Michael Morpugo box set

[tumbletumble]

DS1 is 7. He hasn't read any Michael Morpugo yet, but has been given the box set for Christmas. He's a good reader but doesn't like scary stuff!

An Elephant in the Garden
Running Wild
Farm Boy
Billy the Kid
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
Little Manfred
Shadow
The Dancing Bear
My Friend Walter
The Ghost of Grania O'Malley
The War of Jenkins' Ear
The White Horse of Zennor
Waiting for Anya
Twist of Gold
Friend or Foe
Little Foxes

Any recommendations for order to read them in? Or is he a bit young for them at the moment?

DS has read a couple at school but he is 8 and will be soon 9. Not sure he would have appreciated them at that age but know they are all different

I don't know all the titles but I think the best to start with in terms of length and age are probably Farm Boy and Butterfly Lion
War of Jenkins Ear is really a 11+ book (often read for 11+ and 13+ entrance exams)
Shadow, Elephant and Running Wild are his newer books and I would put them at 9+

There is some sort of age guidance here - don't know if its right or not but might give you a clue which ones to start on. My DD (who's older) has a different set including War Horse and Private Peaceful which are def for older kids - morpurgo covers quite a range.

Meh, me & DC (age 8-13): none of us like Morpugo. Warhorse is good. Just do not warm to any others we've tried.

Yeah, they're not exactly light bedtime reading are they?

I've only read shadow (no dc here so no excuse) i would say that one isnt suitable for a 7 year old, with the sort of themes that are in it.i'd probably say 10+, to understand the book properly and not be upset by it.

Thanks all!

My DS is 7 and has the same set. So far he really enjoyed:
My Friend Walter
The Ghost of Grania O'Malley
Little Foxes

(and I was surprised by the first two, because he doesn't like scary stuff either and just the mention of ghosts often puts him off!)

He quite liked:
Little Manfred
The Dancing Bear

He seemed a bit nonplussed by The War of Jenkins' Ear but ploughed through to the end, and hasn't opened any of the others as far as I know - he got them in the summer. Agree Morpurgo is difficult to judge as his range is so wide and so much of it is set in pretty depressing circumstances. I sometimes think these box sets are more trouble than they're worth!