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Little Women or Little Men as read aloud for boys?


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I had planned to read Little Women aloud to my two ds' aged 11 and 13 and they are not thrilled.  LOL.  I have never read Little Men, but I do own it. Should I switch?  

ETA: I am wondering if it will even make sense since Little Men is a sequel. 

I was planning to read Little Women because it is on the WTM modern schedule. 

 

 

Edited by cintinative
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{whispering: mom of 2 DSs here -- I'm not a fan of Louisa May Alcott, so I would totally skip BOTH, and just watch a good film version if I felt DSs REALLY needed any exposure. Too many good books and not enough time to waste any of that time on books that are only so-so choices for you and your children. JMO! And ducking now to avoid the Little Women fans throwing tomatoes... lol}

Edited by Lori D.
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Lori! Say it isn't so! LOL! I guess since you're so amazingly wonderful in every other way, I'll just forget this little tidbit!

Personally, I think you'd be fine either way--I do think you could read just Little Men. Some context will be missed, but there are lots of fun "boy" stories in there. I love the whole series, and read all 3 to my kids, but I started younger to avoid ds having issues with the title of Little Women. I also read An Old-Fashioned Girl to them (my all-time favorite). If you have Little Men, pre-read a couple of chapters and see what you think.

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I like them both. I think Little Men might appeal more to two kids at your son's ages. Not just because they're boys instead of girls but because it's a funner book. It's been awhile since I read them but I believe Little Women had a lot more struggle in it beyond normal childhood mishaps. Things like poverty, war, family member death. There is certainly struggle in Little Men too (they're all orphans after all) but it's more as background story if I remember correctly.

They do not need to be read in order at all. Jo is not really a leading character that evolves in Little Men. 

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1 hour ago, MerryAtHope said:

Lori! Say it isn't so! LOL! I guess since you're so amazingly wonderful in every other way, I'll just forget this little tidbit! 


::shamed, hanging head::   I'm afraid it IS so.

A huge part of it is... Marmie. So smarmy and goodie-two-shoes, and gently *guilting* her girls into self-sacrifice. 🤮 I just don't find it believable -- or a good role-model. And I hate that Jo and Laurie don't end up together, but instead she ends up with a man who is her *father's* age, and more out of what seems to me because he's more "tame" and undemanding -- rather than Jo having the courage to go with her heart and braving the sparks and fire and wonderful mutual spurring each on to bigger and better things that would have been the potential relationship with Laurie. sigh.

We did enjoy a lot of "girl" books when DSs were younger, such as A Little Princess, The Princess and the Goblins, Anne of Green Gables, and lots of the SL books with girl protagonists. And DSs really enjoy watching the Jane Austen movies with me. So they have received a fair amount of girl POV along with the boy POV over the years. 😉 


ETA: PS

Cintinative: if you aren't tied to doing an Alcott book, your DSs are at a great age for other authors of that same second half of 19th century. Here are a few, mostly with female protagonists, or relational like Little Women/Little Men -- a few younger ideas mixed in as well:

- a gentle Dickens work (A Christmas Carol; Oliver Twist; David Copperfield)
- Silas Marner (Eliot)
- The Moonstone (Wilkins)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (Stowe)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain)
- The Railway Children (Nesbit)
- Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery)
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; and, Through the Looking Glass (Carroll)
- George MacDonald short stories: "The Light Princess"; "The Wise Woman"; "The Golden Key"
- Just So Stories (Kipling)
- Black Beauty (Sewell)
- The Secret Garden (Burnett)

Edited by Lori D.
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2 minutes ago, Lori D. said:


::shamed, hanging head::   I'm afraid it IS so.

A huge part of it is... Marmie. So smarmy and goodie-two-shoes, and gently *guilting* her girls into self-sacrifice. 🤮 I just don't find it believable -- or a good role-model. And I hate that Jo and Laurie don't end up together, but instead she ends up with a man who is her *father's* age, and more out of what seems to me because he's more "tame" and undemanding -- rather than Jo having the courage to with her heart and braving the sparks and fire and wonderful mutual spurring each on to bigger and better things that would have been the potential relationship with Laurie. sigh.

