Eragon - Would it be good to read to/with a 7 year old?

Question

We are just finishing Huck Finn and I'm looking for our next bed time book.

My boy's a little genius. He read tom sawyer on his own, but the language in Finn had too many wierd spellings so I'm reading it "Eehs gynne git" = He's going to get I don't want him to learn those spellings!!!

Back to Eragon, I figure the names are beyond his reading capacity, so I'd be reading it. I'm most intersted in whether or not the text is too graphic or too long winded for a child???

I'd considered tolkien of harry potter, and believe tolkien may still be a bit wordy for him so I'm saving that and I've not read the potter books myself, but I'm sure he'd love that - but Eragon might be more my style.

Any insight is appreciated. Just trying to do the best by my boys

Oh my gosh - thanks for all your insights and suggestions. I'll be looking for many of these books.

Looks like I'll get to read Eragon first and he can have it later. I knew the movie was coming out and I'd prefer he read the book first. That was part of why I was leaning toward choosing it. (when it comes out on DVD no doubt he'll beg)

A book about making a time machine would fit the boy perfectly. His favorite playthings are a bunch of LED's and motors (mostly from broken playthings) with which he makes inventions.

I'm delighted to be graduating from "horrible harry" to books I can enjoy too

in regard to comments. He reads a lot of school library books on his own. They do the Accelerated reader program and have him at 5th grade level on that now. KED - Love that you know all those book levels. I need to figure out where I can check that. Do a web search I guess.

For anyone who’s worried… I’m not forcing reading on him. He picked up tom saywer (full version) on his own. I told him I wasn’t sure if he was ready for it, but he fell in love with it and read it in about 2 weeks. He took an AR test at school and missed 2 out of 20 as I recall.

There’s no going back I figure. I’ll help him pick out good books so he’ll stay into reading. He has assigned library books each week (like a Nate the great) and he enjoys those too. He usually finishes those on Monday in the car while we are driving on errands.

PS love the ideas on some of the short fast paced books. It’s nice to read and be finished. Save the "epics" for the bedtime slowdown

Answer 1

I like that you're making your bedtime reading choices for your son with careful forethought. Pesonally, I'd say that no matter how much of a genius your seven year-old is, reading him anything too literary or wordy could be off-putting and discourage him wanting to read alone in the future. It's best to nuture enthusiasm for books at this age, so go for things that are fast-paced and lots of fun to read; there's plenty of time for him to enjoy "the classics" like Tolkien etc., later.

As for "Eragon" we all found it rather too slow and a bit dull in parts - but more importantly, if you're planning to read it aloud, its abundance of strangely-spelled names and places make it difficult. Stumbling over the awkward pronunciation of the "elf-language" kept interrupting the flow of the story.

Instead, I'd recommend any of the following:
"The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riorden - a modern re-telling of Greek heros and legends.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Percy-Jackson-Olympians-Lightning-Thief/dp/0141381477/sr=1-3/qid=1165616205/ref=sr_1_3/203-9915083-6090310?ie=UTF8&s=books
"Holes" by Louis Sachar - a great story!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Holes-Louis-Sachar/dp/074754459X/sr=1-1/qid=1165616259/ref=sr_1_1/203-9915083-6090310?ie=UTF8&s=books
Airborn - the tale of a cabin boy in a hot air balloon!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Airborn-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/034087855X/sr=1-4/qid=1165616291/ref=sr_1_4/203-9915083-6090310?ie=UTF8&s=books
However, I'd especially recommend "Justin Thyme" a story about a boy genius who invents his own time machine.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/0955357004/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/203-9915083-6090310
The really great thing about this last book is that it uses an interesting vocabulary, but has all the more challenging words in the story defined at the back in a sort of mini-dictionary. It's lots of fun ... but has some educational value too ... far more useful than struggling to read nonsensical names in fake elf-language!
We've read all the above stories at bedtime ... however, this last book is the firm favorite at the moment!

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Tolkien is definately rather wordy; I wouldn't recommend that at least until middle school.

The Harry Potter series can get rather scary -- I would definately recommend reading them first so that you can better decide whether or not he is mature enough to handle it.

As far as Eragon goes, I would put it on the same level as Harry Potter, if not a bit more mature. It does get rather violent, and there's quite a few deep issues that although he may understand the surface plot, he may not really comprehend or appreciate the underlying motives and issues.
I would probably put off reading it for a few more years. It's a great book, but I think he'll get more out of it when he's older.

