[Closed] kid books too complicated?

The first 'real' book I remember reading was The Hobbit and i remember I absolutely loved it, although looking back they are quite complex, but kids have great imaginations so i think they are able to visualise these fantasy scenarios more readily than us adults.

Seeing as Eragon was written by a 15 year old, probably not.

My 12 year old, who had reading problems until recently, loved all 3 of Christopher Paolini's books and is eagerly awaiting the 4th later this year. Boys need good stories so I'm hoping that by the time my lad's Paolini's age he's writing such successful books 🙂

Struggle how? Not interesting enough? Difficult vocabulary? Difficult concepts?

I read both Eragon and Coraline to my daughter (now 13, but prob when she was 11/12), not to mention Eldest and Brisingr, all the Harry Potters, all the Narnias etc etc. She had no problem with them!

Coraline is a beautifully written book, Eragon is a teenagers fantasy with far too many words in it.

Some people just aren't happy with 'fantasy', by which I mean anything not set in the world as we know it. I grew up on it and love it, my sister discards anything as soon as the words 'elf' or 'dragon' appear! Maybe it's just not your thing?

My ten nearly eleven year old read Coraline at about 7 and reckoned it was fine, he's just finished Huxley's Brave New World and Matheson's I Am Legend. Next week he's got some comics an Alex Ryder to read, and has decided to give Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a go.

Got to push their reading a little bit I reckon or they'll grow up never really pushing what they can read and understand.

might just be me that though 🙂

I would struggle to read Eragon as well, as it's such a steaming pile of poop. My son made me take him to the cinema to see the film, he didn't like it when I pointed out the plot is precisely the same as Star Wars.

I struggle with eragon as I remember it to be quite complicated (english wise) same for mrs juan she find there is too much vocabulary in coraline (I find both are great books)

Jahwoble. Are you sue Fear and Loathing is suitable for his age? There are other authors that will push learning/reading without the adult content. I, too, push reading in my family.

fear and loathing??!! i would have loved that when i was eleven but im pretty sure there are plenty of bits that require putting in context or can only be read and understood with a bit of adult life experience behind you. dubious sexual treatment of the girl who paints all the pictures of some celebrity, a little bit of ironic racism which on the surface is not particularly obviously ironic? good luck to him.

Alan Garner's books are brilliant for children,[i] Elidor, The Owl Service, The Moon Of Gomrath[/i] and [i]The Weirstone Of Brisingamen[/i] are based on British folk tales, and are just superb.
Catherine Webb's books are also fantastically well written; [i]Mirror Dreams[/i] and [i]Mirror Wakes[/i] are very sophisticated and very readable. Catherine was 14 when her first book was published. I can't recommend these books highly enough.

"Jahwoble. Are you sue Fear and Loathing is suitable for his age?"

Yup, I read it at about that age, All three kids are allowed to pick up and read any books we have in the house and he's quite capable of putting it into context. We've been doing that with films and books for him since he was about three or four.

He's quite capable of making decisions and differentiations about right and wrong and understands the difference between fiction and reality. According to the his school his reading age is 16 plus and he's bored witless by most books written for teenagers.:)

I cant read children's books or any other book's 😉 I once read a Garfield comic book

Taka, what a sad, empty life you must lead.
Catherine Webb has written a bunch of other books as well, aimed at younger readers:
Sam Linnifer
1. Waywalkers (2003)
2. Timekeepers (2004)

 
Horatio Lyle
1. Horatio Lyle: The Extraordinary And Unusual Adventures (2006)
2. The Obsidian Dagger: Being the Further Extraordinary Adventures of Horatio Lyle (2006)
3. The Doomsday Machine: Another Astounding Adventure of Horatio Lyle (2007)

 She's also written "A Madness Of Angels", soon to be followed by "The Midnight Mayor", under the name of Kate Griffin.

My son read Eragon when he was 10. the film doesn't do it justice, but it's still not a great book. Fine for it's target audience though.

