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Ask Slashdot: Best Science-Fiction/Fantasy For Kids?
Jason Levine writes "My son is 8 years old. I'd love to get him interested in science-fiction, but most of the books I can think of seem to be targeted to older kids/adults. Thinking that the length of some novels might be off-putting to him, I read him some of the short stories in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot. He liked these, but I could tell he was having a hard time keeping up. I think the wording of the stories was too advanced and there was too much talking and not enough action. Personally, I love Asimov, but I think much of it just went over his head. Which science fiction and/or fantasy books would you recommend for an 8-year-old? (Either stories he could read himself or that we could read together over the course of a few weeks.)"
My advice might seem a little cynical, but the first thing I always tell someone who asks "How do I get my kid to like X?" is to tell them "Don't." If they're anything like my kids, mom and dad trying to sell them on something is the quickest way to make it the most uncool thing in the universe.
When I was a kid, my dad kept trying to sell me on Westerns. Whether or not that had anything to do with it, or whether it was just my nature, I can tell you that I *hated* Westerns then and still do. Of course, I never had the heart to tell the old man, and humored him to no end. But if there was ever any chance I was going to like those bastards Louis L'Amour or John Ford, my dad trying to make them seem "cool" certainly guaranteed that it was never going to happen.
As an alternative, why not ask your kid what HE likes, and YOU read some of HIS stuff instead? It will probably be a bunch of crap (my evil kids stuck me with reading those damned Harry Potter and pussy vampire books). But at least you won't be turning him off to something.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
I read the Hobbit to my son around first grade, and we read Lord of the Rings when he was about 7. This was ten years before the movies came out, and he was able to use his own imagination instead of seeing Peter Jackson's imagination at work. Highly recommended - he still has fond memories of our reading those books, and even said so this weekend.
If you read them over the course of a few weeks or so they are like any serial, where you learn to keep track of who is where and doing what, and enjoy the anticipation of finding out what comes next. I wouldn't assume they have to be short stories, they just have to hold his interest.
John
Christopher's Tripods trilogy is aimed at the younger reader. There's even an old British TV adaptation of the first two books.
I was totally reading Jules Verne as a young kid. They're easy reads, often interesting for kids, and are very light-hearted/G-rated.
I'd say anything by Jules Verne. I read most of his work between 8 and 10 and I couldn't be happier.
Ender's Game.
'Space Cadet', 'Rocket Ship Galileo', 'Have Space Suit Will Travel' etc etc.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Great writer.
These were my favourites when I was that age:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Neil+Ardley+World+of+Tomorrow
OK, so it's a set of picturebooks without any real story. But I'd like to find something modern and similar for my kids.
Also finding myself showing them old reruns of ST (TOS and TNG), since there are no other Sci Fi worlds I've seen that have a somewhat positive view of the future.
Have him watch Star Wars in the Machete Order and then get him started on the Timothy Zahn books, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. They are awesome! I loved them when I was a kid, and still do.
...when I was a kid were "The Runaway Robot" by Lester del Rey and "Secret Under the Sea" by Robert Silverberg. I think I still have them in a box somewhere.
...I just came for the free beer.
Narnia or Dark is Rising, both are fast paced and worthy of a few chapters at a time. I was read them when I was a kid, by the time we finished Narnia I was reading the books to my parents and was way ahead of my classmates on a reading level.
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
I don't recall getting into this stuff seriously until I was 11 or 12 but names I would throw out would be Madeline L'Engle (Wrinkle in Time), C.S. Lewis (Perelandra, That Hideous Strength), Ray Bradbury (Martian Chronicles or his short stories), Lowis Lowry (The Giver), Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game although it's a long one for kids), Robert Heinlein (The Star Beast, The Rolling Stones), Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End), Terry Pratchett (Johnny Maxwell series) ... now, since I was young there have been a whole raft of others and I think Neil Gaiman is even writing children's books now. I guess some names I've heard that you can look into are Andre Norton, Douglas E. Richards, Terrance Dicks, Donald Moffitt, Larry Niven, Jane Yolen, Gary Paulson, etc.
Just so you know, Asimov did edit collections of sci-fi for children (on his way to having his name on 500 books) and I think I remember Young Mutants and Tomorrow's Children being okay collections.
My work here is dung.
How about the Lensman series?
Also any of the Heinlein juvenile books.
Have Spacesuit Will Travel is probably the reason I'm the person I am today.
It's great for kids. About a young boy and his father who emigrate to a terra-formed Ganymede.
Sorry about the mess.
Check out his series that starts with The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree.
While it was written in 1952, it used to a in every single elementary school library, and is aimed at kids about your child's age.
I'd say anything by Jules Verne. I read most of his work between 8 and 10 and I couldn't be happier.
I wonder if the parent considered the 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds," or FOX News?
Need I say more?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Written by Asimov and his wife, Norby the Mixed Up Robot (and many sequels) are awesome. Loved them as a kid. Family friendly (no sex, clean language, minimal violence) but entertaining enough for adults.
In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
_not_ Scalzi's reboot.
Charming, stand-alone story which is a part of his ``Terro-Human Future''.
In the public domain, so available from Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18137
If you're travelling at some point in the near future, the version on Librivox:
http://librivox.org/little-fuzzy-by-h-beam-piper/
is absolutely professional in its production quality and would make a great story to listen to in the car.
William
(and I second the suggestions of Verne, Ender's Game and the Heinlein juveniles)
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
Dune remains the all-time great, in my opinion. It pulls together many different themes... It's a coming of age story, it's about becoming a leader, it's about making do with circumstances, and it's about the struggle for resources (spice, water).
The High Crusade is a pretty simple book that I loved and remembered reading as a kid. It is a good start into SciFi and easy to picture in ones mind while reading. I also suggest David Eddings, the Belgariad series as a good place to start. Good books with lots of imagery and not to difficult.
nt
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
Find some of these. I remember reading these things as a kid and loved them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
This was got me hooked back in the day (plus the Heinlein juves): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Flight_to_the_Mushroom_Planet Part of "The Mushroom Planet Books". These are easy to follow without being condescending. And anyone who isn't captivated by the idea that youngsters could build their own functional rocket ship isn't awake.
There's a few sci-fi themed Choose Your Own Adventure books, I bet you can find those easily online.
You never expect irony, do you?
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Books I remember liking from that age that had a science or sci-fi bent were Danny Dunn stories (there were quite a few books, don't know if any are available) and a book called the Dinosaur and the Egg (by Stephanie Lewis?). Lit my imagination and an appetite for all things sci-ency.
We have nothing to fear but fear itself! And Spiders!
My son is 8 years old. I'd love to get him interested in science-fiction, but most of the books I can think of seem to be targeted to older kids/adults
Huh. Shame there's not some vast repository of information where you could search for this.
http://www.google.com/search?q=science+fiction+novels+kids
There's plenty of kid-focused Sci-Fi
Anything with Janet Assimov's name on it is kid friendly.
I loved the Lucky Starr series by Isaac Asimov (under the name "Paul French")
Heinlen even wrote some kids books.
Most of the 'big' sci-fi authors have written stories for kids.
You just have to go looking for it.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Kids like Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game books. I have given the Marvel-published graphic novel version as gifts to nephews, and they really got into it. If they like the story, you can tell them there's more to read in the full-text version.
http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Game-Battle-School-Gn/dp/B005B1AW7Y/
FInd some of the anthologies with authors like William H Kieth Jr., Kieth Laumer, David Weber, John Ringo, David Drake, Mercedes Lackey, Linda Evans and others...
How can you go wrong?
Anthologies carry the shorter, action packed stories. Can grow into the full novels - I constantly go back an re-read many of them just because they are fun quick reads.
If he's not interested let him play outside with other kids like he's supposed to. Or at worst let him read comic books. If he's interested in books now then fine, but it doesn't sound like it. Give him a couple of years to develop more. In the meantime interacting with other kids is far better in this internet rich interaction depleted world we live in. Encourage reading sure, but don't push it.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
Or comic books.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Give him a copy of Accelerando or Cyteen and let him sink or swim.
If it ends up dust covered on a shelf, repeat after me: "It's perfectly OK for my kid not to like what I like, He's my son and I love him anyway.".
Seconded again, Tom Swift books come in various Generations... get the latest ones for the most relevance to today. But don't ignore the old ones, they are more fun in my opinion.
"Computer Scientists can count to 1024 on their fingers" (non-mutant, non-mutilatated, human computer scientists)
Very accessible, minimal (or none) profanity and sex, very funny (Jed the Dead) and insightful (Nor Crystal Tears)
ADF all the way.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
Some others have already mentioned 'The Hobbit', which is great for his age (I read it to my son at the same age yours is).
I can't believe no one has yet mentioned 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' yet though. That was about the age I read that to my son too. The only caveat is be careful how fast you progress. He's likely not old enough for 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. We've tackled that by giving one a year for Christmas.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: http://hpmor.com/
You need to consider that one of them is one is fiction, and the other is straight out delusional...
"The Day of the Triffids" - John Wyndham.
Actually, you could say it not science fiction, as it is the reality now....but anyway.
8 is a little young for most kids to appreciate hard science fiction, so I would stick to the softer stuff. Here are a few softer stories I enjoyed at that age:
The Pern books by Anne McCaffrey
The Zero Stone by Andre Norton
Startide Rising by David Brin (I think I was 10 when I read this one, but the concept of dolphins piloting starships blew my mind...some sexual content, though)
Additional shameless plug: A friend recently self-published his book, Marlowe and the Spacewoman. I've read about half of it and got to a point with a tense action scene. There's a decent amount of social commentary, but I found it very enjoyable and a relatively easy read, perhaps comparable to the reading level of Hunger Games.
Always good for a starting point into sci fi.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Weirdstone of Brisingamon and Moon of Gomrath have plenty of action and are every bit in the same spirit as Tolkien.
For sci-fi, at that age I was into Citizen of the Galaxy, Spaceship Medic and other lighter stuff. However, I would strongly suggest Pratchett's "Only You Can Save Mankind".
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
This series was written by Douglas E. Richards specifically because he was looking to interest his children in science. Though, the books are about an alien race visiting Earth, the science is real (at least the explanations are) and the action is fast paced. He writes in the voice of children very well.
All that said, I got hooked on this author for his Wired series and I recommend that as well.
