Ugh, Inkheart trilogy. I didn't realize...

[pitterpatter]

...that these aren't really appropriate for an eight-year-old. DD's halfway through the Inkspell audiobook. I didn't realize there was profanity in these. And, apparently a lot bad violence? (From what I now read on the internet. Dark? What's considered dark?) And, I'm not sure what's up with Brianna (I heard something about kissing), as I've only heard a few parts.

 

Not sure what to do. She's in love with these books right now. I'm not sure she even notices the profanity or exactly what they're saying. We don't curse here and she's never spoken a curse word. If I pull the plug, she'll be upset and want to know why. I would have to point out the inappropriate language then. Suppose I could corrupt the remaining files in the middle of the night.

 

Should I just let this one play out and then not download Inkdeath and delete the other two from her Kindle? And, be a little more careful in the future. Does the end get worse than what she's already heard?

 

She's listened to Ingraine the Brave and Dragon Rider so many times. The Inkheart triology is labeled ages 8-12. I just thought they'd be more of the same.

[Tanaqui]

You know, if she's not acting affected by the violence, she's probably just skimming past those sections. Children often do that when a book is a little above their level - they just merrily skip past the parts they don't want to understand just yet. I don't want to make light of your concerns, but it's very unlikely to do her any harm. This is three books among many that she reads, not to mention an entire childhood growing up with your worldview. They're a drop in the bucket, really.

 

[Mom22ns]

Each book in the series gets darker and more violent. Some kids would have no problem with them at 8, but I wouldn't have given them to mine at that age. Ds did read them all, but he was older than that and actually lost interest in the last one. I think it was just too dark.

 

It has been too many years since I read them to define the darkness in those books for you. The villain is quite evil and relationships as well as lives are destroyed. They way people as used as pawns... it was difficult.

 

There is no point in deleting books she has already read/listened to. How about making her switch to the books instead of the audiobooks. If they are too challenging, she'll either loose interest or not understand what she is reading :).

[alisoncooks]

Hmmmm. My girls love Igraine the Brave and Dragon Rider, but I'm saving the Inkheart books for a few yrs down the road.

 

I think they do get progressively darker but not terribly so. I read them a couple of years ago but IIRC, there is a death of a major character (but comes back), a pretty scary bad guy (already dead/decaying but immortal?), children in peril, some small romances/relationship stuff (Meggie/Farid/Doria).

 

If your DD finishes Inkspell, she's going to want to read Inkdeath to see how it ends. It does all have a happy ending -- all the main good guys survive and it's a hopeful ending.

[Tanaqui]

Ds did read them all, but he was older than that and actually lost interest in the last one. I think it was just too dark.

 

That's another thing children do when material is too advanced, they just put it down and walk away. (But as I've said elsewhere, I'm not big on censoring kid's books. I know we all do it from time to time, especially when they're very little, but I like to limit how much I do it.)

 

I think your idea about having her read the books herself is well-stated.

 

[pitterpatter]

Hmmmm...odd. Ghosthunters worried her (to the point we had to delete them, but that's been a while), but so far I have not seen any ill effects from these.

 

I think at this point, I'm most worried about her picking up profanity (if the romance isn't too bad). She just recently picked up stupid from somewhere (Dragon Rider perhaps?).

 

 

Hmmmm. My girls love Igraine the Brave and Dragon Rider, but I'm saving the Inkheart books for a few yrs down the road.

I think they do get progressively darker but not terribly so. I read them a couple of years ago but IIRC, there is a death of a major character (but comes back), a pretty scary bad guy (already dead/decaying but immortal?), children in peril, some small romances/relationship stuff (Meggie/Farid/Doria).

If your DD finishes Inkspell, she's going to want to read Inkdeath to see how it ends. It does all have a happy ending -- all the main good guys survive and it's a hopeful ending.

 

[pitterpatter]

Though not yet diagnosed, we're fairly certain she's dyslexic. Thus, it would be unrealistic to suggest this to her, as her ear-reading far exceeds her eye-reading, particularly in terms of book length. I've been trying to push the limits of her listening skills with longer, more complex books. I thought Inkheart fit the bill, but didn't realize the difference in content.

 

 

That's another thing children do when material is too advanced, they just put it down and walk away. (But as I've said elsewhere, I'm not big on censoring kid's books. I know we all do it from time to time, especially when they're very little, but I like to limit how much I do it.)

 

I think your idea about having her read the books herself is well-stated.

 

[alisoncooks]

I think at this point, I'm most worried about her picking up profanity (if the romance isn't too bad). She just recently picked up stupid from somewhere (Dragon Rider perhaps?).

 

The romance is not a focus in the story, just a side note.  I think Farid kisses someone (not Meggie and she's hurt by it) in one of the books, maybe Inkspell?  I can't remember, it's been a while.  So there's some of the feeling of a "first love disappointed" in the storyline but it's not a major plot point.  Just a part of Meggie growing up in the books.

