/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2729924]

Hey /lit/. I want to get my niece into reading but she's 11. Is that to young for light YA? What kind of books to kids this age read? Are there even any books aimed at this demographic?

[Anonymous No.2729927]

Try Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. Good bedtime reading for any child

[Anonymous No.2729932]

Harry Potter
Redwall
Taran Wanderer series
etc etc etc

I'm pretty sure I read A Game of Thrones at 12.

[Anonymous No.2729935]

Goosebumps
Twilight
Backdoor Creampies 2
Harry Potter
Sleepover club
Big Black Threesome
Fantastic seven
Famous five
Anything by jacqueline wilson
Finally 18 and Legal
Lemmony snicket
Mattress Slaves 3
Hunger Games (this might be a bit too old for her)
The Point Horror series (not that scary; same as goosebumps)
Wet Squirters 5

[Anonymous No.2729939]

>>2729932
>>2729935
Sure, if you want the child to be illiterate.

[Anonymous No.2729945]

>>2729939
Dude she's 11. I know you thing every kid should be reading Joyce, Pynchon, Wallace... But that would probably put an 11yo girl off reading for life.

Those kids books are designed for kids, they develop a love of reading through those simple books that they cant put down.

[Anonymous No.2729946]

Diana Wynne Jones wrotes some cool kids' fantasy

[Anonymous No.2729950]

>>2729945
No one should be forced to endure Wallace.

[Anonymous No.2729953]

I'd recommend classics. Huckleberry Finn. The Wizard of Oz. Oliver Twist. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Catcher in the Rye. Etc.

There's no reason to patronise your niece. Give her meaty stuff. If she's any kind of clever person, she'll appreciate you for it.

What kind of person is your niece?

[Anonymous No.2729955]

>>2729927
Joyce, No.
>>2729932
I'm not sure. They might be a bit to boy-ish for her.
>>2729935
Backdoor Creampies 2, Big Black Threesome, Finally 18 and Legal? Nice try

[Anonymous No.2729961]

>>2729953
>Giving an 11 year old Catcher in the Rye
I'm sure that's gone work out well.

[Anonymous No.2729958]

>>2729953
Everyone loves Alice in Wonderland. Give her that to read

[Anonymous No.2729962]

eleven? that's almost too old for YA lit.

keep in mind that YA lit usually has a 5th to 9th grade reading level.

[Anonymous No.2729964]

>>2729958
>Everyone loves Alice in Wonderland. Give her that to read

Yes! Don't know why I didn't think of it specifically.

[Anonymous No.2729968]

seriously OP, it's the perfect age to start Harry Potter. You know she'll love it, and it'll perhaps get her into reading. Get her some illustrated copies of Treasure Island and shit like the tales of Simbad the Sailor. The kids dig those, and it'll be better for her than reading Twilight.

[Anonymous No.2729969]

>>2729927
It's sad how hard I laughed at this.

Get her Sophie's World. Maybe 11 is to young but definetely at 12 or 13. Read it and you will see why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie's_world

[Anonymous No.2729973]

>>2729969
Excellent recommendation. I read it when I was about 11 and loved it.

[Anonymous No.2729972]

>>2729968

Wow. It's like people can't remember being 11. She doesn't want picture books.

OP, don't give her picture books. She's not 8.

[Anonymous No.2729976]

>>2729969
oops. It's aimed at the 15 y/o range. But you should still check it out for her.

[Anonymous No.2729978]

>>2729946
I'm not sure that she's ever read any fantasy. I guess I could try.

>>2729953
>What kind of person is your niece?
She seems like a very girlie girl, into dresses and horses.. only listens to abba and queen for some reason? Not really that sure, I only see her a few times a year.
>>2729968
Yeah it'll probably end up getting her harry potter. Isn't there a girls equivalent thats not twilight?

[Anonymous No.2729981]

>>2729955
>Backdoor Creampies 2, Big Black Threesome, Finally 18 and Legal? Nice try

You've really never heard of those books? Where was your childhood? I'll find the plot summaries for you.

Backdoor Creampies - Cindy, a little girl with big ambitions, decides to open a bakery in her parents kitchen - selling pies to children who come to her backyard. Cindy learns that running a business isn't all fun and games in this hilarious tale of entrepreneurship.

Big Black Threesome - Barry, Billy and Bernie are three lovable black bears who have zany adventures during their quest for honey.

Finally 18 and Legal - A coming of age story about a young girl who becomes an independent woman.