I also think the Ender's series has been spectacular, but probably not for pre-teen.
throw the baby out. The bathwater is cold
Why not try out a simple RPG with them, like the D&D Basic set from the 80s? My kids picked it up quick, and had fun with a loosely run fantasy dungeon. Of course, we went on to play some rather weird Call of Cthulhu scenarios, so my kids might not be representative of the general age group. If you are the DM, you still get to "read" the stories to them, but now they get to be active participants. If you have to, take a hammer to the rules and get rid of anything that the kids don't find fun. If you take the time to build up your own scenarios, you can even work in some real world logic skills and such. Plus, it can be a lead in to other fantasy/sci-fi series. Anyway, that's the direction I went, and it turned out well.
All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
My favorite book around that age was Dogsbody http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogsbody_(novel), by Diana Wynne Jones. It's got a litle sci-fi, animals, villains, and one of those tear-jerking endings that will haunt you forever.
When I was about your son's age, I read Eleanor Cameron's 'The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet,' about two boys who befriend a scientist (who's really almost a wizard) and with his help build a spaceship to explore a small, hithero undiscovered moon populated by friendly mushroom people. It sounds wacky, but it was a lot of fun, and there are a few other books in the series if your son enjoys the first.
Depending on your son, some of Heinlein's fiction for children might also work. I remember loving 'Tunnel in the Sky' and 'Red Planet' when I was ten or so.
I liked Danny Dunn when I was in middle school. They'll be a bit dated, but good never the less.
Aye! Depends on if you're into pies with all the fixin's, and an Abbey and all the religious trappin's with nary a shade o' religion, etc, etc, etc.
Actually, my kids loved the Redwall books. I read one or two with them, but there's only so much virtuous mice eating well, evil rats, and other critters with charming accents that one can take.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
My son used to love the hardy boys. As a change-up, to introduce him to science-fiction type stories, we started getting some of the tom swift books out of the local library. He loved them. If you have an e-reader, I think the copyright on them expired, and they're available from gutenberg.
Seconded. Good storyline, doesn't drag too much, and with the age things kids can relate. Maybe.
But, as others have said, don't push too hard to get him to like them. Just show them that you like them and he'll think they're cool by association. If he wants to try other stuff, let him, but make sure he sees you reading some of these books and he'll copy you.
1 - The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. Excellent mix of both fantasy and sci-fi (though perhaps a bit gruesome for an 8 year old...)
2 - the Animorphs book series; I read them when I was a kid and really got into the story. What 8-year-old hasn't dreamed of being able to transform into an animal?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
For SF, the Heinlein juveniles: Red Planet, Have Space Suit Will Travel, Between Planets, Space Cadet, etc. if your kid can deal with young-teen reading levels. If you need something younger, Asimov had "Norby" and "Lucky Starr", there were a set of books about "Danny Dunn" in the 50's and 60's, Brinley wrote "The Mad Scientist Club" for Boy's Life around the same time, and there were a bunch of "Tom Swift" books - Jr, not Sr, the latter are way too dated. Also from the 50's, check out "The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet" by E. Cameron. Fifteen years ago my own kids plowed through the "Animorphs" series, but I thought they were formulaic and trite - I guess the recommendation depends on whether you're looking for "good" books or something that the kids will find engaging. In the same vein, Coville's wrote a bunch of lightweight but fun things such as "My Teacher is an Alien".
I would NOT recommend Verne or HG Wells for modern young readers, the prose seems long-winded and obtuse by modern standards, but after your kid's hooked he can certainly go back and fill in with these.
For fantasy, you couldn't do better than "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" by Patricia C Wrede. Hold off on Tolkien until later, "The Hobbit" might be okay for a read-aloud family activity but is a bit much for most 8 year olds.
I've seen an eight year old read it and love it. It is very accessible because it is just random fun.
Visit your local (or school) library and ask the librarian what other kids your son's age are reading....
I agree with you that you shouldn't try to force something on the kid if he doesn't like it. However, at that age there are there are an innumerable number of things that he has never been exposed to, and has no idea whether he likes them or not. Exposing your kids to different things, especially ones that are good for him in general (reading) or had positive impact on your life (like sci-fi) is part of being a good parent. If he doesn't latch onto it, then fine, let it be and move onto something else, but the guy should try, and finding stories that are at the right level for his kid will avoid turn him off unnecessarily.
Choose your own adventure !! With a childs limited attention span, the ability to go back and pick another storyline is great, plus the stories are shorter.
The electric yellow has got me by the brain banana
The Way of Kings by Sanderson is actually really good (it's huge but it's doable). The language isn't too heavy (i.e. Donaldson), it doesn't have sex in it and somehow isn't detracted from by this (it's not "childish", it just doesn't focus on the sexual undertones too much--well, some stuff about girls exposing their left hands, a few girls naked i.e. while bathing, a guy naked due to a few unfortunate events but nobody screaming PENIIIIIIISSSS HIS PENIS IS FLOPPING AROUND OMG!!!!!).
The story is somewhat violent, not incredibly graphic about it but it's bloody now and then. It's not a kid's story, but it's definitely digestible. Give it a read yourself first by all means. The world is besieged by high storms (hurricanes etc) and so most of the curses revolve around references to storms--people curse a LOT, but it's not hot-button (really there's no difference between that and just saying 'fuck,' but try convincing your irrational little brain of that once).
This contrasts to Age of Misrule (lots of drugs/sex), Something Secret This Way Comes (graphic sex, graphic gore), The Gap Cycle (LOTS OF GRAPHIC SEX AND VIOLENCE), etc. AoM and TGS are excellent, Secret is ... pulp, but decent pulp... it's too episodic for me. Vampire Hunter D as well, violent and sexual at times, but milder.
The Way of Kings is mild enough for a kid yet definitely up there with The Gap Cycle, and at a palatable reading level (not too simplified, but not overly complicated with big fancy Master's English words).
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Asimov's "Complete Robot" is responsible for getting me into Sci-Fi at the age of 7 or 8. The stories are fairly sanitary from what I remember.
I really liked the Jedi Academy or Rogue Squadron series of books when I was a kid. That said, I discovered it myself. Your mileage may vary :)
As a kid/teen, some of my favorites were by William Sleator. A lot of sci-fi staples were introduced to me in his books (cloning, 4th/5th/nth dimensions, black holes, telepathy, time travel). My favorites were House of Stairs and Interstellar Pig.
I also enjoyed the Tripods series by John Christopher.
Also, I'm seconding the Danny Dunn and Tom Swift series. I think the series of Swift I read was the Tom Swift, Jr. from the 50's and 60's.
My girlfriend dragged me to the Rochester Teen Book Festival in Rochester, NY and she wanted me to read something from an author that'd be there beforehand. I asked her for a good fantasy or sci-fi book and she pointed me to Fablehaven. It's about a couple kids sent to stay with their grandfather in Connecticut and they learn of a secret world of magic creatures that exist in the real world but away from civilization. I thoroughly enjoyed it, evn though it was meant for middle-school-aged readers. I ended up buying the 5-book set at the festival.
-SaNo
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones is an absolute must - she does both Sci Fi and Fantasy, and all are very original and started my love for the two genres. I cannot recommend her enough. There's tons out there, probably 20 books or more, and it I would even recommend for adults. Other ones I remember from when I was 9 to 11 are Nicholas Fisk, Anthony Horowitz, which are more sci fi IIRC. There's the Redwall books by Brian Jacques and Deptford Mice by Robin Jarvis - these last two series are quite dark & grim though, so maybe wait till a bit later (I read them when I was 10, but I was always weird like that). Also, you can't really beat Enid Blyton's "Wishing Chair" and "Magic Faraway Tree" books, I believe they're available in an omnibus now. I think someone's already mentioned Susan Cooper's "Dark is Rising" series, and of course the Narnia books.
I'd highly recommend the series So You Want to Be a Wizard? series by Diane Duane for kids in the 8-15 age range, although they read fine for older ages as well. And before anyone asks, I'd recommend them over the Harry Potter series. For older kids (12-18), the Amber series by Roger Zelazny is great as well. There's also the old Danny Dunn series. Finally, depending on the kids' maturity level, go for the classics (Stranger in a Strange Land, A Wrinkle in Time).
Those are all good suggestions, I might add Anne McCaffrey to the list. I am confused however by the idea that it's bad to exceed a child's comprehension. Let his own reading material be age-appropriate if you must, but he will enjoy being read good stuff even if he doesn't completely understand it. What exactly is gained by reading unchallenging books?
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
When I was that age I read Ben Bova's Exiled From Earth, and was hooked on Sci Fi from then on. The story still holds up pretty well.
Proverbs 21:19
Rather than trying to get the kids reading the adult shorts and novels try the books they wrote for kids
Asimov has the Luckey Starr series. This was probably the first Sci-fi book I remember my dad reading to me.
David Starr, Space Ranger (1952)
Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids (1953)
Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus (1954)
Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury (1956)
Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter (1957)
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn (1958)
From Heinlein
Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947
Space Cadet, 1948
Red Planet, 1949
Between Planets, 1951
The Rolling Stones aka Space Family Stone, 1952
Farmer in the Sky, 1953
Starman Jones, 1953
The Star Beast, 1954
Tunnel in the Sky, 1955
Time for the Stars, 1956
Citizen of the Galaxy, 1957
Have Space Suit—Will Travel, 1958
If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. --Red Adair
Almost the same here. Except I've started my 6 yr old on Logo (ACSLogo on the Mac) and Robozzle. Robozzle didn't last long though, when she learned she could solve it by trial and error rather than thinking through it.
I'll have to check out RubyKids. Lego NXT and possibly Arduino is on the horizon when she's a bit older.
I chose to end my comments, not with a rim shot, but a long decaying F#7sus4
The Airborne Series (Airborne, Skybreaker, Starclimber) by Kenneth Opel. Award winning series set in an alternate Edwardian time, where airplanes don't exist, but airships rule the skies. 2nd book is my favorite.
If only we could fall into a woman's arms without falling into her hands
L'engle's A Wrinkle In Time and the sequels.
Heinlein's juvenile books like Podkayne of Mars and Have Space Suit Will Travel
John Bellairs, pretty much anything he's written. The House With A Clock In It's Walls is one of his best. My personal favorite of his is The Face in the Frost, but that might be for more adult readers.
Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series for fantasy, Heinlein's juvenile stuff for SF. And don't ask him to read the books, read the books to him. Let him find his own things to read (it'll be godawful stuff in your opinion, and that's OK).
