Please help me find some good reading books for ds (7)

[Blossomhill]

Ds who is 7 is a very good reader and his reading is of a 9 year old. He really enjoys reading and particularly enjoyed this one here . I would be so grateful if you could recommend any other books that he may enjoy.
I was thinking of buying him some more of Eoin Colfer's but they seemed a bit "adult". The EC one he did get was a birthday present. Thanks

Never heard of this book before, sorry so don't know what to compare it to. My ds is 7 and my dd 10 they enjoy Horrid Henry.

I think Artemis Fowl books are quite tricky, certainly a different league to Spud Murphy (Isn't it a fab book?!)

To me the joy of the Artemis Fowl books is that they are so different from other fantasy, in a taking the mickey kind of a way. So IMO you can't really appreciate them until you've read other fantasy books. However, ds1 has read them, and loved them (despite not having read loads of fantasy) and can't wait for the next one coming out this summer. He got into them by reading this little taster the seventh dwarf which was produced for World Book Day last year. You can sometimes get hold of them still in bookshops or on Ebay. Or if you wanted you could borrow ours (it would only cost pennies to post).

If you want other suggestions I'm happy to oblige, but we could be here all night!

I knew you'd have some great suggestions Roisin, thanks

Can you buy books on e-bay then? I didn't realise that!

Just had a look on Amazon and I can get that book for £3 and that includes p&p. Is that good?

It's a tiny book - a booklet really - only retailed for £1. I could post it to you for about 50p I'm sure, and you could send it back later.

i can't resist a books thread!

We haven't got Spud Murphy on our shelves, so I'm working from memory as to its size and level of complexity. I think it's pluses are the exciting plot, funny jokes, and quality writing. Books along similar lines which might amuse at the moment are:

Anne Fine A sudden puff of glittering smoke - quite a challenging read in places but only 50 pages, and absolutely hysterical in places. (There are three others in a similar vein.)

Sally Gardner The invisible boy - another fun little story. 100 pages.

Dick King-Smith Happy Mouseday. This is a 'corgi pups' one, so probably on the easy side, but ds1 (7) recently read it and absolutely adored it. DS2 then read it too. It was so sweet to hear them discussing literature together ... Sorry, I digress.

Dick King-Smith Dragon Boy - I have a soft spot for this one as it was the first 'real novel' that ds1 read to himself. It's exciting, funny in places, and great writing. 180 pages, but quite approachable.

Theresa Breslin The Dream Master - this is the first in a series of ... ooh 4 so far from memory. 170 pp, bit more of a challenge than the others mentioned above. But VERY exciting!

Jenny Nimmo: Midnight for Charlie Bone - I tend to bang on about this one as well. 340 pp so another challenge. Some similar themes to Harry Potter, a real page-turner.

Has he read Harry Potter?

Ds loved the Spud Murphy book so much he was reading it for the third time tonight!

Roisin you are so full of great info on books. Are you a librarian by any chance?
If not, you should be!

I will look into all of those. Not sure about Harry Potter as he is so scared of the films.

Thanks again for taking the time

Forgot about the Dick king Smith books that Roisin metioned. I managed to get a pack of them from 'The book people' a while back... often really cheap books.

I do get magazines from them so will have a look - thanks.

I'm not a librarian, I just love books, and I'm passionate about children's literature.

and I'm really jealous because Michael Morpurgo - children's laureate - is coming to the next town tomorrow to see 500 kids, and he's not coming here to our school

Do you work in a school then Roisin (nosy parker alert )

No! Don't do that either! I voluntarily listen to kids read 3.5 hrs pw, but my 'real job' is working for an IFA, but not too happy with him atm ... watch this space!

I would love to do a job connected to books and reading, but I'm not sure what it is!

I would like to recommend The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle. It's not the longest or most difficult read but it is the funniest book, I've ever read. My 8 yr old agrees. She's also an advanced reader and is currently on the Jacqueline Wilson books.

What about Lemony Snicket? My dd loves them and so do lots of boys she knows. I think there are 11 of them so should keep him going for a while.

My DS (nearly 7) loves the Fudge books by Judy Blume - American version of Horrid Henry but seems to appeal to older children too.

Michael Morpurgo books

Be wary of superfudge by J Blume. We had this on tape to listen in the car a couple of years ago. DDs were 5 & 7. He spent quite a long time explaining how he had to 'keep the xmas secret going for his little brother' and various other explanations of what happens at christmas iykwim. Should have had a warning on the label

Berries - just read this and feel so sad as I bought it for DD aged 8 last year (following a recommendation) and didn't think that it would have anything like this . Just got it off the shelf and, yes, it's all there. She didn't mention a thing but was quite cool and knowing about Christmas. I wanted to tell her myself and now she knows . Should I broach it with her I wonder as she has a younger brother and sister?

Interestingly enough, neither of mine have ever mentioned it (and dd1 is now 9), but I know she was listening (although I talked very loudly over all of it - turning it off would have given it too much significance IYKWIM). We did get quite a few 'leading' questions that year, so really think it blew our cover completely Have warned all other parents I know - maybe I should write to the publishers & see if they can get a 'coded' warning on the cover!

BTW, don't think she's ever said anything to dd2 (although she was listening as well) but suspect now they both keep it up because I seem to enjoy it so much Most kids don't try & spoil it IMO, so maybe best left alone.

DS1 is another 7yr old who devours books both fiction and non-fiction. Here are some that he's enjoyed many of which he has re read.

The Scarecrow and his Servant- Phillip Pullman
Dinasour Pox- Jeremey Strong
I'm Telling You They're Aliens - Jeremy Strong
The Invisible Boy - Sally Gardner

Limony Snicket stuff, anything by Roahl Dahl, Horrible History (particularly all the gruesome bits). He is really looking forward to the next Harry Potter (may be less scary reading HP than watching the films as some of the effects are very graphic in short don't let it put you off besides there's months of reading material in them perfect for any bookworm

Have others found a gap between what their child is capable of reading and suitable content?

BH, don't yet have a 7 year old, but if you don't know them already some favourites of mine with boy-appeal:

Norton Juster, Phantom Tolbooth (specially good for literate/numerate bright sparks - ds adores it)

T H White, The Once & Future King

Clive King, Stig of the Dump

OK, so why didn't the bolds work?

I was trying to copy clever roisin.

Separately: roisin, I have a job idea for you. When I was little, in Edinburgh, the grand old establishment bookshop had a magical person called Miss Grainger. You told her what you already liked and she would say aha, now for you, next you should have ... and of course this worked when buying presents, too - you'd just tell her what X enjoyed. She was faultlessly spot on every time. So, now, where's your closest bookshop?

Hi Binkie thanks for those.

The reason the bold isn'tworking is that you have to put asterixs around each individual word like this. If you have gaps it won't work!!!

Binkie - our town I think must have the lowest number of bookshops per head of population for the entire country A pathetic Ottakars (with illiterate disinterested staff), which hardly counts as a bookshop, and a small WHS, which definitely doesn't count. (It was a bit of a shock moving here from Oxford, which has HUGE bookshops on every street corner.)

There is a tiny independent bookshop with wonderful staff in the next town, but we rarely go there.

Btw Binkie - ds1 LOVES Phantom Tollbooth too. Personally I don't really 'get it', I just think its very very odd. He adored Alice in Wonderland too, which comes into the same bucket for me. What do you think of them personally?