The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of relatively few books where Father Christmas turns up and hands out lethal weapons to kids - and it's all good
Strongly agree on Biggles. Besides the obvious virtues (loyalty, resourcefulness, courage) it is really helpfully pro-authority - your superior officer has considerable ability, and a much wider view than you do. When he tells you do to something that doesn't make sense to you, the fault is probably with you, and you should trust him and press on. Biggles Delivers the Goods is an excellent example.
(They also serve a side order of healthy patriotism - in peace your friends are the most important thing, but in war your country is even more important. German patriotism is just as praiseworthy as yours - and are very internal locus of control, telling you to always try and take the initative.)
Having read most of these to my own boys (and girls), I think you'd very much appreciate the Ralph Moody series, starting with Little Britches. It's in a similar vein to Little House on the Prairie (which we have also read as family readalouds many times over) but definitely has a slightly grittier energy.
For a modern 'middle grade fantasy' option, the Wingfeather saga harks back to the classics. And my 12-year old - left to his own devices rather over the last couple of weeks as I ferry his older brother to GCSEs - has been devouring Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir), which I think would also fit the bill.
I agree with most of the choices, although personally I wouldn't choose anything by Heinlein. Many of his books do have rather nasty right-wing politics in them and he is one of a number of, particularly American, science fiction writers who were still pro-eugenics well after it had become unacceptable in the West. If I wanted to introduce someone in their early teens to science fiction, I would either start with Arthur C. Clarke's short stories or else Douglas Adams. Dune is something worth reading later on once one has read a selection of science fiction in different styles.
- I'm not a fan of cancelling authors for things they may or may not have believed.
- Heinlein's political views changed a lot over his life; he had a liberal phase, a libertarian phase, an authoritarian phase and a weird hippy phase at least. Space Cadet was written in his liberal phase so he has (writing in 1948) an explicitly racially integrated patrol, a utopian world peace-keeping force and an anti-colonial plot denouement.
- I love Clarke and Adams (and would recommend them as good books) but neither at all fit the brief on books imbuing positive messages for boy's development. Heinlein's juveniles really are in a league apart here.
- Agree Dune is for older kids, which is why it's the last in the list!
Agree re:Heinlein. He was always very positive in his views on race (Tunnel in the Sky has a Black protagonist, Starship Troopers a Filipino one). His women are every bit as smart, determined and competent as his men - I think that as characters his women are often less developed than his men, but that’s a literary judgement, not a reflection on their presentation for this purpose.
orfoolish has foolishly not respected or's personal space.
I don't understand what footnote 7 means by "and give them slightly more independence than you dare to!" Maybe something has gone wrong with the sentence? (Or maybe you were aiming for instructive paradox, but for me tipped over into incomprehensible contradiction).
Eldest started recounted an in-depth genealogy and greater detail than I could. -> recounting, in greater detail
The Machine Gunners breaks off mid sentence.
"thestory playsout" has been taking all the wrong lessons from orfoolishly.
October Sky has a sex scene in, which you might want to be aware of before giving it to a 12 year old.
Footnote 7 was intended to be an instructive paradox (if you are not giving enough independence and risk that you feel a little uncomfortable with it, you are probably not giving enough, rather as Lewis said with giving to charity) but perhaps is only instructive in demonstrating that Lewis was a better writer than I am.
Re suitability for 12 year olds, October Sky is somewhat obscure (and confounded by the film), but the internet tells me that more famous books with either sex scenes (Dragonflight) or regular references to sex (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) are suitable for 11/12/13 year olds. Similarly the 12A BBFC guidance (in what I'd see as a more 'in-your-face' medium) says: "There may be nudity, but in a sexual context it should be brief and discreet. Sexual activity may be portrayed briefly and discreetly. Moderate sex references are permitted, but frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable."
I think that if you're someone who has a particular concern around particular issues, whether that's sex, violence or anything else, it's advisable to check them out in more detail before taking recommendations on general websites, but I'm comfortable with 12+ being where most people would be.
I remember being jerked awake in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by Aslan rebuking Lucy for (magically) eavesdropping on her friend, and unsympathetically judging her. Lewis calls us to a much higher standard of good than I was used to meeting.
Thoroughly agree that while Doyle got there first, Chesterton's Father Browns are just better stories, better told.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of relatively few books where Father Christmas turns up and hands out lethal weapons to kids - and it's all good
Great list. I would add: the Biggles books, and the James Herriot books.
As a precocious young reader I also loved the Discworld books (even if much of the humour and satire went over my head).