I loved this series when I was a teenager. That was over 30 years ago. :)
I had the same experience with Westerns. I guess when I saw "My Name Is Nobody" I was a bit lost but the Fist Full of Dollars stuff was right in my wheelhouse. Today I don't watch much other than Clint and my dad was okay with that. On the other hand, my dad used to play records for me like Baba O'Riley by The Who and The Beatles' Red and Blue collections on his old record player. I gobbled that stuff up and, later, when I would be exposed to then popular bands like Ace of Base and Green Day from my classmates my body rejected that trash like a baboon heart with the wrong blood type. So I think it can easily go both ways depending on the relationship and the kid's interests. This guy's kid already sounds like he's showing a positive enjoyment towards the books so let's further it.
And today, I have many younger cousins that I guess I never realized looked up to me and thought I was cool. Well, one Christmas, my aunt just put my name on a present to my younger cousin Hunter and it was for some book I never heard of. She e-mailed me the synopsis and he read that book in five days we did a little back and forth over e-mail about it. So I took her cue and started sending him books I pick up at thrift stores and other used book stores if they're cheap (I'd wager he's got some pretty good sets and maybe even doubles of most of these authors). Seriously, stop in a goodwill sometime, pick out some good books and gift them to your younger relatives, it's worth the ~50 cents for the old paperback on the chance the kid reads it. Now when I'm visiting I casually ask him about the books and he goes nuts where he never said two words before.
So, if you want to help the person asking Slashdot, perhaps the suggestion should be "Give the book to his idol and politely ask them to give the book to your kid." Then once the kid is hooked, you just so happen to have read the book as well.
My work here is dung.
Check out Norby.
Ray: You mean you never even had a Slinky?
Egon: We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it.
:wq
At that age, I loved the Philippe Ebly novels, but I don't if they are translated to English (he's belgian, writing in French). But I'm pretty that those are the ones that made love scifi and fantasy so much.
Asimov is my favourite writer, but 8yo is probably too young for Asimov, I think I started enjoying Asimov around 12.
Jules Verne is also quite good, but I'm not sure how old I was when reading them, maybe a bit older like 10.
Piers Anthony's Xanth series can be a lot of fun, especially the early ones. Eight may be a bit young for them though. I'll second the suggestions of Narnia and The Hobbit (LotR is not engaging enough for the average 8 y/o IMHO).
Highly recommended. These books are interesting, exciting and written with content and style appropriate for young readers. Also, there are currently 35 of these books published so it'll keep him busy if he enjoys them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanth#Books
There is also a newer prequel that apparently spoils the trilogy.
I'm not a big fan of fantasy, but he might like The Golden Compass.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Norby the Mixed-Up Robot was both my introduction to Asimov, and sci-fi in general.
Robert Asprin's "Myth" or "Phule" series.
Graham Watkin's Virus.
Loved Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat set, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
Not hate, not even ideology, stupidity is politically neutral but it seems that there is a preponderance of good fiction, and re-writing of history that begs laughter in this political compaign. It also seems like much is coming via Fox "News" (since when). What you see is laughter.
I detect though that you have some scorn, and hate. You wouldn't be invested in that message would you? and you with your "festering bullshit" comment seems like you missed the point and as other have stated, possibly, lack a sense of humor.
Well better than Republicans, lets see. by keeping an open mind, caring for more than just myself and my pocketbook, feeling that every citizen should vote and we should not provide road blocks to suppress voters from voting, I think congress should govern (parties working together and compromising) rather than lying down on the floor and pounding their fists and saying no, no, it that to be my way. Realizing that we are better off now than when Bush was in office, because the economy was in free fall, it is not now. Thinking that unregulated commerce has almost killed the economy what 5 or 6 times, so anyone saying that more de-regulation is the path out of economic crisis, is not playing with a full deck (or most likely, they feel they can take advantage and take your money and run behind the gated community gate before you realize what has happened). I don't know what makes anyone better than an ideologue, on either side.
But as you said, this was about what children should read. But you asked the question.
"Bill, the Galactic Hero" by H.H. is also good kiddiesoftware.
And some of Jack Vances simpler stuff, Dying Earth/Planet of Adventure (maybe not sci-fi enough).
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
Not to mention that Accelerando really isn't appropriate for kids under the age of about 13. (And I thought the ending was horrible as well; I've had several people agree with me that it was like the story just kept motoring on until it drove off a cliff, Thelma-and-Louise style.)
Try the Tom Swift series, have no idea if they are still available, but it was like the Hardy Boys in space. Another good book, highly overlooked for years, but was taught in English Class back in the day, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, same guy that wrote Day of the Triffids and Midwich Cuckoos. Great book, light on the sci- heavy on the -fi, but totally original and refreshing. No idea why that one never made it to the big screen.
"If the only tool that you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Donny Rumsfeld
The Bartimaeus books are great, among my favourite reads to this day. The are refreshingly different, and extremely interesting. Definitely worth a read for anyone, kids or not (the later books mature a little).
-- Lattyware (www.lattyware.co.uk)
>"I read him some of the short stories in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot. He liked these, but I could tell he was having a hard time keeping up."
Letting him finish reading anything on his own might take the unstated threat/insult of "you aren't good enough for the books your father reads" entirely out of the equation.
Again, if he doesn't like books, stop making him feel guilty for not wanting to read them.
The problem the OP has is his problem for having unrealistic expectations, namely that his son wants all the same things, and wants to do them the exact same way his father does.
Stop giving your kids neuroses, Slashdot.
These were the first fantasy books I can remember reading, and I was completely hooked on the genre afterwards.
I was in the first grade as I recall, and while they were a quick a light read, they actually dealt with some fairly heavy (at that age anyways) moral issues and life lessons.
Oh, and if you're basing an opinion of these books off of having watched Disney's Cartoon...don't...there are few similarities if any.
Red Thunder by John Varley (http://www.amazon.com/Red-Thunder-John-Varley/dp/0441010156). What kid doesn't want to build his own spaceship?
the Tom Swift books are pretty fun for kids. Crazy airplanes, spaceships, submarines, and all kinds of weird things. The books will make YOU cringe a little (not the best prose in the world and sometimes quite tacky) but may spark the imagination of a child.
Hardcore sci-fi can start being interesting soon, but most of that does not get REALLY interesting until the children become old enough to read between the lines and see the actual point of the stories. At least a little. Books such as Animal Farm (okay, not sci-fi, but bear with me) are often seen as boring by children who haven't trained themselves to read books and understand the point. Most hardcore sci-fi isn't about robots, but rather about the human condition. Choose something simpler that really is about robots to begin with. The rest comes when the children start exploring by themselves.
I'm pretty amazed at some of the advice. Not to pick on anyone, but Ringworld for an 8 year old?
Comic books first, or compilations of them. The Avengers come to mind. I liked the idea of the Hobbit too. If he likes that, LOTR will follow.
Heinlein has lots of good, juvenile oriented books. Charles Sheffield has some also, Putting Up Roots, Higher Education, The Billion Dollar Boy, The Cyborg from Earth. He has lots of great adult SF as well, not nearly as well known as he should be.
Definitely talk to your local librarian.
Steve
C.O.L.A.R. by Alfred Slote. Its actually the second in a 4 book series, but the best in my opinion. Its what got me started on Scifi. Its out of print, but used copies appear to be available.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bug-Wars-Robert-Asprin/dp/0441073735
Simple story and the kicker is there isn't a human mentioned in the book. It's from the perspective of an alien race fighting an alien race. Great way in my opinion to get a child to take another look at the world.
Bunnicula by James Howe. A story about a possibly vampire bunny, as told by the family dog. My eight year old loves them, we're up to the fifth book in the series.
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
The Last Unicorn
A Wrinkle in Time
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Chronicles of Narnia
Stardust
Ender's Game
The Hobbit (I'd stop there (for now) LOTR can get very involved in detail that can even turn off adult readers)
The Chrysalids
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Around the World in 80 Days
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
The Mysterious Island
The Time Machine
The Martian Chronicles
Farenheit 451
War of the Worlds
As I understand it, one has a fantastical, fictional story of the unbelievable, centering around aliens invading our world and threatening our way of life, and the other features Orson Welles...
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
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I knew there were some other Asimov books that might be better. I think the slow nature of the first few I, Robot stories might have turned him off slightly. Once we were in the story, he would want me to keep reading so he could find out just why Speedy kept running in circles on Mercury, but it didn't spark an interest in him enough for him to want to hear the rest of the stories.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
I started reading her when I was very young and over time her books have become among my favorites. She is among my top authors that I keep an eye out for. There are probably less than 20 authors that I keep an eye out for their books and want when I see a new one.
:) But I haven't become a fetishist that likes to tie up women and treat them as slaves so I guess I can say that they didn't hurt me any. :)
One author that I loved when I was younger was Piers Anthony. I loved the early Xanth books and the Incarnations of Immortality books. I've drifted away from the Xanth books because they seem like he is just putting them out for the puns he gets from fans. They just don't seem as fun anymore to me. Also his single novels have never done much for me. He seems to do much better with series. A really good Sci-Fi series of his I loved when I was younger was his Bio of a Space Tyrant series but that contains some things you may find objectionable to a young reader. Of course, I was reading hard Sci-Fi before I was a teenager, including some of the Gor books with their sexual situations and it never scarred me.My uncle used to tease me about them though.
Amazing British author Dianna Wynne Jones is just what you are looking for. Archers Goon, Homeward Bounders. Shes an amazing storyteller. Also Terry Pratchett, comedy sci-fi, very funny and accessible.
Bartimaeus series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartimaeus_(book_series)
You can read it both at the same time, and you'll both have fun.
Alternatively, Leviathan series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_(Westerfeld_novel)
but it's less refined.
-- we're here you're not
Since noone has bothered to mention her juveniles. Time Traders, first three or four novels, Witch World, most, if not all of them Almost any of the stories that mention the Dipple, though you'll probably have to explain that part to him (or might have to have someone explain it to you, if you're young enough for an 8-year-old son still). Not sure whether her post atomic war stories (Stars Are Ours, Star Man's Son, etc) would fit within his worldview (it's been a very long time since that was a big concern), but the stories are reasonably entertaining, usually involving a teenage boy as protagonist....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
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When I was a kid my mom got me into the "Silver John" series by Manly Wade Wellman. They're kinda spooky fantasy (but not scary) southern folk lore style short stories set in the Appalachias in the early 20th century, mixing Cherokee myths with pioneer-era American magic.
