A Tale of Two Cities as a read aloud for a 10 y/o and 8 y/o - crazy idea?

[Sunshine Mama]

My older son (14 y/o) really wants us to read it aloud (as a family) because he read it and loved it. Anyone else read this to younger kids with success?

[Pen]

Not personally, but via audio.  I think it would work if you are good oral narrators, but perhaps be hard to follow it if you aren't--and maybe too hard even if you are good oral narrators depending on the youngers' aural development.  Why not start in and see if the youngers are enjoying it or feel lost or bored?

[...................]

Ummm,

 

It's about the French Revolution.  It starts out with a constant thing about a man who was buried alive...then they go to rescue him and um....you know...the guillotine is the main theme and all....and it's pretty detailed.  I mean not in the sickly modern way that gruesome things are...but enough that I can't imagine an 8 and 10 year old getting any more out of it than just being pretty shocked.

 

 

[...................]

(and it's one of my favorite books ever and I am a huge Dickens fan.)

[Sunshine Mama]

Ok. I have not read it myself and while I know it's about the French Revolution I was not aware of that aspect. The only reason I'm entertaining the idea is because my oldest really loved it and wants us to do all together.

[Sunshine Mama]

And I should add he never sits in on family read aloud anymore but recently did when we read his last recommendation - The Phantom of the Opera.

[Freedom]

Ummm,

 

It's about the French Revolution.  It starts out with a constant thing about a man who was buried alive...then they go to rescue him and um....you know...the guillotine is the main theme and all....and it's pretty detailed.  I mean not in the sickly modern way that gruesome things are...but enough that I can't imagine an 8 and 10 year old getting any more out of it than just being pretty shocked.

 

I completely agree.  A lot of dark detail including hangings of French citizens and mental instability.  The eloquence and detail with which Dickens writes will also be very hard to follow for young ones.  It is one of my favorite historical fiction pieces, but I would not read it to my young children.  Have you DS listen to it (audible has a great version).

 

[Targhee]

I personally would NOT with those ages, but I don't know your kids.

 

If you do choose it as a read aloud I think professional readings can really make Dickens (and other 19th century literature) much more accessible to younger ages than they otherwise would be. Anton Lesser does a superb reading. (He also does a superb Great Expectations, too!).

Edited February 22, 2016 by Targhee

[Lori D.]

How sweet of your 14yo to be so excited to share a work with his younger siblings that he so enjoyed!

 

Agreeing with previous posters that Tale of Two Cities (ToTC) is a pretty stout work even for high schoolers, requiring a LOT of background knowledge of times/events to not get "lost" while reading. And, if I were going to do Dickens with an 8yo and 10yo, I'd shoot for something lighter, like A Christmas Carol, Cricket on the Hearth, or Oliver Twist first. Would 14yo have fun reading one of those aloud to younger siblings to share some Dickens with them?

 

Or… what about watching one of the movie versions of ToTC together? That would also be a bit "new" for the 14yo, too. As I recall, the 1989 "mini-series" version was pretty well-done. And older film versions (1958 or 1935) are likely to be simplified to be easier to follow the storyline, as well as far less likely to be "graphic" in the depiction of the guillotining.

 

Or, what about having 14yo read aloud the Great Classics Illustrated version to his siblings? Or the early "graphic novel" comic version by Classics Illustrated, or the slightly more recent Graphic Classics version? (This recent graphic novel version, Illustrated Classics, seems a bit gruesome, with heads on pikes, and holding up guillotined heads if you have sensitive younger siblings -- or it may be fine, too :) …)

 

Oo! And here's yet another option -- what about something similar but new to 14yo AND youngers -- The Scarlet Pimpernell, which is much more of an adventure/intrigue novel: a British lord plays the "fop" as his disguise for rescuing French nobles from the guillotine during the French Revolution. It was written in the 1800s, so a bit similar to Dickens with the older language and sentence structure.  There are also two very fun film versions: 1984 (color) 1934 (black & white).

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Lori D.