Beast Quest - genuine parent opinions

[justtryingg]

My dc (year 2) has picked a Beast Quest book from the library because some of his classmates have read it.

He's a sensitive little child and would normally not choose anything 'scary'. He likes magic/ animals/ silly type of books.

Im aware Beast Quest are very popular for seven plus year old boys and his school library has them too.
I read the first chapter of the book he's picked just to see for myself. There was already gory killing and blood, and it's not something I would be reading to relax/ enjoy myself even as an adult.

I'm going to let him have a little read and decide for himself but part of me is worried that he might end up more anxious than he already is.

As parents, have you read any of the books and what did you think? What age did you dc really get into them? What makes them such a hit?

Lovely, sparkly books with fairies and cute pets are aimed at girls and our boys get this? Is that really not having a negative effect even on the 'bravest' of them?

I am responsible for primary school libraries and I dislike this series, as much as I dislike the rainbow fairies for girls, or the endless Enid Blyton titles.

I certainly don't think they are suitable for Y2 and would not make them available to children in KS1, but we do have separate libraries for KS1 and KS2.

They are repetitive and very formulaic. Some children enjoy this predictability but it doesn't encourage them to move on to more varied or challenging books.

I have one or two titles available of each of these series, I don't want to censor or prohibit any type of book, and tend to rotate them so different ones do appear on the shelves. Our kids are choosing library books for 'free' reading: better one of these than not reading at all! [or so I tell myself...]

DS2 adored them.
They are very structured. Once you've read 2 or 3, as an adult you can probably finish every book without reading it.
However, they were a series that my 7 year old would read - and now, in secondary, he will re-read series of books that he has enjoyed - so it's almost like he enjoyed the predictability.
If your child enjoys them, reading a series (or 2) is probably not problematic, if you can use it to jump onto something else.
If the books aren't enjoyed, or are read to the exclusion of everything else, probably best avoided!

Thank you. I wish someone was taking time to consider the books our kids have at school. I think they just have whatever has been donated to them over they years.

My dc's teacher didn't know of any of the books he reads (Mr Penguin, Claude, Rabbit and Bear, Pamela Butchart books) and she suggested he can take out Horrid Henry (which he finds very annoying) last time we were talking about the school reading books coming home. It's a bit of a shame.

He does have many books at home but peer pressure is strong.

I'm looking at a page with dead cows and it's all vividly described - the blood puddles, the stench... I thought we are not quite ready for Narnia at 7yo!

Year 2 is prime beast quest time. It's formulaic drivel but anything that encourages them to read is good as far as I'm concerned.

Try the Flat Stanley or Stich Head series?
(Might be too hard?)

I think they serve their purpose in there's a lot of books that are similar (so comfort read) in a series that they can pick up one and be fairly certain they know what approximately they will find.

Ds loved them, but his wonderful review of the Rainbow Fairies when his dsis persuaded him to try one was "when Jack Frost appeared, it was almost interesting." The girls wouldn't touch the Beast Quest series after they'd tried one because they just didn't enjoy them, although they read all sorts of other stuff.

They're not amazing literature, but they work for getting a child who isn't fantastically into reading, to read.

Don't people find them scary, gory, violent? It's quite the jump from Paddington and Pooh Bear.

I think it depends on how old your child is. Is he coming to the end of Year 2 or about to go into Year 2 in September? If he's coming to the end of Year 2 then realistically I don't think that many of the boys are still into paddington and winnie the pooh. But obviously children all develop at different rates.

Mine were both into beast quest and dinosaur cove in year 1 and having things like Harry Potter and the Rick Riordan series (Percy Jackson etc) read to them by us at bedtime. Mine are now at university and in sixth form though!

If he likes animals have you tried the atticus claw series? They're about a detective cat and they're nicely written for that age group. The michael morpurgo books are also heavily animal focussed (but also historical) and great for year 2.

My boys devoured those books for years from about that age. I bought abot 40 of the books. We cut out the cards from the back of the books (top trump style) and brought them on holiday for years

Dinosaur Cove series is similar but not gory.
Cows in Action are fun.
Michael Morpurgo has a lot of death although Mudpuddle Farm has dry humour, chapters and works for this age.

I think it depends on your child - my just turned 6 year old quite likes them and doesn't find them too scary. But it can be strange what kids will find scary and it's not always obvious. He loves dragons, monsters, fighting etc. I was reading my elder child a book where a character's mother was very ill and both my kids freaked out and said it was too scary. No gore or fighting but that book has gone back on the shelf. Don't know whether the mum dies in the book, but probably, and that possibility was too much for them.

My son never got into them. At that age he loved the series ‘Daisy and the trouble with’ and ‘Dirty Bertie.’ Both series he’d read independently. We had less success with ‘Oliver Moon’ but he still enjoyed it.

Actually mine read dinosaur cove too so maybe they were a bit older when they started reading beast quest. They definitely were by year 3 though as that's when I remember the cards

DS was a very sensitive boy, but loved beast quest. I think it was the predictable, formulaic nature of them, which I do empathise with, I still rather like a repeated theme or a series myself.
If you'd like to stear him in a different direction I remember 13 story tree house also being really popular with him at the time and it was more silly humour rather than gore.

DS liked them for a while, and I can't remember anything particularly gory. Look how popular Horrible Histories (and spin offs) are! I suspect the formulaic nature is appealing, in the same way that younger children like to be read the same book over and over again.

However I totally agree that books shouldn't be divided into 'girls' books' and 'boys' books'. It's also a concern that the teacher is out of touch with more modern books for this age group. If your school has a head of English, you might want to raise this. DD liked Claude and she's nearly 17!

In addition to Dinosaur Cove and Cows in Action, look out for Dave Pigeon and Penguins in Space, Astrosaurs and Chicken Mission.