...for it's alway behind the man or woman it wants to grab" or the Gardinel, a kind of living house where "...the few that's lucky enough to have gone into a gardinel and win out again... tell that inside it's pinky-walled and dippy-floored, with on the floor all the skulls and bones of those who never did win-out... and all at once you know that inside a gradinel is like a stomach") and magic guitars strung with silver strings make these a lot of fun. Wellman had an amazing ability to convey local dialect effectively (which can make for a fun read-- practicing regional accents!) and a real feel for the landscape in which he sets the action.
Lots of cool monsters (like the Behinder that "no on can rightly say what it looks like
He also did a lot of sci-fi as well, but the Silver John books are where it's at.
I recommend anything by Patricia McKillip, especially the book "Forgotten Beasts of Eld": http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0152055363/patriciamckillip
I wonder if the old "Tom Swift" series is still around? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tom_Swift_books. I cut my teeth on those. I managed to see one of them again a couple decade or so ago and realized that most of the "Science" in the book was pure nonsense. But it was an easy read for a young age and did capture my imagination to start me off towards the Sciences.
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This was the first science fiction book I ever read, and it still has an important place in my heart. It's out of print, but trust me, it's worth finding a used copy and buying it. It's probably worth it to buy a hardcover; the mass-market paperback (from "Scholastic Book Services") was printed on very cheap paper that is turning brown these days.
The story: a family of three (father, mother, son) has been living on Ganymede, but will now move to Earth. The son grew up on Ganymede with a robot, Rex, as a nanny/companion. Since shipping is expensive, they plan to sell Rex and leave him behind. Hating to leave Rex, the boy gets off the space liner just before it departs, and runs away; the boy and the robot have adventures as they try to get to Earth together. It's a tale of adventure and loyalty and love. The story is narrated by Rex in the first person.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Runaway-Robot-Lester-Del/dp/B000DZDQD0
I believe I was 8 when I read this. I loved it then and I still love it today.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Since you included fantasy. Works perfectly. My friend is currently reading it one chapter a night for her 7-year-old - and he just loves it.
On the sci-fi-side, others have mentioned lots of examples - but you could try giving him book versions of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back - and then the Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. Not so serious but the stories flow smoothly. And they have space battles with lots of turbolasers.
Others have mentioned The Hobbit and Narnia. We listened to Narnia on audiobook and my 7 year old eats them up. I just started the Hobbit and he's hooked half-way through chapter 1. Another idea is graphic novels. We got a few young reader books like Billy Blaster and Recon Academy (sort-of sci fi) which he can read along with. I discovered Missle Mouse which I had to read at first, but after a few readings he likes to look at for himself.
I was probably about 10 when I discovered Burroughs, and spent next couple years devouring Mars (Barsoom), Venus, Pelucidar series, plus many individual books and the earlier Tarzan novels. Other than some dated attitudes on race and the role of the sexes, the content is all quite kid friendly (no sexual contact and little romance beyond profound yearning and obligation that often drove the plot; even uncivilized Tarzan's pursuit of Jane followed an arc altogether befitting his noble British pedigree; violence only following the pattern of necessary and justifiable acts by protagonists to counter villified acts by antagonists.)
whatever is - the music is
Shouldn't your kid just read whatever he wants? Okay, perhaps you want to exclude erotic novels and horror stories, although I doubt very much that these could do any harm. When I was about 7 or 8 years old I read Lem's Eden and it absolutely fascinated me. Haven't read it again for quite a while but it's still one of my favorites. At age 7-12 I then read almost everything else by Lem and all the other classics like Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, etc. of my fathers collection. Oh, and of course also loved the Little Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
When I say your kid can read whatever he wants, I assume that you'll also have the time to talk about it, of course.
There's a tonne of stuff which isn't necessarily so easy to get hold of any more, but I have very fond memories of reading the 'Space' Anthologies, particularly Space 6 which included the classic story "Bobo's Star". I used to love Nicholas Fisk - most memorably "A Rag, A Bone and a Hank of Hair" and "Trillions"; Monica Hughes, who wrote lots of stuff including "Crisis on Conshelf 10" and "Devil on my Back". The Tripods is nowhere near the best of John Christopher's work. (He died earlier this year by the way) - but you should check out "The Lotus Caves" and the Sword of the Spirits Trilogy - which is pretty brutal stuff and targeted at adolescents. Someone has already mentioned William Sleator who died last year and who wrote the brilliant "Boy who Reversed Himself" and 'Singularity". For pure, thrilling 8-year old sci-fi action, you can't beat Douglas Hill's Last Legionary series of novels.
The Little Prince is a fantasy/sci-fi novel that is extremely multidimensional (you can read it on many levels). It's something that one can read at 8 and enjoyed, then read again at 12, 16 and enjoyed for entirely different reasons. I cannot recommend this book enough for young readers.
"The City of Gold and Lead" by John Christopher. I recall I lucked onto it in the 3rd grade. My gateway book to Science Fiction/Alternate Universe/Fantasy.
The Magic Tree House series kept my kids attention-Mary Pope Osborne
A lot of Jules Verne's work has been edited for younger readers.
As other have stated, let your kids guide you to what interests them. Let's hope they have access to a good reading program in school.
I've found any of the Newbery Award winners from the ALSC are usually good reading. Those librarians are on to something.
I completely hated reading at that age. However the Choose-Your-Own Adventure and similar type books changed that. They were like a game I could play while at school. Next thing I knew a few years later I was reading novels.
Just watch out the child does not find Asimov so interesting they read up to Robots of Dawn. You may have some explaining to do.
When I was about that age, The Tripods Trilogy by John Carpenter and the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series dominated my reading universe.
They are readable even for a younger kid, and theres also a lot of them.
You might also try the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, although they're more fantasy than sci-fi, they're great stories for all ages and have a wonderful sense of humour.
Look no further then the Tom Swift and Tom Swift Jr. books. Sure the older ones are outdated, but they gave me a love of Science Fiction that I still have.
According to the wiki article they are still being published as of 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
When we have kids I plan to read these to our kid very early on.
-- Slashdot, making the Left look conservative since 1997.
I remember reading the Belgariad (first book is Pawn of Prophecy), and enjoying it a lot when I was younger, rereading it several times. It's a very easy read, and is definitely suitable for a younger audience.
When I was that age, I found a bunch of "graphic novel" versions of various classics in my school library: Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexander Dumas, etc. I devoured those books. It was my love of Verne and Wells that led to a lifetime of reading sci-fi. The ones I read, I believe, were the "Classics Illustrated" that were re-released by Pocket Books (this would've been in the mid-to-late 1970's). There is a web site for the originals, though: http://www.classicscentral.com/.
For fantasy:
The Chronicles of Narnia (the books, not the movies)
A Wrinkle in Time
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Changeling and Madwand by Roger Zelazny
For sci-fi, try Alan Dean Foster's "Flinx" series and Heinlein's Juveniles
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Absolutely, The Hobbit. At eight it should be easy. We were reading LOTR by eight. The Narnian Chronicles are also good for children and easy reads. (Some people hate them as inherently religious--kids don't notice.)
Harry Potter, though reductive and non-classic, is also easy and can be fun.
The Dark is Rising Sequence is a slightly tougher read, but also uses much better language.
Most importantly, turn off the TV/Computer/Videogames. Books get MUCH more interesting when there isn't something around that gives faster rewards.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
I started reading to my daughter when she was less than two years old. I don't know if she was actually following the story, but she seemed to like hearing my voice.
When she was about seven or eight, I started her with the Heinlein juveniles. She *really* enjoyed Have Space Suit, Will Travel and Red Planet. She thought Podkayne of Mars was funny and sad, but a very good story. The version I had was the one with both endings -- the original and the softened ending Heinlein was asked by his publisher to write. She said she preferred the original, sadder ending. When she was nine or ten I took a chance and read her The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, pointing out that there was a connection to The Rolling Stones. She loved it. She liked the character of Mike the computer so much that I was required to very cautiously read to her -- edited on the fly -- The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.
I read to her the funnier parts of Hogfather, and she insisted on hearing the entire novel. We went on to Thief of Time (because she loved the Susan character), then backfilled with Mort and Soul Music, and eventually read every single Discworld novel, at her request. She likes that I do the voices. (The voice of Death hurts my throat.)
I read her L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time, and that led to all the Murray stories, except Many Waters, which bored her, and A House Like a Lotus, which I couldn't bring myself to read to her because of the attempted rape scene that was central to the story. (She can read it on her own, now that she's a teenager.)
Sadly, she lost interested in our nightly reading sessions about halfway through junior high, and now that she's graduated high school those days are probably over for good. My recommendation is just to start with a juvenile you really enjoyed as a kid, something you can read with enthusiasm, and see if it grabs him.
Asimov's adult fiction is well written, scientifically accurate, and fairly dry. But Asimov lived another life, as author "Paul French", when he wrote the juvenile "Lucky Starr" series. They're quite well written space adventure, and will easily hold the attention of an eight year old. The first book is "David Starr, Space Ranger".
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Some of the classics of SF are awfully dated: theirs are futures which didn't happen. Because of that, Asimov, Heinlein, Andre Norton, Williams and Abrashkin's "Danny Dunn" and other juveniles of that time may be hard to swallow. I'd say that CS Lewis falls in the same category.
Daniel Pinkwater is a genius, with books for all ages:Tooth-Gnasher Superflash is a picture book about test-driving a car, and hopefully it flies and eats other cars; Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy from Mars is about the strangeness of growing up. You can't go wrong with one of his books. ;^)
Roald Dahl, while written half a century ago, hold up pretty well: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a good gateway drug, and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator is a little more SFnal
Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" is a tough read for a youngster -- be available for the reader, answer questions, help them along. Some object to Card's politics, and his psychology of cruelty, but it's still a darn good read.
Lois McMaster Bujold's "The Warrior's Apprentice" may be a little old for an 8-year-old, but not by much. It's a modern space opera, about someone older but not bigger than an 8-year-old.
Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan", "Peeps" and "Uglies" series are perhaps aimed more at teens, but don't get too adult. His wife, Justine Larbalester, writes great fantasy (How to Ditch your Fairy, Liar).
Clive Barker's "Abarat" is sort of an Oz/Wonderland inside-out. Yes, the creator of Pinhead can write kid-safe stuff too. But oops, that's fantasy too.
China Mieville's "Railsea" is getting great press, but I haven't had a chance to read.
Paulo Bacigalupi's "Shipbreaker" is another I haven't read yet
Adam Rex's "The True Meaning of Smekday" is one my wife enjoyed a lot
Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" might work well, if you don't mind your 8-year-old becoming an activist
Design for Use, not Construction!
