Do kids still read the Little House books?

[alarimer]

Or Anne of Green Gables? I loved those, although I never finished the Green Gable series. I can't remember how old I was when I read them. 10? 11?

I have a 8 year old niece and 9 year old nephew and I have no idea what kind of books are appropriate for that age. Harry Potter seems a little too much (especially the later books, which are just huge). Plus they may have read some of them.

What about the ones where kids got stuck in the museum (or was it department store) after closing?

I want to stay away from movie tie-ins, books about Sponge Bob, etc.

[seriousstan]

1. I have several Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys for my kids. They still work.

[alarimer]

2. I just saw the thread on favorite children's books.

I should go look at that.

[seriousstan]

3. I bought all of these books, along with a couple "Tom Mix" for less than a dollar apiece.

[TheMadMonk]

7. Ha. I paid 10c a piece for an almost complete set of Swallows and Amazons.

Now there's something which might appeal.

[Raejeanowl]

4. Yes, But Don't Forget Little Women and Little Men n/t

[shraby]

5. I loved Girl of the Limberlost

That's another great!

[TheMadMonk]

6. if you read the first one or two to them perhaps.

Though I suspect your nephew might be a lost cause.

The biggest problem is wrapping their heads around the cultural context. It is just so far removed from the modern materialistic, techomantic world.

A corncob wrapped in a handkerchief, more loved than any china headed doll in the world, might bring tears to your eyes and mine, but to a child of today, it is virtually meaningless.

[alarimer]

12. That is sort of what I was worried about

That they just couldn't relate. But it doesn't really matter much what they read so long as they read something. Narnia might be a good choice for both of them. I know I totally missed the Christian allegory when I read them (I was probably 9 or 10).

[silverojo]

8. Of course! Laura Ingalls Wilder's books are classics!

You'd be surprised how much kids of today become absorbed by reading about what life was like in "olden times".

As for other kids' books, the Trixie Belden mysteries are better than Nancy Drew (Trixie is hailed as a far more down-to-earth and less-than-perfect character, more realistic than ND). They've been reprinted, and are readily available in book stores. They're fun, fast-paced, and teach the values of caring for others (raising money for charities, etc.) in a subtle way. It's something sorely needed in this "all-for-me" society.

[Berry Cool]

10. Actually, any kid who has read American Girl books is probably ready for books about the past.

Sure, American Girl is a huge Empire of Marketing, but at least it gets girls interested in reading about history and the lives of kids who didn't own iPods, weren't rich, etc. So you slip a little Laura Ingalls Wilder in there, it's not going to be such a huge shock. They may be surprised that there's not a line of dolls and a store full of merchandise to support them, but what the hey.

[Captain_Nemo]

9. The Little House books are great. What about the Railway Children?

[alarimer]

11. I've never heard of that one

[Captain_Nemo]

13. A novel for children by Edith Nesbit 1906 PLot summary

Plot Summary of The Railway Children
"Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis are London schoolchildren aged 12, 10, and 8, respectively. One day their father leaves with two men and does not come back, and mother packs them off to a small house in the country. The kids become familiar with the passing trains, the workers at the train station and signal-box, and life in a small town while their mother struggles to make ends meet writing stories. They have various adventures -- stopping a train when a landslide covers the tracks, preventing a scraggly and penniless foreigner from arrest and taking him home, saving an infant and dog from a barge canal on fire, finding an injured older boy in the train tunnel and getting help -- while the mystery of their father's disappearance and the war between Russia and Japan percolates in the background. Sweet, charming, and imbued with all the author's wisdom and skill, this 1906 book is a gem for older children and grownups."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

[Captain_Nemo]

14. As I read more about the book (its been awhile since i read it ;-) I realized

it may be imbued with the sexism of the time. (THings like the boy wants to be an engineer but it never says what the girl wants to be...)
I am a feminist so I am very sensitive to what books I give chidren. You may want to check it out first.
I seem to remember the Little House books as not being sexist - I loved them so much!

[Captain_Nemo]

15. You've got me going now..The Borrowers is wonderful. a family of miniature people living in a house

where they "borrow" things from the family living there. I think one of the children "catches on" and becomes friendly with them.

Plot summary

Thirteen-year-old Arrietty Clock lives under the floorboards of a house with her parents, Pod and Homily. As Borrowers, they survive through Pod's "borrowing" of items from the big people ("human beans" as Arrietty calls them). One day, Pod comes home shaken after borrowing a toy tea cup. After sending Arrietty to bed, Homily learns that he has been "seen" by one of the big people - a boy who had been sent from India to live with his great-aunt while recovering from rheumatic fever. Remembering the fate of their niece Eggletina, who wandered away and never returned after (beknownst to her) her father had been seen and the big people had brought in a cat, Pod and Homily decide to warn Arrietty. In the course of the ensuing conversation, Homily realizes that Arrietty ought to be allowed to go borrowing with Pod.

author: Mary Norton 1952

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. My granddaughter read them

but that was a few years ago--she's 20

[LWolf]

17. I just reread Anne of Green Gables.

It's a hundred years old, and the copyright has expired. You can download it for free here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Green Gables is a little advanced for the average 8-9 yo.

Stuck in a museum is "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konisburg. A great book. As are ALL by that author.

For 8-9 year olds, try some of these:

"The Castle Corona" by Sharon Creech
"The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School" by Candace Fleming
"The Great Texas Hamster Drive" by Eric Kimmel
"Medusa Jones" by Ross Collins
"Swindle" by Gordon Korman
"Gone Away Lake" by Elizabeth Enright; old, but wonderful.
"The Four Story Mistake" also by Elizabeth Enright, and quite old.



Keeping in mind that older books may need some front loading on the times they were written in, some great time-tested authors for that age include:

Judy Blume
Beverley Cleary
Dick Kingsmith



And some series: The Boxcar Children(old, but age appropriate)
Hank the Cowdog (Hysterical for all ages)
The Series of Unfortunate Events (popular, and vocabulary-building)
The "Dealing With Dragons" books by Patricia Wrede

[ChazII]

18. Yes, several of

my third grade students begin reading them each year.

[ChazII]

19. Kids stuck in the museum

are you thinking of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. -----??? I will mangle the rest of the title but it is great and one of more advanced readers just started to read that book.