Need Help Remembering a Book Title

If you enjoy "Where the red fern grows" then you'll both like "The Summer of the Monkeys" by the same author. ANYTHING by Gary Paulsen is fun for boys; "The Hatchet", "The River"...great outdoorsy type books.

A taste of Blackberries, that was a really good book. I read it when I was younger too. another good one was The summer of the swan I believe. When my daughter was in 4th grade the tip of her finger got shut in a door and had to be stitched back on, I found the book A series of unfortunate events, it went rather well with what had happened to her and she ended up reading them as fast as we could get them.
A site that might be helpful also is Google Book Search.
Good luck
C.

My son loves anything by Andrew Clements. Lunch Money was great! Also, we read A Bear Named Trouble by Marion Dane Bauer and loved it...even took a trip to Duluth to see Trouble! The Geronimo Stilton books are also fun to read.

I don't know the book you are describing, but your son might like the book "Hatchet". It is about a boy who is in a plane with just the pilot. The pilot has a heart attack and the plane crashes and then the boy survives in the wilderness. I read it when I was 11, so it might be a bit too soon for your son--please use your best judgement.

Also, find some vintage Hardy Boy books.

Just another plug for "The Box Car Children" series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. It is perfect reading for kids in that 7-8 range.

http://www.amazon.com/Boxcar-Children-Books-1-4/dp/080750...

I read them as a child. As an adult, my husband surprised me with the first 6 books in the series as a gift and when our local Hopkins Stages theatre had it as a play, we went. They are great books about 4 resilient siblings who lose their parents and find ways to take care of themselves to avoid being taken in by what they think is their mean grandfather. They are happy children who demonstrate resourcefulness, have fun on their adventures and are thankful for what they have.

D.

Don't know this one but try Magic Tree House books-It is a great series-very imaginative and my 8 year old loves them.

The Watsons go to Birmingham. Christopher Paul Curtis. Has three boys, one drowns near the end in a 'wool pooh' (whirlpool) but is saved by his older brother. great book. Could be it? Seems more of a young adult book though to me.

My son loves the Matt Christopher sports books. He also enjoyed the "Indian in the Cupboard" series and the Beverly Cleary books. He enjoyed "A Dog Called Kitty" by Bill Wallace and the Nate the Great books.

Sorry I can't help you with the book title. My son has liked to read Matt Christopher books-all different sports with a good lesson at the end. Also, Dan Gutman has some sports books about kids that go back in time and meet baseball players. Henry Winkler (The Fonz) has written some books for boys. My son has yet to read one, but they were recommended by a lady (also a teacher) at Barnes and Noble. Also, my son likes Encyclopedia Brown books. They are short stories within one book. Fun mysteries to figure out.
Hope this all helps.

K. L.

Have you looked at The Magic Treehouse series? My daughter is 8 and she really likes them and each book is a different adventure.

I'm not sure about the book you are looking for. I do remember my favorite book(s) were by Robert Newton Peck. One of the titles is called: "Soup For President". Soup is the name of a boy and him and his friend(s) always seem to get into some kind of mischief of no kind or another. Very entertaining and funny! I always LOVED books by Judy Blume, "Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing": about a boy in 4th grade (Peter) and his annoying little brother (Fudge) that always gets in trouble! There is a little girl who is all goo-goo for Peter. A very funny book! Judy Blume also has the sequals to this book: "Fudge", "Super Fudge", and a couple others that have to do with the same family. They are all very entertaining and fun reading for boys because they all have to do with young boys. I am sure your son will love all the books I just mentioned. You too will laugh at all the trouble these silly boys seem to get in. Truefully, I re-read "Super-Fudge" a while back. I still love all these books!

I don't know what book you're trying to remember, but here are a couple books ideas that my almost 8 yr old likes:

"Freckle Juice"
"The Chronicles of Narnia" series

Appropriate reading levels of:
Star Wars
Spiderman
Scooby Doo

You may also want to ask your librarian if she has any suggestions for his age'reading level.

Good job encouraging your kids to read!!!!!

I didn't know the name of the book but was going to suggest you try going to www.paperbackswap.com and ask in one of the forums there. I just found it and it's a great way to get lots of books! I see that you have the title now, but you may still want to check out the site.