Maybe not science fiction, per se, to some-- but I think it counts. And don't worry, the book is an order of magnitude better than the crappy animated movie which I will not spell out :)
My 8 year old has been reading Girl Genius comics for over a year now. She can't get enough of them. The comics are free online, you only pay for print versions and merch. She has all of the print copies, and rereads them regularly.
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
When I was a kid we actually lived on a boat. My dad was and still is fascinated by the Titanic. So he thought a good book to read to my brother and I was A Night to Remember. That is really the only book I remember my dad reading to me and my little brother. I know he read other books but this is the only one I remember clearly from my childhood days. It did not upset me but my little brother had nightmares about the boat sinking. I would start with something that has pictures. Maybe Star Trek comics. You can get a bunch on a CD that has most of the old comics on it from Amazon. Comics have gotten a lot more serious lately. The older stuff is a lot more lighthearted and might peak his interest.
I'm surprised no one has recommended the Norby series by Janet and Isaac Asimov. They are targeted to pre-teens and I enjoyed them very much as a kid.
Brandon Sanderson (an excellent Fantasy Writer for adults) wrote a series through schoolastics for 5th to 7th grades kids. The series is about a bot named Alcatraz. It's a great read and worth exposing kids to.
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/book/Alcatraz/
Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
For both Science-fiction and Fantasy I would recommend C. S. Lewis. You have the Chronicles of Narnia for fantasy but read them in the order:
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
A Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle.
I would also recommend his Space Trilogy but stay away from the final book until he is older as I remember the first time I read it was rather difficult to follow what was going on in That Hideous Strength. I also remember reading and enjoying the The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin when I wasn't much older. For fantasy works I would recommend reading the stories in A Thousand and One Nights, it isn't that difficult and does expose him to some "Classic" literature, although some of those stories would be rather dark and might not be appropriate for an 8 year old. You also can't really go wrong with a modern translation of Beowulf as it is an easy read (once you get past the names) and Tolkien's works, but those have already been mentioned.
Time to offend someone
http://www.amazon.com/John-Bellairs/e/B000APZTO2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1340223614&sr=1-1
I was probably in the 8 - 12 range when Bellairs was my favorite author EVER; I loved these books: creepy gothic fantasy, with a little sci-fi twist (IIRC).
Also, books about kids building things--like the Mad Scientists' Club books:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mad_Scientists'_Club
Totally inspirational for a young "life hacker." The books are from the 60s (?) but they were still amazing in the late 80s / early 90s, so I can't imagine they've lost it since then.
Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
haven't gone through all the comments, but I think that would be a good one to start with.
Probably not a name you see recommended often, but I recall his books being rather light and airy, adventuresome, lots of humor infused - if the kid is not a die-hard who takes sci-fi too seriously, he might enjoy just about anything from Piers Anthony.
Also Robert Asprin wrote a number of stories that were comical in nature with his whole Myth series. Pick up any one and run with it - they're fun!
Also, I second the nomination for Jules Verne reading from above.
I think it is definitely easier to pick out fantasy books for kids. Here are a few that would probably be age appropriate and which are excellent books:
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
Prydain Chronicles (first one is The Book of Three), Lloyd Alexander
Earthsea (A Wizard of Earthsea), Ursula K. LeGuin
Narnia (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), C.S. Lewis
The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
For Sci-Fi, I think it is a bit harder to find good books for kids - most of the sci-fi geared towards children I utterly loathed growing up. But a few you might try:
A Wrinkle In Time, Madeleine L'Engle
Thrawn Trilogy, Timothy Zahn (Star Wars books, so assuming familiarity with the original movies - basically fantasy in space)
Robotech, Jack McKinney (not the greatest literature, but I loved these books at that age; might be hard to find today, though)
Some others, not too sure whether they are age-appropriate but books I enjoyed around that age (plus or minus a couple years):
Gateway, Frederick Pohl
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Goodnight Moon.
Ceci n'est pas un sig.
One series I loved as a kid was The Last Legionary, by Douglas Hill. There were five titles: a four part series, followed by a prequel. Basic synopsis: in the future, mankind has spread out over the galaxy, using "ultralight" drive. The galaxy doesn't contain other sentient races, but humans have evolved in different directions in many different environments. On the planet Moros, the Legions have honed themselves into the finest fighting force in the galaxy. Until a mysterious force wipes out the entire planetary population with radiation, leaving only one offworld survivor, Keill Randor, left alone to investigate what happened.
My parents basically got me into science fiction by watching Star Trek with me and giving me some of the Star Trek books from Pocket Books. I also read the Star Wars novels voraciously. I know both of these are probably not what a lot of hardcode SF fans think of when they think of "reading science fiction," but I treasure those memories. And I married a girl just like me, and our merged collection (sans duplicates) sits on our shelves waiting to be shared with our kids in a couple years.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
I grew up reading the Tom Swift Jr. series, so I would also recommend them, but good luck finding them. As far as I can tell, they've been out of print since the last book came out in the 70's.
The pit dragon trilogy is amazing, and very readable for young kids. Its dramatic and interesting, its got action and emotion, and its very well written. I read them when I was around 7 or 8 and I read all 3 in a shorter time than it'd take me to read most single books. Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood, and A Sending of Dragons. So good.
GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
Stanisaw Lem, "Fables for Robots" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fables_for_Robots
Seriously.
Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series. There's not so much science fiction (but it *does* have a giant robot bear, and AI near the end), but hey ^^
Off the top of my head (If I had my bookcase in front of me I could triple this list)
Authors: Alexander Key (The Forgotten Door)
Robert Closky (Centerburg Tales)
Andre Norton (The Zero Stone)
Shealer (Zip Zip and his Flying Saucer -series of 3)
Tom Corbet Space Cadet (series)
Shiras: Children of the Atom
Heinlein juveniles
Rick Brandt (series) - might be bit old, depending on the kid
The Mad Scientist Club
Mr. Pudgins
It's more steampunk fantasy but it is both easily approachable for children and fun for adults. Hard scifi is harder to get into; at least for myself I was a lot more interested in fantasy at that age and moved on to scifi later. A Wrinkle in Time has been mentioned, and it's a fun read.
-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.
I haven't seen anyone mention Roald Dahl yet. That's who I was reading at that age. It's neither traditional sci-fi or fantasy, but that's part of what makes it great, it can't really be pigeonholed into a genre. The man just wrote great stories. I think it's the perfect step up from Dr. Seuss. After Dahl, I'd go for Tolkien and Bradbury and The Hunger Games trilogy.
The Hunger Games aren't the sort of books I normally read but they came highly recommended and I was very impressed. They're great books, whether you're a kid or not.
"From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
You might want to check if the books are currently in print. Many series I loved when I was growing up have been out of print for years. The Lensmen, The Skylark of Space, Tom Swift Jr., Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, Carson of Venus, and on and on, are all partially or fully unavailable on paper. Fortunately a lot of the older stuff that is falling into the public domain is being made available in eBook format and is either free or extremely cheap (like $1.99). A Kindle or a Nook might be a good recommendation for someone looking to explore scifi classics.
He wrote some cool stuff, like The Boy Who Reversed Himself and Green Futures of Tycho.
The Dark is Rising is the first novel I read by Susan Cooper and changed me from a 8 year old with a hobby of plastic warfare and transformer obsession into a book addict. I cannot begun to get across the memories this book now invokes. I have read the greats, but this book for me is right up there. I seem to remember a teacher asked me if I wanted to choose something else, because back in the day we had to read aloud to her at school, but we could take it home and read the rest. Since I was reading so quickly at home, it became a bit difficult for her to follow the story.
Over Sea, Under Stone is the first in the `Dark is Rising` sequence, but personally I missed nothing by starting with the 2nd book, The Dark is Rising. I didn't follow the series as a child, since I had no way to get the rest of the books. I've tried to keep this short, but don't underestimate the ability of childrens or at least in this book a book aimed at teenagers. I have since read the 2nd book and I think it may even be a better start. I can still read this now and find nothing in it patronising. What I do notice is that the emphasis is on good and evil, morality and a lack of violence and sex in vast comparison to many other books which might be volunteered as suitable. A problem I find with books is you wanting people to share the experience, to the point the desire to push something unsuitable (but enjoyed) happens a lot (with people of different tastes never mind ages). Allowing him to choose from a selection might be good, also getting a library card and choosing his own. The library near my parents have known me since a child.
I second this. I'd upvote it if Slashdot's voting system wasn't so crazy. Also here's a list of young reader SF on IO9.
Most people are suggesting hoary old stuff from the 40s and 50s. There is a place for these, but I really don't know if they apply to a modern kid - it's hard to read stuff about "the future" when nobody has computers, cel phones, etc. Find well-regarded new books by NEW authors who are trying to write about the future we have NOW, instead of the future of the 1940s. Among other things you won't be filling your kids with a bunch of 1940s attitudes towards women.
I mean, I read a decent amount of the old stuff, sure, I even dug up the Lensman books and read them - but I read them when I was old enough to see them as being from a DIFFERENT TIME.
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The Girl With the Silver Eyes is a good intro due to good and simple vocabulary explained in the book and a reasonably compelling story that is relatable.
But, as with all recommendations for children, I strongly advise any parent to read the book themselves before handing it over to their kid, because a parent may not know everything about their child, but they are still the best judge of skill level and censor for the inappropriate.
Have to admit that the only ones that really caught with the kids at that age were the Happy Potter books. The stuff that the boy would pick up and read on his own was all Manga (Pokemon, Naruto, etc). The girl has since picked up on other good stuff like LoTR, etc.
One of my all time favorites. Tends to stand the test of time really well. It's one of Heinlein's juveniles series. :-)
Speaking as a father of two (currently ages 12 and 13) who has been reading them stories like this for a number of years, I will say that if you start at such an early age, you'll need to introduce most of these stories by reading them to him first. Sometimes you can start reading him a story and he'll take over (e.g. if he can't stand to wait until you get home to find out what happens next). Sometimes he'll simply go back and re-read his favorite books after you're done, and sometimes he'll just re-read his favorite parts.
The Belgariad by David Eddings - Both my son and daughter loved this one at a young age, and my son has re-read this series on his own several times.
The Dragonlance Chronicles - This one was a close second for my son, but not so much for my daughter (who loved certain characters but didn't like the story as much overall).
Ender's Game - Great story that's accessible to young boys (I think Ender was 8 at the beginning of the story), but it's probably better for age 10 than 8. Of course, "age appropriate" always depends on the child.
Short stories by Heinlein and Bradbury - You'll want to read these yourself and cherry-pick the most appropriate stories for your son's age and reading level.
Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Eragon, Hunger Games, etc. - My wife and/or kids picked these out at various times. The kids liked them to varying degrees.
Wool and Molly Fyde by Hugh Howey - I read these to my kids at ages 11-12 and they both loved them. Wool sucked them in quickly (they kept begging me to keep reading it until I'd finished the series), but the story is dark for age 8, so I recommend you read it yourself first and decide when you think it's a good idea to introduce it. Molly Fyde is lighter and more "fun", closer to a "Star Wars" type of story. My kids felt that the first chapter was slow, but it really picked up after that.
A few more from the "kids" section:
11 Birthdays - It's not technically sci-fi/fantasy, and it's technically on the "girls" side of the kids section, but trust me on this one. It involves a little magic and a time loop, and IMO it's one of the best books I've ever read from the kids section. Both my kids love it, and they've shared it with their friends at school (who also love it).
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - One of my kids' favorites.
The Gideon Trilogy - Kids traveling back in time.
I was looking this up planning on making the suggestion until I saw someone had beat me to it, but according to Wikipedia , the last Tom Swift title was published in 2007. I really didn't get into sci-fi until age 11 or 12 (Thank you Anne McCaffrey), but I do recall reading every one of these I could get from the school library at earlier ages. Or I should say I didn't think I was into sci-fi until older, but I guess Tom Swift is Sci-fi so I was into it. I also enjoyed the tripod books as a kid, but mostly because Boys Life Serialized them during my cub and scout years.
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Definitely. The Young Wizards series is about kids who learn magic in the modern world, but unlike most such series, where magic is thumbing your nose at natural laws, these laws are the foundations of magic. Sure magic can change the world (or it wouldn't very well be magic, would it), but things like physics and conservation of energy aren't ignored. I'd say in this series, magic is more like having access to the universe's source code, rather than being given cheat codes.
The series has a strong focus on responsibility, personal choices, and consequences--without playing up the ideas of Good and Evil. Additionally, I'd say it includes more real life, personal issues that kids can identify with. It's a great series for kids who want more than fluff and flash in books with magic.
When someone says, "Any fool can see
She's a fantastic children's SF author. Try "The Delikon" and "This Time of Darkness".
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
We're talking about an eight-year-old here, and all anybody seems to be mentioning is the same old stuff that crops up every time there's a "what should I read?" question on /. Seriously, Dune for an eight-year-old? Get out.
It seems strange to me that anyone would even need to ask this question, when the market for juvenile fiction seems to be exploding right now (especially as compared to the market for literary fiction). Why not just take him to a bookstore and have him pick out something that looks fun?
But if you want to find some suitable, critically-acclaimed books for his age, perhaps you should consult the list of Newbery Award winners. There's a decent amount of science fiction and fantasy in there, and a bunch of other good stuff, besides.
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My son (now 20) grew up in a household with a lot of science fiction (books, magazines, television and movies) and now has no interest in real science. Science fiction, yes, but real science, where you do something called mathematics, no. Since he would have made a great scientist, I wonder if the overexposure to science fiction ruined this career path for him.
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My daughter (11) was not a reader but enjoyed us reading stories to her. What finally got her going, around 8 years old, was Star Wars and Doctor Who comics. From there, she graduated to Star Wars (scholastic has some for grade school kids) and Doctor Who books, and now she's working her way through Hunger Games and Golden Compass.
She's also hooked on web comics; Girl Genius, Darths and Droids, Gunnerkrig Court, and Irregular Web Comic. The last is a Lego comic and that appeals to kids. Darths and Droids is a reselling of the Star Wars films, as if they were an ongoing tabletop RPG. Having a 10 year old involved really explains the weirdness of EP. I.
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I'd recommend Kir Bulychev (his website in russian) or Kir Bulytschow (german). At least to the russian or german speaking folks of us as I can't find any english versions of his books which is too bad since I really loved them when I was young. Especially Die lila Kugel (The violet sphere) was one I devoured (just grabbed a used copy at Amazon - so, thanks for reminding me of my childhood).
I recommend Red Dwarf, Ifninity Welcomes Careful Drivers. It's funny. Its sci-fi elements are plausible and not too out there to understand. The characters are distinct and interesting (your son may even find it insightful in a helpful way.) . Really the only real downside is it might be slightly adult for him. It may be better for him if he's closer to 12.
My wife banned anything with 'Star' in the title after I made the mistake of taking her to see Episode II. I was able to get her to enjoy sci-fi by handing her that book.
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Shiras' Children of the Atom is a whole lot of fun, although I didn't stumble onto it until I was in college.
Perhaps some Nicholas Fisk would fit - I really enjoyed the StarStormers books and Trillions when I was a child. I also loved the older scifi like Jules Verne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Fisk
I was reading Azimov at around your kid's age. The original few books in the Foundation series were great, and I loved his short stories.
I also really liked an author called Nicholas Fisk. I think the book he's most notable for was Trillians. These were books written for kids, about kids (much like the way Potter makes the kids the focus/heroes), but often with quite an edge, and some interesting premises.
The think with reading at that age is that you are better off aiming a bit too high, and having your kid not quite follow it, than find them boring and patronising. It's a bit like Pixar films, they contain lots that young kids don't get, but it doesn't matter so long as the basic story arc makes sense.
I'd also second The Hobbit. Not so sure about LoTR, I read it on my own but just found it so long it was offputting. However reading it together might be different.
The Tom Swift Jr. series written under the pseudonym of "Victor Appleton II" ended in 1971, but yes, there have been additional books since then using the name Tom Swift. Those appear to be updated versions of the character rather than a continuation of the original Tom Swift and Tom Swift Jr. series. I haven't read what Wikipedia refers to as the Third, Fourth, and Fifth series, so I can't comment on whether they are as interesting as I found the Second series when I was a kid.
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And they're probably on the less complex side:
Gate of Worlds by Robert Silverberg
The Dueling Machine by Ben Bova
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
This latter one is more sophisticated but a book of short stories - like the collections from the '50s edited by H.L. Gold - might be a good starting point.
"The White Mountains" trilogy enthralled me as a kid. Great for a young reader.
No, don't get the prequel (though I haven't read it).
One of the most popular authors wrote what is truly a young person's book: Have Spacesuit, Will Travel". I librarian pointed me in the direction of the SF shelf when I was 8, and I either found this book or had it pointed out to me.
John Christopher's The White Mountains" (1967), "The City of Gold and Lead" (1967), "The Pool of Fire - One of my first, and favorite, children's sci-fi trilogy. The books are a good read for a 3rd grader. It's a bit difficult to find, but well worth it. I believe there was even a mini-series production of it years back called "The Tripods".
"Courage is being afraid to do the Right Thing, and doing it anyway."
Monica Hughes is what got me hooked on scifi, when I was about 10 or so. "Crisis on Conshelf Ten" and "Earthdark" were my first taste, and are still on my shelf somewhere. I devoured all her other stuff that was in the school library pretty quick after Conshelf. Easy to read, but there are some levels to it, that you start to notice as you get older. I don't know if her stuff is still in print though. FWIW.
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I'd recommend a return to the Pre-Apollo Era Space SciFi when Chesley Bonstel was popular - http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Mercury-Winston-Science-Fiction/dp/B000OP9M4Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340228543&sr=8-1&keywords=battle+on+mercury
At a pre-teen I really enjoyed the stories that seemed to resonate with the movies like the Day the Earth Stood Still - but went much much further.
"Battle on Mercury" has space travel, robots, alien life forms and just a ton of stuff in a nice sized book.
"The Windows of Forever" was a nice story in which the main character discovers wormholes all around them just outside the corner of your eye to the past or the future. A boy learns how to detect them and ends up helping future colonists battling alien invaders on a distant future earth.
"They Might be Gods or Demons" is another light scifi story in which the travelers track down ancient astronauts bent on conquering the earth but who run afoul of a group of students who discover time travel and foil their plans tens of thousands of years ago, unable to time travel the ancient astronauts threaten to find them whenever they go. A "grown up" Back to the Future story.
"Son of the Stars" a trilogy in which a young man discovers a crashed spaceship and helps a humonoid alien learn about earth, launch a rescue beacon and then is invited to visit the federation of worlds - only to find out Earth was under observation the whole time, and it was all a test to find out if Earth was worthy to take its seat in the governing body of this area of the galaxy.
"Marooned on Mars" an escape mission to return to Earth from Mars, but the dead do not reast easy on Mars, and these dead wiped out all life on multiple planets long ago and Earth is next. (maybe a bit too intense for a young child).
I wouldn't worry too much about the language barrier, if he's interested in SciFi he'll learn to sustitute what he knows for what he doesn't and reconcile later. It's what kids do to keep from going bonkers over anxiety worrying about details.
1950 and 1960's scifi for the most part should be relatively safe and mostly gloss over the ideas and concepts people find too difficult.
Asimov is, I think, a very good choice. I began when I was 8.. "Stars Like Dust", "Caves of Steel" etc.. By the time I was 12, I was through the Foundation Trilogy. I stopped reading Sci-Fi for some reason then. But "Voyage of the Space Beagle" by A. E. Van Vogt brought me back and by 16, I'd read most everything by Asimov, by E.E. (Doc) Smith and Arthur C Clarke. That's more or less when I realized that I was a fan(atic). :)
Honestly, I do not think it would be a wise idea to press your likes and dislikes upon your child. However, I understand the desire to do so. As a kid, I stumbled across a fondness for Sci-Fi quite by accident. My father is a voracious reader and his appetite spans not just Sci-Fi, but a massive variety of work. Dad used to get me and my sister to help him dust the books and re-shelve them from time to time. He had a massive collection of books and would keep adding more every month. It became a fun game to categorize the books by author and then alphabetically by Title. Dad would later assemble them upon the shelves by genre. We were too young and uneducated to know what that meant or how he knew which book belonged to which genre. So we'd watch him and hand him books from whichever pile he'd ask for.
I'd always been fascinated by the covers on the Sci-Fi books in our shelves, and after a few months of handling each book and caring for them, a boring Sunday came and I decided to see what they were all about. My very first book was "Buy Jupiter" by Isaac Asimov. A classic, yes, but I had no idea what that meant back then. I just wanted to know what the story was behind the space-ship on the cover. The play of words in the title helped make the choice too. It seemed like it would be a fun read.
