First fountain pen suggestions?

[Kelly]

My eight year old is just starting to learn cursive and it looks fantastic! He sees all these fountain pens and cute little bottles of wonderfully colored ink coming in and is curious. I'd like to get him a little starter pen for practicing his cursive at home. Any ideas on what my be a good little junior/student pen? A Pelikano? Shaeffer? Thanks in advance for your input

[southpaw]

Couple of good ones that jump to mind:

Lamy Safarr and AL-Star

Waterman Phileas

Sheaffer Javelin or NoNonsense

Pelikan GO, M75.

[joseanes]

I think the Lamy Safari would be the best option.

[RyanL27]

Hi Kelly,

 

Let me second the vote for a Sheaffer Javelin! The nibs on these $7.00 pens are embarrassingly good compared to some of my much more expensive pens. The Javelin is a great writer, is light and comfortable and has the possibility of converting to a eye dropper (probably not a good idea for an 8 year old, but nice for you if he/she loses interest ) Check out PEN HERO for a great price and always great service (no affiliation, just a happy customer). In fact, now that you've got me talking about these pens, I think I'm going to go buy a couple - good pens to have a around.

 

-Ryan

[Ann Finley]

Kelly, since he's only eight years old, I would imagine that his hands aren't very large, thus I think a Pelikano Jr. would probably be a good choice.

 

If you could find them, the flat top (long discontinued) Sheaffer School Pen is only 4 3/4" capped and is slim. It would be a good choice also.

 

Best, Ann

[Kelly]

Thanks, folks! Those are some great suggestions. I do have a Lamy Vista that I mght see if he can handle size wise and go from there. I do like those Javelin's though! Thanks for the quick responses

[KendallJ]

Kelly,

 

I recommend a Pelkano Jr. or Pelikan Future. Great nibs. Great colors.

 

In fact, i've got a Jr. that I'm not using, and if you PM me your address, I'll send it to you gratis.

[petra]

Last fall I sat down with my petite 10-year old niece (and artist in the making with a delicate hand) and let her try every one of my fountain pens. Her favorite? My Sailor blue-green mosaic with zoom nib! :roflmho: Boy will she ever have one heck of a time if she develops the fountain pen obsession!

 

Petra

[Ed Svoboda]

Parker 45

Pelikan Pelikano

Lamy Safari

Parker 21

[Guest Denis Richard]

Kelly... what you need is a Stypen Harry Potter !

[sleek_lover]

Any ideas on what my be a good little junior/student pen?

How about a nice Estie SJ? Perfect size and you can help him find a nib that works to his hand.

 

Or

 

A Waterman C/F. One of the iterations is a school pen with a semi-conical nib. I have a couple around somewhere...

 

Or

 

Parker Vector or Reflex. Both are solid writers that would fit a youth's hand nicely.

 

Or

 

A Sheaffer Skripsert with the steel Triumph nib. I have one that I used to let a friend child use because I KNEW the nail-like nib could take anything the kid could dish out.

 

Or

 

Any of the Sheaffer dolphin-nibbed cart-fillers. They were all nice pens.

 

Or

 

If yah wanna get really fancy an nice Sheaf Snorkel. No, I am NOT kidding. This would be a perfect pen for a young'un...especially to teach respect for nice things...

 

Bill...

[KendallJ]

If yah wanna get really fancy an nice Sheaf Snorkel. No, I am NOT kidding. This would be a perfect pen for a young'un...especially to teach respect for nice things...

Ooh yeah can't wait to see her use it as a squirt gun!

[twdpens]

Lamy Safari (or Vista, Al-Star etc) with MK nib.

 

Our daughter is 5 and can write perfectly well with her bright red Lamy Safari. The faceted gripping section means that the nib is always at the correct angle to the paper and the MK nib is very smooth with just the right flow.

 

Finally (and very importantly) you can get Lamy cartridges in violet .

 

Martin

[Glenn-SC]

When my son was 11 he and his friends were all using Lamy Safaris (which I supplied in various colors).

Imagine their teacher facing a class repleat with FP using 6th Graders!

[Greg]

Ideally, a Conway Stewart Dinkie. An old one in any colour/pattern he likes. Perfectly sized for small hands and by the time he's 16 his handwriting will be wonderful. (Also great fun to find and buy.)

 

I bought a rose marbled CS 84 for my young lad, 11 at the time, who unfortunately lost it at school within 2 weeks. He still uses an FP but its a steel bodied cheapo from a boxed set. Nice and strong and totally replacable.

 

(He has another 84 - can't help myself - but only for homework!)

 

 

Greg

[tzmcneill]

How about a Kaweco. I think that's what school aged kids in Europe learn or learned with. You can get them for ~$20 and the appear durable. I've never used one so I have no experience with them, anyone out there able to add their experience with Kaweco?

 

tzmcneill

[OldGriz]

Kelly, email me your snail mail address... I have a couple of $1.98 plastic refillable fountain pens that have never been used... I would be glad to send one or two to be used by your son... they are nothing fancy, but it accidentally breaks you are also not out anything...

[Betty]

Hi Kelly,

 

Let me second the vote for a Sheaffer Javelin! The nibs on these $7.00 pens are embarrassingly good compared to some of my much more expensive pens. The Javelin is a great writer, is light and comfortable and has the possibility of converting to a eye dropper (probably not a good idea for an 8 year old, but nice for you if he/she loses interest ) Check out PEN HERO for a great price and always great service (no affiliation, just a happy customer). In fact, now that you've got me talking about these pens, I think I'm going to go buy a couple - good pens to have a around.

 

-Ryan

Has anyone tried the Metal ones. I love the Sheaffer Javelin Metal Cranberry Fountain Pen , but I don't want it if these are on the heavy side. I prefer light pens. Thanks!

[Kelly]

You guys are so great, really I wake up to find another page and a half of replies after I checked from last night with 2 offers of gratis pens to boot - thank you so very much Kendall and Tom, too sweet! I might take you up on them very soon as a comparitive to the Lamy Vista. I'm also going to ask his opinion as he definitely has one that's for sure Even though he's eight, the little guy has some pretty good sized hands. In about another 3 years, he's going to tower over me (not that that is saying too much as I'm 'vertically challenged' but my husband is 6' 2" and I'm thankful the kids have taken after him - whew!)

Thanks again for your generosity in both opinions and offers

[OldGriz]

Kelly, I have 48 of these pens... so sending a couple to your son is no big deal...

In fact I am going to be giving my daughter's second grade class a pen for each of them at the end of the year...

I am working with the principal to get a better education in cursive in our school..

My daughter has 11 FPs now and wants more... she writes with at least 2-3 of them each day to practice her cursive.... unfortunately, they do not take the time to teach it in depth in second grade with all the other things in the curriculum... but we work on it at home...

 

SO PLEASE, take the pens... if he does not care for them... pass them on to another child and start them in cursive...