I would, however, recommend the Artemis Fowl series if you haven't already read them. They are not quite as long as the other books mentioned, but have very exciting plots, and enough high-tech and advanced content to keep him challenged.

Another series I would recommend is the Chronicles of Narnia. These may be a good stepping-stone into the Tolkien books, since they are in a similiar style and also tend to be a bit long-winded with descriptions. It's a great series, though, which he may enjoy.

Good luck, and happy reading!

Answer 3

Eragon is rated as being a book appropriate for fifth grade students...Harry Potter (Sorcerer's stone) is also fifth grade, the rest are sixth and seventh...Tolkiens books in the Hobbit series are sixth grade.

The Huckleberry Finn book comes in two versions..unabridged, which is a sixth grade level, and abridged which is a fourth grade level.

With this being said..what is most important about reading is that your child reads books on a level that they can understand. If your boy, at seven, read Tom Sawyer and understood it without any problems, then he may just be an above-average reader who has the ability to read higher grade level books. You can check this by asking him questions about the book after he has read each chapter. Schools refer to this as reading comprehension, and it is a very important aspect of learning to read. Often when children read a book by themselves they will gloss right over words they don't understand or cannot read..and in the end get very little benefit from having read it. So, reading books that are an appropriate level for your child is very important. I would ask you whether he has been given any kind of reading test at school that determines his level? Here we have the Star Test..which gives the children a recommended reading level. They take it every nine weeks so to account for any changes. If he hasn't been tested you might want to ask at his school about this. This would be very helpful in trying to pick out books that he can understand and read, and therein get the most benefits from.

If the school is no help in this, try your public library..most of them will have lists of books by grade level..and you should be able to find something appropriate there..if nothing you already mentioned seems to fit.

The only thing I would worry about with Harry Potter, Eragon and Tolkien..(if he hasn't already seen the movies..Eragon is coming out soon)..is whether at 7 he has the ability to fully and completely to distinguish between what is fantasy and what is reality. If he still worries about monsters under the bed..or anything akin to that I might be somewhat wary about reading it to him. Other than that though, ultimately it's your choice and as his mother you know best...

Kudos to you though, for being so involved in your child's reading..and I hope this helped.

Answer 4

7 yrs old is a natural age to BEGIN reading for most children. The educational system in America is really trying to speed this up for no good reason. That being said, you may be expecting to much from him. He may also have a learning disability or is just learning at a slower rate in this subject than other kids at his school and is embarrassed by that and therefore doesn't want to try. I would try encouraging him to read early readers with you. (I.E: you read one page, he reads the next) instead of just saying "You can read that" when you don't actually know if he can read that. Saying that may hurt his feelings and make him even less likely to try because he feels stupid for not being able to read something he should.

Answer 5

I have a five year old that is interested in eragon it is not the age of the child but the interst of the child. Yes me myself finds this amazing at such a young age to pick up Tom sawyer. Try Eragon if its a winner and if not try the potter series the are a sure fire thing!

Answer 6

I've read it and I like it, but then again...it's really hard for me to NOT like a book lol. I think it's wonderful for a child to read things that stimulate his imagination as long as it's not dangerous. By that I mean like a book that says a person can fly or something and he tries to do the same. Just explain to him what's real and what's not and when he comes across a word he doesn't understand, look it up together so that he increases his vocabulary. One bit of advice though...let him have fun reading and be proud of his intelligence but....don't get obsessed like some parents who think they're kids are genius to the point that they FORCE them to read or things like that. I know you wouldn't, but... just being nosy I suppose, lol.

Answer 7

by all means yes! when i was little the only thing my folks did with me was to read with me for 30 min or so at nite. that was basically the only edu i had till h.s. my first time on the a.c.t. i got a 25. i know if it werent for them readin to me to teach me how to do something other than plow the fields i would be able to plow fields great but thats all. read to him on his level

Answer 8

Animal Farm

Answer 9

I'm 10 and i didn't like it, i put it away. Maybe you'll like it.

I would prefer, "Dragon Rider" or harry potter or unfutunate events

Answer 10

I was about 14 when I read it, and I loved it. I think he would definitely enjoy it.