Books for 9yo boy

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Thomas Johnson — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 11:27:32 GMT

[quote user="Stephen Courtney"]

Phillip Pullmans ' his Dark Materials' trilogy was brilliant.

[/quote]

I agree, very good, might be a bit young for them yet, but definitely consider his Sally Lockhart books: 'Ruby in the Smoke', 'Shadow in the North', 'Tiger in the Well' and 'Tin Princess'.

Others I would consider: 'Little Grey Men' and 'Down the Bright Stream' by 'BB'. The 'Tripods' series by John Christopher.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Allie Woodward — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 06:34:35 GMT

I second Eoin Colfer's books Artemis fowl. Also if he likes animals, Lucy Daniel's Animal Ark series about a brother and sister whose parents are vets... Very idealised but nice sentiment.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Niall Connell — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 23:29:19 GMT

A book I adored when I was young was The Giant Under The Snow, a fantasy by John Gordon ,written in 1968. I think it's out of print but still available on the Kindle and is a magical read. I also loved Wind in the Willows and I agree with the war time Biggles books. I must have read everything Enid Blyton ever wrote. I also loved the books by Roger Lancelyn Green eg "Tales of the Greek Heroes" ,"The Tale of Troy", "Tales of Ancient Egypt" and "Myths of the Norsemen", all stirring stuff!

Re: Books for 9yo boy

John Flynn — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 22:56:01 GMT

Oh, and CS Lewis's Narnia series if not been mentioned.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

John Flynn — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 22:52:46 GMT

Willard Price?

e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-Adventure-Willard-Price/dp/0099182211 (but there are shorter ones to start on to see if interested)

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Malcolm Ness — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 22:09:16 GMT

This is one of the best ever vetsurgeon threads. I have now got my summer (re)reading planned!

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Tanya Fielding — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 21:45:08 GMT

My kids could not put down the Percy Jackson books. The younger son was 9 when he read them.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Virginia Campbell — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 21:35:15 GMT

Another few

Goodnight Mister Tom

Watership Down (animals, but a good strong story to read aloud)

Mrs Frisby and the rats of NIMH (ditto)

"Windfall" by KM Peyton (think this is the title I'm thinking of - about a girl who has to manage her father's fishing smack to keep the family going. Has a good race at the end)

Non British:

Huckleberry Finn

My friend Flicka and Thunderhead (horses but quite masculine and well written, more about the family relationships and the ranch)

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Mark Hedberg — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 15:27:54 GMT

[quote user="Virginia Campbell"]

oh, and the Dark Is Rising series - again, leave it a year if he's prone to nightmares though

[/quote]

Wait for 11. Trust me - there's a reason they wait for Will to be 11.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Virginia Campbell — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 15:19:46 GMT

oh, and the Dark Is Rising series - again, leave it a year if he's prone to nightmares though

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Virginia Campbell — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 15:17:17 GMT

Another vote for Arthur Ransome, Roald Dahl (including "Boy" and "Going Solo") Philip Pullman and Jack London (leave it a year or two if child is of tender disposition though).

"The White Horse Gang" by Nina Bawden

Stig of the Dump was great

Gerald Durrell's stuff

ah getting all nostalgic now

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 13:55:42 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]Not really studied the list here but the language in Biggles takes a little explaining as it is from a different era. Still great reading.[/quote]

The only thing that puzzled me as a 9 year old was why in one story they got so excited about some "pre-war lemonade". I only found out quite recently that as originally written it was whisky, but the publishers thought that was unsuitable for children to read.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 13:38:47 GMT

[quote user="mariette asselbergs"]

I read Konrad Lorenz's books about dogs and other animals. King Soloman's ring in English?