I loved "Island of the Blue Dolphins" and "Where the Red Fern Grows." It's been a long time since I was 8 and my oldest isn't there yet, so I don't know if they're just the right age, but here are some ideas.

I loved all Beverly Cleary books, especially the Ramona ones, though a boy might prefer Ralph S Mouse and the Henry Higgins ones (or maybe not). Judy Blume is always a good choice, especially "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge" to start. I also really liked "A Wrinkle in Time" and the others in that series. And I read and loved all the Narnia ones. I'm really enjoying the Magic Tree House books with my son, who can't read them independently yet but we're having fun with them together. I don't know about them personally, but I know a lot of kids liked the Goosebumps books too, especially kids who hadn't previously been big readers, because they were exciting enough to keep them engaged. Personally, I've never liked scary books, so I have stayed away from them, but others might like them.

my son absolutely loves where the red fern grows and has read it several times!! He's 10 now and also has ADHD. He is also reading the chronicle of narnia series and likes that. He also enjoyed lassie, books by Judy Blume (sp), and some of the little house on the prairie books. Hope that gives ya some ideas.
C.

Is it Chicken Little?

If your son likes "Where the Red Fern Grows", he may also be interested in "The Yearling" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

I loved reading My Side of the Mountain when I was young. It's about a boy who somehow finds himself in the wilderness and figures out how to survive by using a hollowed out tree as shelter, gathering berries for food, etc. I also enjoyed Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. There's this one scene where some monkeys steal something from a young boy who is napping under a tree and when he wakes up they're all chattering and "laughing" at him and he gets super mad at them because nothing he can do will make them give his possessions back. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George is also a good one. The author is a naturalist and wrote several books with nature themes.

I am a former school teacher and some of my favorite books to read to kids were:

A Taste of Blackberries
Bridge to Terabithia
Stone Fox
The Girl with the Silver Eyes
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Running Out of Time
The Shoe Shine Girl
Frindle
The Wayside School Series
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Hoot
The Castle in the Attic
The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (Narnia series)
The Indian in the Cupboard

These are all great books to read aloud together since your son is only eight,(pretty challenging for independent reading unless your son is a very proficient reader for his age) but if you have already read Island of the Blue Dolphins and Where the Red Fern Grows then he should be able to understand the content well.

Happy Reading!
A.

The "Diary of a Wimpy kid" series are hilarious. I'm always waiting for my kids to finish them so I can read them. They are made to engage reluctant readers and it works!!! My son reads them over and over again. My son also liked a book called "Hatchett" about a boy who gets stranded in the wilderness with nothing but a hatchett to help him survive. I haven't read it yet, but a local author just won one of the big prizes for the year for his book, I think it's called "The Cemetery book" or "The graveyard book" about a boy raised by ghosts. It's been getting a lot of good press.

Don't forget to use the resources in your community - you local library should have an Accelerated Reader list, and the children's librarian should be able to help you find appropriate books for your kids! Here is the Website where you can search for the books yourself, http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx and then take a list to your library to see what they have there and what they can borrow/inter-library loan from other area libraries for you.

Good Luck!

Jess

I don't recall the book you speak of, but my soon to be 8 year old loves the Flat Stanley books as well as the Box Car Children series.

I can think of 2 series books...."The boxcar Kids" and the Laura Ingalls Wilder books...some know her books as the Little House on the Prarie" books.
Hope that some help...excellent reading.
S.

It is "On My Honor" by Marion Dane Bauer. I've met the author and have a copy of the book.

www.guysread.com

This is a web site by author Jon Scieszka (Stinky Cheese Man, Time Warp Trio series, Math Curse, etc) dedicated to getting guys to read more. The Guys' Picks lists have tons of great suggestions for different ages.

At school, I've run programs to get guys more interested in reading. I get the best response when I have a bunch of books (high "guy interest") laid out for them to choose from. Maybe you could make a list from all the great suggestions you've received, then spend a little time at the library gathering books for your son to peruse. I always tell my boys to look at the cover, read the back of the book, then choose a random page from inside the book to read.

You may also want to try an incentive program. If you read _________, then you earn ____________. Contact me at ____@____.com if you'd like to hear more about this. I've got several docs I could share from the Guys Read program I ran at school.

Good luck!