We did enjoy a lot of "girl" books when DSs were younger, such as A Little Princess, The Princess and the Goblins, Anne of Green Gables, and lots of the SL books with girl protagonists. And DSs really enjoy watching the Jane Austen movies with me. So they have received a fair amount of girl POV along with the boy POV over the years. 😉 

LOL, and see I loved Marmee's gentle encouragement and never thought of it as guilting them! It made me want to "rise above" how easy it is to get angry and fly off the handle and measure my words instead. But I've always identified with Jo in some ways and find that I also respond to the more gentle type of correction like Marmee gives, while other approaches just make me defensive. I was crushed about Laurie at first, but I do think they were oil and water and that Amy was better-suited for the type of lifestyle he would lead. 

Sorry to derail the conversation, LOL!

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1 hour ago, Lori D. said:

 

Cintinative: if you aren't tied to doing an Alcott book, your DSs are at a great age for other authors of that same second half of 19th century. Here are a few, mostly with female protagonists, or relational like Little Women/Little Men -- a few younger ideas mixed in as well:

- a gentle Dickens work (A Christmas Carol; Oliver Twist; David Copperfield)
- Silas Marner (Eliot)
- The Moonstone (Wilkins)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (Stowe)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain)
- The Railway Children (Nesbit)
- Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery)
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; and, Through the Looking Glass (Carroll)
- George MacDonald short stories: "The Light Princess"; "The Wise Woman"; "The Golden Key"
- Just So Stories (Kipling)
- Black Beauty (Sewell)
- The Secret Garden (Burnett)

 

Thank you!  We have done Tom Sawyer, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the MacDonald stories, Railway Children, Just So Stories and A Christmas Carol. We haven't done the rest. Great ideas here! 

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All of my boys LOVED Little Women and read the entire series (on their own desire once they got started).  One thing that sparked some interest for mine was the Little Men series that is available to watch on Amazon Prime.  I dont typically let them watch a show or movie before reading the book but this really was just the intro they needed (although the tv series is different from the book).  We enjoyed talking about the differences when the book series was finished.  I think the Prime series is based on Jo's boys.  Most 13 year old boys can find humor in Dan.  🙂

ETA: I think it is typical for boys that age to scoff at having to read what seems like a, "girl book."  In my own experience my boys loved the books but needed me to tell them they had to, "read it for school."  Then they could blame it on mom, even though they loved the book (same with Anne).  They get to read so many boyish books that I found it to be good for them.  

Edited by Callista
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4 hours ago, Lori D. said:

{whispering: mom of 2 DSs here -- I'm not a fan of Louisa May Alcott, so I would totally skip BOTH, and just watch a good film version if I felt DSs REALLY needed any exposure. Too many good books and not enough time to waste any of that time on books that are only so-so choices for you and your children. JMO! And ducking now to avoid the Little Women fans throwing tomatoes... lol}

I think Little Women is much, much better than the sequels. I also don't love some of her other books, because they are so, so preachy, way too much preaching and not nearly enough action. I didn't notice that when I was younger; I wonder why?

But I digress.

I could go for Little Women and ignore the rest. But if you have to go with a movie, then the one with Winona Ryder is the one that captures best the spirit of LW, even with the few things that were left out. I cannot bear the one with Elizabeth Taylor as Beth. 😮 Or the one with June Allyson as Jo. 😮

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3 hours ago, cintinative said:

 

Thank you!  We have done Tom Sawyer, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the MacDonald stories, Railway Children, Just So Stories and A Christmas Carol. We haven't done the rest. Great ideas here! 


Some you might want to wait a few more years, or preview first, to see if they will be of interest or are too mature for esp. the 11yo (I'm thinking esp. of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Silas Marner).

