What's the next Book I should read to the Kid?

[wavetrain75]

We just finished Treasure Island, an old copy with NC Wyeth illustrations. I thought it might be too much of a slog for a 5 year old but he really liked it, so now it's time for the next one.

Thinking about Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood, or The Hobbit but I haven't decided and I'm sure there's many others that I haven't thought of.

[JReed]

The Jungle Book.

[wavetrain75]

The Jungle Book.

He'd probably really like that.

[JReed]

My 2 boys do.

[Nate C.]

The Little House on the Prairie books.

[vancelw]

The Little House on the Prairie books.

agreed.

Also, Smokey the Cow Horse or anything by Jim Kjelgaard like Big Red, Irish Red, Stormy. The Hobbit is a tough read, but will be great if you can explain it to him as you go (the riddles, etc.)

[Rusty]

When my son was born he spent 59 days in the neonatal ICU unit at the hospital. During that time I took a recorder to the hospital with a tape that I recorded of myself reading Winnie the Pooh. The hospital staff would play the tape when Jr got restless and he would settle down. Pooh has been a favorite of ours ever since.

[octagon]

"Farmer Giles of Ham" by Tolkien has been a favorite of the three youngsters at my house, funny, entertaining, and geared for kids.

[Bearhands]

Stuart Little is a good story for young ones.

[Tycer]

The Narnia series by CS Lewis was loved by mine at that age.

[AJMD429]

"Those of the Forest" by Grange, is awesome. Not a cutesy animal story, but just the narrative of a year in the life of a snowshoe rabbit, with all the goings on it participates in. The animals don't "talk" or anything like that, but rather the author reports what happens in the natural world, as see through the eyes of the participants. Still a compelling story.

http://www.amazon.com/Those-Forest-Wall ... 1559710837

Huddled within a "sheltered cavern beneath the evergreens" is Snowshoe, a timid rabbit whose small world is analyzed by the thoughtful and intrinsic authority of Wallace Byron Grange. Sometime before 1930, by the age of twenty-two, our author became the first Superintendent of Game for the Conservation Commission of the State of Wisconsin. To quote the back-flap of my edition: "[Grange] became engaged in the business of live-trapping and shipping to New York State thousands of snowshoe rabbits for restocking purpose. It was in this way he...gained the experience upon which this book is based" (Abercrombie & Fitch, 1967).

Perhaps his snowshoe experience was derived from live-trapping, but an obvious fair amount of time must have been spent in the wilderness, submerged in nature, noting every minute aspect of dozens of animal and flora species, as well as studying the soil, erosion, wind and water, and weather, and the interrelated balance of life and death: the fundamental basics of ecology and biology. In short, Grange was a genius with nature. It is perhaps a shame he gave us only one book, but he departed the world leaving the state of Wisconsin a 9470-acre wildlife haven, among other accomplishments.

The book opens on a dreary night, one filled with wind and snow and darkness. Enough to drive any animal into the recesses of underbrush for shelter, huddled for warmth. Should we feel sorry for these creatures of the winter? As Grange exposes the world to us, he is possibly provoking that instinctual human reaction: sympathetic sorrow. One quickly learns to disregard these feelings and allow Grange to re-introduce us to a world that can, and does, take care of itself.

There are no humans in this book. The dreaded "hunt" does not come from modern weaponry. It comes from the root of life: survival. There is no intellectual within this story. Snowshoe et al. do not band together and fight the ever-evil wolves and hawks. The rabbit is a rabbit. And Grange goes about describing what the rabbit knows as a simple thought process, one so realistic, the reader will begin to understand the rabbit for who he is, and who he isn't. At one point, Grange brings up a curiosity regarding the brain:

Lepus [a rabbit], as a mammal, has the power of motion; memory; sight; hearing-and he has a brain. But where is the brain of the jackpine or of the pitcher plant? How shall it be that plants, apparently not possessed of any central nervous system, nevertheless grow, have species identity, sex, inheritance, habit, preference; that they compete with one another; struggle, have natural enemies...and the will to live? (161)

The book begins in winter, and takes us through the four seasons. Grange shows us the interrelatedness of weather patterns, migration patterns of species (those that pass through the rabbits' little world), and how each creature manages to survive one moment to the next. Grange's style (as seen in the above paragraph) comprises of reflective questions, posed to bring the reader to an awareness of certain natural elements he may have never thought of before. Simply, why are things the way they are? The author will often delve into the surprisingly scientific route to answer some of these questions.

[Hobie]

The Little House on the Prairie books.

Farmer Boy first. The others didn't interest me until AFTER I'd read Farmer Boy.

[MrMurphy]

The Hobbit, the Narnia series. King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (even has leverguns in it).

[Old Ironsights]

At 5 my nose was buried in our set of World Book encyclopedias...

[Blaine]

Ruarks's "The Old Man And The Boy"
When I was a kid, that was the next best thing if you didn't have a dad around...I learned a ton of values and skills from that series of books.

[alnitak]

anything by Jim Kjelgaard like Big Red, Irish Red, Stormy.

I agree. I still have mine.

Still, I think many of the suggestions, like Narnia or Tolkein, are for an older crowd (say 8-12 year-olds) rather than a five-year-old. He may get overwhelmed by the detailed descriptions, more adult themes, etc.

How about Harry Potter? Is he into sports? I read many young adult sports books growing up. What about bios geared to the juvenile crowd? I remember reading Kit Carson, Daniel Boone, etc. that were geared to younger audiences -- simpler story line, phrasing, etc.

[Lawyer Daggit]

Hobbit is going to be a bit to old for him

[Old Ironsights]

Hobbit is going to be a bit to old for him

Depends entirely on the child.

Like I said, I was fully immersed in the encyclopedia at 5. I read Lew Wallace (Ben Hur) just before my 7th birthday...

[wavetrain75]

He said he wants a cowboy story this time.

[Old Ironsights]

He said he wants a cowboy story this time.

I suppose anything by L'Amour... (heresy) Not a big "western" novel fan...

[mouthpiece]

1. Das Kapital

2. True Grit

3. Any one from 'Hank, the Cow Dog' series

[wavetrain75]

2. True Grit

I think we have a winner, as well as many good suggestions for the future. Thanks guys.

[Ysabel Kid]

He said he wants a cowboy story this time.

I may be a bit biased, but how about "The Ysabel Kid", by J.T. Edson?

[RIHMFIRE]

anything by louie lamour......how about the Sacketts
and then watch it with him.....
check this out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_L'Am ... daptations

[MrMurphy]

Get "A Dangerous Book for Boys".

You'll have tons to read to him for years. And it's all 'real'.

[Nate C.]

If it needs cowboys in it, pick almost anything written by J. Frank Dobie: his works were part folklore, part history, part cultural anthropology.

[wanders]

The Little House on the Prairie books.

Farmer Boy first. The others didn't interest me until AFTER I'd read Farmer Boy.

Good pick!

[wanders]

If you can find it, try Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa by George W. Peck. You will die laughing!

Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn ought to work too.

[Bridger]

Hands down, "Big Red" by Jim Kjellgaard. I read that book in the sixth grade and I haven't been the same since. It prompted me to start trapping and it is an addiction that is unshakable. Fortunately I have been able to make some money at it at least.

Then you have to read Irish Red. But I am telling you to be careful or before you know it the boy will have the trapping bug.