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Narnia Series Question... literature


sweetsouthern
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my 11 year old dd is just finishing up the twilight series, which she litterally read all the books in less than 3 months! i want to keep this new sudden spark of reading, so she requested to read narnia next. i have a few paperbakcs here that i have gathered over the years, but they look somewhat childish in nature. ive searched but cant seem to find what im looking for... is there a more literature adult style version of the books somewhere? and if so can you point me in the right direction?

 

thanks! :lurk5:

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There are 101 different editions of the Narnia series. The content is the same, but the covers/binding/typeset are different. If you go to a Barnes & Noble or Borders, they will generally have the series in the childrens, YA, and adult sections of the store, all different editions.

 

That said, the reading level of the Narnia series is much higher than the Twilight series, so don't worry about it being childish. If you look up the lexiles, Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 970, where Twilight is a 720. That's not to say that there aren't some... "adult" situations in Twilight, but based on vocabulary and difficulty, that's where they stand.

 

Hope that helps!

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wow! im really shocked the lexile is so low!! UGH!

 

im thubing through some ideas now, but can anyone recommend some good books above that 690 lexile level? i know she wants to read the narnia series and eragon... any others??

 

Um... did you misread those lexiles? Voyage of the Dawn treader is a Narnia book. It is higher than Twilight.

 

 

If you look up the lexiles, Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 970, where Twilight is a 720.
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I'm reading Narnia for the first time and will be passing it to DS when I'm done. I started book 1 yesterday and should have it finished tonight. So far it's been a fast read. I wouldn't worry so much as it appearing "lower" or more "childish" but read it for the literary aspect.

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wow! im really shocked the lexile is so low!! UGH!

 

im thubing through some ideas now, but can anyone recommend some good books above that 690 lexile level? i know she wants to read the narnia series and eragon... any others??

 

If she liked the Twilight series and is also interested in Narnia, you might try some of these series:

 

Alanna series by Tamora Pierce (690-740)

Trickster series by Tamora Pierce (790-840)

Books of Bayern/ Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (800-870)

Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott (840-890)

Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray (640-760)

 

Those are a few that come to mind - my 12yo liked all of those (except the Libba Bray series, which she hasn't read yet, but I have ;)).

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wow! im really shocked the lexile is so low!! UGH!

 

im thubing through some ideas now, but can anyone recommend some good books above that 690 lexile level? i know she wants to read the narnia series and eragon... any others??

 

Just to point out, Lexile levels are a guide, but not the only guide, to difficulty level. For example, the Lexile level of The Grapes of Wrath is 680, The Sun Also Rises is 610, while the entire Harry Potter series is >880 and most Beverly Cleary books are in the 800 range.

 

Sentence length can play a huge role in the Lexile level of a book. I once used the Lexile analyzer to determine the Lexile level of a chapter of a Magic Tree House book as written (I typed it up and submitted it). The Magic Tree House series is notorious for containing multiple sentence fragments and ultra short sentences. So I went back and lengthened the sentences by attaching fragments to clauses and attaching clauses to clauses. The only word I added was the word "and". The Lexile level went up 200 points.

 

All of this is to say, Lexiles are a great way to get a sense of a certain aspect of difficulty. Once your child is reading comfortably in the 700-900L range, there is a ton of wonderful material. In fact, that's also where most modern books intended for adults are written as well.

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I

Books of Bayern/ Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (800-870)

 

Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray (640-760)

 

 

Both of my girls LOVE the Bayern series by Shannon Hale!! Awesome books.

 

I have to disagree about the Great and Terrible Beauty series. It's the only book I read last year that I hated. Horrible story. Horrible heroine. :ack2: But to each her own LOL!

 

If you look around the forum, many adults are reading the Narnia series. They are not childish, they are timeless.

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Just to point out, Lexile levels are a guide, but not the only guide, to difficulty level. For example, the Lexile level of The Grapes of Wrath is 680, The Sun Also Rises is 610, while the entire Harry Potter series is >880 and most Beverly Cleary books are in the 800 range.