Some other "girl" POV books that might be a possibility:
- A Gathering of Days
- Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
- Island of the Blue Dolphins
- Tuck Everlasting
- Coraline (Gaiman) -- sort of a combo horror/modern fairytale, lol
 

And these are really good:
- The Friendly Persuasion (West) -- and then enjoy the beautiful 1950s film version
- True Grit (Portis) -- and then enjoy the 1960s film (the recent Coen brothers version is fantastic but MATURE)

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7 hours ago, Lori D. said:

{whispering: mom of 2 DSs here -- I'm not a fan of Louisa May Alcott, so I would totally skip BOTH, and just watch a good film version if I felt DSs REALLY needed any exposure. Too many good books and not enough time to waste any of that time on books that are only so-so choices for you and your children. JMO! And ducking now to avoid the Little Women fans throwing tomatoes... lol}

It's okay, Lori. I feel the exact same way.

And to the literature of the 1800's list I'll add Treasure Island, which definitely stretched my boys' listening skills at that age, but they did enjoy it overall. Those Howard Pyle books are also of that era, though I'm not a huge fan and I know a lot of people read Robin Hood with their medieval studies instead.

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LoriD, you are not alone. I loved LW when I was growing up, but then I read it as an adult and tried to read it to my kids..... oh, the moralizing. I could hardly choke it down. We didn’t make it half way as a read aloud and when I just stopped reading it, nobody complained. We watched the movie version (Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder) and called it good. 

And it wasn’t just LW. I read “Eight Cousins” and had the same reaction. 

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I'm really glad I asked this!

I think the book is on the WTM list because of the time period (modern) with the "dad is at war" piece, not necessarily because of the female characters as leads. We just read "The Hiding Place" which is not fiction but does tell a story from a woman's point of view and is from this modern period.  😃 

 

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1 hour ago, cintinative said:

I'm really glad I asked this!

I think the book is on the WTM list because of the time period (modern) with the "dad is at war" piece, not necessarily because of the female characters as leads. We just read "The Hiding Place" which is not fiction but does tell a story from a woman's point of view and is from this modern period.  😃 

 

I would think you are correct about this.  The time period being essential and that Alcott was an American author.   The style alone lends itself to educational value even if the story isn't a favorite.  The moralizing is somewhat uncomfortable but it does make you start to think about how it may have been interpreted during that time compared to today.  I think the exposure to different authors from different places around the world and different time periods, perspectives, etc.  cause a person (a student) to question and to think and to connect dots.  This is an underlying beauty of classical education.   We have read many books that we didn't like even though they were on a recommended list.   While we may never read them again I can usually see how they contributed to the overall education of my kids.

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Oh I adore all the little womens and so did my daughter. I've assigned little women for my 11 year old son this year - it's in a big volume with little men too. Little Women is assigned, but I will encourage him to go on to little men because I think he'll really really like it. He's an avid reader and I'm banking on him getting hooked!

Eta- and I made a conscious decision this year to not avoid girly/girl protagonist books. I hadn't done it on purpose, but am trying to be more intentional. He adored the Secret Garden last year.

Edited by LMD
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3 hours ago, cintinative said:

I'm really glad I asked this!

I think the book is on the WTM list because of the time period (modern) with the "dad is at war" piece, not necessarily because of the female characters as leads. We just read "The Hiding Place" which is not fiction but does tell a story from a woman's point of view and is from this modern period.  😃 


Other "men at war" classics for the modern time period:

Rifles for Watie (Keith) -- US Civil War -- young solider POV
Across Five Aprils (Hunt) -- US Civil War -- family POV, with a boy having brothers on both sides of the conflict
The Friendly Persuasion (West) -- US Civil War, Quaker family POV, with one story thread being the teen son struggling whether to fight or follow the pacifism of his faith
War Horse (Morpurgo) -- WWI -- young solider POV

If considering Little Women/Little Men for the dad at war (Civil War) aspect, I'd strongly recommend substituting Across Five Aprils -- very powerful and sobering story, and it gets that specific "family member at war" element across a lot more powerfully than Little Women does.

