PeachyDoodle Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 This year, I wanted to focus on helping dd9 to better enjoy and appreciate quality children's literature. So we have transitioned from reading stories/myths/etc. to reading novels (mostly classics). Unfortunately, I have struggled to find things that dd really enjoys. Apparently, we have vastly different tastes, and she doesn't quite have enough experience to know what she's looking for in a book yet. She will dutifully slog through whatever I assign, and she is capable of comprehending the material, but this isn't really achieving our goal of *enjoying* good literature. To further complicate matters, I have trouble determining whether a particular book is appropriate for her reading level. The measures I've found online (such as Lexile and Scholastic's Grade Level Equivalent) seem inaccurate and often at odds with each other. Or perhaps I don't understand how to use them properly. DD reads well (probably 6th-7th grade level) but I don't want to overwhelm her with inappropriate difficulty. The first classic we have come across that she truly seems to enjoy is Alice in Wonderland. I think she finds it challenging, but not overly so (she can read about 8-12 pages an hour). More importantly, she enjoys it! What other books might be in a similar genre and difficulty level? Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 This is amazing! I didn't know anyone liked 'Alice in Wonderland!' :svengo: <- I'm that shocked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 Ack! Me neither!! Now you see my dilemma... :glare: (Seriously, I'm thrilled she's so excited about it. I just don't GET it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Wizard of Oz, Princess and the Goblin, The Light Princess, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales Not sure exactly what she likes about AiW, but they are on about the same level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Is it the trippiness? All the Moomintroll books are similarly trippy. Comet in Moominland is the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverwood Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett? My seven year old loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 Is it the trippiness? All the Moomintroll books are similarly trippy. Comet in Moominland is the first one. Yeah, I think that's exactly what it is! Haven't heard of those. I'll check them out! Phantom Tollbooth was kinda trippy too, if I recall? I couldn't get into it (which probably means she'd love it!). She did read Wizard of Oz last year and liked it too. Had forgotten that one. Sadly, she couldn't seem to get into The Secret Garden at all. It was one of my all-time favorites. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 My son loves Alice in Wondeland. Did she read Through the Looking Glass. And the Oz books. There are so many of those. He also liked Coraline. That is a bit controversial. I find it creepy. He did not at all. Kids look at certain things a bit differently. Might want to pre read it if you are unsure. He likes the Half Magic books too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Yeah, I think that's exactly what it is! Haven't heard of those. I'll check them out! Phantom Tollbooth was kinda trippy too, if I recall? I couldn't get into it (which probably means she'd love it!). She did read Wizard of Oz last year and liked it too. Had forgotten that one. Sadly, she couldn't seem to get into The Secret Garden at all. It was one of my all-time favorites. :sad: Phantom Tollbooth is extremely trippy and weird. The Moomintroll books are from the 50's and 60's. They're classics and very odd, but they had a big influence on a number of children's fantasy authors writing now, like Neil Gaiman. Seconding Half-Magic mentioned below. It's not trippy, but it does have whimsy. I *love* Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass as well as all kinds of other odd things like that. I'll also toss in The Thirteen Clocks by Thurber as another good mysterious and weird suggestion. Or his The Wonderful O. I hope you will find it funny and not horrible, but when I read your thread title my first thought was... psychedelic drugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Mary Poppins might qualify. (The whole old lady's finger creeped my dd out.) maybe Series of Unfortunate Events? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 The Secret Garden has all that Yorkshire dialect, which can be intimidating for a reluctant reader. If she likes Alice, she might like books by Roald Dahl as well. And if she likes the various Oz books, maybe she'll like Un Lun Dun or The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making? (Okay, I get bonus points for trying to remember the capitalization in that last one!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Seconding Series of Unfortunate Events and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland... though both are recent and not classics, so I'm not sure if they qualify. There are lots more of the creepy fantasy sorts of books around that are more recent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 The Bridge to Terabithia? I haven't read this one, as our library doesn't have it, so maybe someone could give an opinion. I am not even sure on the age range. How about the Tashii books? Pippi Longstocking or other books by Astrid Lindgren. Nim's Island The Book of Three. A Wrinkle in Time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 The Bridge to Terabithia? I haven't read this one, as our library doesn't have it, so maybe someone could give an opinion. I am not even sure on the age range. The Bridge to Terebithia is a book written in and set just after the end of the Vietnam war which ends with the death of a main character. It's a good book if you're in the mood for a good cry. It's maybe not such a good book for a girl who is interested in whimsical fantasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 Phantom Tollbooth is extremely trippy and weird. The Moomintroll books