 

At the end of Inkspell there is a death.  And an even more strong loss/death in the final book.  Both are magically "fixed," though, in favor of the good guys.  

 

I'm sorry, I don't remember much about the profanity... :o  (and we aren't a household that uses profanity).

[Tanaqui]

Though not yet diagnosed, we're fairly certain she's dyslexic. Thus, it would be unrealistic to suggest this to her, as her ear-reading far exceeds her eye-reading, particularly in terms of book length. I've been trying to push the limits of her listening skills with longer, more complex books. I thought Inkheart fit the bill, but didn't realize the difference in content.

 

That makes sense.

 

Re: profanity... Again, you have to make the decision you're comfortable with, but your daughter is not that sheltered, is she? I'm sure she's heard the words before, maybe even seen them written if she's visited a public bathroom or seen a billboard. If she does start using them, you can probably just say "Knock it off, kiddo, you know better" without it being a bit thing.

 

(But then, maybe you can't. I don't know her, you do. If this is a real concern, I'd just "have trouble" ordering book 3, or else come out and say that you think it'll be more appropriate in a few years.)

[EmilyGF]

Personally, when I read the books, it was the violence that turned me off of the second one. There was some sexual violence/innuendo suggested that I just couldn't take. I don't think it would have bothered me in an adult book, but it was directed towards a child. I read the book in German, though, so I can't speak to how it was done in English.

 

Looking at reviews online, it looks like most kids don't get the veiled innuendo, so maybe she's safe from that... I'd at least read a few chapters so you can talk about it.

 

Emily

[pitterpatter]

I've let her keep playing it. She doesn't seem to notice the profanity. I've always been pretty nonchalant when it pops up here and there...no gasping, etc. so as not to call attention to it. It's mostly d*mn and b*st*rd. Maybe her brain is registering the first one as darn or dang, which I do use a lot. She's probably just ignoring the other because she doesn't know what it means. I guess I'll just casually explain what they mean and tell her they're really offensive and we don't use them, if need-be. I'll try to chose a little more carefully in the future. I want to say Dragon Rider had some swearing too, now that I think of it. Just didn't seem to be every other page.

 

We've been to numerous family get togethers over the years where everything in the book has been used and it's just never registered, for some reason.

 

 

That makes sense.

 

Re: profanity... Again, you have to make the decision you're comfortable with, but your daughter is not that sheltered, is she? I'm sure she's heard the words before, maybe even seen them written if she's visited a public bathroom or seen a billboard. If she does start using them, you can probably just say "Knock it off, kiddo, you know better" without it being a bit thing.

 

(But then, maybe you can't. I don't know her, you do. If this is a real concern, I'd just "have trouble" ordering book 3, or else come out and say that you think it'll be more appropriate in a few years.)

 

[Grover]

I asked DS (8) he said they were ok, there was a little kissing and "relationship stuff" (imagine the eyeroll and giggle), and they were scary in parts, but the good guys won in the end so he liked the,

[wendyroo]

Not sure what to do. She's in love with these books right now. I'm not sure she even notices the profanity or exactly what they're saying. We don't curse here and she's never spoken a curse word. If I pull the plug, she'll be upset and want to know why. I would have to point out the inappropriate language then. Suppose I could corrupt the remaining files in the middle of the night.

 

I deliberately point out inappropriate language when Peter stumbles upon it.  When we were buddy reading James and the Giant Peach, Peter read the word ass and kept right on going, but at the end of the paragraph I made a point of discussing uses and abuses of that word.

 

I find he is much less likely to start using inappropriate words if I discuss them with him frankly rather than glossing over them and hoping he doesn't notice.

 

Wendy

[Vida Winter]

I would switch to Cornelia Funke's other books that are more appropriate for a younger audience.

[Farrar]

I think they're sort of mislabeled - some of her other stuff is now in the YA section and it seems to me that this set should be as well, honestly. It's really right in that border space, sort of like the His Dark Materials books - not quite middle grades, not quite YA.

 

A lot of the upper end fantasy middle grades stuff has violence though. Harry Potter, Gregor the Overlander, Bartimaeus... they all get sort of dark.

 

How about trying the Prydain books - there are five of them, they also get darker, but they're not so bad and much cleaner. Or The Dark is Rising - also has some dark parts, but a lot less violence actually and very clean. Both of those series are great literature and very complex vocabulary and storylines for middle grades novels.

[texasmama]

I would try A Series of Unfortunate Events.

[Starr]

No, no not A Series of Unfortunate Events. Okay they are ever so popular but I don't understand why.