I think if Dad had tried to make me read any of those books, I'd have developed a life-long distaste for them. Instead, learning how to care for our books was pretty much the only thing he'd make me and my sister do, and even that, was kinda like a game. He took great pains to ensure that we would enjoy the whole process. I read the Hobbit when I was 6, and was fairly comfortable reading "big" books by 8. As a kid, time crawls around you, and learning new things comes easy. I'd suggest you just let the child familiarize himself with being in the company of books and let him make his choice. It's a discovery you don't want to force upon a child. :)
By the way, you might also want to have compilations from The Golden Age of Sci-Fi lying around. They're mostly easy reads, and have layers and layers of entertainment. I've read the Foundation Series about seven or eight times now, and every time I do so, I discover things I'd miraculously missed in the past. Perhaps my lack of awareness, education, and immaturity prevented me from seeing them before. But the point I'm trying to make, is that most books are not really age-restricted. You can enjoy them when you're a kid as well as when you're an adult. You just enjoy them in different ways.
I hope this turns out to be of some help. Even if it does not deter you from trying to mould your kids taste in books, I hope it nevertheless give you some ideas to encourage his affinity for the genre. Good luck!
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The Time Cavern
This is much lighter than a lot of the suggestions I've seen here, that I think are more appropriate for a pre-teen than pre-ten.
Count me in as another guy who came here to say exactly this.
Will lives in a rural peasant village in England. His life is pretty normal for any kid growing up in the dark ages.
Except, strangely, his father has a wristwatch ...
How about instead of asking a whole bunch of adults who know little about the reading habits of 8 year olds, you go ask the school librarian. I work in a school library and we have all our books with coloured dots on them to help the kids know what book is suitable for them (eg. Yellow dots is suitable for 10 year olds, though younger kids can read them if they can prove it's not too hard). To check if a book is too hard for a child, we get them to read a page, if they make more than 5 mistakes, then it's too hard and they should go get an easier book.
I grew up on some fantastic old school SF (Heinlen's "The Rolling Stones" for example), but as for modern stuff no-one has mentioned so far I would heartily recommend the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Artemis is a 12 year-old criminal mastermind with a ninja-bodyguard butler, and he discovers that the earth is hollow and strange beings live in there.
Tamora Pierce writes some good modern fantasy, like her Alana series...mmm, it's actually called "The Song of the Lioness Quartet", four books (and then a couple of extras) with a young female protagonist.
My four kids (one boy, three girls) all loved these, along with the usual Terry Pratchet's/Harry Potter.
The multiple people recommending the Tom Swift series also reminded me of a very old series I loved, the sort of thing you graduate to after Encyclopaedia Brown: Rick Brant Science Adventure stories. Probably hard to find, and definitely 'long in the tooth', but I adored them at his age.
Those old Retief books were fun SF books when I was a kid, and are still funny to re-read as an adult (and get all the sarcastic digs at bureaucracy and diplomats that you missed as a kid).
Some of the science is dated, but the stories are short (18 in all) & they're all quite good.
Interesting order theory. But my kids have not seen any Star Wars movie yet, yet they know all about the vader/luke reveal because of all the merchandise they own. The tortuous order is unneeded. I plan to just ignore the existence of the prequels.
The Target novelisations of Doctor Who stories got many children into reading in the first place.
Roughly in order of age suitability, from young to old:
* Enid Blyton - Magic Faraway Tree, Wishing Chair
* Fred Hoyle - Frozen Planet of Azuron, Energy Pirates, The Planet of Death, The Giants of Universal Park
* C.S. Lewis - Narnia
* Lloyd Alexander - Prydain Chronicles
* Ian Livingstone/Steve Jackson - Fighting Fantasy
* Dianne Duane - Young Wizards
* Fay Sampsan - Pangur Ban
* Nathan Elliot - Star Pirates
* John Christopher - Tripods Trilogy (and prequel)
* Various - Doctor Who Novelizations
* David Eddings - Belgariad
* Raymond E. Feist - Magician (sequels not so much)
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
To avoid some of the more recent and/or immediately comes-to-mind, there's always Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain and Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Trilogy. And for popular there's Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series, although some of those might be best to wait a few years past 8.
Lloyd Alexander: The Chronicles of Prydain. All 5 are compelling, but book 4, Taran Wanderer, is a sneaky-wonderful coming-of-age story.
Cressida Cowell: How to Train Your Dragon and its nine sequels. The movie was great, but when I began reading the books to my then-3-year-old, I discovered a different, equally compelling story from that of the movie (both tales get props from me). We eventually read all 10 books together.
Both series are not too long, child-appropriate, and not childish. If your child has contended with Asimov, he/she can handle Alexander and might be able to read Cowell alone.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Stuff like Asimov, Heinlein, Tolkien, Verne, H. G. Wells, and so on. They may be "classics". But they don't appeal to a modern reader without a background in the genre. They're not a starting point: the writing style is not the same modern style a new reader is likely to be familiar with, which will be offputting, and the science is often outdated which can be a problem for suspension of disbelief. Save them for later.
Look at popular modern books, instead. They'll be more accessible, which will make the entire process easier. Hunger Games, perhaps? Suggestions of Pratchett are good from the fantasy side (Maurice and his Educated Rodents is a great introduction to the idea of metafiction, while Wee Free Men and the sequels are great from a more traditional perspective, all easily accessible to a young reader).
OK, so Piers Anthony's Xanth doesn't qualify as literature, but I was as addicted to it as a teenager as I ever was to the Hardy Boys in grade school. It was _fun_, people. Admit it: you laughed, too. It's not like you can hand the boy Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson until he's at least thirteen. The thing is 500 pages long.
Come to think of it, I wouldn't hand him Xanth until then either. He might accuse you of trying to sneak in a kissing book.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Try something that ties-in with visual media he may already enjoy (e.g., Stargate SG1 novels, Halo videogame novels).
Re: 'Halo' novelizations: read them first though. Some ('Contact: Harvest', and the newer ones after 'The Cole Protocol') are bad. And that's even more so for the Stargate novels.
At that age, exposure to any media is indoctrination - Its your duty to protect his innocence until he's older and wise enough to evaluate what he's reading critically.
I agree, I tried to wade through Tolkien as an adult but could never stay awake long enough to turn the page. For an 8yo I would suggest A wrinkle in time, I enjoyed immensly when I read it as a kid in the 60's. Unlike Tolkien it flows very well. The main charcters are kids a teenage girl hero and her younger brother, the writer does a great job of making them real by giving the charaters everyday kids problems. For example the girl is seen as a troublemaker at school and lacks self-confidence in her looks because of her red hair. It's educational without reading like a text book, it firmly plants science and math concepts into the child's mind by applying them to situations the hero's find themselves in, (a visit to a 2d planet is one example of that covers the concepts of higher spacial dimemtions).
But most importantly it's a great story about two kids growing up on an road trip through the universe, guided by wise beings who do not belittle their childhood concerns but rather expose them to experiences and hard choices that provides them with the perspective to deal with their own problems. The Harry Potter series does the same thing but in a different setting and with less educational value. Ultimately I belive the ability of these writers to relate to kids in this way via a fantasy world is why both books have been immensley popular with children. The fact that both books mention wicthcraft have also made them very unpopular with religious nutters, Both are high on the list of books that have garnered the most petitions to ban them in the US, wich to me is even more reason to give them to your kids and let them make up their own minds.
Now if someone could just explain to me why my 3yo grandaughter is facinated by kids shows that to me look and sound like they were the product of some really funky drugs? I'm not having a go at modern kids shows here, my favorite when I was very young was "Bill and Ben the flowerpot men" which as an adult appears every bit as fucked up as the modern stuff. Since I only had B/W TV as a young child, this universal urge to watch bizzare animated creatures wander around the screen can't be explained away by "bright colours".
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
"The Tripods" trilogy by author John Christopher
Cranky educator.
Madeleine L'Engel's series. Isaac and Janet Asimov's "The Norby Chronicles". At least the first couple of Narnia books (my at the time 7-year-old got bored with the third, YMMV). Harry Potter. Bone, the epic comic fantasy from Jeff Smith.
For books aimed at the 12-15 demographic from 1950, Robert Heinlein's "juvenile" series has stood the test of time EXCEPTIONALLY well. Novels like "Space Cadet", "Tunnel in the Sky", "Starman Jones", "Between Planets" and "The Rolling Stones" are still engrossing and great reads. (My son, now 26, loved them when he was 13.) Each book features a fairly smart (but generally not genius level) protagonist, faced with various challenges, and learns some basic life lessons that are still generally in vogue. A few, such as "Podkayne of Mars", even features a female lead character.
Heinlein did BADLY miss one aspect of technology; he predicted everything EXCEPT cheap portable computers and higher level programming languages. But the stories themselves are still visionary.
The Witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz. A wonderful not too long story about magic and spaceship technology geared for the younger crowd (but I love it). Anything by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but especially the John Carter of Mars series. The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle (and you can suggest Sherlock Holmes as well). Down Town by Viido Polikarpus and Tappan King. The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin. All very interesting and short enough, as well as cool.
My just turned 9 y.o. boy is just finishing one of his series and about to start another. Says it's the best thing he's ever read. He just finished Potter prior to starting this series.
Everything he writes gets pretty good reviews on Amazon.
I haven't read it, but my wife says she enjoyed the Percy Jackson series with some of her 7th graders.
Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile novels. He also collaborated with his wife on the Norby robot books.
I grew up on the Heinlein juvenile novel such as Farmer in the Sky and Space Cadet and the Tom Corbett books.
Timothy Zahn the six volume Dragonback series. I just picked it up used from Amazon (look for Zahn "dragon and") for the grandkid and ended up reading the whole set myself.
I really didn't have an age group in mind when I wrote my own sci-fi comic but you might consider previewing it at www.escapefromprometheus.com. Comics and graphic novels can serve as a gateway to full chapter books if you have an early or reluctant reader at home. There are also many others on the market your child might enjoy.
Why has no one has mentioned Fred Hoyle ? I read his Professor Gamma books (The Frozen Planet of Azuron and The Giants of Universal Park) when I was 10 and I loved them! http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/fred-hoyle. His biography is here : http://www.hoyle.org.uk/FH/Home.html
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The sleep of moderators produces monsters.
The Artemis Fowl books are great and one of my all-time favorites. The books have both a number of fantasy (elves, dwarves, goblins etc.) as well as scifi(ish) elements but most of all they are grossly entertaining, hugely funny and, while aimed at kids, very fun to read for adults as well. Every one of the books in the series had me laughing out loud. I can't wait to read them to my kids!
