Well-written fantasy for young kids?

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DS7 loved The Hobbit last year. He expressed interest in LOTR which I warned would be too grown-up for him . I put the audiobook on and he found it boring. Can anyone recommend any fantasies for his age? He loves the Norse Myths and Kevin Crossley Holland's Arthur: The Always King.
TIA

Not for a seven year old!

I would stick with Sword in the Stone, the following books are more about adult relationships, there is also a scene where a woman boils a cat alive which has stuck in my memory since I read it aged 13!

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
Followed by the sequel The Moon of Gomrath

Emily rodda books are perfect for that age, and not quite the same type of fantasy but the redwall books.
I think sabriel etc by Garth Nix is a bit older, and Anne mcCaffrey ie all the pern books better for teens.
I was reading ursula Le guin by that age- wizard of earthsea books, the never ending story. Try Joan Aiken too, the wolves of Willoughby chase etc.
My 7yo boy is a good reader, school call him advanced but he’s not a devour everything type of reader by any stretch of the word, and he inhaled the wolf girl series.
nevermoor was very good- I read my nieces recently, I think mine would be ready for it maybe this year maybe next. Wings of fire is a series I’ve been recommended for ds, I think it’s graphic novels but that’s not a bad thing as long as it’s not all they read.

Philip Pullman Northern Lights trilogy?

OOps that @BiscuitsandPuffin quote was because I agree - and not just Artemis Fowl. He's written other good stuff.

I started reading the Redwall series when I was 8 or so, would they appeal?

As a standalone, he could try The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

The Garth Nix Sabriel trilogy is great but quite dark, as is The Dark is Rising series.

Otherwise he might like the Percy Jackson books (not as well written as The Hobbit etc as they are written in the first person as an American pre-teen!) - mythology rather than high fantasy but great stories.

Has anyone mentioned The Borrowers?

Yes, ds2 loved the Borrowers. I thought it might be a bit old fashioned but he really got into the world building of it (he's 10 but with much lower reading age so I read books to him).

Another one was Carbonel - again, the 1960s-ish setting is almost as much fantasy to modern children as the magic but he really got into it.

Speaking of past times being like fantasy, I loved books like Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman Britain and Viking books - I think they can have a similar feel about them.

Just seen that she- Sutcliffe wrote a trilogy about King Arthur too!

• Temeraire (Naomi Novak)
• Eragon (Christopher Paolini)
• Skullduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy)
• Beyond the Deepwoods (Chris Riddell)

All varying series, and much loved!

Fabled Beasts Chronicles by Lari Don

Yes that might be perfect for him after the Kevin Crossley Holland books.

And the Prydain books mentioned earlier are also based on Welsh myth, heros and quests.

Philip Pullman- I read the first one a few years ago, it was so good. I'm wondering if he might be a bit young?

Yes, 7 is too young to get a lot of what's going on, and some of it might be quite upsetting.

The bromeliad trilogy is a good idea (i would say that... wheeled out an old name for this thread) and then The Amazing Maurice and his Educated rodents as an introduction to Discworld followed by the Tiffany Aching series though some of them are a bit old for him as yet.

My seven year old recently really enjoyed Spellstone by Ross Montgomery.

I tried the Bromeliad series when I was a kid and didn't like it. I'll see if he likes it. The only Pratchett novel I like is Mort 😬

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. 👌

This one:

www.wob.com/en-gb/books/brandon-sanderson/final-empire/9780575089914?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=18123540153&cq_con=&cq_med=pla&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtO-kBhDIARIsAL6LoreaZJiUlAC67equHAv557n6HQtlVEoWqSTKKSjEdp8DlY0VXJprcJEaAq2sEALw_wcB#GOR001721417

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Some good recs on this thread although I agree it's a very rare 7-yr old that is ready for His Dark Materials! I just think so much would go overt heir heads at that age, but I could be wrong.

I started a thread the other day about comic fantasy for ca. 10-yr olds and got some good suggestions - you might want to look that up for more ideas?

I'd second the dragon ones by Kevin and Katie Tsang, btw, and he's enjoying one called Alex Neptune at the mo.

Another vote for the Redwall series by Brian Jacques... I'm always recommending it!

Red wall was fantastic, I read it around that age! Also read the pern books but definitely too young for them…mum had to explain a lot of words to me (e.g. I vividly recall asking what rutting was).

dark is rising was good too, enjoyed that, though sometimes a little scary.

i read some David eddings around that age too but maybe a little old again, can’t remember if there is any sex. The Garth nix books are great but quite feminine in my opinion, so may not appeal. Warrior cats? My brother loved that as a kid.

He's very young for a lot of the books suggested here-just because you can read something doesn't mean you're ready to read it! Northern Lights is definitely in this category.

Just looked up Red Wall, never heard of it until now. Looks fab though.

I've read Mistborn. I'm not sure he'd like it. Sanderson is a bit wooden.