[texasmama]

Both of my boys loved them. It was the series that turned one of my boys into a reader. Rich vocabulary, too. I don't understand the objection, particularly as a replacement for the content mentioned in the OP.

[Matryoshka]

I really liked the books, especially the first one, but IMHO they're firmly YA.  I found the villian to be very scary somehow, even reading it as an adult!  And maybe because I was an adult I was reading between the lines as to what might have happened to Meggie's mother all those years working as a servant girl for that guy.

 

Personally, when I read the books, it was the violence that turned me off of the second one. There was some sexual violence/innuendo suggested that I just couldn't take. I don't think it would have bothered me in an adult book, but it was directed towards a child. I read the book in German, though, so I can't speak to how it was done in English.

 

 

I also sometimes wonder if things play differently in translation - I did read them in the original German, and I seem to find them darker than most people who have read them in English.  And the swearing didn't stand out to me - words have different weight in different languages.  Verdammt doesn't sound as jarring in German, maybe because they don't tend to use words like darn and dang to euphemize (at least not that I can think of...).  And I really have to wonder what the heck word they're translating as 'bastard' - I don't think there's a German expletive that means exactly that, so they must be extrapolating to something they thought would be similar.  Anyone want to give me a sentence and what chapter it's from (maybe the first page of chapter so I can find it), so I can figure out what it is?   Now I'm curious...

 

Oh, and maybe it's worth mentioning that Cornelia Funke does write for a variety of ages.  She is quite prolific, and the vast majority of her books haven't been translated.  She has written many books for little kids through YA - she's not just a middle grade writer.  Dragonrider and Ygraine the Bold are aimed much younger than the Ink books, I think, with Theif Lord somewhere in the middle.   (And to give you an idea how translation has perhaps made the books subtly less dark - the second book is actually titled "Inkblood")

[Grover]

No, no not A Series of Unfortunate Events. Okay they are ever so popular but I don't understand why.

fon't get it here, either.  Neither child has liked them so I'm glad not to bother. 

[MEmama]

No, no not A Series of Unfortunate Events. Okay they are ever so popular but I don't understand why.

Because they are witty, intelligently humorous, and they contain some of the richest vocabulary of any other book I can recall for that age. They are perfect for introducing the general middle age theme of striking out in the world independent of parents in a completely wacky and unthreatening way, and it's full of classic good vs evil (albeit such an awesome villan you almost can't help but have a soft spot for him if only because he's so...icky). Perfection for the 7-9 yo crowd.

 

I don't fuss over books though, so I never really understand the concerns. I don't shelter my kid from stuff like language or "dark themes" (whatever that is?), but he's never been bothered by anything like that. I encourage stretching limits and confronting new ideas and I don't assume he sees things things through the same lense I do.

 

At any rate, the Inkheart series was a big hit here around 8. We big puffy heart Cornelia Funke.

[El...]

Reported spammer on post 21. 

[MEmama]

Huh? Was there a post I missed or am I the supposed spammer? Lol

[RootAnn]

We did the Inkheart trilogy on audio. There is a lot of the use of B*$t@rd, but I think it was part of someone's 'name' - so we passed over it lightly? The later ones were very dark, but we liked the happy ending.

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events, from my memory, did NOT have a happy ending and thus were not ultimately liked. I believe all of them were also read/listened to, however, by the older two kids when they were 9 & 11ish. 

 

Mine liked the Sisters Grimm books, but there is some violence in those, too. (Also, Puck adds quite a bit of boy humor.) 

[pitterpatter]

Ah...that would explain why it seemed like it was every other word there for a while. That makes me feel a wee bit better in that regard. At least, she shouldn't run around calling people it anyway.

 

I've decided to just let her play through. We've read some pretty awful things in history, some pretty gruesome fairy tales, and plenty of other wacky stories. I don't think she's listening so deeply as to be disturbed by the content this first time around, but we'll see how she does with the ending. After she's played through them once, I'll shelve them.

 

Good to know about A Series of Unfortunate Events. I had considered those.

 

We did the Inkheart trilogy on audio. There is a lot of the use of B*$t@rd, but I think it was part of someone's 'name' - so we passed over it lightly? The later ones were very dark, but we liked the happy ending.

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events, from my memory, did NOT have a happy ending and thus were not ultimately liked. I believe all of them were also read/listened to, however, by the older two kids when they were 9 & 11ish. 

 

Mine liked the Sisters Grimm books, but there is some violence in those, too. (Also, Puck adds quite a bit of boy humor.) 

 

[Beircheart]

I deliberately point out inappropriate language when Peter stumbles upon it.  When we were buddy reading James and the Giant Peach, Peter read the word ass and kept right on going, but at the end of the paragraph I made a point of discussing uses and abuses of that word.

 

I find he is much less likely to start using inappropriate words if I discuss them with him frankly rather than glossing over them and hoping he doesn't notice.

