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SciFi and Fantasy for kids?

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stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,002
7,886
Colorado
Haley is a prolific reader and I'm having trouble keeping up with her reading pace. She's being through 150 page
4th grade books (as a 2nd grader) in a few days. She's read the whole Guardians of Ga'Houle series and all it's sub-series. I have her starting some classics - Call of the Wild, Narnia - once she finishes her current book, but I give those 2 weeks tops.

She doesn't like Harry Potter at all, but is interested in LoTR. I showed her a few of the books and they are a bit beyond her still - the concepts are too deep.

Can anyone with kids (or not) think of fantasy novels like LoTR - elves, trolls, knights, etc - but not quite as deep?

Thanks
 
mykel

mykel

closer to Periwinkle
Apr 19, 2013
5,489
4,215
sw ontario canada
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy series.

The highbrow stuff is couched in enough sillyness to entertain just about any age.
 
6thElement

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
17,244
14,718
Not sci-fi, but are the Famous Five or Secret Seven books available still? I read lots of those growing up.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,002
7,886
Colorado
jonKranked said:
Have her start reading technical engineer manuals.
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She'll get there eventually...

She's in Gifted and Talented Education (GTE) for math already, identified for reading/writing (will probably be in by next year), and flagging for "science related" topics. But for now, I just want to keep her reading on topics that she is interested in. I don't care what they are - just read!
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,161
10,705
AK
stoney said:
Haley is a prolific reader and I'm having trouble keeping up with her reading pace. She's being through 150 page
4th grade books (as a 2nd grader) in a few days. She's read the whole Guardians of Ga'Houle series and all it's sub-series. I have her starting some classics - Call of the Wild, Narnia - once she finishes her current book, but I give those 2 weeks tops.

She doesn't like Harry Potter at all, but is interested in LoTR. I showed her a few of the books and they are a bit beyond her still - the concepts are too deep.

Can anyone with kids (or not) think of fantasy novels like LoTR - elves, trolls, knights, etc - but not quite as deep?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I tried reading the LoTR stuff when I was in JR H or HS, but there were so many damn names and things you just couldn't keep up with it. The books needed to come with some sort of quick reference chart for it all to make sense. I thought these were dramatically over-hyped.
 
Sandro

Sandro

Terrified of Cucumbers
Nov 12, 2006
3,228
2,541
The old world
This isn't really fantasy in the orcs and elves sense, more magical realism with a little dystopian sci fi thrown in and I absolutely adored this story as a kid. It's from the author of The Neverending Story, which might also be of interest, but I much preferred this rather short book.
I don't know how good the translation is and it's fairly hard to get on your side of the pond, but there are a few copies around: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/gp/offer-listing/0140317538/ref=tmm_pap_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1586935637&sr=8-1

This fantasy trilogy has been super popular in Europe, not sure if it's actually any good.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
41,829
19,156
Riding the baggage carousel.
Anything by Brian Jacques. The Redwall series is great for kids reading at that level, not elves and orcs, but small woodland creatures in a fantasy setting. I was 8 when the first book came out and I loved it. I'm not sure how many there are now but there are A LOT of them. Should keep her busy for quite sometime.

I know Carissa is a bit older than Haley, and I can't vouch for them, but my daughter LOVED this series and this series.

For full Elves and orcs and wizards, the Weis/Hickman Dragonlance series was amazing for early teens me. :nerd:
 
Adventurous

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,856
9,895
Crawlorado
LotR was long and tough, even for me when I finished it at age 33. Good read, but it was a struggle at times.

I absolutely adore Harry Potter, but I suppose maybe it's not for everyone.

She tried the Chronicles of Narnia? Or A Wrinkle in Time? Both are solid, kid friendly reads.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
41,829
19,156
Riding the baggage carousel.
Pesqueeb said:
I love that book, but probably too advanced a read for a kid in their single digits. In the same vein is "The Forever King". Fantastic book from my teenage years. It's a trilogy that should have stopped at the first book though.
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Ooh... Another good Arthur/Merlin type read is "Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King. Not for kids, probably.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,002
7,886
Colorado
Pesqueeb said:
Anything by Brian Jacques. The Redwall series is great for kids reading at that level, not elves and orcs, but small woodland creatures in a fantasy setting. I was 8 when the first book came out and I loved it. I'm not sure how many there are now but there are A LOT of them. Should keep her busy for quite sometime.

I know Carissa is a bit older than Haley, and I can't vouch for them, but my daughter LOVED this series and this series.

For full Elves and orcs and wizards, the Weis/Hickman Dragonlance series was amazing for early teens me. :nerd:
Click to expand...
She's going to love these.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,161
10,705
AK
Adventurous said:
LotR was long and tough, even for me when I finished it at age 33. Good read, but it was a struggle at times.

I absolutely adore Harry Potter, but I suppose maybe it's not for everyone.

She tried the Chronicles of Narnia? Or A Wrinkle in Time? Both are solid, kid friendly reads.
Click to expand...
IMO, a good book keeps the reader engaged, but makes it possible to follow the story with techniques like little explanations thrown in, reminders on who is who, little refreshing tidbits when a certain part picks up again, etc. It's the ability of the author to do this well and integrated it so that you don't really notice it, and enjoy the read. Also the twists in the story that you don't anticipate are what make it fun. There was so much bullshit in HS literature classes about "reading into" the works way way too far with concepts I'm sure the original author never considered or intended. How they wrote the story is what we *should* have been discussing. Making it overly complicated is more of a d*ck-swinging contest. Not that every book needs to be at an 8th grade level, but a book *should* be judged on how well it tells the story, not just what the story is.
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,767
8,761
My kids love the Harry Potter universe, so that's enough to keep them occupied. They've gone through book 5 thus far.
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,767
8,761
Pesqueeb said:
My daughter about damn near has them committed to memory. She's read them all, multiple times. And the movies. And the audio books. I liked the books too, but damn..........
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Post-coronavirus our kids should hang out. They'd go nuts.
 
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