+1 for Alan Garner. For the pre-teens of course. We have 100's of books in our house, I wouldn't let my 12 yr old read some of them eg, Cormack McCarthy, some books are not for 12yr olds, they can read pretty much anything at that age but I feel they don't have enough life experience or empathy to really understand but perhaps they don't read deeply anyway.

Do reading ages of beyond 12 actually mean anything?

lol at this thread... you guys know i am not a naitve 😉

My Folks (both teachers) filled our home with books, time life collections, history and geography and natural history too, as a kid I flicked through these continuously and subsequently have a ridiculous capacity for trivia.
can't thank them enough; get yer kids reading, it sticks easier to young pliant minds.

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😀

"According to the his school his reading age is 16 plus"

not wanting to inflame this further but... schools just measure how many words a child can read off a list that's 'appropriate' for a certain age group to determine their reading age - it's not a measure of whether they can put an appropriate social, sexual or moral context against a particular passage or book.

"We've been doing that with films ... since he was about three or four"

and yet if people in social housing take this approach and their kids end up watching porn or horror then they're widely castigated. If someone middle class does it (and I'm guussing JW is in the latter category) they're giving their children choice...

according to my English teacher I have the spelling of a 9.5yr old in year 11 but then again i am dyslexic 🙁

taka - dyslexia shouldn't keep you away from books. My brother is dyslexic but he reads extensively. In fact he teaches adult literacy.

yeh but i dosnt help when you cant read the words or know what they mean i have tried to use a Dictionary but it takes me hours to finish a page..

I think I'd struggle to read French kiddie books, so you're doing pretty well.

Is it because they're fantasy book, rather than because they're kids' books? Perhaps there's vocabulary that you'd not have come across because of that?

Taka
Don't give up. read with the PC next to you as the drudge of looking up the new word is quicker. Or, read ebooks on the PC. Don't worry about it as the older you get the less it matters.

"and yet if people in social housing take this approach and their kids end up watching porn or horror then they're widely castigated. If someone middle class does it (and I'm guussing JW is in the latter category) they're giving their children choice."

There is a considerable difference between letting kids watch a horror or porn film unsupervised and allowing them to pick a film to watch with one of us there and to discuss what's happening in the film before afterwards and during. We don't have any big Hollywood (as they tend to be rather dull and predictable)splatter or porn films knocking about for them to watch anyway.

Tonight we're watching Danny Boyle's "millions" if that's any help. My wife works in Film making so we tend to watch a lot (5 to 10 a week) of films at home.

That's it really 🙂

Thought of some more: [i]M For Magic, Smoke And Mirrors, The Graveyard Book[/i], all by Neil Gaiman, and [i]Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Farewell Summer[/i], by Ray Bradbury. These are all marvelous books, and [i]Something Wicked...[/i] is particularly good, anyone familiar with it will know just how spooky and atmospheric it is. Empty fairgrounds at night...

I think I'd struggle to read French kiddie books, so you're doing pretty well.

Well said!

However I don't think you really learn anything unless you struggle to do it to some degree. I read loads of books, when I was a kid, that I didn't fully grasp either the underlying story or many of the words used, I used to read with a dictionary not far away so I could check if I didn't understand. Only later in life did I get many of the underlying stories though! Better to struggle a bit and learn more IMO, providing it doesnt put them off completely, but they should be encouraged not to find a lack of understanding as a failure, but as a challenge.

Don't worry about it as the older you get the less it matters.

Depends on your chosen route through life, if you choose not to learn you limit your choices.

I read loads as a kid too. We'd go to the library every other Friday and I'd get my 3 book from the kiddie library and my dad would get his four from the adult library. Once I'd finished my three, I'd read his four. I read a lot of spy and detective stories as a result...

Count0 +1
I had forgotten about Bradbury. Wonderful books in the proper sense of 'filled with wonder'. And Gaiman is pretty superb too