Kevin's Watch

My daughter has reached the point where she **loves** books.
She ripped through the last 2 Potter books in less than a week.
She understood what she was reading for the most past, I'm sure some of the more adult sub themes escaped her though.

She's been reading various series recommended by the library and other sources but I was wondering what people here thought.

I would like to strike while the reading fire is hot and get her some classics that don't suck.
Are there Greek Myths or Science books that aren't too technical for her age?

She loves every story her Karate teacher tells about Okinawa, these stories tell about lessons about life so I'd be open to anything there too.

I've mentioned mysteries to her because she likes trying to figure things out but for some reason she's been against it.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks!

Hey HLT.

Has she tried Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys?
Have you tried The Black Stallion series?
Or any of the titles listed on www.teachersfirst.com/100books.cfm for guidance?

Although easier reading than the Harry Potter books, Beorn really enjoyed the Goosebumps series at that age as well.

Edward Eager's series that starts with Half Magic is fabulous. These kids find this magic coin but the magic is old and worn out so they go on magic adventures and figure out that the coin only grants half of what you wish for so they try to figure out ways to get around that and craziness ensues.

www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780152020682-3

As far as mythology stuff, D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths is perfect for her age. If she likes his style there are other origins of myth she can choose from. I was particularly fond of his book of Norse mythology.

www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780440406945-0

I would like to strike while the reading fire is hot and get her some classics that don't suck.
Are there Greek Myths or Science books that aren't too technical for her age?

You should be able to find 'storybook' versions of greek and roman myths in just about any bookstore/secondhand bookstore. The Ilium/Odyssey is a good one. You might want to check them out first, or make sure they're written for a younger reader, as some can be a bit ...adult! (For example, The Golden Ass contains lots of sex and iirc bestiality!)

Mein Kampf, The Kama Sutra, The Anarchist's Cookbook, The Rape of Nanking, and The Real Story.


Or, if she's not quite that advanced, I highly recommend the "Uglies" books by Scott Westerfeld. They're geared more towards the 12-16 year old crowd, but there's no real adult themes, and there are some really strong female characters. On top of that, you won't mind reading them.

EarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthsea

You can't be too young to learn about Taoism. (Even if unlearning about Taoism is how to go about it.) And the magic and dragons are the best!

Cail wrote:Mein Kampf, The Kama Sutra, The Anarchist's Cookbook, The Rape of Nanking, and The Real Story.

Damn you, Cail, you beat me to it.

But you could add, The Turner Diaries, Secret Protocols of the Elders of Zion etc etc.

Of course, if you don't want her to grow up a raving loony there's a ton of stuff out there. If she has a twisted sense of humour get her a copy of Dr Heinrich Hoffman's Tales of Shockheaded Peter. Classic.

But nothing did more for my imagination as a kid than reading history books, to be honest.

Fist and Faith wrote:EarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthseaEarthsea

You can't be too young to learn about Taoism. (Even if unlearning about Taoism is how to go about it.) And the magic and dragons are the best!

...should have thought of that myself...

Montresor wrote:But nothing did more for my imagination as a kid than reading history books, to be honest.

I completely agree.

Cail wrote:

Montresor wrote:But nothing did more for my imagination as a kid than reading history books, to be honest.

I completely agree.

Me too but she gets a little pissed off reading about how women have been treated like powerless shit for most of human history. Go figure.


Great links Jenn, that's exactly the type of stuff I was looking for.
I've seen that list before Menolly, it's a good one and Goosebumps is on her list too.

Cail, I'll keep Scott Westerfeld off for a few more years but the reviews sound good.

She'll start reading "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder" and "God and Man at Yale" this weekend.
(No seriously, she'll read them eventually)

High Lord Tolkien wrote:

Cail wrote:

Montresor wrote:But nothing did more for my imagination as a kid than reading history books, to be honest.

I completely agree.

Me too but she gets a little pissed off reading about how women have been treated like powerless shit for most of human history. Go figure.

hmm...then she may take some exception to Earthsea. But it could definitely stimulate some great conversation.

I read those Edward Eager books over and over again as a child. Then about four years ago after reading the latest Harry Potter series I thought of them again and actually priced them at Powells and was waffling on buying and then a few days later they showed up in my mailbox from my sister. She just happened to have bought a set online for her girls and thought, "Oh, I bet Jenn would love to read these again." We hadn't talked about it at ALL. Sibling connections can be pretty freaky sometimes.

Oh, and HLT, has she already powered through the Chronicles of Narnia? Also Frank L. Baum wrote fourteen OZ books in all. The one's written by his daughter are meh but his are wonderful adventures with really creative charactors and events.

well...when i was 8 my dad started me on Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart.

and Holmes. (conan doyle)

and Asimov.

this could be whats wrong with me tho.

My daddy waited until I was ten to introduce golden age s/f to me. But yeah...Asimov, Bradbury, Campbell, as well as his monthly issues of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction...all were part of my childhood reading as well from that point on...

That might be a little dark for that age.
Why not "The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking"
www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780142402498-0

or "Gulliver's Travels"
www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780486292731-1

or "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass?"
www.powells.com/biblio/7-9780451527745-1

High Lord Tolkien wrote:

Cail wrote:

Montresor wrote:But nothing did more for my imagination as a kid than reading history books, to be honest.

I completely agree.

Me too but she gets a little pissed off reading about how women have been treated like powerless shit for most of human history. Go figure.

Then too bad she's much too young to read something like George Rude's The English Wife Sale, to see that gender power in pre-industrial countries was very complex, and that women often used, what at a first glance appears to be a misogynist ritual, to exert significant personal and communal power. But I'm digressing.

Montresor wrote:Then too bad she's much too young to read something like George Rude's The English Wife Sale, to see that gender power in pre-industrial countries was very complex, and that women often used, what at a first glance appears to be a misogynist ritual, to exert significant personal and communal power.

As well as any works regarding the Severan Women of Rome.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:

Cail wrote:

Montresor wrote:But nothing did more for my imagination as a kid than reading history books, to be honest.

I completely agree.

Me too but she gets a little pissed off reading about how women have been treated like powerless shit for most of human history. Go figure.

In that case, get her *anything* by Tamora Pierce. My girls started reading her stuff at about that age. They started with the Song of the Lioness quartet (given to them by their aunt, the children's librarian who served on the Caldecott committee for a couple of years, so the woman knows kids' books!). Alanna is the first book in that series. Link She will loooove these books, guaranteed. After reading them, my kids asked me whether we could go to Tortall on vacation!

Excellent! Thanks, aliantha! I have two daughters, and, although Earthsea is written by a woman, yeah, it's male-dominated. I've often wondered what they could read.

Yay, glad I could help, Fist! Let me know what they think.