Just finished the Swallows and Amazons series...

[BobLoblaw]

...I've been reading DS this series and he's really enjoyed them, he's not so keen on The Famous Five etc and I was hoping for some recommendations for more bedtime reading. Thank you.

How old is he? Not exactly similar, but things that dd enjoyed as bedtime reading:

Professor Branestawm
Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House books (the earlier ones)
Farmer Boy also by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I would particularly recommend this, although if you have a sensitive DS you might want to pre-read the early chapters and possibly skip the bit about his school very near the start)
How to Train your Dragon

Lionboy trilogy by Zizou Corder (quite exciting, probably for say 7+)

Joan Aiken
Malcolm Saville (Lone Pine club) check ebay, as they're not widely in publication.
Geoffrey Trease again not widely in publication, but the No Boats in Bannermere series I reckon are one of the closest to Arthur Ransome.
Eva Ibbotson have the same sort of dreamy adventure feel to
Narnia
The Hobbit
And one of my favourites, "Demon Island" by Cecil Baldock (I think). Suspect it's out of print, but it's a great adventure story.

Wow! It must have taken a while to read all those books!

My son enjoyed the three Philippa Pearce books I read to him - Tom's Midnight Garden, Minnow on the Say and A Dog so Small. She wrote a few others, too.

The Coral Island by RM Ballantyne?

Greeat books though

Ds enjoyed The House in Hiding by Elinor Lyon which is along much the same lines, except that the children are a lot more accident prone. It is the first of a longish series which were originally published in the 1950s and 60s, but the first 3 have been republished by Fidra books. Also worth checking out your library - the books won't be on the shelves, but they may still be lurking somewhere.

Thank you, DS is 7 but is a little sensitive when it comes to stories/films etc (we had to abandon Born To Run by Michael Morpurgo). DP has read him The Hobbit and the Narnia books which he also really enjoyed. I will go and have a look at all your suggestions, thank you :)

It's taken us just over a year to read all the Swallows and Amazons books, I've really enjoyed not reading the same 10 books over and over again!

Excellent series, I read all of them, they are superb. I recognise that you say he's not keen on famous five etc. but I reccomend trying the 'Adventure' series by Enid Blyton. Also I don't know whether he is old/ able enough yet but maybe try 'Stig of the Dump', the 'Diamond Brothers' series by Anthony Horowitz (such as www.amazon.co.uk/Public-Enemy-Number-Diamond-Brothers/dp/1406306819/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312647859&sr=1-2#_) and the William books by Richmal Crompton (when he is old enough). Also to fill in between books try a Padington bear book. Sorry if this doesn't currently help you now.

Also what about Biggles?

Much to my surprise, DS, who is 8, is loving the E. Nesbit books as bedtime stories. So far, we have had Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Treasure Seekers and The Wouldbegoods.

Just William , Magic Treehouse series, The Edge Chronicles, Eoin Colfer's Captain Crows Teeth and Spud Murphy, Treasure Island and Kidnapped , Enid Blyton's the Mystery of ... series

Second Joan Aitken big time. How about "The Dark is Rising" series?
Just William?
The Little White Horse?
The Borrowers?
The Children of Green Knowe?

Am I showing my age yet?

BTW have you seen there is a stage show in london and Christmas (it was at Bristol last year) and it is touring in 2012 .. hope it tours near me :)

Here are some American favorites that your DS might like. Some of these may be better in a year or two, but I bet he would love Mrs Basil E Frankweiler and the Rats of NIMH. Most of these have won the Newbury Award, which is the top American award for children's fiction, all for ages 8-12

1. My Side of the Mountain - A boy named Sam lives off the land in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Two sequels.

2. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell - Based on a true story, a 12 year old Native American girl is stranded on a desert island for 18 years before she is rescued.

3. Julie of the Wolves by Jean George - A 13 year girl is lost in the Alaskan tundra and survives by befriending a pack of wolves. Warning - one violent/questionably explicit passage.

4. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg - An American classic! Claudia and her younger brother Jamie run away and take up residence in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. There they sleep on antique beds, bathe in the fountain, and solve a mystery.

5. Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien - A widowed mouse enlists the help of a mysterious group of rats to help rescue her son.

6. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - The residents of the Sunset Towers have all been named as potential heirs to the fortune of the late Samuel Westing. They must compete to solve clues and be the first to claim the prize. Quirky, clever, offbeat.

Good luck!

YY to the E Nesbit, the Elizabeth Goudge and the Robert O'Brian.

There are other Blyton mysteries if the Famous Five are too annoying, but I think they are perhaps too similar. If FF gets up your nose, the others will prolly also annoy.

How about working through the Chronicles of Narnia? Or have you done that?

Joan Aiken is brilliant.

Loved S&A! Can't wait to read them to DD but she's only 2!

I bet they aren't in print any more but my Dad read Fell Foot Farm to me after S&A. Similar Lakes adventures.

Railway Children?

The Borrowers?

Watership Down

Anne of Green Gables (may be a bit girly!)

I've just picked up a copy of S&A for 50p at a charity bookstal

DS recently enjoyed having Charlotte's Web read to him.

stuart little.

the kate seredy books - the good master; the open gate.
my friend flicka.

the little grey men by BB,
some - not all as some may be too girl centred - of the noel streatfeilds ( apple bough, in due course the growing summer),
the secret garden,
dahl - esio trot, george's marvellous medicine, the giraffe, pelly and me, the bfg;
aesop's fables (great for a very short late bed time story, esp with the arthur rackham illustrations)