We finished The Cay (I also have a ds11) He loved it, but we found the sequel to be disappointing. We are reading (i am reading aloud) Cheaper by the Dozen...which is a streach as far as vocabulary goes. We enjoyed Pippi. and anything by Roald Dahl. I plan on doing Johnny Tremain, Sign of the Beaver. I tend to ask grown men what books they liked best...but I haven't had much luck with that. Where the Red Fern Grows My side of the Mountain (We had tried this last year and it didn't fly...but we are going to do some CM nature stuff and survival...so it might be more pertinent now.)
I hate to hear that about the sequel to The Cay, we just bought that one for my dd. She LOVED the Cay.
My Dh recommends David Eddings, specifically the Belgariad series. DH started reading these books aloud to ds 11. By book 3 he was reading it for himself, b/c 'dad won't read enough'. It has turned my reluctant reader into a keen reader. ds is reading the rangers apprentice series atm - he read 20 chapters toady When he was telling me, he said "can you believe it mum?!" Well I can.....only just
Oh, I LOVED the Belgariad when it was first written!!! I had read the first three books, went to the library for the fourth, only to find it wasn't due out for another six months. I was SO frustrated!!! Right now, the kids are in the other room, watching an old movie of "The Red Badge of Courage". I absolutely HATED the book in 7th grade English! But Phillip is reading a Wishbone version, and is really enjoying it. (He's sitting on the floor, watching the movie with his rifle in hand and shooting it during the battle scenes. ALL BOY!!!) I know I've posted "The Mad Scientist Club", but am not sure if it was on this thread or not. I STRONGLY recomend it for boys (and for Tom-boys, too!).
So many great books!! DS is the one who reads for fun. He is not a fast reader but he enjoys what he reads and gets excited to pick a new book out. DD is just in the last 6 mos or so getting into reading. She always found reading to be a chore. Between what the school had assigned her to read and what I was "making" her read was really turning her off. I spoke with the librarian and she suggested some great books and said to let DD pick what she is interested in, even if it is something I wouldn't pick for her. I am soooo glad I listened. There are several books on here that I am going to find out more about.
I *love* the Belgariad, and all of Eddings books. The only thing that might be of slight is the casual attitude taken towards "wenching" and drinking. The older (700+ years) character is very casual in his relationship with both. His daughter provides a disapproving look, but she is often portrayed as "too strict". The protagonist of all series is a bit more Puritainical (sp?), having been raised by said daughter, and so is morally clean in that respect (and is disappointed in the taste of ale when he gets his first taste). All in all, it's very subtle, but it *is* there. And none of the "wenching" is ever described or portrayed, just talked about; "oh, as I recall you had a brief period where you got to know ALL the women in that town very well"-type discussion. My husband also enjoyed Animal Farm. I think that would work good as a kids' book on an initial-read level, with LOTS of upper-level discussion, particularly on re-reads. I don't remember if I listed Peter Pan on the first list, but we did that as a read-aloud. Our next read-aloud is probably going to be the Swiss Family Robinson, but I don't know how well that will work.
"Swiss Family Robinson" is a bit difficult as a read-aloud. It gets rather long and dry in places, but I think the kids didn't mind too much. Did anyone remember "Tom Sawyer"? That was a good read-aloud, better than I expected.
