Reading book suggestions

[Jinsei]

DD is a very good reader, and reads a lot. However, we're running out of decent reading material and I'd appreciate a few suggestions!

She's read a lot of "classic" children's books like the Secret Garden, A Little Princess, the Little House on the Prairie series, the Narnia books, Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, virtually everything by Noel Streatfield, Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton etc. She has also read the Hobbit and is working her way through Lord of the Rings at the moment. She has tried "Anne of Green Gables" which I loved as a child, but couldn't really get into it for some reason.

Among more modern books, she has read the Harry Potter series, the Lemony Snicket series, Mr Gum, Spy Dog and lots of Michael Morpurgo books, as well as various stuff by David Walliams, Jeremy Strong and others which I have probably forgotten!

She has enjoyed most of these, especially Mr Gum, Harry Potter and Heidi, but we are running out of inspiration! Any suggestions? A series of books would be great as it would keep her going for longer, but individual book suggestions would also be welcome!

TIA

[meditrina]

The Norfolk Children's Book Centre has suggested reading lists on its website. Worth a look?

[KingscoteStaff]

How old is she?

[Galena]

Chalet school?

[Jinsei]

Ooh yes, chalet school is a good idea, I used to reallly enjoy these as a kid. :) She really liked all the Enid Blyton boarding school stuff, so I think she would like these too. Presumably I will find them on Amazon?

Will definitely have a look at the list meditrina, thank you.

[Jinsei]

Sorry Kings, she is 8.

[Ferguson]

Hi - retired male TA here -

This is a common query, and I always give the same answer because he was (and still is) one of my favourite authors : Arthur Ransome.

Swallows and Amazons was the first, but there are many more. They are old fashioned, and might be too 'tame' for some children. One of my favourites is Coot Club, set on the Norfolk Broads, in REAL locations. The 2-1/2 inch OS map of the Broads shows all the places. The story also conveys the social history of the area. For instance, the children want to communicate with their friends in a nearby town; they say if they send a letter in the morning post, it will be delivered the same afternoon!

Another real place that can be traced on maps (and on the web) is the setting for Watership Down; the housing development that destroyed the rabbits original home is on the outskirts of Newbury, Berks.

[Jinsei]

Thanks Ferguson, hadn't thought of either of those, but they both sound like good ideas. I read Watership Down as a child (sniff) but never got round to Swallows and Amazons so wouldn't have thought of it. I don't think she'll be worried about it being old-fashioned, she tends to enjoy the classic books, and they are classics for a reason! :)

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

Swallows and Amazons are brilliant and they are very thick and there are loads of them

Richmal Crompton's William books - there are load of them too

Grace Lin - starry river of the sky and where the mountain meets the moon

Eva Ibbotson - Journey to the river sea

Rosemary Sutcliff - about a million books set in Roman Britain which people seem to love (i could never get into them)

Philip Pullman's books based on traditional tales -I was a rat etc.

[KingscoteStaff]

Has she read The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence? If she has just studied/is just about to study the Romans then this is a great series.

I wouldn't start with Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea - save that for next year! Instead, try her books: 'Secret of Platform 13' or 'The Ogre of Oglefort'.

I agree with the Phillip Pullman suggestion: 'I was a Rat', 'Clockwork', 'The Firework Maker's Daughter'.

When I taught in Year 4, 'Varjak Paw' and 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' were great successes amongst my top readers.

What about Diana Wynne Jones? - I'd start with 'Charmed Life', 'Witch Week' or 'Eight Days of Luke'.

My 9 year old has got into Little Women and its sequels this year, but I read her the first few chapters to get her going. She loved 'What Katy Did' and 'Black Beauty' as well.

[Jinsei]

Ooh, lots of good suggestions here, thank you. She has read something by Eva Ibbotson but not the one you've mentioned (as far as I know!). She read Little Women recently and loved it, but hasn't expressed an interest in reading the next ones and I'd forgotten about them tbh.

Can't get her into Black Beauty so far. I tried reading a bit of What Katy Did to her a couple of years ago, but it may be worth revisiting.

Have heard good things about Philip Pullman but thought they were aimed at older kids for some reason. There are lots of these in our local library I think! :)

Haven't even heard of some of the others so will get dd to have a look on Amazon and see if she fancies any if them. Thanks all for the ideas, plenty to be getting on with!

[Periwinkle007]

you could try to get hold of some of the Drina books second hand, they are nice harmless books about a ballet dancer. They are by Jean Estoril and I loved them, I have some in the loft. I was older when I read them but there is absolutely nothing in them content wise of any concern.

A traveller in Time? Moondial and Charlotte Sometimes might be worth a try too. again I was a bit older when I read them but you can check if you think they would be ok.

[Jinsei]

Thanks peri, have never heard of the drina books but dd is very into dancing so might go down well! :)

[RedJeans]

When I was younger (not too long ago!) I absolutely loved the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, there's loads of them and they are beautifully illustrated the entire way through with pictures on every couple of pages. Highly addictive and encompass lots of different characters and storylines.

Also always recommend the Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson, one of the protagonists is one of my all-time favourite book characters.

[Periwinkle007]

The Drina ones were originally written back in the 50s but they reprinted some of them in about 1990ish I think (I was about 13/14). I only ever had 4 or 5 of them if I remember right (and when my parents moved house I only managed to find 2 or 3 of them so don't know what happened to the others) I wish they had reprinted all of them because I really enjoyed them and they are just so harmless. I was an able reader but I really didn't like many of the books for my age group when I was a young teenager and I much preferred to read lower level books. Had they reprinted them when I was 9 or 10 I think I would have loved them then. Nothing scary, nothing violent, no sex, drugs or drink just nice classic stories. Libraries might still have some copies but I am sure second hand you could track some down.

[Periwinkle007]

I have just looked actually and they reprinted more of them than I realised, shame I didn't keep buying them - I was obviously too old for them by the time they did some. The ones I had were Ballet for Drina, Drina's Dancing Year and Drina Dances in Exile, I was sure I had another too but can't think which one.

www.amazon.co.uk/Ballet-Drina-Books-Jean-Estoril/dp/035611984X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372621076&sr=8-1&keywords=drina%20jean%20estoril&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
www.amazon.co.uk/Drinas-Dancing-Year-Drina-Books/dp/0356119904/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372621076&sr=8-2&keywords=drina%20jean%20estoril&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
www.amazon.co.uk/Drina-Dances-Exile-Jean-Estoril/dp/0356119866/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1372621076&sr=8-6&keywords=drina%20jean%20estoril&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

second hand good condition seems to be about £2.80.

and I am relieved to note that actually those 3 were reprinted when I was 11 so I wasn't quite so old when I read them :o)

[Jinsei]

Will definitely look at the drina books, and at the suggestions from Redjeans too. It's good to know there are still plenty of good books out there to explore!