are from the 50's and 60's. They're classics and very odd, but they had a big influence on a number of children's fantasy authors writing now, like Neil Gaiman. Seconding Half-Magic mentioned below. It's not trippy, but it does have whimsy. I *love* Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass as well as all kinds of other odd things like that. I'll also toss in The Thirteen Clocks by Thurber as another good mysterious and weird suggestion. Or his The Wonderful O. I hope you will find it funny and not horrible, but when I read your thread title my first thought was... psychedelic drugs. Haha, it's hard not to laugh when that was my first thought too! My only real exposure to Carroll was reading "Jabberwocky" in high school, and I just did. not. get. it. She was clearly muddling through The Secret Garden only to please me, and she happened to mention that she'd like to read AiW. This is the first real classic she's been interested in without my nudging (so maybe some of our work so far is paying off?), but I said to dh, "Really? I'm pretty sure Lewis Carroll was either insane or on acid." Such a far cry from my faves at this age (think Little House). Which is totally cool; there's just a learning curve on my end. So many of these I've never even heard of, so this is great! (I'm probably going to have to convince her The Princess and the Goblin is okay since it has the word "princess" in the title!) She did like James and the Giant Peach and Pippi Longstocking and LOVED the Wrinkle in Time series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I was going to suggest Wrinkle in Time as well. Maybe Tuck Everlasting? It's not a classic, but it was pretty good from what I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 This is refreshing. Lately, I've been trying (again!) to read through Alice in Wonderland, to see if I could stand reading it to my girls. I finally gave up and decided that everyone has at least one "classic" they hate, and this one is mine. :tongue_smilie: I have never gotten through that book. Glad to know I'm not the only one. :seeya: If your daughter likes Alice, she might like Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children. But perhaps not. For some reason, although I detest Alice, I thoroughly enjoy Cautionary Tales. Fantastical Fiction Wizard of Oz The Phantom Tollbooth Pippi Longstocking (and the following) The Water Horse Mr. Popper's Penguins (a bit far-fetched in the storyline) The Jungle Book Just So Stories Peter Pan Charlotte's Web The Wind in the Willows Five Children and It Mary Poppins (and the following books) The Borrowers (and the following books; these are a bit more challenging, I think) Realistic Fiction The Children of Noisy Village (and others related) Ginger Pye (different genre, though, but IMO that's a good thing ;) ) The Moffats The Middle Moffats Rufus M. The Moffat Museum In Grandma's Attic series Girl of the Limberlost The Railway Children Five Little Peppers & How They Grew Misty of Chincoteague (and the following; especially if she loves horses) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Phantom Tollbooth is extremely trippy and weird. The Moomintroll books are from the 50's and 60's. They're classics and very odd, but they had a big influence on a number of children's fantasy authors writing now, like Neil Gaiman. Seconding Half-Magic mentioned below. It's not trippy, but it does have whimsy. I *love* Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass as well as all kinds of other odd things like that. I'll also toss in The Thirteen Clocks by Thurber as another good mysterious and weird suggestion. Or his The Wonderful O. I hope you will find it funny and not horrible, but when I read your thread title my first thought was... psychedelic drugs. I thought the same thing. PCP? Sorry, first thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 The Bridge to Terebithia is a book written in and set just after the end of the Vietnam war which ends with the death of a main character. It's a good book if you're in the mood for a good cry. It's maybe not such a good book for a girl who is interested in whimsical fantasy. Oh my... I have only seen movie previews. I thought it was much more fanciful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Oh my... I have only seen movie previews. I thought it was much more fanciful. Yeah, I figured. I have no idea what they did with the movie, but those previews were an enormous headscratcher to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 How about: Peter Pan Marry Poppins The Borrower's The Indian In the Cupboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenniferbrooke81 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Seems similar to my dd9 in taste. Mine adored the Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (actually a series), Mary Poppins (also a seris), Five Children and It, and Phantom Tollbooth. Charles Perrault fairy tales were also a hit. Now, she also loved Little Women - she's eclectic. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I read Alice to ds when he was about 5 and he adored it. I was surprised. Why is this so surprising? It's such an interesting story! And there's math. And the trippiness! That said, my children found the Disney film to be downright terrifying, so we never got to revisit it. :( Maybe they'd let me now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Have you heard of Lauren Ipsum: A Story about Computer Science and Other Improbable Things? It is by no means a classic, but it is loosely based on Alice in Wonderland, and many of the reviews on Amazon relate it to The Phantom Toolbooth. My son is reading it now and loves it. http://www.amazon.com/Lauren-Ipsum-Computer-Science-Improbable-ebook/dp/B00QL616IC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ogaiyingh Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I have no idea what they did with the movie, but those previews were an enormous headscratcher to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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