My 8 year old son is extremely sensitive to anything even remotely scary, but he LOVES reading. Books he has enjoyed so far and wasn't too scared by:
- Roald Dahl Books
- All David Walliams Books
- Kingdom of Wrenly Series
- Dragon Storm Series
- Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (though did get pretty scared here and there)
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (though again, did get pretty scared here and there)
Other attempts to read more Harry Potter or C.S Lewis were shut down fairly quickly due to certain themes. SO many other books he very quickly 'nopes' out of due to getting scared. These themes included (but were not limited to) particularly scary mythical creatures (i.e werewolves), people being in danger, people being killed etc.
He is a clever boy and grasps subject matter and plot quickly, he also has a wide vocabulary for a boy of his age and I love to encourage his joy of reading as he gets so much from it.
Please suggest to us some books (particularly book series) that won't scare the pants off him, but also have a good amount of depth and semi complex characters, as well interesting plot development.
He is really enjoying fantasy books but I'd love to introduce him to other genres too, within the parameters outlined above.
Thanks!
by Slushroom
2 Comments
It’s a stand-alone book, but Holes by Louis Sachar may be a good read for him! There may be some kinda scary bits, but nothing more than HP and Narnia.
By the same author, though much more silly, are the Wayside School stories.
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo and Because of Winn Dixie by the same author could be good as well.
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary would be another recommendation!
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S.A. Cosby
Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata