Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources book recommendation

I know what you mean Dot, about having a good cry. For me, it was Charlotte's Web and then Tuck Everlasting. DD read Tuck at five and didn't get very upset. I think for her, ten was still really "old" and faraway, whereas I didn't find it until after I was ten. POV can change a lot with age!

CFK-

I "allow" quite a bit, though I would probably confiscate anything too far out, as in some of the very *graphic* graphic novels that are out now.

DS didn't choose to read Gregor, BTW, it was a teen book club selection. He actually didn't want to read it, but once he started listening, I think he enjoyed it. The book club has been a good way to expose him to more than fantasy books, which are his favorites. They read an Agatha Christie, for instance, which he enjoyed more than he had imagined he would.

He likes the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, LOTR, Eragon and Eldest, that sort of thing. He also likes Percy Jackson, Tamora Pierce, adult Star wars novels, and a weird never ending series of books about warrior cats. He's been reading the Redwall books on and off since he was six. He has always loved non fiction too, especially science books. When he was two and a half, he used to enjoy reading about rocks and seashells in field guides. Now he is taking chemistry and is so happy to finally be doing something with the periodic table, which he has been fascinated by for years.

If it helps any, my older son liked Crichton books like Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park when he was a tween.

LOLFOTF... so funny that you mention those dwarf songs! We have a tradition of reading The Hobbit together when each child is about five. I HATED reading aloud those stupid dwarf songs! They go on and on...

That being said, I do like LOTR and feel that the movies were good but left out far too much. No Tom Bombadil for instance!

CFK,

Could you recommend other books on the periodic table? DS's current fascination, too. We're reading Elements with Style as his bedtime story - but they don't cover every element, and doesn't cover his questions, such as what is a metal.

Thanks!

Thanks, CFK. DS is 7, and not a good reader, so I read everything to him. One of the reasons he's not a good reader at this point is that his understanding is at an adult level, so he doesn't have the patience to slow down and read. (And thanks to other posts here, he's now doing it with Geronimo Stilton and other books).

He loves Elements with Style (and frankly, I'm not sure why. It leaves a lot of gaps as far as I'm concerned.) I'll check out the ones you've suggested. I don't remember my chemistry and can't answer his questions.

Re: Stephen Hawking, there's currently a bio on either the Science Channel or PBS, not sure which. We've seen it on the schedule a couple of times. DS is also a fan.

Here's a fun video DS loves: Alien Planet. Was on Discovery Channel. Stephen Hawking and other scientists describe an imaginary planet, Darwin IV, and what type of aliens they could see there. DS became obsessed with that one - and then also another Discovery production, The Future is Wild. Another imaginary docu where real scientists supply the imagination.

I saw the play, Camelot, the other day and it made me think of another wonderful book, The Once and Future King about King Arthur and his story. I've read that book twice and really enjoyed it but I am going to have to read it again. It think some of the kids here might enjoy it. It's just a fun read.

EandCmom,

I think it needs to be added that �The Once and Future King� has a small bit of �adult content� � the Lance and Guinevere thing. I would not be comfortable with eight-year-olds reading it (I�d be very comfortable with fourteen-year-olds reading it).

It is an absolutely fantastic book. It�s actually a brilliant essay on ethical and political philosophy � Wart was changed by Merlyn into all of the different animals so that he would understand the distinctive nature of homo sapiens and the implications of that nature for human ethics and politics. First, you read TOAFK and then you read Locke�s �Second Treatise on Civil Government� and Thoreau�s �Essay on Civil Disobedience� and then some modern writings in the same tradition (Rothbard�s �The Ethics of Liberty,� Friedman�s �Machinery of Freedom,� etc.)

White actually lays out all of this rather explicitly in �The Book Of Merlyn,� a collection of �out-takes� that he, wisely in my judgment, finally decided not to include in TOAFK.

I absolutely agree that �The Once and Future King� is a �must-read�: it�s not just an entertaining book, it�s �literature� in the classic sense that helps illuminate history, psychology, and, as they used to say, �the human condition.� If you really want to �get� what Aristotle meant when he said that humans are �the rational animal� or what Jefferson meant when he declared that certain truths were �self-evident,� well, White figured out how to turn Jefferson and Aristotle into entertaining fiction. If only our Presidential candidates had read and understood �The Once and Future King�!

Dave

Hi, Everyone,

A new recommendation. We just started listening to the unabridged version of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. DS loves it. It's so much the way he thinks. (e.g., the introduction talked about atoms and how you might have an atom in you that formed part of a creature who once licked cave walls, or had a blowhole on the top of his head). Of course, it's an adult book, so it has words like birds**t in it (talking about how the scientists in NJ were trying to figure out what was going on with their newly installed equipment that was picking up static, so they had to clean the you know off it) - DS loves hearing that!! We found the unabridged version of tapes at the library. The cd's are abridged, although there is an unabridged version available on Itunes (we're about to go on vacation and I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to travel with less than 13 cassette tapes!).

The criticism I read on amazon from those who criticized it said it was too simple for those who knew science. Well, it's just perfect for DS7 - and me (the former comp. lit. major).

I love this thread. I've been copying all the book recommendations to a spreadsheet so I can look them up later, and mark off the ones we've read.
Thanks all!

I realized I forgot to say what the book is about (science). Here's a link to the amazon page with descriptions and reviews. http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything-Illustrated/dp/0767923227/ref=ed_oe_h