If considering Little Women/Little Men because it is a classic written by an author living in those times and writing about those times, then there are a lot of classic works/authors to choose from for that aspect.

Or, go with Little Men, and hopefully you'll all enjoy it! (:D


I do agree with previous posters that it's good to read classics with a viewpoint that is "preachy" or "from their time", and to discuss points of view that we differ with and why, or discuss why people of the past held those viewpoints. We did that. And, similarly, we read our fair share of classics that were not of high interest, as they were either important for cultural significance / exposure, or for the idea of persevering (and hopefully finding something to appreciate about, or at least discuss), even in books that aren't favorites. But again, I just think that there are SOOOOO many classics, that it truly is okay to CHOOSE, because there is just NOT enough time to read everything that is worthwhile. So it's totally okay to do Little Women and/or Little Men. Or not. Or substitute. Or skip entirely. (:D

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1 hour ago, EKS said:

Just because a book is on the WTM schedule does not mean it needs to be read.

 

I don't disagree with you. There are some we have not read. However, of the 12 or so reading lists I have compiled, it is seven of them, so I won't drop it lightly. Clearly some people think it is worth reading, including SWB, who I respect a lot.  😃

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I think it's up to personality too, honestly.  I have two daughters and one son. My son is the only one who could get through Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite books growing up.  He adored the Penderwicks.  But my daughters prefer swordfighting and dragons and hated Little Woman when I tried to get them to read it. I haven't offered it yet to my son, but he probably wouldn't mind it as much:)

Just a long way of saying it's probably a little more about personality and preferences rather than gender.  

When I was in middle school gifted class I remember distinctly my gifted teacher asking how I could like Little Women as it is so preachy. And it really, really is.  

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43 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom in VA said:

I think it's up to personality too, honestly.  I have two daughters and one son. My son is the only one who could get through Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite books growing up.  He adored the Penderwicks.  But my daughters prefer swordfighting and dragons and hated Little Woman when I tried to get them to read it. I haven't offered it yet to my son, but he probably wouldn't mind it as much:)

Just a long way of saying it's probably a little more about personality and preferences rather than gender.  

When I was in middle school gifted class I remember distinctly my gifted teacher asking how I could like Little Women as it is so preachy. And it really, really is.  

 

I read anne of the green gables and Anne of the ISland with my kids. Both kids enjoyed it, but my son took off and read every book (We had them on Kindle). My daughter was done. We read most of Little Women. After the chapter break, when the children are older, and Beth gets sick, they lost interest and we ended up not finishing the book. I think both could tell where it was going and didn't want to get there.

 

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I did Little Men as a read aloud with my sons without reading Little Women to them. This is what I would suggest for you especially because you stated that they are not thrilled about Little Women. Although Little Men is a sequel, it does not rely on Little Women, and it wouldn't feel like you are missing anything. 

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Little Women is an old favorite of mine, but it makes for an incredibly long read aloud. I read it out loud because I have emotional ties to it and I figured that was the only way dh and youngest were going to get to it, lol. By the end even I was heartily sick of it. Little Men is much shorter. 

I think LW is an iconic book and Maycott and iconic author, but it's not great literature. If y'all aren't feeling it, just get him familiar with her works in context and move on. 

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I liked Little Women- my first introduction to it as a child was one of those illustrated classic heavily abridged editions- but I found the sequels practically unreadable.  

I would probably choose an audiobook over reading it aloud.  

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1 hour ago, LucyStoner said:

I liked Little Women- my first introduction to it as a child was one of those illustrated classic heavily abridged editions- but I found the sequels practically unreadable.  

I would probably choose an audiobook over reading it aloud.  


Since you are unsure, maybe this might be the way to go.  Library probably has it.  

I'd started to read it to DD (the illustrated edited version) when she was at that stage where she loved to be read to for a long time but wanted a picture to look at.  She made me stop because "Nothing happened".    Then recently (she is 8 now)  she picked up the full version and really liked it.   I think she might have had DH read it to her.  
 

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