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Children's books

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Original poster

Can you recommend books similar to Swallows and Amazons/Little House on the Prairie

40 replies

travellingfamily · 12/06/2017 11:58

DS loves stories about children/families living in situations where they have to do everything themselves. We have the whole Swallows and Amazons series, he also loves the Little House books, and Heidi, and is currently reading the Children of the New Forest. Any recommendations? He is 8 and I want to limit the violence if possible (I think you have to accept some guns and axes in books like that, but he is not ready, for example, for Lord of the Flies!) Anything on farming/life in the wilder parts of the world/any other classics/historical fiction?

OP posts:
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Neuroticwoman · 28/06/2017 20:35

Caroline Lawrence is the Roman Mysteries and I'd second that - DS loved them.
He also loves the Young Samurai, can't recall the author.

Bitlost · 28/06/2017 20:23

The birchbark house (Native American family living at the time of Little House on the Prairie) Have not read it yet but coming to it soon. DD is also 8.

claraschu · 27/06/2017 14:31

The Railway Children
Maybe it's too obvious, but Narnia books
I loved A Little Princess at that age

timtam23 · 27/06/2017 14:26

Victor Canning - the "Smiler" trilogy? Starts with The Runaways? I absolutely loved this as a child but an 8 yr old may find it a bit sad

E Nesbit - The Enchanted Castle, this is a wonderful book and I think it has aged better than some of her other books (all written in early 1900s). I remember watching the BBC serial of the Enchanted Castle in late 1970s or early 80s, the special effects had me spellbound at the time

ifigoup · 26/06/2017 12:56

In the Ransome vein, there's also The Far-Distant Oxus - about horses rather than boats - written by two teenage girls.

When your son's older, some of the Antonia Forest books might fit the bill: The Marlows and the Traitor springs to mind (it does involve a gun so wouldn't be suitable for him at the moment).

user1493861080 · 26/06/2017 10:28

I love Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series of books...very readable and even now I still read them every couple of years!

faithinthesound · 23/06/2017 10:03

Hatchet? Modern setting, young boy in a plane crash survives but only has a hatchet, and has to survive on his wits. Good: scenes of him making mistakes, not getting everything right first time around. Bad: the pilot dies, and obviously so. Might be one to read before you give it to him/read TO him so you can decide how much of that aspect you want to share with him?

On the bright side, once you're past the crash and the pilot's death, the rest is straight survival and the boy alone and getting on with it, which you said is what he likes :)

halcyondays · 20/06/2017 09:35

Flight of the Doves by Walter Macken

Pickerel · 19/06/2017 22:17

I see that E. Nesbit has already been mentioned- my favourite is The Treasure Seekers.

whistlerx · 19/06/2017 21:53

Children on the Oregon trail - a family of children go through great hardship in American wilderness.
Noel Street field's Thursday's child.

P1nkP0ppy · 19/06/2017 21:32

Children of the Oregan Trail
Definitely Willard Price and Nancy Drew as pp have suggested.

Pollaidh · 19/06/2017 21:30

Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine Series - Group of children solving mysteries out in the Shropshire Hills, camping etc. Much better written than Blyton.

Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea

DaffodilTime · 19/06/2017 21:28

I absolutely loved Willard Price , books like Lion Adventure . It's a huge series and I had to read every one!
It's about two very independent boys who collect wild animals for their family's zoo in different countries and really exciting and well written (might be out of print)

Cornishblues · 19/06/2017 21:23

You might like to look up Kate Seredy's The good master.

Original poster
travellingfamily · 16/06/2017 12:41

Thanks so much - some really good suggestions here. Some I know, some I don't, so looking forward to some new reads for me as well!

OP posts:
pollyhemlock · 15/06/2017 17:16

Not classics( yet) but you could try Ally Kennen's Midnight Pirates, about some children who after a series of mishaps are left on their own in a seaside hotel and outwit a gang of villains. Ali Sparkes is another good author for this age group. Frozen in Time is about two children from the 1950s who have been in suspended animation and wake up today. Quite fun contrast between their attitudes and those of the modern children. Dark Summer also very good.

MrsBadger · 14/06/2017 23:00

Homecoming is heartbreaking, def not for an 8yo!

Children Who Lived in a Barn

And lots of the Noel Streatfeild books have self-reliant children who stick together - When The Siren Wailed, White Boots.

CatherineMaitland · 14/06/2017 22:55

Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming might work - 4 children walk across America after their mother disappears, trying to get to a relative.

Twoevils · 14/06/2017 22:50

Ruby Redfort

Twoevils · 14/06/2017 22:49

The Green Knowe books
Wolves of Willoughby Chase/Blackhearts in Battersea
Eva Ibbotson books - any of them!
My daughter has also been enjoying the Young Bond books and Ruby Redford.

llangennith · 14/06/2017 22:44

The Boxcar Children

SeanOSneachta · 14/06/2017 22:43

Also Nancy Drew, and I remember reading the Hardy Boys at the same age.

SeanOSneachta · 14/06/2017 22:42

We are reading Pippi out loud (dds. 8 and 10) and laughing out loud.

Just William?

girlandboy · 14/06/2017 22:41

Oh, and The Children of Cherry Tree Farm, plus the sequel of Willow Farm by Blyton is good too.

girlandboy · 14/06/2017 22:40

Hollow Tree House by Enid Blyton. Plus The Secret Island by Blyton again.
There's a whole series called The Roman Mysteries but I can't recall the author at the moment.

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