Favorite Nesbit?

[Matryoshka]

I run a book club, this year for 5th grade girls, next year 6th...

 

Their favorite books this year were Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) and Five Children and It (Nesbit). I was thinking of putting another Nesbit on the list next year, but which one? I know some of her books are mostly read by younger kids. Would there be a title that would be enjoyed particularly by 11-12yos?

 

I know Ibbotson's written a lot of great books too - I wasn't necessarily thinking of putting one of her books on the list for next year, but if there's a particular one you'd think would be great for this age, recommend away.

[redsquirrel]

I haven't read Ibbotson, but my son and his friends have read them all, and they love Island of the Aunts especially well. They read through Ibbotson to Edgar Eagar and then Elizabeth Enright. I called it The Alliteration Reading Group.

 

5th grade girls? Have they read The Penderwicks?

[Karen in CO]

The Enchanted Castle is our favorite.

[Emerald Stoker]

nm

[Lori D.]

For Nesbit our favorites in this order:

- Five Children and It

- Book of Dragons (7 short stories)

- The Phoenix and the Carpet

 

For a good pairing with Nesbit, try Edward Eager's books -- the first is Half Magic. Eager references Nesbit in most of his books. Another fun pairing would be Ivanhoe (Scott), the more serious historical fiction classic, and then Edward Eager's Knight's Castle, which heavily references Ivanhoe.

 

Regarding other Nesbit choices -- just our opinion:

- The Amulet was not bad (ancient Egyptian amulet takes the same children from Five Children and It into ancient civilizations)

- Wet Magic (cranky mermaid and underwater adventures) -- disappointing; not as well-written

- The Magic City (block city comes to life) -- disappointing; not as well-written

- Enchanted Castle -- seemed unnecessarily dark and violent

- The Treasure Seekers is well-written -- but no magic -- just late 1800s children's misadventures

- The Railway Children -- also no magic, and more serious

 

More on Edward Eager -- his excellent Magic By the Lake was based on the water adventures idea of Nesbit's Wet Magic (but no other references), and Knight's Castle was based on the idea of Nesbit's Magic City, but doesn't really reference it. Other Eager titles I recommend:

- Time Garden -- references British historical figures, plus the characters of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women

- Seven Day Magic -- references other books; each adventure is book-related (Wizard of Oz, Little House on the Prairie)

- The Well Wishers and Magic or Not -- no magic, just wishing there was magic and doing some good deeds

 

 

More ideas for a 6th grade girl book club:

- Enchantress from the Stars (Engdahl) -- sci-fi AND fantasy in one

- Ella Enchanted (Levine) -- new twist on old fairytale

- The Rumplestiltskin Problem (Velde) -- fun set of short stories from different points of view of the Rumplestiltskin story

- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) -- girl protagonists, orphan, evil governess, rags to riches, etc. in a Victorian-like setting

- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Konigsburg)

- Catherine Called Birdy, or, The Midwife's Apprentice (Cushman) -- medieval setting

- Mara, Daughter of the Nile (McGraw) -- ancient Egyptian setting

- Island of the Blue Dolphins (O-Dell) -- Native American girl survives alone on an island

- Because of Winn Dixie (DiCamillo) -- a girl and her dog

 

 

ETA: More Ideas!

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) -- fun classic, great language, riddles, puns, satires

- Coraline (Gaiman) -- girl protagonist enters a fantasy world that seems wonderful at first, but is then revealed to be dark and horrible

- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (O'Brien) -- fantasy adventure with animals as protagonists

- A Wrinkle in Time (L'Engle) -- fantasy/sci-fi adventure with teen girl protagonist

- Redwall (Jacques) -- medieval with animals as protagonists

- Chasing Vermeer (Balliett) -- girl protagonists, detective/mystery involving art

- School Story (Clements) -- 12yo girl, writing under a pseudonym, sees if she can get her editor mom to publish her book

- The Day They Came to Arrest the Book (Hentoff) -- great discussion sparker on topics of racism, censorship, etc.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Lori D.

[Chelli]

I know this has nothing to do with your initial question, but I think The Penderwicks would make a fabulous book to read and discuss with that age group. It was a fun book about a family of 4 girls. I used it as a read aloud with my dd8.

 

We are about to start on some Nesbit books around here for read alouds, so I like seeing everyone's lists.

[Momling]

My daughter's favorite author used to be Eva Ibbotson... her new favorite, however, is Terry Pratchett. I think those authors have a similar sense of humor and fantasy. If you go that direction, consider "Wee Free Men" which has a 9 yr old girl protagonist.

[Hedgehog]

My favourite at about that age was The House of Arden.

[Jilly]

The Enchanted Castle is our favorite.

 

:iagree:After Five Children and It this is my kid's favorite Nesbit book. I think it would work nicely for your age group.

[Elysian]

I second the recommendations of "The Phoenix and the Carpet" and "The Wee Free Men".

 

You could always try something by Diana Wynne Jones. Perhaps "Howl's moving castle" or "Archer's Goon". Or "The Ogre Downstairs" is very much like a modern E Nesbit book :-)

[swimmermom3]

M-

 

Send me your list for next year. I am cleaning out dd's collection of books from that age. I may be able to help with copies.:D I am so envious of your book clubs. What fun!