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

Don't worry I wouldn't read Northern Lights to him. I remember being upset about how horrid Lyra's parents were and I was 27 or 28 at the time!

I remember those books having quite a lot of sex in them!

The Podkin One Ear (longburrow) series are pretty good fantasy books.

• Temeraire (Naomi Novak)

Temeraire is surely much too old. I'd say mid-teens at youngest for that. You need to know quite a lot of European history, for a start, as it's a sort of alternate Napoleonic Wars.

Fireborn
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

Both recent and very popul6

I second this. The Weirdstone is my all time favourite book.

If he isn't ready for northern lights probably not Mistborn series either then.

Maybe this is helpful.
Fantasy genre progression from easier to more difficult. The writer says all are suitable for Year 6, maybe check content before giving to younger child.

Similar vintage to The Borrowers - Swallows and Amazons. For true fantasy - Peter Duck.

I read Peter Duck first and that got me hooked. It's a real page turner.

The Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne-Jones. They were a favourite when I was in primary school!

I love the Philip Pullman 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, but they are better for older readers (maybe 10+, and well worth re/reading as an older teen or adult to appreciate the subtleties). However, I remember really enjoying Pullman's 'The Firework Maker's Daughter' at your son's age.

The Narnia books are great.

Perhaps not the same kind of fantasy, but Geraldine McCaughrean did a great children's version of 'The Odyssey' - lots of fantastic monsters and a brilliant story.

I would recommend the wild folk books, I'm reading them to my 5 year old but they'd probably better suit a slightly older child.

Oh yes we've read Geraldine Mccaughrean's version of the Odyssey. It's great. DS thoroughly enjoyed it.

My then 8 year old child loved Salman Rushdie's "Haroun and the sea of stories", and "Luka and the fire of life". As an adult I think both books are absolutely brilliant - so imaginative, have an extensive vocabulary and word play, a total pleasure to read.

I second the Narnia books. I know some people dislike them (Philip Pullman, for example), and it's true that Lewis makes some crude remarks about one of the girls having "fat thighs" and not being as pretty as her sister, and that sort of thing. And obviously there is the religious message behind it all.

But...my god they are beautifully written. I mean exquisite. Also, Lewis was a staggeringly brilliant man – even by the standards of an Oxford professor. I have read some of his literary criticism and it's just breathtaking. This was someone who knew Plato and Aristotle back to front in the original Greek, who knew Dante inside out in the original Italian, who'd read pretty much every major book every written, often in the original language.

So when he writes his children's books, you know he's drawing on a vast range of knowledge and learning. You can feel it in the background. They're also fantastically good stories – I mean really entertaining.

Cornelia Funke is good.

And not exactly fantasy - more like proto steampunk but Joan Aitken is amazing

Placemarking for ideas to look at and write down later

I'm a Dark Materials fan as the user name implies! I'd definitely hold off on them at age 7.

Much to my dismay my kids are not avid readers like I was as a kid. Thinking back, a couple that I remember liking were The Snow Spider trilogy which has some fantasy elements and also the Deptford Mice books.

I second Diana Wynne Jones and also the Dragons of Pern.

There's also the Warrior books, but they might be fractionally young for a Hobbit lover! Unless he's also a cat lover. By Erin someone - warning, the series goes on forever and imv get boring after the first 5 or 6.

The Children of Green Knowe was definitely my favourite childhood book.
Has he read ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ by Philippa Pearce and ‘The Moon dial’ Helen Cresswell.
‘The Windvale Sprites’ by Mackenzie Crook is also very good…

Michael Molloy would be my suggestion for that age — particularly The House on Falling Star Hill (male main character too which is nice for boys) and "The Witch Trade" trilogy.

The Artemis Fowl books start off well and then get a bit weird.

Chrestomanci and the Ingary trilogy are all very good. I sometimes still read my favourites now!

Re Garth Nix — Abhorsen is too old. I think there's a rainbow tower one that's a younger age. There's the days of the week series too which I think is younger, but I found it quite scary/upsetting.

I agree with the Chrestomanci series and the Land of Stories series

Also:

Snow Spider trilogy
Midnight Hour and Midnight Howl
Mystwick school of Musicraft
Frostheart series
Eva Ibbotson generally
Ottoline series
Younger Terry Pratchett books eg Witch’s hoover

They do have a lot of sex in them and are definitely not suitable for a 7 year old! The Dragonsong/ Dragonsinger/ Dragondrums trilogy are aimed at teenagers, but the other books are not.

I’d suggest the Diana Wynne Jones books, the Over Sea, Under Stone series by Susan Cooper, and my 8 year old has enjoyed the books by Sophie Anderson starting with ‘The House with Chicken Legs’

Dianna Wynn Jones and David Eddings (appreciate it turned out he had a conviction for child abuse).

At 7/8 my Hobbit and Harry Potter fan also loved:
The Midnight Guardians by Ross Montgomery
Vashti Hardy - her Griffin Gate and Harley Hitch series are written for this age group; mine also enjoyed with Crowfall and Brightstorm at this age
Malamander by Thomas Taylor and its sequels
Louie Stowell's Loki books

I have fond memories of the Wierdstone of Brisingamen and Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series from my own childhood but DS found them too much/too frightening at 8/9 so depends on how sensitive yours is.