Comments | ryxander: Books!

ryxander

Books!

Dec 09, 2010 09:30

So, that time of year has come again... time to order Christmas books for my little girls! And if there's any aspect of gift-giving more satisfying than getting good books for your kids, I honestly don't know what it is ( Read more... )

Comments 26

If Kyra has not read it... rowan_syngwyn December 9 2010, 14:53:01 UTC

My suggestion would be Letter from Felix.

http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Felix-Little-Rabbit-World/dp/1593840349

Re: If Kyra has not read it... ryxander December 9 2010, 15:44:18 UTC

That looks AWESOME, in an "out of print and costs $75 used" kind of way! ;)

Might have to poke around if any of the local libraries have it, though...

Re: If Kyra has not read it... rowan_syngwyn December 9 2010, 18:27:44 UTC

Ooop! I didn't realize that.

However, it's a book to be on the lookout for.

;o)

dzmonster December 9 2010, 15:25:07 UTC

Have I recomended Bruce Coville's Mahic Shop books for Maya yet?

ryxander December 9 2010, 15:54:38 UTC

It sounds familiar, but I don't remember! I'll take a look! Thank you!

kelkyag December 9 2010, 15:32:48 UTC

Would Nurk or Dragonbreath suit Maya? (See ursulavernon.com.) Those might be a bit old yet.

cliodhna December 9 2010, 15:37:40 UTC

When I was around that age, I really enjoyed books like Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, Pippi Longstocking, and yeah, quite a lot of Roald Dahl's stuff (Matilda, the Witches, James and the Giant Peach, the Twits, George's Marvelous Medicine, etc.) - not sure what she's read vs. not.

ryxander December 9 2010, 15:42:22 UTC

She definitely liked Ronia & LOVES Pippi... so it sounds like you have similar tastes... she's working her way through Dahl... rollicky adventures are definitely high on her list, especially if there are cool girl characters like Pippi. She also loves "making a nice home in hard conditions" type stuff like Little House on the Praire, A Little Princess, Boxcar Children, etc (which was less my thing as a kid, but there you have it), mysteries, etc... but adventure/fantasy with cool girl characters is definitely FTW (no surprise).

cristovau December 9 2010, 16:23:22 UTC

I'd recommend the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books for Maya. They might be a bit ahead of her now, but it sounds like she will grow into them in the course of the year.

And while we are on the delightful Lemony Snicket, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming has been a favorite subversive holiday book for the last few years. It is, naturally, about Hanukkah and being an outsider.

And "The Happy Hocky Family" is also a great kids book for skewed humor, and "The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country."

These probably land somewhere between Kyra and Maya, but both should enjoy it. My daughter, Nonny, liked these at three even though many jokes flew over her head.

ryxander December 9 2010, 16:27:31 UTC

Thank you!

I've been nervous about the Lemony Snicket books because they seem to be pretty grim... does it all come out to a happy ending? If it's got a happy ending, she'd probably love them (I think I've read one at one point, though she hasn't)... but if it ends dismally, it might be pushing her sensibilities at the moment...

Will check out the others, too! Thank you!

cristovau December 9 2010, 17:01:33 UTC

Happy is such a relative word... ...I found the endings of each book to be a mix of happiness and tragedy. There are plot summaries on wikipedia.

It gets heavy, but Ira started these when he was seven and he is a very sensitive soul. You may wish to wait. Your mileage may vary.