# What are your kids reading?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 18, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544 "2003-04-18T14:20:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/1 "2003-04-18T14:20:43Z")
My oldest son, Nathan, finished _The Magician’s Nephew_ a few weeks ago. I ordered _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ for him and it arrived Monday. He’ll read it while he’s on Easter break.
When he finishes the Narnia series, I think we’ll start the Lemony Snicket books. I read _The Bad Beginning_. I didn’t care for it too much because it was so predictable but maybe Nathan will like it.
Nathan’s eight years old, by the way.
How 'bout your kids? Do you have any recommendations for an eight year old?
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/2 "2003-04-18T16:25:54Z")
My son reads everything he can get his grubby little hands on-- and I mean EVERYTHING.
He’s rereading the [Mossflower books](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441005764/102-6513946-0454534?vi=glance) which are good books for an eight year old, I think. I don’t think your son would be interested in anything else my son is reading right now, though.
My daughter just read Push-- not recommended for your boy _at all_.
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### Author:  [@hedra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hedra)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/3 "2003-04-18T17:10:02Z")
Once we finish the fourth Harry Potter book, we’re starting on _The Knight and the Squire_ (Terry Jones of Monty Python fame). Gabe also likes the Jedi Apprentice series, The Magic Treehouse series, and has started the Droon series. He also likes poetry, especially Shel Silverstein. We’ve also almost finished The Wind in the Willows.
Yes, that does mean we are reading more than one book at a time. Some nights we just read from one book, other nights, we read a bit from three books. His choice. He seems to keep the stories straight, I don’t know how.
He’s 5 1/2. I read to him (he is only up to reading early readers to himself so far, and he likes _PLOT_, which is somewhat lacking in books limited to 600 words…).
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### Author:  [@hedra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hedra)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/4 "2003-04-18T17:14:45Z")
And yes, I know that Harry Potter isn’t intended for 5 year olds… But The Wizard of Oz books aren’t intended for 3 and 4 year olds, and that is what we were reading then. Natural progression. (the Terry Jones book is more for the 8-11 set, as the protagonists are 10 or 11 years old)
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### Author:  [@Ego\_Mk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ego_Mk2)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/5 "2003-04-18T17:39:41Z")
If you believe in pre-incarnation (that souls exist even before the baby is born) then they’re reading whatever is popular in whatever nether space they’re existing in.
Or, otoh, reincarnation, probably a newspaper or “how to play bridge/bingo really well” book. 😃
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### Author:  [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/6 "2003-04-18T17:54:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by hedra \*
> **And yes, I know that Harry Potter isn’t intended for 5 year olds… But The Wizard of Oz books aren’t intended for 3 and 4 year olds,**
I wouldn’t worry about that too much. When I was about 6, my dad read _The Hobbit_, _The Fellowship of the Ring_, and about half of _The Two Towers_ to me; He did a kick-ass Gollum voice, too 😉
Later, I went on to re-read all those by myself. My point is, kids should read (or have read to them) what they enjoy, not what is considered by society to be “appropriate” for their age.
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### Author:  [@hedra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hedra)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/7 "2003-04-18T20:49:31Z")
Guess I’m a little gunshy on the topic (so far, I have not managed to mention the Harry Potter thing to anyone without them saying ‘REALLY? Isn’t he a bit young for that?’ in that ‘wow, are you a weirdo’ tone of voice. Barring family, of course, who know him.)
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### Author:  [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/8 "2003-04-19T19:06:17Z")
My son is currently reading a book which has no title, the contents are as follows:
Daisy Duck
Lavender Lamb
Buttercup Cow
Dillon Donkey
He loves it so much… 🙂
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### Author:  [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/9 "2003-04-19T20:55:51Z")
My 9 year old is another reading machine. He has read every Hardy Boys book in the library. He goes through one a day.
His punishment has sometimes been book restriction.
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### Author:  [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/10 "2003-04-19T21:02:46Z")
I don’t have kids, but if my parents were responding they would say _Savannah Blues_ by Mary Kay Andrews. They know that because my mom read it and told me I definitely needed to. So I am.
I just finished _It_, _The Body Project_, _Holes_ (a reread), and _Huckleberry Finn_, and am starting _The Stand_ soon. Generally I read books so fast that Mom and Dad can’t keep track of what I’m reading, probably due to the fact that when I was younger Mom would go to the store weekly and buy 10 books at once to read to me, over and over and over.
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### Author:  [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-kids-reading/169544/11 "2003-04-20T01:03:16Z")
My son is ten and he doesn’t like reading at all, but since he’s being forced to for a book report he’s reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson.
My little girl is eight and she loves to read. Right now she’s reading an _Illustrated Classics_ version of _Swiss Family Robinson._