 

Wendy

 

Though none of my kids have shown any interest in the Inkheart books, I would like to chime in that we, too, point out unacceptable language and/or situations as they present themselves. In fact, borrowing from Harry Potter, whenever inappropriate language pops up we immediately announce "Scourgify!" (for those who have not read Potter it is semi-synonymous with "Wash your mouth out with soap!") It is really funny to hear my kids, though my moody-broody teen son has since decided he's too cool to continue, burst out with that phrase from the back seat of the car. It has made for good lessons and good memories!

[RootAnn]

Follow up note:  DD informs me there is a (somewhat main) character is named "Basta." She's not sure if that is what you heard or if the actual word you listed was also used. It has been a few years since she listened to them.

[Matryoshka]

Follow up note: DD informs me there is a (somewhat main) character is named "Basta." She's not sure if that is what you heard or if the actual word you listed was also used. It has been a few years since she listened to them.

I was just going to mention the same thing too. Since I read it in German it didn't occur to me because the name Basta in German would not be pronounced with the same A sound as in bastard, but I'm guessing in the English audio it would.

 

That would explain a lot because I could really could not think of a single expletive in German that anyone would translate as bastard...

[pitterpatter]

Oh, LOL!! :laugh: Maybe that's it!!! It shortly followed d*mn or h*ll...one of the two. I probably just assumed. Then, I heard it several times in passing. I thought, good golly, they sure do call that character b*st*rd a lot. Thanks for the clarification. Okay, maybe not so bad then. Phew.

 

Think I'll go have DD list character names. See what she says.

 

Follow up note:  DD informs me there is a (somewhat main) character is named "Basta." She's not sure if that is what you heard or if the actual word you listed was also used. It has been a few years since she listened to them.

 

[El...]

Huh? Was there a post I missed or am I the supposed spammer? Lol

Ooop, no!  You're not the spammer!  The mods removed the spammer's post and they all got bumped up one spot.  :) 

[pitterpatter]

So, I asked. DD thinks his name is BUSTER!!!  :rofl:

[MelanieM]

You can read details about what's in the books at Common Sense Media. Inkheart is rated for age 9, and Inkspell and Inkdeath are both rated as age 11. If you've never referenced it, CSM is a great site that outlines what might be worth noting as a parent under several different categories, including language, violence and sex. I refer to it all the time to decide if something is suitable for us, or to make note of what I might need to chat with the kids about.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/inkheart

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/inkspell-inkheart-trilogy-book-2

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/inkdeath-inkheart-trilogy-book-3

 

[Guest psalms8510]

ya. these are not very nice books. not at all. could never recommend such to any Christian child...sorry. psalms8510

[Chris in VA]

After you put them away and wait a while, pull them back out when your child is in the middle teens, and do some literary analysis with them. One of the more interesting questions raised is, "How much responsibility does a creator have for his creation?" You can get into all kinds of deep subjects with these books. We LOVE these books and just about everything by CF.

 

For the record, dd is a Christian.

[pitterpatter]

Well, she survived Inkspell and is well into Inkdeath. I have not seen any ill effects. I don't think it feels "dark" to her. (Nor does it sound horribly bad to me. Perhaps it's because I'm not eye-reading it curdled up in bed at night?) She's busy doing other things as she listens, so she's not trying to analyze it...just enjoying a good story. The narrator for Inkdeath doesn't sound near a dire...more upbeat (although, the other guy is more expressive and better at voices). I'm still not fond of the profanity, but it is what it is.

[RootAnn]

 The narrator for Inkdeath doesn't sound near a dire...more upbeat (although, the other guy is more expressive and better at voices).

 

I remember Brendan Fraser  :drool:  doing all the ones we listened to. Who is narrating yours? (Hmm, looks like Brendan only does one of the three. Audible & Overdrive have three different narrators for the three different books. Lynn R is listed for the first book & from listening to the sample, my least favorite. I listened to Allen C & remember his voice from other books. I like him as a narrator. But Brendan ... :drool5: )

[pitterpatter]

Looks like Allan Corduner for Inkdeath.

 

I thought Brendan Fraser did the first two, but no, just Inkspell.

 

Was Lynn Redgrave for Inkheart.

 

I remember Brendan Fraser  :drool:  doing all the ones we listened to. Who is narrating yours? (Hmm, looks like Brendan only does one of the three. Audible & Overdrive have three different narrators for the three different books. Lynn R is listed for the first book & from listening to the sample, my least favorite. I listened to Allen C & remember his voice from other books. I like him as a narrator. But Brendan ... :drool5: )

 

[Seasider]

I didn't like the books because, to me, there's not one truly admirable character in the story. It's been a while since I read them but I remember thinking that if my kids were interested as teens, they could read them on their own.