I was grabbing my dad's books off the computer room floor and reading them when he was busy. Authors like Clifford D. Simak and Frederik Pohl. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, whose name I recognized from the BYTE Magazines my dad got. Robert Sheckley's very funny short stories. Later, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, and so on. I tried some of the Heinlein juvenile books from the school library later, but they seemed written for, well... kids.
Why don't you start him with some short stories? You could go with an anthology, but I'm actually thinking you should grab the latest science fiction magazines from the bookstore. Those usually have good stories with rapidly developing action, and also often throw in some nonfiction articles about space exploration or scientific discoveries. As a bonus, if he likes the format and length of these, you can buy him his own subscription, or make a point of taking him to the bookstore and let him pull them off the rack himself, to get him comfortable with the idea.
Get off my launchpad!
Just a plug for the Scott Westerfeld series. Perhaps a bit fluffy, & maybe directed more at girls (my 13 year old daughter introduced them to me), but I found them a lot more engaging than The Hunger Games and Extras is perhaps prescient about the future of the Web...
It does not matter what books you choose.
Sit down in a comfy environment or curl up in bed all together as a family, and read aloud. A chapter or two a night (always leave them wanting more). At first they will probably not listen. Keep at it: by the end of the book they'll probably be able to tell you exactly what happened even if they don't appear to be paying attention.
Repeat with a different book.
Choose books you like. Use different voices for different characters. Don't read aloud too fast. Make the magic happen.
Next thing you know, they're rereading the same books, then moving on to similar books.
Or, they just don't like you books and start gobbling up regency-era comedies of manners. That's OK too.
First, you need to light the spark by taking the words from the page and putting the voices into ther heads.
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is excellent for young kids. The characters are animals, and the stories are engaging. There are quite a few titles in the series. Many of the suggestions are excellent suggestions, but in my opinion are better for slightly older kids, YMMV. My son is now a young adult and started with Redwall. He has read many classics such as LOTR, is into the Game of Thrones (happens to be reading Lolita at the moment and loves Hemmingway).
Spellsinger series is a great read, though the musical references are probably lost. Midworld was an awesome read, and not too hard for me at the age of 8. Overall and don't forget the Myth series by Robert Lynn Asprin
Best fantasy? That's easy ... the national budget!
Another book that my children liked at quite a young age is André Norton's Star Man's Son (http://www.amazon.ca/Daybreak-2250-D-Star-Mans/dp/0449236145/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340289489&sr=1-1), which I believe was the first post-nuclear-apocalypse novel to be written and is still studied in some university courses.
I would recommend going with the classics. Many I remember were curriculum in school anyway. Not only are they usually better than most of the massed produced tripe, but also tend to be very short (120-180 pages, VS the 400-800 page range of modern) which might keep a younger person interested, and also able to introduce to a variety of science fiction in a shorter period of time.
HG Wells and Jules Verne are the grandfathers of science fiction. They only slight problem is that because they were written so long ago, terms and significance can be lost. I know for example that I didn't bother reading "War of the Worlds" still the movie came out recently. So many things in the book are astounding because of when it was written, heat rays, flight, and all sorts of things that didn't really exist in the 1800's.
Past those two, there is a lot of great stuff between 1950-1970 that are really good.
"A Wrinkle in Time"
"The Day of the Triffids"
"The Chrysalids"
"The Forever War"
Are just a few off the top of my head. I enjoyed the Dune series, and as well as Frank Herbert's other shorter books (earlier works mostly). If my library in front of me I could easily give you dozens of examples. "Left Hand of Darkness" might be another, though its a bit deeper as would "The Dispossessed".
Which brings more modern authors, Gibson, Stevenson for example. Neuromancer and Snow Crash to mention two. Anyway tons out there and fans willing to share lists of favorites if you google around. Ray Bradbury, is another, Phillipe K Dick, Heinlein, and on and on...
As for something a bit lighter perhaps, there are 3 that come to mind: Harry Harrison (adventures with Bill), Douglas Adams (hitchhikers guide), and I recall also reading Robert Asprin (Myth Inc.) when I was younger. Short, funny and easy to read, and not too serious or mind bending, basically fun read for younger person.
I'm an SF writer (and theoretical physicist). My work appears often in Analog Magazine (40 stories so far). Naturally enough, I'd like to recommend my own novels and short story anthologies. With the possible exception of 'SF Stories for Linux Geeks', they are all kid-friendly. They're available for e-readers (MOBI and EPUB). Just go to the Amazon Kindle Store and search on 'Frithrik' (my old college nickname). Read about them there--but no need to buy any of them. Just go to my website www.frithrik.com and click for free copies (mention SLASHDOT for faster response). Perhaps 'Moon over Saint Frankenstein's' (a YA novel about good werewolves) would work best for your eight-year-old. BTW: the free book offer extends to everyone.
I was probably in the 4th grade or so, slightly older than your 8 year old, when a librarian handed me a copy of Robert Heinlein's 'Citizen of the Galaxy', thinking I might enjoy it (I did). Never looked back and been reading SF since then. I went on to 'Doorway into Summer', another Heinlein story that was an easy read of course followed by Starship Trooper, etc. Heinlein and Asimov are both extremely clear and concise writers who never tried to do anything other than tell a good story as straight forward as possible. Try a couple of these, I think you'll like them.
Madeline L'Engle, they were given to me in second grade. A Wrinkle In Time, A Wind In The Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Sci-Fi/Fantasy with some good Physics concepts.
I had turned my daughter (who is now 20) into a Trekkie - I got her started with the Voyager series and then together we watched all the available Star Treks. We have had great time doing all this, and now when she visits home from college we still re-watch old episodes of Voyager.
...richie - It is a good day to code.
"Hard literature" and "profound book" are not by any means synonyms. I've read enough "hard literature" that had pretty much crap-all to really -say-, it just said it in a way so as to -appear- profound. The copy of Ender's Game I have actually even has a forward by Card stating that his goal in writing it was to deliberately avoid "all the literary games and gimmicks that make 'fine' writing so impenetrable to the general audience", so that "the reader wouldn't have to be trained in literature or even in science fiction to receive the tale in its simplest, purest form". Way more profound than a lot of "literature", in the sense of "actually having things to say" - it just says them by making you look for them in the story, rather than by making you search for them in the word salad because the author was trying to sound like he was high on something.
Let me get this right, he is 8 and you read to him? At that age, children should be able to read on their own.
Read to your kids. That's the secret. YOU reading to your kids. The reason I became the student of Ray Bradbury I was? Reading everything he wrote over and over even now as a fully-functioning adult author and writer? It is because my mom read Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes to me again and again over and over when I was a young kid. At first, I just listened. Then I requested to have "those stories" read to me. Then I read them myself. Bradbury led to Heinlein which led to Asimov which led to Clarke to Lewis and Tolkien, which led to Verne, Adams, Pohl, Foster, McCaffrey, Brooks, then Sterling, Gibson, Robinson, Sawyer, Stephenson, Gaiman... ...and so on.
It has been an amazing ride. It keeps getting better. But the ticket that got me on the rocket ship and through the looking glass at the back of the wardrobe was my mom reading to me. YMMV but I doubt it. You want a reader? Read and show the joy of reading.
"We're millions of miles from earth, inside a giant white face, what's impossible?"
Don't have time to read 600+ previous responses to see if this has already been suggested, so I'll post.
The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) has a Recommended Reading List for Children and Young Adults that can be found at the following link:
http://www.lasfsinc.info///index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=260#RRList
This list has been developed over many years and the current iteration was revised in 2007. Books most appropriate for younger readers are indicated by an asterisk. Works include both classic science fiction and other fantasy entries. Try it, you'll like it.
How many Linux users have kids who use Linux?!
Ok, I mean among those who actually have kids.
So, does your kid like Linux?
Short stories might be a good fit. Some I like that I read pretty young:
Larry Niven's "Neutron Star", and the other stories in that book. (These are at the top of my list.)
The "Analog Annuals"; collections of some of the best from Analog back in the 70s. Kids, especially, should love Vinge's "Bookworm, Run!" from here. Some libraries may have them.
The various "Hugo Winners", "A Treasury of Great Science Fiction", etc., type anthologies.
There is endless sea of books, but exactly for gaining interest I would recommend exactly Heinlein juvies like Have Spacesuit, will travel and Between Planets. What I also read as a boy and loved it (read it many times over) are 2 books by english juvie author Monica Hughes. Monica Hughes "Crisis on Conshelf Ten" Monica Hughes "Earthdark". Adventures and troubles of boy from lunar colony visiting freakishly heavy gravity mother Earth. In some way it resembles SF movie Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century, only hero is boy, not a girl.
I am boggled at everyone suggesting stuff that was already old when I was a kid. There's plenty of modern SF themed stuff. I guess there is more fantasy and more for older kids, but what about something like Colfer's Artemis Fowl? Would you count something from a modern extended universe, like Pokemon books or Star Wars? (I am not sure what you're kid's reading level is at, but there are Star Wars for pretty much any reading level.) Or maybe gateway stuff like comics, or books about comic characters? Does Iron Man count as SF?
chuk
A lot of good recommendations on here already. One I haven't seen is the 'Spaceship Under the Apple Tree' series by Louis Slobodkin. Perfect for that age (the main character is an 8-9 year old boy.
When I was eight, I used to watch next-gen with my Dad. I was hooked as soon as he told me what phasers and photons were.
The best sci-fi book that i have read when i was a kid is "A girl from earth" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kir_Bulychev). Also "Gusliar Wonders" from the same author.
Have him watch Star Wars in the Machete Order and then get him started on the Timothy Zahn books, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. They are awesome! I loved them when I was a kid, and still do.
Wow, I just re-watched the Bi-trilogy with my kids and can really see why the machette order is so much better. brilliant. especially the parallel it sets up with luke following in his father's road to hell via good intentions. I never saw that with clarity because of the original order.
Thanks!
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Besides the probably better-known Disc World Series Pratchett has also written some books for kids, young and old, like the "Bromeliad Trilogy" (originally known as The Nome Trilogy), the story of "The Nomes", a race of small people living at 10 times our speed, who, along the story's thread move from a hole in the ground to a store's suspended ceilings, then to a quarry - that soon gets reopened, and eventually to The Stars. Funny reading, with a lot of insight on how people are, and how the world is working. Another one by Pratchett: Only You Can Save Mankind. May be it's not exactly Science Fiction (though it has plenty of starships and even space battles in it), but fun anyway. Enjoy!
I like my spaghetti with source.
Stephen King's IT
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
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