Mattress Slaves 3 - Part 3 of the shocking documentary about slave labor in the mattress industry of third world countries. (Acceptable for kids, and in my opinion, a necessity to educate them on some real world issues. I never bought a foreign mattress again after this eye-opener.)

Wet Squirters 5 - The Squirters gang is back again in this heartwarming tale about a group of whales who try to find their long lost father in a vast ocean of wet sea critters.

[Anonymous No.2729985]

>>2729972
dude i'm not saying a picture book, just like some illustrations. I had a copy of treasure island with like a dozen illustrations, strong images like the encounter with the snake, the duel with Hands and the appearance of the blind dude, it really helped picture some stuff for a 10 yo. I had to read it with my whole class, all the same edition, and i remember it to be the only book everyone really enjoyed, thus my recommandation.

[Anonymous No.2729988]

>>2729924
OP i'd say anything from Astrid Lindgrens catalogue.
Especially Mio min mio or Brother Lionhearts, Pippi Longstockings for strong womenly characters o

[Anonymous No.2729990]

>>2729978
>She seems like a very girlie girl, into dresses and horses.
>Not really that sure, I only see her a few times a year.

Hm. Get her

>Black Beauty
>Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass

Those are safe bets.

[Anonymous No.2729994]

>>2729978
i'd reproach you for enforcing gender roles on and impressionable child, but I guess she's sadly beyond that point

[Anonymous No.2730007]

>>2729994

Oh man, you're pressing what is a huge scare button in my life at the moment. My sister's about to give birth to her first child, and I'm so worried they're going to raise her to be a conservative, fall-in-line, racist, sexist human being.

I feel sorry for her, and she's not even been born yet ...

[Anonymous No.2730030]

>>2729994
>>2730007
>question about buying his niece a book
>i'd reproach you for enforcing gender roles on and impressionable child

I know /lit/ is infested with Tumblr faggots, but come the fuck on.

[Anonymous No.2730032]

>>2729988
And Ronia the Robber's Daughter. My niece is named after Ronia.

[Anonymous No.2730069]

>>2730007
>conservative, fall-in-line, racist, sexist human being
>implying this is a bad thing

[Anonymous No.2730073]

>>2730069

averybadthing.jpg

[Anonymous No.2730076]

>>2730007
>Sister is about to have a baby
>Your primary concern is "WHAT IF SHE GROWS UP TO BE A CONSERVATIVE?"

you are the cancer of the world

[Anonymous No.2730079]

>>2730076

What should my concern be?

[Anonymous No.2730086]

>>2730079
That she grows up into a happy, productive human being with a few meaningful relationships she can depend on to carry her through the dark times.

[Anonymous No.2730090]

>>2730032
How could I forget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daEGQPsGgPE
That book shaped my childhood

[Anonymous No.2730099]

>>2730079
>I wonder what they'll name her
>I hope she's healthy
>She's going to be so cute
>Will I see her often?
>Hopefully the beginning of a happy family
>I wonder where she'll go to school
>I can't wait to teach her (X) and (Y), to show her (Z)

Or any of the hundreds of normal things that people think when an child is about to be born into their immediate family. Yet for some reason your biggest concern is not that, for all you know, the kid could be born with fucking palsy, but rather

>What if the eventual cultural and political beliefs of this tiny child not yet even born disagree with mine?

[Anonymous No.2730102]

>>2730090
THIS
FUCKING
BOOK OP

Its basically a childs version of Romeo and Juliet but far more exciting.

[Anonymous No.2730103]

>>2730079
>I wonder what they'll name her
>I hope she's healthy
>She's going to be so cute
>Will I see her often?
>Hopefully the beginning of a happy family
>I wonder where she'll go to school
>I can't wait to teach her (X) and (Y), to show her (Z)

Or any of the hundreds of normal things that people think when an child is about to be born into their immediate family. Yet for some reason your biggest concern is not that, for all you know, the kid could be born with fucking palsy, but rather

>What if the eventual cultural and political beliefs of this tiny child not yet even born disagree with mine?

[Anonymous No.2730104]

>>2730103
in before
>an child

I had "infant child" but pruned it for redundancy

[Anonymous No.2730105]

>>2730086
>That she grows up into a happy, productive human being with a few meaningful relationships she can depend on to carry her through the dark times.

Sure, that, too.

But if she turns into a human being who acquires happiness by, for instance, making racist jokes, I'll feel incredible pity for her.

Hopefully I can get her some books, expose her to situations and people, sign her up for classes, and/or have conversations with her, etc., that'll steer her at least somewhat toward being a good human being, despite her parents' influence.

