Book recommendations needed for 8 yr old boys..........

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My ds has just finished a book called Spud Murphy and he loved it . The author also wrote the Artemis Fowl books.

Are they any good?

Any other recommendations needed for 8 yr old boys?

thanks!

bump

There have been a few threads on this recently-ish, like \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1377&threadid=136111\this one}. Hope that helps!

Will post my suggestions later but am rushing off to get boys from school.

I know lots of boys who've enjoyed Artemis Fowl, but my DS didn't.

He did enjoy the Antony Horowitz books though... Alex Rider etc. They are about a teenage spy. Very good reading.

Then there's the set called Mister Monday etc.

What you need to do is a shout out for Roisin and Yorkiegirl who've made it their mission to read all books for 8-11 yos.

If I think of more I'll post later

The Artemis Fowl books are much longer and more demanding than Spud Murphy - great writing though if he has the stamina. (Personally I think Artemis Fowl is best appreciated by someone who has read a lot of fantasy already, and appreciates the genius with which Eoin Colfer turns the genre on its head. But ds1 still read them and enjoyed them.)

\link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141381302/qid=1141748857/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/026-5741825-3197224\the Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth} (also by Eoin Colfer) is of a similar level to Spud Murphy ... good but not as good (IMO).

Can you let me know what other books your ds has read and enjoyed, and I'll make some other suggestions for him.

There is always A Series of Unfortunate Events...

DS enjoyed all the Horrible Histories at about that age. DD (8 next week) loves any Roald Dahl.

DS (7.5)has enjoyed over the last year or so things ranging from Horrid Henry and Mr.Majeika, through Dick King-Smith and Jeremy Strong, to Harry Potter and An Unfortunate Series. He also like Jenny Nimmo's Charlie Bone books and the Spiderwick Chronicles.

He has read some Narnia but it hasn't really clicked with him. He hasn't tried Artemis Fowl yet.

Thanks very much for all these suggestions. I'm going to the library now to see what I can find!

Ds loves all Roald Dahl, esp the twits.

He has a Horrid Henry book but hasn't got into it yet.

He seems to love factual books, he's got loads of these about dinosaurs/planet earth/history/volcanoes etc etc but they are pretty hard going and we read those to him.

He also had a lot of library books about football stories and I thought he's love these as he's footie mad. But I think they are a bit advanced for him yet, he can't get through them on his own.

So far Dahl and the legend of Spud Murphy are the winners!

Anymore suggestions gratefully received, dh and I love reading and we want to pass this on to the boys!

Terry Pratchet has some fun books for younger Readers. Only You can save Mankind was good (Computer game that becomes real).

Also Louis Sachar - Holes is excellent but he may be a liitle young. My DS read this at 9 & loved it but he has a v.good reading age (read all the Harry Potters etc).

Has he tried Harry Potter? The first one is fine for an 8yr old.

my 9 yr old's fave books are the Wolf Brother books by Michelle Paver (I think). I read the first to him when he was 8 and he has read them himself again and again. They're set in stone age times about a boy and his adopted wolf and have a lovely mix of adventure, nature and mysticism.

My dd currently loves The Edge Chronicles series by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell. She discovered them when a boy in her class brought one in and the teacher read a bit of it aloud, so definitely suitable for a boy.

The humour is the key to Spud Murphy (IMO). Three books spring to mind which have great use of humour, but are not excessively demanding in terms of length and/or style:

Laurence Anholt's Seriously Silly Stories. There is a whole series of these books - modern versions of fairy tales. These make me and my sons laugh out loud, one of my favourites is: \link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/184121406X/qid=1141841681/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_3_2/026-5741825-3197224\The emperor's new underwear} They are very popular with children in year 3 and 4.

Both my boys have enjoyed Cressida Cowell: \link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340860685/qid=1141841771/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_3_1/026-5741825-3197224\How to Train your Dragon} (and sequels)
There is a taster to this series in the World Book Day £1 books in shops at the moment. It's called "How to train your viking". There's also a £1 taster for the Edge Chronicles books which katyp has recommended.

Another funny, but excellently written book is Anne Fine's \link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0749702540/qid=1141841848/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2_2/026-5741825-3197224\A Sudden Puff of Glittering Smoke} This isn't an easy read, but it's only 50 pages long, so doesn't put children off.

thanks, I'll need to dig out his £1 world book voucher from school and try one of these!

my 8 year old is a big non-fiction reader but will read horrible harry and Junie B Jones. both are kids who act up in class (mildly) and he laughs his head off when we read them. Also the magic treehouse series is good. It has a fiction and non-fiction component. There is a fictional book around the main characters like who end up in an adventure, for example about medieval Knights then a non-fiction book with the same characters explaining about life as a knight in medieval england. They are quite good and cover everything from dinosaurs to the plains of africa.

My ds got into Terry Pratchet at about 8 yrs old and still loves him as an author and all other fantasy fiction.
What about Jacqueline Wilson? Ds also read several of these about that age till a friend saw and expressed horror, feeling he was too young for her subject matters. Dd1 (8) is now knee deep in J Wilson and loving them.
What's your opinion on these books for young kids Roisin? (I have to confess to not having much of a clue to their content)