More book recommendations for boys

As you know, I'm constantly scouring the internet for book recommendations for Andre. It's an uphill task as reading is not one of his favourite pastimes and the stories have to be able to capture his attention, make him laugh and not be too difficult.

The very helpful readers here have suggested a few titles (thanks so much!) and I've tried most of them, some with better success than others. There was one that was a particularly big hit, recommended by Lilian - Charlie Small.













Charlie Small is an 8-year-old boy who goes on a series of wild adventures and has close encounters with crazy creatures like a spitting Spidion (a cross between a spider and a scorpion). Andre was especially taken by Book 2 "The Perfumed Pirates of Perfidy" which featured, surprise surprise, a gang of cut-throat lady pirates!

The books are written in the form of a journal, complete with vivid illustrations which heightens the appeal. It's a series, I'm not sure how many books there are at the moment. The last I counted, there were five but I'm sure the author is still adding to the collection.

I was commenting to Lilian not too long ago that it seems like kids' reading levels are so advanced these days. They're reading Roald Dahl at p1 and below, by the time they're in p4, they're already into Artemis Fowl and Percy Jackson. I was slightly concerned when Andre was still into Beast Quest last year but then Lilian and I recalled that when we were in p4, we were still reading Enid Blytons! And we turned out fine in the English department.

So I'm not going to worry too much about the level of Andre's reading. Reading is not a race (the way everything seems to be in Singapore), there really is no compulsion to get to the difficult books in such a hurry. As long as he reads and enjoys it, that's good enough for me.

Book recommendations for 9-year-olds

I mentioned some time back that I've been trying to widen Andre's repertoire of books as I feel that the Beast Quest series by Adam Blade, which he's very fond of, is getting to be too simple for him. The challenge is that his reading interests are very limited. He's mostly interested only in fantasy, he doesn't enjoy reading about real life adventures.

I scoured the web for book recommendations for boys but I found the fantasy suggestions were mostly too advanced for him. Then Lesley-Anne suggested trying Philip Pullman's books as she finds his writing very engaging.

I first borrowed The Firework-Maker's Daughter from the library and Andre enjoyed it so much that I borrowed two more the next time - The Scarecrow and His Servant and Clockwork.

Just a short intro on Philip Pullman: he writes mostly fantasy books that are very popular with older kids. These three books I mentioned are suitable for Andre's age group - the language is simpler and while they're not exactly fantasy, they appeal to him because they have an imaginative, make-believe quality, like modern fairy tales.

Another recommendation I found on the web was The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. When I first found the book in the library, I was afraid it might be too difficult for Andre but to my surprise, he seemed to take to it quite well. The Mysterious Benedict Society is about four children who pass a series of tests and are sent to a school called The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (L.I.V.E.). There, they meet Mr Curtain and try to prevent him from taking over the world by destroying "The Whisperer", his brainwashing machine.

Once again, this is not fantasy but it's creatively written with a compelling storyline. However, I have to say that the length of the book (almost 500 pages) is quite daunting for Andre and being unable to finish the book after three weeks (one installment every other day) has caused the interest to wane somewhat. So it's probably more suitable for slightly older kids or those with a longer attention span.

However, I feel these are great recommendations for 9 to 11-year-olds, if you're searching for ideas. Meanwhile, let me know if you come across any other finds.