Mariette

[/quote]

Yes, King Solomon's Ring. I think it's out of print but fairly easy to get hold of. Non-fiction of course but very inspiring indeed. Some of his hypotheses have been disproved but the basic principles are as sound as ever. Very readable and entertaining.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Dagmar Steele — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:51:15 GMT

Thanks all so much for all the suggestions, it'll keep us going for some time now! Re the animal stuff: I mentioned the how to train your dragon stories, but they are viking stuff. It's not an animal story at all - this particular dragon is called toothless and is a pretty useless fella ;-) Hiccup the Viking is a kind of anti-hero, he and his friends stumble into sometimes really nasty adventures and always wit and wriggle their way out somehow. The humour is priceless and the illustrations are great, too!

I don't like marmite but I like the Hobbit and the ring trilogy :-)

My son isn't much into animals apart from loving his cat to bits, and he definitely knows he doesn't want to become a vet! (His sister though is sure she'll be a vet one day....)

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Gina Dungworth — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:49:22 GMT

Another series I don't think anyone's mentioned yet: the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer. A 21st Century 12 year old boy kidnaps a fairy in order to restore his family fortune...

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Wren — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:26:28 GMT

I see someone got there before me but my mother read me The Hobbit when I was 8 or 9 and I loved it.

What about Alan Garner? The Owl Service or The Weird Stone of Brisingamen?

I would also second Terry Pratchett. Or what about something like Charlotte's Web? I'm sure there are loads more but the harder I think the fewer I can think of!

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Bob Russell — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:26:19 GMT

Not really studied the list here but the language in Biggles takes a little explaining as it is from a different era. Still great reading. Dahl is brilliant for all ages and always will be.

Perhaps invest in a Kindle if you haven't already. You can usually download the first chapter to try!

As my boy's Aunt worked on the first two films dare I say the early Harry Potters? They are really quite good fun and very easy to read!

Stig of the dump, (Tom's Midnight Garden but only because the author came to my junior school when I was there!), Narnia books, Lionboy Trilogy.

The list goes on and on!!

As you might gather I read books by the Kg!

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Braden Collins — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 08:20:36 GMT

At the risk of stating the obvious - James Herriot. I loved reading his books when I was a kid. It's why I went to the UK to do some locum work.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

mariette asselbergs — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 07:04:44 GMT

I read Konrad Lorenz's books about dogs and other animals. King Soloman's ring in English?

Mariette

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 23:59:43 GMT

[quote user="Malcolm Ness"]

[quote user="Fable"]The Hobbit around about this age, though definitely wait a few years before tackling The Lord of the Rings[/quote]

Literary Marmite.

Life is far too short to waste on Tolkein.

[/quote]

I like Marmite.

Never mind.

Get The Jungle Book. "Rikki-tikki-tavi" is one of the finest stories in the English language ever written. And of course by reading the Mowgli stories you prevent - or cure - the ghastly Disney horror.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Malcolm Ness — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 22:54:29 GMT

[quote user="Fable"]The Hobbit around about this age, though definitely wait a few years before tackling The Lord of the Rings[/quote]

Literary Marmite.

Life is far too short to waste on Tolkein.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Fable — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 21:07:19 GMT

I remember being completely in love with The Hobbit around about this age, though definitely wait a few years before tackling The Lord of the Rings. Loads of great suggestions already, but again if he's keen on animals another great series would be The Black Stallion by Walter Farley.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Stephen Courtney — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 21:06:25 GMT

Phillip Pullmans ' his Dark Materials' trilogy was brilliant.

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Mark Hedberg — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 19:39:57 GMT

It's a bit down memory lane, but if your boys read German and you haven't given them a copy of Winnetou (Karl May) yet, you need to march down to the bookstore (it may be out of print, in which case you're forgiven). 9 years old? Made to order.

As for english language, I'd second the Biggles books (WWI and WWII adventures, postwar it's a bit soft) and you would also do very well with the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. (Good talking animals saving the day from dastardly talking animals.)

Cheers,

Mark

Re: Books for 9yo boy

Anthony Dennison — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 16:40:09 GMT

[quote user="Robert Jenkins"]How about Swallows and Amazons etc.[/quote]

When I was little, our annual holiday was a week on the Norfolk Broads. We used to get a free copy of 'The Coot Club' every time we booked. love Arthur Ransome!