8yr old son has told me NO-ONE has stories read to them anymore - find something for me to inspire him!

[BBBee]

please!

have done harry potter but not much else!

Aha marthamoo! I like Morpurgo but DD (8) who is a good reader didn't get on with Why the Whales came which I loved. So I didn't bother even trying DS#1. But maybe I'll invest in that boxed set for stocking fillers this year.

Book people are fantastic

I don't think that reading to children at bedtime is about teaching them how to read so that they can be left to read to themselves once they are competent readers. It is about sharing a love of books and having time together at the end of the day. My dd is 10 (and her reading age is 15 - not showing off - just illustrating my point!!!) and we still spend 45mins to an hour reading with her before she goes to bed. We are able to read things which she would not understand on her own and so open her up to lots of new ideas/ stories etc.

My ds is 7 and he loves Roald Dahl (we are reading "Matilda" with him at the moment). He loved the first Famous Five book which we read to him recently. When he has his stories he chooses 4 books (the last one is always whichever chapter book we are currently reading to him) but the others might include a picture book and a couple of non-fiction books. With the non-fiction we tend to read a couple of double-page spreads and then move on to something else.

And there's no reason why you can't do both. A soon as my dd could read comfortably by herself, she had 15 minutes reading in bed between the story I rad her and lights out. Worked very well.

Horrid Henry???? My two dds especially liked the nits one .....

Noooooooo! I hate Horrid Henry!

Totally agree with you Seeker. My dd and ds both read to themselves in bed after we have finished reading with them - the best of both worlds!

Susan Cooper, Over Sea and Under Stone (there are four more in the series, so if he likes them you're sorted for a while).

I hate Horrid Henry too. A teacher recommended it for DS#1 back in Yr 4. No thanks. He's a nasty selfish little brat and I don't want him in my house thanks.

I found my copy of Green Smoke a few years back. About a dragon living in a cave in Cornwall who befriend a little girl. Can't remember the author. DD loved it at 7. I'm thinking of trying it on DS#1 for his reading at home.

So glad to find I'm not alone in my dislike of Horrid Henry! It's the fact that he always seems to get away with it that I particulalry hate - but I always feel so pompous when I talk about what a bad role model he is!

And don't forget Cressida Cowell - How to train your Dragon!

how about comics, captain underpants, horid henry,BFG is great too or non fiction books which you can read together and chat about?

have an idea for you - go to this link..something Channel 4 have done which is pretty cool...and free !

lifestyle.aol.co.uk/parenting/lost-for-words

my youngest loved it

DS1 is 9 and he's really into the Famous Five books at the moment

I love kid's books so always happy to read to my DCs! And it is one of the few times DS1 (9) will sit still and listen to me! I'd second Cressida Cowell's How to Drain Your Dragon books -- they are genius, Roman Mysteries (though a bit gruesome?) and Charlie Higson's Young James Bond books. For non-fiction you could try Horrible Histories / Science books. DC1 ploughs through these.

Horrid Henry is great -- I love the moral ambiguity!!

Oh, and 'Varjak Paw' by SF Said -- very readable for that age group (and graphic novel style pictures too)

The Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo-my eight year old ds loves 'em.