FOAK: Books for (bright) 7-yr-old

anything by Lemony Snicket...

 

I read A Tale of Two Cities at that age. Torture them with Dickens.

 

+1

 

Arthur Ransome. If he's not ready yet he should be soon and they are a
cracking good read.

 

Asterix, and the Tintin: are you trying to morph him into a French, or
worse, a french-spekaing Belgian?

 

I'm really not sure that Swallows and Amazons works now. It seemed a
little dated (in retrospect) when I read it close to 40 years ago; and
to be honest I don't think that 70-80 year old books will encourage a
voracious reader.

 

Snowleopard <> banged this out on the
bongos:

Could try Joe Bar...

 

Search for Sue Hines. An award winning Australian author and good
friend of mine. Plus a motorbike rider. Her books cross generations
and while they are aimed at kids, they are still a damn fine read.

 

Much the same response from me from a very similar age viewpoint - I
hated Ransome, hated Enid Blyton - little prigs the lot of them.

I really like Treasure Island, but that may have had more to do with the
cover.

The only books I remember enjoying at that age (I can remember the house
I read them in) are Roald Dahl.

Although asking a bunch of sociopath misfits who live out an existence on
the internet is probably not the best demographic to ask for children's
reading material. Particularly going by the number of Pratchett
recommendations.

 

Much the same as my daughter - except it was ballet not sport - not sure
if she bothered with the last few HP books but really liked them at the
7-11 age.

 

First one released 1997.

 

I recall absolutely loathing all of them.

 

I really, really enjoyed his stuff - I still have a frayed copy of The
Great Glass Elevator that escaped a trip to the jumble.

Thinking about it, he's the only author I can readily recall from that
age.

 

Ransome's, and Malcolm Saville's novels set around the Long Mynd make
sense if you can show the kid the Lake District and the Mynd area.
Then a kid (as I did) can match a real place, with a real sense of
adventure and get something extra from the novels.

 

Indeed, it helps if the kids have some idea of context before they can
really enjoy books about messing around in boats. Get them on the
water (even briefly) then give them some Ransome books.

In general, modern children spend far too much time indoors and lack
a sense of adventure.

 

In my day etc etc..

FFS

 

Slightly misses the point as reading tends to be a solitary indoor
activity.

....anyway, in your mythical 1930s existence, how many children went round
solving mysteries involving "people who look a bit foreign" or even, for
that matter, set up an island home in the Lake District.

 

I think this misses the point as well. How many kids would *not* like
their own island home? It's fiction: wish-fulfilment.

 

I sometimes think that it certainly works that way when browsing ukrm

 

I only really enjoyed Arthur Ransome, I think because we spent a
holiday on the Broads while I was going through his books, so could
relate to the places and boats.