Strongly agree on Biggles. Besides the obvious virtues (loyalty, resourcefulness, courage) it is really helpfully pro-authority - your superior officer has considerable ability, and a much wider view than you do. When he tells you do to something that doesn't make sense to you, the fault is probably with you, and you should trust him and press on. Biggles Delivers the Goods is an excellent example.
(They also serve a side order of healthy patriotism - in peace your friends are the most important thing, but in war your country is even more important. German patriotism is just as praiseworthy as yours - and are very internal locus of control, telling you to always try and take the initative.)
Love James Herrito and Discworld.
I never got into Biggles as a child, which I often think is a shame (I did try them as an adult, but they didn't click).
Having read most of these to my own boys (and girls), I think you'd very much appreciate the Ralph Moody series, starting with Little Britches. It's in a similar vein to Little House on the Prairie (which we have also read as family readalouds many times over) but definitely has a slightly grittier energy.
For a modern 'middle grade fantasy' option, the Wingfeather saga harks back to the classics. And my 12-year old - left to his own devices rather over the last couple of weeks as I ferry his older brother to GCSEs - has been devouring Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir), which I think would also fit the bill.
Interesting recommendations - will check them out! (And I do like both Project Hail Mary and The Martian).
I agree with most of the choices, although personally I wouldn't choose anything by Heinlein. Many of his books do have rather nasty right-wing politics in them and he is one of a number of, particularly American, science fiction writers who were still pro-eugenics well after it had become unacceptable in the West. If I wanted to introduce someone in their early teens to science fiction, I would either start with Arthur C. Clarke's short stories or else Douglas Adams. Dune is something worth reading later on once one has read a selection of science fiction in different styles.
A few thoughts:
- I'm not a fan of cancelling authors for things they may or may not have believed.
- Heinlein's political views changed a lot over his life; he had a liberal phase, a libertarian phase, an authoritarian phase and a weird hippy phase at least. Space Cadet was written in his liberal phase so he has (writing in 1948) an explicitly racially integrated patrol, a utopian world peace-keeping force and an anti-colonial plot denouement.
- I love Clarke and Adams (and would recommend them as good books) but neither at all fit the brief on books imbuing positive messages for boy's development. Heinlein's juveniles really are in a league apart here.
- Agree Dune is for older kids, which is why it's the last in the list!
Agree re:Heinlein. He was always very positive in his views on race (Tunnel in the Sky has a Black protagonist, Starship Troopers a Filipino one). His women are every bit as smart, determined and competent as his men - I think that as characters his women are often less developed than his men, but that’s a literary judgement, not a reflection on their presentation for this purpose.
orfoolish has foolishly not respected or's personal space.
I don't understand what footnote 7 means by "and give them slightly more independence than you dare to!" Maybe something has gone wrong with the sentence? (Or maybe you were aiming for instructive paradox, but for me tipped over into incomprehensible contradiction).
Eldest started recounted an in-depth genealogy and greater detail than I could. -> recounting, in greater detail
The Machine Gunners breaks off mid sentence.
"thestory playsout" has been taking all the wrong lessons from orfoolishly.
October Sky has a sex scene in, which you might want to be aware of before giving it to a 12 year old.
Corrections made, thank you!
Footnote 7 was intended to be an instructive paradox (if you are not giving enough independence and risk that you feel a little uncomfortable with it, you are probably not giving enough, rather as Lewis said with giving to charity) but perhaps is only instructive in demonstrating that Lewis was a better writer than I am.
Re suitability for 12 year olds, October Sky is somewhat obscure (and confounded by the film), but the internet tells me that more famous books with either sex scenes (Dragonflight) or regular references to sex (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) are suitable for 11/12/13 year olds. Similarly the 12A BBFC guidance (in what I'd see as a more 'in-your-face' medium) says: "There may be nudity, but in a sexual context it should be brief and discreet. Sexual activity may be portrayed briefly and discreetly. Moderate sex references are permitted, but frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable."
I think that if you're someone who has a particular concern around particular issues, whether that's sex, violence or anything else, it's advisable to check them out in more detail before taking recommendations on general websites, but I'm comfortable with 12+ being where most people would be.
I remember being jerked awake in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by Aslan rebuking Lucy for (magically) eavesdropping on her friend, and unsympathetically judging her. Lewis calls us to a much higher standard of good than I was used to meeting.
Thoroughly agree that while Doyle got there first, Chesterton's Father Browns are just better stories, better told.
Yes, that is a very good way of putting it!