OK guys, my 10 yr old grandson is absolutely ate up with bows, hunting , guns etc.He attends all the 3D shoots and muzzleloading shoots with me and is fast becoming very good at it. Here's the rub. He struggles with reading. We are having him tutored and that is helping, but I feel that he would read more if he was interested in the subject. Can any of you recommend some books on the outdoors, hunting, bowhunting, etc.that would be good for a kid in the 9-10 yr old range ? I thought I had seen a book on bowhunting for children but can't remember it. I have found some books but they are geared more to early teens.
Ranger's Apprentice series might be a little old but my daughter likes it and she is seven.
http://www.rangersapprentice.com/
Connor's big hunt and Connor's first turkey hunt by Shawn Meyers are 2 and maybe even the Nogglestones book. Our 5 yr old loves to color in wildlife coloring books while i read hunting mags with him, he draws in the hunting scenes where he sees fit, has a blast, good luck in your search, J
American Boy's Handy Book. Found at Kustom King Archery (a TG sponsor). Both my boys love each of theirs.
I've already bought him some of the Handy books but they are a bit "above" him right now.
It may be a bit over his level but the Gary Paulsen books are outdoors oriented. They are Brian's Hunt and The Hatchet. Many 1or 2 more. In one, maybe both, he uses trad gear. My daughter read them in 5th grade.
"The Old Man and the Boy" by Robert Raurk. Not archery but, everyone who hunts should read this book.
My boys really liked Brian's hunt and the hatchet, they are wilderness survival stories.
Where the red fern grows was another favorite, about a boy and his coon dog.
X2 on the Hatchet, I read that and others when I was a kid.
Just don't give him anything too bad - I remember reading most of the The Outdoor Life Bear Book when I was about 9 or 10 - half of the stories in there are really good hunting stories. The other half are about gruesome bear attacks. On the one hand it gave me a healthy respect for bears - on the other hand it gave me some pretty brutal nightmares a few times. Strangely enough I just kept reading the darn thing - mom had to take it away from me and hide it.
Wonder what happened to that book... :)
If he's got a good sense of humour the Patrick McManus books are good ("Into the twilight, endlessly grousing", "A Fine and Pleasant Misery", etc)- if you can find them. My dad had all of them and I ripped through them all at around that age.
x2 on any McManus. He's started writting some really funny mysteries lately too, in the same vein as his earlier outdoor humor. Definatly hook and bullett country stuff.
Ruark is great, but be careful with young readers, esp if they are struggling. His writting is in the vernacular, so it's good if you already have a good command of the language, but if you don't you'll either be lost or turn out illiterate. Good stuff though. There's even a lot of actual technique to be learned, as well as conservation, ethics, and human goodwill. Shame he didn't take the Old Man's advice so well.
I am a big fan of getting kids to read. But another suggestion would be to buy a special journal for you and your grandson to record your hunting experiences and even practice sessions. It may give him a sense of ownership of the activity. Plus, writing seems to help understand the advantages of reading.
Through the process of writing a journal, recounting what you have seen, it may help him pay more attention to the activity at hand
so he has more to write about in your journal.
Even though he is young, books on hunting in Africa are a natural draw for a young boy. The Maneaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson and Death in the Long Grass by Peter Hathaway Capstick capture a young boy's sense of adventure. Africa is a long way away for a young man so it should not be too scary. But you will have a better idea than me.
Another suggestion would be investing in a DVD collection of Fred Bear's hunting adventures. It is fun viewing and may inspire him to read more.
Good Luck!
"Where the Red Fern Grows" was one of my favorites as a child.
"The Doorway Buck" by CM Sackett is a very good book and the author is also a trad hunter.
Books By Jim Corbett Classics Jungle Lore is the one I have.
Batman,
I just gave a young cousin in Little Washington NC a couple Don Thomas books. His grandmother, my aunt, was the librarian at Beaufort Community College and sent me a copy of The Old Man and the Boy. I received it just last week!
I know others have mentioned it, but I can't help but suggest Gary Paulsen. Hatchet was one of my favorites as a kid. Now I am a 6th grade teacher; once I started teaching a reading class, Gary Paulsen's Hatchet was the one book I knew I had to use. I have found a lot of boys who never want to read, love his books. I think most of his books are about the 5th grade level, but are pretty simple stories to follow. There is the Brian series (Hatchet, The River, Brian's Return, Brian's Winter, Brian's Hunt) that are about the wilderness and survival. One that I read this year and really enjoyed was Woodsrunner, about a teenage boy during the Revolutionary War whose parents were captured so he tries to track them down and rescue them.
What I liked about Paulsen's Brian series, Brian's Hunt in particular, is the trad archery references . Again I highly reccommend the books.