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There has been a big increase in series fiction and non-fiction over the past 10 years, and not all of it for the good. The trend with publishers in the United States and Canada seems biased in favour of series and this is reflected in the bookshops. Series are strongly branded, age graded and a parent can easily track what they’re children have read by the numbering system. The marketing of series books has made it easy for children and parents to choose age appropriate books.
However, many of these series are written by a team of writers and written to a formula. They lack originality, the characters are often not developed and the language used doesn’t always challenge the child. This trend also leaves less room for individual authors to get published and narrows the choice on offer. In their favour they can keep the reluctant reader reading . An example of this is the Goosebumps series by RL Stine. The author is a pseudonym for a team of writers and not an individual. There were over 70 of these published, so some children were “stuck” on the series for over a year. Even if children are fans of a particular series they should be encouraged to read other more challenging books. Series by English and Irish publishers are either by a variety of named authors or just one author, very few use teams of writers under a pseudonym or formula writing. These series are better because you get a variety of writing styles, and they don’t generally run in to large numbers so your child won’t be “stuck” for a period of time.. The list is long but here are some of the better series are:
Ages 4 to 6 Number in Series Publisher Author Panda Cubs 1 to 9 O’Brien Press Various authors Green Bananas over 10 Egmont Various authors Leapfrog over 10 Franklin Watts Various authors Reading Corner Phonics over 20 Franklin Watts Various authors Hopscotch over 20 Franklin Watts Various authors
Ages 6 to 8 Panda’s 1 to 38 O’Brien Press Various authors Chimps 1 to 8 Childrens Press Various authors Chameleons over 10 A & C Black Various authors Blue Bananas over 10 Egmont Various authors Sprinters over 10 Walker Books Various authors
Ages 8 to 10 Flyers 1 to 19 O’Brien Press Various authors Spiderwick Chronicles 1 to 5 Simon & Schuster Holly Black Walker Stories over 10 Walker Books Various authors Judy Moody 1 to 8 Walker Books Megan McDonald Skylarks over 5 Evans Various authors
Ages 10 to 12 Harry Potter 1 to 7 Bloomsbury J.K. Rowling Alex Rider 1 to 9 Walker Books Anthony Horowitz Scream Street 1 to 10 Walker Books Tommy Dombavand Skulduggery Pleasant 1 to 5 Harper Collins Derek Landy My Sister the Vampire 1 to 5 Egmont Sienna Miller
All these titles are available to purchase online at www.tarabookco.ie or email for advice for your child
Tara Book Co., Kilcolgan, Co. Galway, Ireland |
