Eight Cousins or An Old Fashioned Girl for rising fourth grader?

[Catherine]

I may RA if he cannot do it himself.

 

He is not a fan of "girl books" but at the same time loved the Little House books when we listened through recordings

read alouds.

 

I'm familiar with both but haven't read either. He's one of a seven boy\one girl cousin cohort. But I love the "stand by what's right" message of An Old Fashioned Girl.

 

What says the hive?

[Sasharowan]

I think 8 Cousins would be better at this age. It has all the boy cousins for one and the characters are closer in age to him. An Old Fashioned Girl is more of a teen book. It focuses more on the relationship and how a girl can model to a boy what behavior she wants to see. A Rose in Bloom is the sequel to 8 Cousins, but is also more of a teen book. Under the Lilacs is another good one for a younger kid. It's about 2 girls that find a boy and his dog and help him find his dad.

[JulieD]

:iagree:An Old-Fashioned Girl also flashes forward to adulthood in the middle of the book. There's a lot of discussion about appropriate courtship behavior.

 

I've never read Under the Lilacs. I wanted to when I was younger, but could never find a copy of it. Maybe I'll look now! It does sound more appropriate than even Eight Cousins.

 

If I were going to read Alcott to a 4th grader it would be Little Men. The children stay firmly in the realm of childhood. There are many children in it, and I identified with different ones over the years. Getting lost picking berries, having a circus, and playing cook are all easy to relate to even today. There is a chapter where the twins' father dies which may be difficult for a sensitive child.

Edited June 20, 2010 by JulieD
grammar

[Ellie]

Eight Cousins. I don't think the others are inappropriate in any way and would have no worries at all about your a 9yo reading them, but I think Eight Cousins might be more age appropriate. I don't remember how old I was when I read them, but I might have been younger than 12 or so.

[Carol in Cal.]

But I would start with Little Women. He's the perfect age for that as a read aloud, and it's better written than either of the other two. It's also more famous and referred to a lot in other books.

[Catherine]

I thought of this too-but LOTR is going to be our modern history year long RA (I do this with him and his older brother). I'm not sure if I could get through both in the year.

[Rivka]

I agree with the recommendations for Eight Cousins and Little Men. Obviously none of the Alcott children's books are going to include "adult" material, but Old-fashioned Girl does have a more mature viewpoint.