Children's Books discussion

My 7 year old son is VERY much into Merlin stories these days, he loves the TV series (we watch it online). Can anyone recommend a good book I can read to him?
Thanks!!

Yes, I would be interested in Knights stories (although it would be good if they contain some sort of magic, that's what he loves most about it! Most of his favourite books are some sort of magical stories - the secret country trilogy, the neverending story, etc)
Thanks for your suggestions, I came across
Merlin's Dragon: Basilgarrad
by T.A. Barron
that sounds good, I might try it!

Hmm, I don't know if 7 is too young, but what about Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series? There is a lot of Arthurian legend in that, and Barney in the first book ( Over Sea Under Stone ) sounds a bit like your son with his love of all things Arthur.

And if he likes funny stuff, there's always Jon Scieszka's Knights of the Kitchen Table, though I read it a while ago and can't quite remember how much actually had to do with Arthur.

That's all really great help, thanks everyone! I have ordered the young Merlin trilogy now and might try the sword in the stone and Merlin and the dragon.
He can't wait for it to arrive!! Thanks!

YA Fantasy-King Arthur Style

Blue Flame- KM Grant
Thornspell by Helen Lowe
The Book of Mordred-Vivian Vande Velde
The Dragon’s Son by Sarah Thomson
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
The Last Grail Keeper by Pamela Smith Hill
The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland

For youngsters, there is always Igraine the Brave which is about a girl night. Not much King Arthur, but a fun story about knights.

If it's the book I'm thinking of, Saint George and the Dragon is a Caldecott honor or award book. My daughter and I read it recently and I agree, it had great illustrations. If I am remembering correctly, it had very cool celtic-type frame designs around each page, with other things going on....kind of like a Jan Brett book.

Sandra wrote: "My 7 year old son is VERY much into Merlin stories these days, he loves the TV series (we watch it online). Can anyone recommend a good book I can read to him?
Thanks!!"

Sandra, totally off-topic, but I love your frog picture. Mine was a red-eyed tree frog until I recently switched to my dog. :)

My daughter is a froggy girl, so we have all things frog around this house.

I really loved the Mary Stewart series on King Arthur. It's an upper grade read but I think better than Mists of Avalon and is fine for school use.
There are 4 in the series starting with:
The Crystal Cave
The Hollow Hills
The Last Enchantment
and finally -
The Wicked Day
They are really well written and tell the traditional tale in a completely different point of view.

Try The Spoon in the Bathroom Wall -a pretty short chapter book

Synopsis: Living in the boiler room of the school where her father is janitor seems normal to fourth grader Martha Snapdragon, until she has experiences with an evil principal, the class bully, and a mysterious giant spoon, all reminiscent of the Arthurian legends.

Flinkybits - Never heard of that one!

Has anyone every seen / read Dove Isabeau Talk about a beautiful book...
a real dreamy and beautifully illustrated picture book that kind of crosses ages with a traditional dragon / prince story.

My son loved the Talbott books when we was younger. We read The Sword in the Stone a zillion times. He loved it. The collection tells more of the story than the one book however.

On this topic I hope someone can help; years ago as a child I used to have a book in which 2 children find a culvert in a park or somewhere in which a crazy old man lives. The inside of the culvert turns out to be larger and nicer than they thought and, as the story goes on, they come to believe that the old man may, in fact, be Merlin, although I don't think this is ever stated exactly. At the end the old man vanishes and the culvert goes back to being ordinary. I do not remember the title but it seems that it was something with "cave" in it. I have had this book on my mind lately and would much like to know what it is. I read this back in the mid to late 70s, if that helps any.

Not yet. Actually, I didn't see that thread until I had already posted this one here, so I figured I'd let it sit here for a bit first, since it kinda went with this thread's topic.

I've just found this thread and is on a similar mission to the original request. We've just read Pirates Past Noon and Morgan le Fay features in the book. So I'm looking for a book that introduces the whole King Arthur myth to my nearly 6 and 8 year olds. Nothing in the thread seems quite appropriate so I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Merlin Dreams by Peter Dickinson is pretty good, but probably not perfect for either of you....

Here are a couple of books that might fill the bill; they are somewhat long picture books:
Merlin and the Dragons
Merlin and the Making of the King

Thanks, Beverly. They look prefect for what I am looking for.