kiddie fantasy.

[jedi master princess]

i wander around the kiddie section a lot. 1) to scare the girls who buy the "n'sync unauthorized biography!!" trash and 2) to look for good books.

good stuff:
1. sabriel by garth nix.
2. the dark materials trilogy by philip pullman.
3. the jedi apprentice books (the only sw eu worth reading imo).
4. the seventh tower by garth nix (i saw this on a lucasarts display, bought cuz it was cheap, and was pleasantly surprised. i'm waiting for more now.)
5. harry potter!!
6. the black couldron books by lloyd alexander. they are yummy.
7. the hero and the crown by robin mckinely.
8. the lioness rampant quartet by tamora pierce.

[RKittle]

Thanks for this list. I have a 10 year old son that is finally starting to enjoy reading a bit. Not as much as I would like, but at least he's showing an interest. We went to the store but weren't really sure what younger -level books to get. I'll keep these in mind the next time we go shopping.

[jedi master princess]

one eensy p.s. then...sabriel is for young adults. not for 10 yr olds. :) it mentions certain body parts. same thing might go for the hero and the crown. and lioness rampant.

[bmilder]

Harry Potter isn't necessarily kiddie fantasy, but I like that :) . When I was little I enjoyed Lloyd Alexander's stuff. That series starts with The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron. They also made a Disney movie out of it, but it's kind of obscure and pales in comparison to the books. Earlier than that, I read the Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe series by C.S. Lewis. I haven't read Jedi Apprentice books, but I enjoyed the Junior Jedi Knights and Young Jedi Knights series. Another series that I liked was the Star Trek Academy, although I don't think there's been another book in it for years.

The series that I really loved was Bruce Coville's Alien Adventures. Unfortunately, he would take something like 3 years to publish each book. I believe it starts with Aliens Ate My Homework. Coville's other stuff is good too.

[jedi master princess]

coville's alien books are classic. i remember thinking "what the--??" when i first saw "my teacher is an alien"... :)

[bmilder]

And how could I forget the "Animorphs" series.