My 9 and 7 year-old nephew and niece are really enjoying The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black. http://www.spiderwick.com/ I think they've recently made a movie of it.

I remember my brother and I enjoyed The Tripod Series by John Christopher, as well as Sign of the Beaver and The Witch of Blackbird Pond, both by Elizabeth Speare.

A more recent hit with kids is Holes by Lois Sachar. It too has a movie. Good luck. It looks like you've got lots of great suggestions.

K.,

I think you are thinking of "On My Honor" by Marion Dane Bauer. Two boys go to the river after dad says never to do it and one of them drowns. Then the other boy struggles to tell the truth about what happened. It is a great book and there are lots of opportunities to apply lessons learned in the book to personal life. I just started a new fantasy series by Brandon Mull called Fablehaven with my children. We can hardly put it down! Also a great book that gently weaves values into the storyline. My kids also liked Spiderwick Chronicles, Bridge to Terabithia, Little House on the Prairie series, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter. I have heard good things about Leven Thumps, but we haven't got to it yet. My 8 year old daughter likes A to Z Mysteries and Magic Tree House and they are short and easy reads. They are cute for kids, but don't hold my attention. The other recommendations I made are for books that I love as much as my kids do. Let me know if you need any more ideas. My kids and I are "chapter book junkies" after the little ones go to sleep.

Good luck,
S.

Some books that are fun to read are "The Great Brain....series" by I believe it's J.D. Fitzgerald. They are about some mischevious boys and their adventures in the late 1800's. My kids loved them!

I will look into that one. I am a teacher and if your son likes where the red fern grows he may also like my side of the mountain - can't remember the author - or any Gary paulson book - hatchet is probably the most well know but he has many other good ones as well.

I don't know the name of the book, sorry. If you go to www.agatebooks.com, the have a lisiting of books according to age..hopefully, you can get some ideas from that.

Book suggestions: Shiloh, Sounder, Old Yeller, Red Dog, The Boxcar Children series, The City of Ember series, Stuart Little and other books by E.B. White, The Summer and Shiner series by Nolan Carlson, and Charlotte's Webb. Someone already suggested The Magic TreeHouse books, but I really do like how readers can learn about other subjects through them.

The book is On My Honor by Marian Dane Bauer. A similar great book is A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan. There are books by Jack Gantos about a boy with ADHD. One is Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. I have never read it, but I've heard it's good.

Look for books by Roald Dahl. They are imaginative and funny and may hold his interest better. Also try looking for any of the various mystery and fantasy series for his reading level -- like Spiderwicke or A Series of Unfortunate Events. Indian in the Cupboard, The Castle in the Attic, Half Magic, are a few I can think of off the top of my head, but I don't recall the reading level. The Encyclopedia Brown stories get you involved by trying to figure out the answer before the end of the story. While I love Island of the Blue Dolphin, Red Fern, Hatchet, and those type of classics they may not be something that will really interest him right now and it's more important to get him interested in and enjoying reading than to get him reading Hemingway, IMHO. :)

Tuck Everlasting and Bridge to Terebithia are great books for that age.

Sounds like Marian Dane Bauer's book On My Honor. Great book.

Melina
Librarian/Writer

I'm almost certain the name of the book you are referring to is ON MY HONOR by Marion Dane Bauer. I just got it for my nine year old stepson and just re-read it myself. Great book! Most likely available in your child's school library.

I think I remember reading the same book and I believe it was called On My Honor. Don't remember the author but it's a place to start.

If you live in Minnesota, ask at your local library or school library for the list of books for the Maud Hart Lovelace Award. There are some great books on that list. Dan Gutman is a great author for kids that age. He has several sports stories, but also has some school stories (The Homework Machine). Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius by Frank Asch is another good one. A lot of kids like The Fairy Tale Detective series by Michael Buckley. The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies; Lowji Discovers America by Candance Fleming; anything by Patricia Reilly Giff; anything by Brian Paulson; anything by Andrew Clements; Spoon in the Bathroom Wall by Tony Johnston; Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell; books by Grace Lin; books by Patricia MacLachlan; Ugly by Donna Jo Napoli; books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; Mack McGinn's Big Win by Coleen Murtagh Paratore; Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park and other books by her; the Clementine books by Sara Pennypacker.