Best Science Fiction/Fantasy for 8 Year Olds

Jason Levine writes: My son is 8 years old. I'd love to get him interested in Science Fiction, but most of the books I can think of seem to be targeted to older kids/adults.

Thinking that the length of some novels might be off-putting to him, I read him some of the short stories in Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot". He liked these but I could tell he was having a hard time keeping up. I think the wording of the stories was too advanced and there was too much talking and not enough action. Personally, I love Asimov, but I think much of it just went over his head.

Which science fiction and/or fantasy books would you recommend for an 8 year old? (Either stories he could read himself or that we could read together over the course of a few weeks.)

Heinlein juveniles

[dpilot]

Robert Heinlein had a good series of juveniles, as did Arthur C Clarke, though maybe both were just a bit much for an 8 year old. Still, they're closer to age-appropriate than "I Robot." Come to think of it, Isaac Asimov also had the "Lucky Starr" series, which were aimed at juveniles.

Re:

[MarcoAtWork]

this, I remember enjoying quite a bit "Farmer in the sky" by Heinlein when I read it around maybe 10-11? 8 might be a bit young but if you read it with him it should be ok I would think.

thought

[Sparticus789]

I don't believe it is the difficulty in the books, but the older prose and style that makes it harder to understand. When I started reading Asimov at 15, it took me a bit to learn the 60-year old writing style.

Depending on how mature he is, I would recommend Ender's Game. Yes, the subjects are heavy but the prose is simple and the story is about other people his age.

Tom Swift and Others

[Quantus347]

Any Tom Swift would be a good intro to SF. There is a series every generation or so. I had a series, my dad had another (which mine referenced now and then in a cameo type way) and even one from the turn of the century with stories like Tom Swift and his Electric Train or Tom Swift and his Moving Pictures, whereas my series (the forth) dealt with hoverboards, alternate dimensions, AI, and genetic engineering. The new series says it stays a little closer to current science. I highly recommend this to any

Pratchet

[Big Hairy Ian]

Dunno about SciFi but fantasy wise Terry Pratchet has written quite a bit for both grown-ups & children.

Jack Vance

[Jane Q. Public]

I highly recommend Jack Vance's fantasy series (plural), because Vance loved to toss around words, and he was great at making up plausible names for things. I made a game out of some of his books. If I didn't know a word, I would look it up. If I found it, I learned something. If I didn't it was just one of his made-up names, and it was time to move on in the story.

His fantasies tend to be somewhat lighter-themed than his science fiction, which I might recommend if he were a bit older.

Vance is probabl

Tom Swift series - liked as a kid

[mrflash818]

Probably out of print, but might be able to find as used books from Powells' and such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift [wikipedia.org]