Best of children's fiction

[manchesterstudent]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping some of you parents out there would be able to help me with something.

I am currently carrying out some personal research on children's fiction to aid me in my degree course at university.

My research includes looking at the trends of children's fiction. I've browsed the bookshops and spoken with a few children about some of their favourites and I thought who better to ask next than the parents?

Please could I trouble you to reply to this thread just briefly responding with what type of books your children are into and the ages of your children?

Are there "cool" books that children are into these days?
Is there any common trend in the theme/author/style/genre that your children are attracted to?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[Booksteensmagazines]

16 yr old - loved Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. He's not a great fiction reader so reads books recommended to him which he thinks will challenge him. This one fitted the bill.

15 and 13 year old - loved the dystopian genre (hunger games, maze runner, divergent) and they like fantasy (originally Harry Potter and more recently Throne of Glass) but the series they both raved over was Noughts and Crosses. They also loved The Outsiders by SE Hinton. More recently they both love Games of Thrones (which is not aimed at their age range I know) because they love the complexity & the back story. In the same line they like Lord of the Rings. They are keen readers and the books they read are influenced by films and by teachers/librarians. They like discussing the books they read. However this is in part a result of the fact I am a librarian and I recommend books to teenagers so it's quite central to life at home.

[lostintoys]

My eight-year-old son loves fantasy – anything involving heroes, monsters, giants, goblins, wizards, etc. He's reading a series called the Magnificent 12 at the moment, and has just finished the Goblins series by Philip Reeve.

[DeWee]

Ds aged 7yo isn't really into fiction for reading to himself. However the last two books I've read to him and he loved were Cue for Treason (Geoffrey Trease) and Tennis Shoes (Noel Streatfield). Actually he said he hated Tennis Shoes (he'd asked for a sporty book, and I think he was after a list of footballs greatest players or something) but when I asked him what book he wanted to read next he asked for the sequel (there isn't one) and he was most put out.
Fiction he reads to himself: Beast Quest, Horrible Histories (if they count as fiction), My Story-the ones about WWI or WWII. Or others about WWII.
Ones I read to him and he loves are old fashioned adventure stories: He's enjoyed White Riders/Hidden in a dream/storm ahead (Monica Edwards), Mystery at Witchend/Spring comes to Nettleford (Malcolm Saville), Peter Duck/Winter Holiday (Arthur Ransome), House at Callicote Place (Noel Streatfield), Black Riders (Violet Needham) and several of the Island of Adventure series.

Dd2 aged nearly 11yo reads classics. She's just finished the Anne of Green Gables series and I noticed was reading Great Expectations (which made me a but as I hated it) a couple of nights ago. She also likes Chalet School and other Girls Own type literature. Things that have a nice story rather than are "scary". She also likes Jacqueline Wilson.

Dd1 (13yo) likes spy type stories. Probably her favourite are the Cherub or Henderson Boy series. The sort of highly dangerous adventure type. Her comfort book however is Watership Down and has been since she was about 9yo.

They also all read differently, if that's of interest to you.
Ds prefers me to read it, then he will go back and reread his favourite bits.
Dd1 and dd2 wouldn't have put up with me reading (too slow) at his age.

Dd2 rereads books a lot. She's quite capeable of getting to the end of a book and promptly restarting-and doing that several times in succession. She also sometimes has several books on the go at once. She'll pick up a book and start at her favourite bit. She also reads a very large range of levels-she'll read Rainbow Fairies if they're there, but also, say she read a few weeks ago "The Daughter of Time" (Josephine Tay) which, I think is an adult book. She will only start a book if she's sure it isn't scary!

Dd1 reads a book once and then doesn't go back to it for years, if ever. For example she read Harry Potter at 6yo, but then didn't reread it until year 6 (aged 11) when her best friend read it and she wanted to talk about it. She reads one book at a time, right the way through. in fact she often only reads one series at a time, works her way through the series and then moves onto another series. She'll pick up a book, read the blurb and start it, if it doesn't grab her she'll stop and not go back to it.

[emmaMBC]

David Walliams is HUGELY popular.

[BlueChampagne]

DS1 (7) likes more"girls" books: Goth Girl, Worst Witch, Roman Mysteries, 101 Dalmatians (bit of a sucker for a glamorous baddy). Will have several books on the go at once, and loves to reread, or read for himself something he has been read.
DS2 (nearly 5) likes (to be read) Astrosaurs, Skylanders, Dinosaur Cove.

[BlueChampagne]

Think they're both a bit young for "cool". A 9yo friend has just finished "A Wizard of Earthsea".

[unclerory]

The biggest hit here recently is the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, with the parents because of the gorgeous language and the sensitive introduction to genocide, with the kids because of the depiction of a relationship between two sisters. DD1 also adores the f-ing Rainbow Fairies and the attraction there is the simple plots, multiple books and fairy with her name. Hoping she grows out of this stage soon and starts reading good books.

[manchesterstudent]

Thank you so much for all your responses.

This really helps!