“not being sexist” so girls are supposed to read about ponies, rabbits and talking horses. I think that IS sexist.

I didn’t imply that at all. I’d rather my daughter read about girls doing stuff than getting the message than only boys/men can have adventures or do exciting things. Frinstance, in Treasure Island, I think the only women mentioned are the hero’s mother & LJS’s black wife. Even Wind in the Willows has all male characters, possibly excluding the washerwoman. From Lord of the Flies to Lord of the Rings to Huckleberry Finn (now banned in many schools in its original text) , it’s all about the boy.

Apropos Treasure Island, how do you like this quote:

” I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of substance ; I know of my own knowledge that he has a banker’s account, which has never been overdrawn. He leaves his wife to manage the inn ; and as she is a woman of colour, a pair of old bachelors like you and I may be excused for guessing that it is the wife, quite as much as the health, that sends him back to roving. ” ??

Unless the child is extremeley patient or the type who would sit down with a dictionary of idioms and a dictionary to read an unabridged classic then this will turn out to at best be tedious, at worst, remain incomplete.

Buy one of those abridged collection of classics. I read them as a child. I still read the unabridged versions as an adult.

Or stick to the more “modern” classics that are easier to read if you’re dead set on it being an unabridged set. Orwell, Hemingway (Old Man And The Sea), or maybe one of the Sherlock Holmes books if they count as classics.

Or use some artistic license. If Shakespeare counts and she likes theatre, then take her to a play and read the play together when you’re done.

hels – Member
P.S not sure if I should admit to this, but my father had the complete works of Nevil Shute. So I put them in alphabetical order, and read them in that order. Sad childhood…

I really like Nevil Shute now. I think Ruined City is a classic.

My lad is 9 and has done Treasure Island, hard going mind with the old-English; Stig of the Dump. I’d have thought a wander into Waterstones and look at the classics in the kids section.

A Town Like Alice is one of my favourite books – probably too old for an 11 year old, well a normal one anyway, depends on her reading age. It isn’t racy but has some sad parts. It also has strong female characters.

Not being sexist, but most of the above are very much “boys’ books”. with all-male protagonists. So consider

I’d take Anne Frank’s diary and To Kill a Mockingbird over any of your suggestions…

Under no circumstances read “The Secret Garden”, struggled through that turgid over long “classic” with my 10 year old in the summer term. Gove owes me untold hours, if there’s a way to halt children’s desire to read it’s getting them to read the unexpurgated “classics” outside of proper EngLit classes.

My recommends would be Narnia, Hobbit, Lord of The Flies, Wyndham etc. Steer clear of anything pre-1945 unabridged, boring.

Steer clear of anything pre-1945 unabridged, boring.

That’s quite a lot of literature you’re dismissing there 🙂

+1 for anything by Wyndham though.

They may be ‘classics’ but I would be pretty depressed if my kids view of their role in life was based on all but a few books on that 11 plus list. The list seems to be based on a very blinkered view of Classic. Surely books like the Owl Service or The Wolves of Willerby Chase should count?

Steer clear of anything pre-1945 unabridged, boring

😀

For 10 and 11 year olds, and prolly under O-Level GSCE age.

Just finished the Count Of Monte Cristo, great story but another “book” written as a serial and suffers for it. See also Dickens and the aforementioned Boring Garden.

That was going to be my suggestion on the basis that it was the KS2 performance at my kids school and I noticed one of the book reviews on the wall from one of the Y3 kids was a favourable one for that, so presumably doable for an 8yo! I did wonder whether it was an abridged version she’d read though – my 8yo is a very good and avid reader, but still very firmly on kids books, working his way through Dahl.

Though given lots of suggestions for “children’s classics” I’m not sure whether that was what was meant rather than literary classics as in the title which suggests adult books to me.

Silas Marner by George Eliot?

Years since I read it. I seem to remember that being a heartwarming tale, and accessibly short.

Although maybe that was just in comparison to all the other dreary guff by George Eliot that I was obliged to read for Sixth Year Studies English.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens might also fit the bill.