 

Sentence length can play a huge role in the Lexile level of a book. I once used the Lexile analyzer to determine the Lexile level of a chapter of a Magic Tree House book as written (I typed it up and submitted it). The Magic Tree House series is notorious for containing multiple sentence fragments and ultra short sentences. So I went back and lengthened the sentences by attaching fragments to clauses and attaching clauses to clauses. The only word I added was the word "and". The Lexile level went up 200 points.

 

All of this is to say, Lexiles are a great way to get a sense of a certain aspect of difficulty. Once your child is reading comfortably in the 700-900L range, there is a ton of wonderful material. In fact, that's also where most modern books intended for adults are written as well.

 

Where do you find these? I've never heard of them.

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Just to point out, Lexile levels are a guide, but not the only guide, to difficulty level. For example, the Lexile level of The Grapes of Wrath is 680, The Sun Also Rises is 610, while the entire Harry Potter series is >880 and most Beverly Cleary books are in the 800 range.

 

 

That pretty much sums up exactly why people taking the lexile levels seriously are a bit off kilter. I mean, all of those are excellent books in their own way, but I don't think most people would argue that Ramona the Great is somehow a more difficult or literary work than The Grapes of Wrath. I mean, come on.

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Just to point out, Lexile levels are a guide, but not the only guide, to difficulty level. For example, the Lexile level of The Grapes of Wrath is 680, The Sun Also Rises is 610, while the entire Harry Potter series is >880 and most Beverly Cleary books are in the 800 range.

 

Sentence length can play a huge role in the Lexile level of a book. I once used the Lexile analyzer to determine the Lexile level of a chapter of a Magic Tree House book as written (I typed it up and submitted it). The Magic Tree House series is notorious for containing multiple sentence fragments and ultra short sentences. So I went back and lengthened the sentences by attaching fragments to clauses and attaching clauses to clauses. The only word I added was the word "and". The Lexile level went up 200 points.

 

All of this is to say, Lexiles are a great way to get a sense of a certain aspect of difficulty. Once your child is reading comfortably in the 700-900L range, there is a ton of wonderful material. In fact, that's also where most modern books intended for adults are written as well.

Thanks for the explanation! I have been :confused: more than once when looking up and trying to compare book to book!

 

I also like the Scholastic Book Wizard which recommends various books. Also just going to Amazon and looking up a book you like will bring up "if you liked this, then you'll like this" type links.

 

My 10yo just finished The Red Pyramid by Riordan and LOVED it. I won't allow her to read Twilight though, so I can't compare.

 

ETA: Lexile website: http://lexile.com/fab/

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Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor (along with the other books in the series) are good Narnia type books. (Lexile 830)

The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld is a good series that those that like Twilight might also enjoy. (Lexile 770) The Uglies series also brings up with girls the ideas of what a society thinks is beautiful vs. what really matters. Not that it is Christian in any way, but I could see it being a good starting point for many good conversations about self image.

Scott Westerfeld also has a new series out (Leviathan was the first book, Behemoth is the second) that appeals to the younger crowd. It wasn't my cup of tea, very steam punk, but it was a decent read. (Lexile 810)

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Speaking as one with a degree in English, go ahead and encourage the Narnia series--those books are truly wonderful stuff, and well worth the read at any age.

 

:iagree: I'm reading them aloud to my 6.5yo right now and he loves them, but they are different as an adult when the allegory is more clear. I think they are worth multiple reads at different ages. Dh and I have both read them several times. CS Lewis also has his Space Trilogy which I heartily recommend.

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Speaking as one with a degree in English, go ahead and encourage the Narnia series--those books are truly wonderful stuff, and well worth the read at any age.

 

Absolutely. So much deeper and richer (in terms of language and philosophy) than books like Twilight or Eragon. Truly worth reading at any age.

 

And I'll second others that Lexile ratings are seriously flawed. Useful only in a very limited context.

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