Monday, December 15, 2008

Off the kids' book shelf

My boys are avid readers, well, they could hardly not be in this household, so I thought I'd do a post on some of the books they've been reading recently.

Bed-time story book


Castaway by Bill O'Brien

This is a perennial favourite in our household. It is the diary of thirteen year-old Samuel Clark, who was one of a group of men marooned on Disappointment Island in 1907 when the Dundonald foundered and sank. This is a fictional account of a real event, the boys love it.

Mr Six-year-old.

Space Gum by Tania Roxborogh

Carl is pretty good at getting into trouble, especially as he has a liking for pranks. When an old NASA scientist gives him a formula for something special, all manner of trouble breaks loose. Both the boys found this book laugh out loud funny. Mr Six-Year-Olds favourite prank was the toilet seat trick.

I'm telling on you by Sandy McKay

Timothy is a bit of a tattle tale. He doesn't find it quite so much fun when he gets into trouble.


Herbert the brave sea dog. by Robyn Belton

This one is a picture book and besides having the gorgeous illustrations of Robyn Belton, it's based on the true story of Herbert, a border terrier who survived thirty hours in the sea in the Malborough sounds after falling overboard.


Mr Nine-Year-Old (AKA tonsil boy)


Well, he's just devoured the whole Harry Potter series recently, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows what those books are about.

Hurricane Tim by Neville Peat

We're airshow junkies and Sir Tim Wallace is the man behind the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow. This is a biography of his life including his helecopter pilot days, and the aftermath of his crashing his Spitfire at the airshow in 1996 and his long recovery.


Reaching the Summit: Sir Edmund Hillary's story
by Alexa Johnston and David Larsen.

Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Mt Everest and became a kiwi hero, not just because of this, but also because of his aid to the Nepalese people.

Tin Tin in America. By Herge.

Mr Nine-Year-Old is a huge Tin Tin fan and laughs his head off at them. Thank heavens the Dunedin Public Library has a really good collection.


So there you go. If anyone out there wondered what boys read, and are stuck for book ideas for boys, I hope this helps a bit. I know my two are hoping for books this Christmas. I don't think that is going to be an issue.

1 comment:

Nottinghamshirenotes said...

Here in Great Britain we have a problem with white boys being illiterate and generally uninterested in reading. Consequently I have started producing short, in the first person, stories aimed at boys 9 - 12.

'The Boy with the Monkey' is set during the Second World War when the Japanese over ran the Malay peninsular capturing all before them. The European men they sent to POW camps, but unsure what to do with the women, they marched them from place to place. One unfortunate group walked for two and half years. 80% died, but so did their guards, and sometimes groups ended up in the bizarre situation of being prisioners without jailors.

10 year old Lawrence is in such a group, and it falls to him to learn how to fish to keep the group alive. Having lost his mother and baby brother he has difficulties forming relationships, but he does fancy having one of the wild monkeys as a pet.

Currently only available as an e-book, a paperback version is planned for the spring.

http://www.eloquentbooks.com/TheBoyWithTheMonkey.html