill a Mockingbird Alice in Wonderland The Martian Chronicles Seven or eight Oz books plus about 30 Nancy Drews, and ten or 12 Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books. I would MSTie the Nancy Drew books. It wasn’t until late in high school, when she read one herself, that she discovered that the name of their housekeeper wasn’t Hannah Gruesome. 🙂 Reading to your kids is great. I miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/14 "2007-08-02T05:49:43Z")
My daughter is 4 months old. Every evening, we read “Guess How Much I Love You”, but during the day, I read her a few pages of “The Wind in the Willows” before each nap. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/15 "2007-08-02T07:35:00Z")
My daughter’s 2 & a bit. We read _The Gruffalo_ and all the other other Julia Donaldson/Axel Schaeffler books, Edward Lear (_Owl&Pussycat,_ _Quangle-Wangle’s Hat_), Sendak (_Night Kitchen_, _WTWTA_), the _Russell The Sheep_ series by Rob Scotton, and many, many more. Also Seuss, _Hungry Caterpillar_, _Guess How Much I love You_, _Bringing Down The Moon_, Grimm’s Fairy Stories, Mother Goose, _Winnie The Pooh_, Pratchett’s _Where’s My Cow_, Gaiman’s _The Wolves in the Walls_… her library’s getting bigger than mine. Current favourite is _How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?_ by Yolen & Teague. I love it too - surreal, but wonderful art. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/16 "2007-08-02T10:34:34Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] My daughter’s 2 & a bit. We read _The Gruffalo_ and all the other other Julia Donaldson/Axel Schaeffler books… [/QUOTE] Oh, those are _great_ books. We read a lot of Lynley Dodd when he was younger, too, but now we’ve graduated to “proper reading stories”: he was immensely proud that _The Hobbit_ had no pictures. Still, _Slinky Malinki_ just has to be dusted off every now and then. What else have we read? All of the Narnia books, _The Wind In The Willows_ {twice - we went through a phase of Mr Toad re-enactments, compared to which Civil War re-enactors are the merest dabblers}, _Alice_, much of Roald Dahl {whom I’m not particularly fond of, but _Charlie And The Chocolate Factory_ and _James And The Giant Peach_ have been read at least twice}, _Mrs Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH_, and of course Philip Pullman’s kids’ stories: _The Scarecrow And His Servant_ {a retelling of Don Quixote featuring an empty-headed but kind-hearted and valorous Scarecrow and the resourceful little boy who aids him through the world} is highly recommended. _The Sword In The Stone_ is an excellent idea for the next read, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/17 "2007-08-02T11:01:38Z")
My not-quite-2-year-old absolutely adores _The Gruffalo_ - also _Russel the Sheep_,_My Sheep Book_ and _Where is the Green Sheep?_ (basically, you can’t go wrong with sheep, in this house). Also multiple readings of _Stories Jesus Told_ (also contains sheep) and _Very Hungry Caterpillar_ (no sheep, but apparently still acceptable) The not-quite-4-year-old wants to read books about craft all the time. She doesn’t care if we actually _do_ the craft or not, she just wants to read about it. Also been working our way (multiple times) through a Shirlel Hughes _Alfie_ omnibus. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/18 "2007-08-02T12:02:14Z")
My one and half year old loves Each Peach Pear Plum, until it was read to pieces, every reading session would include a reading from EPPP. Just saying the title of the book would have Rosa off searching for it 🙂 The Quangle Wangle by Lear is another good one that she likes, I’m trying to get her onto books with a bit more text, but with pictures and the like for her to point at to keep her occupied. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/19 "2007-08-02T12:29:15Z")
**Scissorjack** , The Hobbit? That’s impressive! **Mahaloth** , I love the John Bellairs books, especially the Lewis Barnavelt ones. I give them and recommend them anytime I can. Those of you with children small enough for picture books might try [Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Let-Pigeon-Drive-Bus/dp/B000EGF0Q4/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-8519744-2072742?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186057248&sr=8-2) by Mo Willems. There are other Pigeon books too. My kids’ reading routine has fallen apart a little bit, what with them going off on various trips this summer. The last book we read aloud was Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, which was okay. _shrug_ My fifteen year old girl just finished HP7, and is starting to read the series over again. My ten year old boy is still working on HP7, and I have a book coming from the library, Grimm’s Grimmest, which will probably be our next bedtime reading. ---
**Author:** ![Cap\_n\_Obvious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@Cap\_n\_Obvious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Obvious)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051/20 "2007-08-02T12:38:59Z")
I’m currently reading the Wayside School stories to my little sister. (She’s 6.) I’ll probably start the Redwall series after we’re through with this one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-to-your-kids/414051.md?page=2)