It the beginning of another month which means time for my new list of recommended books. This time I am doing a list of classic kids series and my criteria are pretty simple. The books all need to be a series containing three or more books, the preferred genre is fantasy and the last but perhaps most important criteria is the books need to be books that previous generations have also enjoyed. I ended up with three series that I rather liked for this list and all of them were passed on to me by my older family members, either my mother, my grandfather and in one case my great-grandmother. They are also all series I would have no issues passing on to the next generation of my own family as my nephews have already tried at least two of these series. I can only hope your family enjoys them as much as my family did.
This particular series is perhaps the most well-known of the three series I have picked out and is also probably considered the most popular of the series. Written by noted author C. S. Lewis the series focuses mostly on the adventures of the Pevensie children and their friends in the fantasy land known as Narnia. The series is a good blend of fantasy and adventure and tends to appeal to a rather wide range of kids from what I have seen. There was also a pretty decent if incomplete set of movies based off of them a while back that would also probably appeal to kids. The characters may not be as fleshed out as other series and the plots may be fairly simple they are still a nice enjoyable and relaxing read in my opinion. I know a lot of people often frown on books that tend to be heavy on the magic and other similar elements due to their own religion. Luckily for people like that the Chronicles of Narnia are rather heavy on the Christian symbolism and references so should be suitable for people who might otherwise object. At the same time the Christian themes and undertones are subtle enough it shouldn’t ruin the series for readers who don’t like those kinds of things. In terms of content there isn’t really anything that would be unsuitable for readers of just about any age as while there is some minor violence it is not extremely graphic and tends to be on the rare side. While they should be read in order each one can function almost as a stand-alone story so you could read them in any order though they make more sense if read in the intended order. Overall, a pretty good series for kids in my opinion and one that will probably never fall out of style.
This particular series is probably less well-known than the Chronicles of Narnia but it is just as good in my opinion. Written by Lloyd Alexander it follows the adventures of Taran, an assistant pig-keeper, who travels around the land of Prydain as he helps battle the forces of evil and darkness in whatever form they take for that book. Unlike Narnia, this series tends to pull pretty heavily from Welsh mythology and folklore though it is not entirely faithful in its depiction. They are about the same length as the Narnia books though there are also fewer books in the series. For those unfamiliar with this particular series the Disney movie The Black Cauldron is loosely based on this series. While still as enjoyable as Narnia, the Prydain Chronicles are just a little darker in tone. They also form a slightly more cohesive narrative as they follow the same storyline that progresses over the course of the books. In terms of genre this series would also be a nice blend of fantasy and adventure and predominantly takes place in an alternate world setting. The plots may be on the simpler side but the character development is a little more pronounced as the series follow the same group of characters for the entire series so we get to see more of them, especially the main character of Taran. While there is some violence present in the series, as is expected considering the theme of fighting against evil, it is rarely extremely graphic. I will state that there is nothing in the books that make me reluctant to recommend them. They make a pretty good series to share with your kids, at least in my opinion.
The last series I want to go over is the Borrowers by Mary Norton. This is probably the least well-known of the three series but it is still a pretty good series. The series follows the Clock family of borrowers on various adventures as they struggle to find a safe place where they can live as borrowers without worrying about being seen by human beings. Much like the other two series this one is a blend of fantasy and adventure but it feels more like adventure than fantasy whereas the other two lean more toward the fantasy side. Either way it should still hold a pretty broad appeal with kids. It is set entirely in the real world and often seems to imply that the events it describes actually occurred which is rather different than the other two series listed. That is probably why the series doesn’t necessarily feel like a traditional fantasy series. It is also probably why the series makes no references to any type of mythology or religion so it should be suitable for kids of any type. However, it does play off of the idea of little people that seem to frequent so many different types of folklore and mythology. The series also seems to have fairly simplistic plots but it falls closer to the Prydain Chronicles when it comes to overall story arch and character development. It follows the same group of characters chronologically over time so we see a lot of development for them which plays a large part of the overall plot. While way different in feel than the other two series it is still a really enjoyable series that I am happy to recommend to younger readers. Hopefully one of these series would be both suitable and enjoyable for any younger readers out there that you may know.