[Anonymous No.2730112]

>>2730105
Get out of this thread!
Go and write down your fucking nonsense in your diary. This thread is about child literature.

[Anonymous No.2730117]

>>2730105
Haha fuck you and your plans to brainwash your niece

[Anonymous No.2730120]

>>2730103
>for all you know, the kid could be born with fucking palsy, but rather
>What if the eventual cultural and political beliefs of this tiny child not yet even born disagree with mine?

I'm pretty sure she'll be healthy. Both of her parents have good genes.

I'm not so much concerned whether she disagrees with my beliefs, but rather that she doesn't turn into the kind of person her father is, at least. He's a pleb, a racist, and a sexist who my sister settled for because she ran out of options and because she was scared she'd end up alone.

[Anonymous No.2730123]

>>2730117

All child rearing is brainwashing.

[Anonymous No.2730126]

>>2730105
Your primary concern should be pursuing them to have an abortion.

-Having a child increases you carbon footprint 20 times.
-The average child will cost you more than $250,000.
-Less children = more free parking spaces in the future
-Children are disgusting things that I end up paying for with my tax money.

[Anonymous No.2730131]

>>2730105
That's not your right, breh. That child is not yours to raise. Do not interfere with her parents, you fucking asshole.

Stick your dick into a womyn and brainwash your own son when he pops out, aight? Stay the fuck away from other people's children.

[Anonymous No.2730135]

>>2730090
>>2730102
>People on /lit/ strongly agreeing with me
That's a new experience

[Anonymous No.2730138]

>Hopefully I can get her some books, expose her to situations and people

>That poor little girl's face when, at Age 5, Aunt Macrame gives her a book by Janeane Garofalo and takes her down to the homeless shelter to watch two pansexual black street performers put on a play that uses vignettes about non-monogamous homoerotic romance as a metaphor for the struggle of transexual women of color against the Cis-capitalist hegemon

[Anonymous No.2730141]

>>2730131

Ya, I know. It'll just be a real pity to watch good genes go to relative waste.

I'll try to stick to giving her great books like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The diary of Anne Frank, etc. as presents.

[Anonymous No.2730144]

>>2730138
>the girl grows up to be another angry feminist womyn on campus
>in her 30s she's alone and miserable and forced to go out with her ugg girlfriends and loudly proclaim "we don't need no men"
>in her 40s she settles for an emasculated husk of a boy and realizes that all she ever wanted was to be submissive to a dominant male

>as she lies dying of cervical cancer, she whispers "Thanks for nothing, Aunt Macrame"

[Anonymous No.2730148]

>>2730138

Love it.

[Anonymous No.2730156]

>>2730144

Ah, you're boring.

[Anonymous No.2730164]

Swallows and Amazons
Just William
Enid Blyton

Great books.

[Anonymous No.2730168]

>>2730164

Isn't Enid Blyton for, like, 8-year-olds?

Oh, OP: Railway Children is a very good book for pre-teens.

[Anonymous No.2730170]

>>2730168
I don't really remember what age Enid Blyton is for, I just remember enjoying it.

[Anonymous No.2730180]

Lolita.

[Anonymous No.2730181]

21 year old guy here, I figure I may post in this thread. I've never really read before. My family has never had any books laying around as they don't read so I've read a very minimal amount. I checked out the wiki but there's just so much to choose from. For someone new to /lit/ do you recommend more easy going child friendly books or where should I jump in?

I've mostly just read stuff somewhat film related as film is my main interest, so I've read a few like Fight Club, Night Watch, Roadside Picnic, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, I Am Legend.

[Anonymous No.2730185]

>>2730181

Lolita for sure.

It's widely regarded as one of the finest novels of the 20th century, and they made a film too.

[Anonymous No.2730188]

>>2730181
>I've read a few like Fight Club, Night Watch, Roadside Picnic, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, I Am Legend.

If you've read this kind of material, why would you want to regress to children's lit?

I mean, there is some good children's lit that's enjoyable for any age -- see

>>2729953
>>2729958

and Roald Dahl (OP, here's another suggestion), but there's no reason to limit yourself to that.

Just pick five or so books from the wiki recommendations and read over Wikipedia's entries for them, until you find one that sounds interesting, then get it, and read it. Repeat ad infinitum.

[Anonymous No.2730193]

>>2729924
That picture is beautiful, OP. Do you know the location? This is everything that's right about urban grime.

[Anonymous No.2730195]

[Anonymous No.2731579]

>>2730185
OP you should get this for your niece

[Anonymous No.2731624]

>>2730193
Train yards in LA