Great books for young people?

[SemperJase]

I'd add the Belgariad by David Eddings.

Great one. I read those in high school, but I think it would be apropriate for a younger read as well.

Did you like the second series The Mallorean. I didn't like it. It seemed to be a rehash of old material. I didn't see anything new. What did you think?

 

[Tuerny]

I read the Mallorean and it really was basically the same story just told in different ways and in a slightly different format.

Then again I didn't really mind it at the time, but I had slightly less discerning tastes back then

 

[MerricB]

The Doctor Dolittle books by Hugh Lofting, without a doubt.
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass.
The Hobbit

Cheers!

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

Well some of these aren't really fantasy, but:

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
or The Fountainhead
Stephen King's Eyes of the Dragon
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Lord of the Flies
for a great book on human nature-Obedience to Authority (short, but may be a difficult read)

-Mike Gill

Heh...I can't imagine many kids wanting to read Ayn Rand. Maybe once they're in their early teens, but even that's pushing it.

 

[AuroraGyps]

Reading as a child

When I was in Elementry School, I always took out non-fiction books from the library. I was weird even back then. As for fiction when I was young, I loved Fairy Tales... especially the Little Golden Book ones (my Mom's helping me replace all the ones we gave away). When I was about 12 I found Dragonlance and I loved the first 3 trilogies: Chronicles, Legends, and Tales. I also read Louise Cooper's "Time Master Trilogy" (OOP) and loved it.

Nowadays, I'd recommend Brian Jaques' "Redwall" books & Harry Potter. I know there are more I've read that I've liked, but I just can't think of any cause I read so much stuff.

 

[Griswold]

Grimm's fairy tales
Hardy boys mysterys.
Wind in the Willows.


G.

 

[kenjib]

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi is really a great book if you just close your eyes and pretend that Disney never existed. It's picareque for kids and a really good book. It's really dark and brutal in a Grimms Fairy Tales kind of way.

Arabian Nights, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and Hans Christian Anderson are all great.

The Secret of Nim and Watership Down are good animal adventures.

Finally, the Oz books by Frank L. Baum are good too.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

The Lord of the Rings: My first introduction to the fantasy genres.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and sequels: My first introduction to English-language books.

The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende: The book is a lot better and a lot darker than the movies. Hey, in the book, Bastian ends up leading an army against the Ivory Tower, and nearly slays Atrejù in combat!

 

[Oni]

I'll second the Redwall series, I still read them and Brian Jacques is still making them (though the first remains my favorite).

 

[Aitch Eye]

Bertrand R. Brinley's The Mad Scientist's Club and The New Adventures of the Mad Scientist's Club. The two most fun books ever written, with this thin patina of plausibility that gets kids into them in a way that's hard to replicate. Everyone I know who read them as a kid still gets enthusiastic when they talk about the stories. When they hear there's a third one that was barely published in a tiny edition, and another one that was only published (maybe) in Indonesia, they still want to read them. They're finally back in print.

http://www.madscientistsclub.com/