Are any of the Edgar Allen Poe short stories appropriate for a 10 year old?.

[Sunshine Mama]

If so, which ones? These would be a family read aloud, btw. Thx!

[Lori D.]

Hmmm... well, beyond the "psycho-spooky" factor in Poe, his very complex and convoluted sentence structure, vocabulary choice, and 19th century culture all make for some pretty slow/tough reading as a read-aloud (and for understanding) for a 10yo. JMO.

 

Just me, but for a 10yo I think I'd skip the short stories (save them for high school) and go straight for Poe's very famous poem, "The Raven". It's atmospheric, without being psychologically disturbing in the way most of Poe's short stories are -- about things like murder, revenge, torture, being buried alive, the plague, and insanity.  :ohmy:

 

These Poe short stories are a little less disturbed -- but NO happy endings:

 

"The Balloon Hoax" -- fiction cleverly written as an ad, a scientific explanation, and journal entries; balloonists successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean -- but no one believes them

"Manuscript Found in a Bottle" -- very short story; shipwrecked, fix the ship, ends with hitting an iceberg and sinking

"The Gold Bug" -- long short story; mystery of trying to figure out where buried treasure is; some racist moments, and overly-convoluted sections have a tendency to bog down the thrill of the hunt for buried treasure; however, this, along with "Murders in the Rue Morgue" are among the very first detective stories which helped to launch the detective story genre :)

Edited September 28, 2016 by Lori D.

[jgrabuskie]

I love Poe and can't wait for DS8 to get there, but I would be cautious at 10. Lori D. I think answered the question superbly. The Raven is the way to go here without causing nightmares and sleepless nights!

[Violet Crown]

My girls loved The Gold Bug at about that age; but we read a lot of 19th century stuff so the longer and more complex sentences weren't a problem. There's a character who speaks in exaggerated and hard to understand black dialect, which I just read as normal English.

 

The spooky stories of course depend on the child. I read The Tell-Tale Heart to Great Girl around ten years old. When I stopped, she was incredulous that that was the end; she was still waiting for the scary part. But I'd never read one of his supernatural tales to Wee Girl; she'd be in my bed for a month.

[ReadingMama1214]

I read Poe at 10. But I didn't have a sheltered or innocent live by any means, so it may have been different.

 

I think Tell Tale Heart, The Raven, and Gold Bug are good starting points.

 

I think it depends on the child and what they've Been introduced to. Some children can handle and understand more than others.

[Farrar]

I think it's okay to read Poe generally to a 10 yo. The violence, as others are pointed out, is psychological, not gruesome. Whether a kid is disturbed by it would depend mostly on how much they "got" it and whether they enjoy being creeped out a little - many 10 yos enjoy scary stories or movies. I assume a parent knows their kid and would have a sense of whether they could handle it. I agree with Lori that the language is the bigger hurdle for most kids that age.

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

I hate poe. I don't know why anyone holds him up as being worth reading.

 

But maybe the raven

[jar7709]

My 10yo DD has loved Poe for years.  She's an odd duck anyway, but fwiw she started with the Raven, and then expanded to the Gris Grimly illustrated Poe stories.  Amazon has a decent 'see inside' for those so you can see how you feel about it.  She just loves them.

Edited September 29, 2016 by jar7709

[regentrude]

I loved Poe as a kid. The short stories are gruesome, macabre and oh so wonderful.

At age 10, The Pit and the Pendulum was my favorite. The Gold Bug is a great adventure story - pirate treasure, cryptic riddle, marvellous.

 

I'd not recommend  The Murder in the Rue Morgue, though. That one is weird.

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by regentrude

[SparklyUnicorn]

I got into him in junior high.  I used to go to school early so I could read his stories and poems in the library.  It's been so long so I don't remember all the names of the stories.  It didn't bother me at that age though so I think it would be fine. 

 

If I recall correctly too, in 8th grade a teacher showed a film strip about his life.  Talk about a depressing life!  No wonder he was so dreary. 

 

 

[Caviar]

LOL!  I just played this from youtube for my kids a few weeks ago. 

James Earl Jones' voice just made it sound perfect!  It did get all of my children a bit freaked out - but it was fun at the same time.

[Garga]

The Purloined Letter is a mystery with no horror or gore (like that one with the orangutan--the name of it slipped my mind.)  

 

I read it out loud to the boys when the youngest was 9 or 10 and the oldest was about 12.  I had to stop A LOT to explain lots and lots of words or turns of phrase.  I'm a fast reader and read ahead with my eyes while I'm reading out loud and sometimes I would change thing up to be simpler because I was getting exhausted from the non-stop explaining.  Same with Sherlock Holmes stories at that age.

[Kathleen.]

My 10yo recommends Poe, but to know that the stories are scary.  My 10yo scares easily, but for some reason like Farrar said some kids like scary movies/stories.  Yes, they are bizarre, but they are fun to read when Halloween is coming up.

 

 

ETA: We've used this book for some of the poetry- the "look inside" amazon shows is not as colorful as the updated book.  Most libraries have the Poetry for Young People set of books.

 

Edited October 1, 2016 by Kathleen.

[fourisenough]

DD11 is reading The Tell-Tale Heart for WTMA Socratic Discussion this week. It will be her first exposure. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Sunshine Mama]

Thank you everyone! We may try a few, based on the recommendations here. 😊

[My3girls]

I loved Poe as a kid. The short stories are gruesome, macabre and oh so wonderful.

At age 10, The Pit and the Pendulum was my favorite. The Gold Bug is a great adventure story - pirate treasure, cryptic riddle, marvellous.

 

I'd not recommend  The Murder in the Rue Morgue, though. That one is weird.

 

 

Lol  My dd14 is reading that one, now.  She read in his bographical information that this was a pre-cursor to Sherlock Holmes so she had to read that first and will be reading Hounds of the Baskerville next.

 

I personally think 10 is too young to really "get" Poe.  If read for face value, his stories are not all that great.  It's the psychological part that makes them so disturbing which, of course, is the joy of reading Poe.

[Shifra]

Stories for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe is meant for children ages 10 and up.

[lewelma]

I saw a Poe movie, Fall of the House of Usher, in 5th grade, and I slept on the floor for 2 YEARS until we moved house.  Every time I got in my bed, I just imagined that the woman was in her coffin under my bed trying to claw her way out, and she kept scratching me with her long grizzly claw-like hands.   :ack2:

 

Still very vivid in my memory.

Edited October 7, 2016 by lewelma

[Roadrunner]

DD11 is reading The Tell-Tale Heart for WTMA Socratic Discussion this week. It will be her first exposure. I'll let you know how it goes.

My son just read it for the class as well. It was utter disbelief! 😂 He loved it!

[Guest]

DS (almost 10) and I just read The Fall of the House of Usher. It was an original version, so we stopped every now and then to discuss the meanings of words and recap. But he absolutely loved it.

Edited October 7, 2016 by WendyAndMilo