The “classics” that I read and re-read as a kid were all the ones about animals – Call of the Wild, White Fang, Watership Down, Hugh Lofting’s Dr Dolittle books.

The Jungle Book was a bit of a favorite of mine. It’s a book of short stories and fables. The is a second book also. It’s nowt like that Disney s..t either.

Could not agree more on the Jack London White Fang/Call of the Wild suggestion, it’s another book of short stories that are brilliant but some of the lesser known stories in the book are great.

Love the quote from the ’11 plus guide’

While the majority of these books wouldn’t be enjoyed by most children,
That’s right – literature ain’t meant to be enjoyed!

With that in mind, may I recommend Ulysses by James Joyce, perhaps Beowulf in Old English, or for something impressively dense, perhaps Peter Andre’s autobiography?

Seriously, the definition of ‘classic’ is so broad that everything from Roald Dahl onwards falls into it. At that age, instilling the love of reading is the key, not painfully trudging through something unenjoyable for the sake of it.
Damn right!
I’ve been a voracious reader for as long as I can actually remember, possibly from around three or four, but I’ve never felt the need to read many of the so-called ‘classics’, the subject matter often doesn’t appeal, and many seem to be so bloody miserable!
I’d certainly recommend the Arthur Ransome books, they have good, strong female characters in the Amazons, and do encourage a sense of self-reliance, being able to overcome adversity without panicking, like when John sinks Swallow, or when Roger and Titty get lost in the fog on the moors.
I’d much rather a child read something like that, than something like Lord Of The Flies, excellent story that it is.
I read for the sheer joy of it, not because I feel an obligation to read certain books because they’re seen to be some sort of requirement.
I’d add Alan Garner’s books to the list, as someone has mentioned The Owl Service, which is a very dark book, certainly not at home to Mrs Chirpy*, that’s for sure, but Elidor, The Wierdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath are wonderful stories, with no gender bias.
I discovered science fiction at school, and I’ve read more of that than anything, but I’ll give most things a try if they look entertaining.
*Sorry, just had to! 😉

I probably should have mentioned that I’ve never read my recommendation – in fact about the only book which might be considered a classic I’ve read that I can think of is “Catch 22”. Don’t see what’s so wrong with reading trash like Grisham or Rankin.

Thanks guys n gals. Didn’t expect this many replies.

I’m also of an opinion that many of the established ‘classic literature’ will be of no interest to her whatsoever – it’s bad enough kids aren’t interested in ‘classic’ films because tho don’t look modern enough, books will be worse, IMO.

I’ll browse through the recommendations, and possibly lean towards some C.S.Lewis / Narnia.

Once again, thanks for the input.

Books I wished I’d read as a child:

The Pearl

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull

The Little Prince

Not a classic but I fairly recently read the Mortal engines series which were written for children. Bought them for eldest and then read them myself! Female protagonists and science fiction.

Carries war or Stig of the dump.

If you’re talking school classic then it has to be Shakespeare.

We’ve been told not to teach Dahl etc this year by OfsteD. It needs to be true classics.

I really enjoyed Maxim Gorky’s ‘My Childhood’ as a young teenager.

Time magazine compiled a list of ”The 100 best young adult books of all time” a while back, and not being a reader myself, I thought this was an easy way to find some “good” books for my 11 y/o daughter to read in the holidays. So I selected ten of them randomly and ordered from Amazon.

She’s been thrilled by them – a cut above the usual stuff she’s been borrowing from the school library – and has devoured them all. My wife & I have ended up reading them too!!

These are the ones we got her:-

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
Dogsbody – Diana Wynne Jones
Matilda – Roald Dahl
The Miraculous journey of Edward Tulane – Kate DiCamillo
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
Watership Down – Richard Adams
Marley & Me – Josh Grogan
Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

watership down is nicely dark.

watership down is nicely dark.

It was my favourite book in my yoof, though I understand it’s recently come under fire from feminists because the central characters are all male, whereas in real life rabbit society is a Matriarchy.

Things were less complicated back then – male rabbits were real bucks and does stayed back at the warren producing litters 😆