Replies

maybe it's because my daughter liked the Lemony Snicket "A Series of Unfortunate Events" better than HP

Funny you should mention that -- Lemony Snickett is the latest rage in our household too. And I do find him very troubling, even though once again I'm the one who introduced these books to the kids. I noticed them on the shelf of the library and pointed them out to the kids since they seemed like very intelligent and sophisticated books for kids -- which they certainly are.

But they are also problematic. Has your daughter read the latest, "The Carnivorous Carnival"? And the interim volume, "The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snickett"? Terms like "bizarre" hardly scratch the surface. Last week there was an interview with some actor in the Wall Street Journal, and he said that the latest book he read was "The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snickett." He had no idea it was a children's book until someone told him. At which point he said that was totally bizarre because even adults couldn't understand it.

My son brought back with him from vacation (with the same sister who sent us Harry Potter) a book called "Artemis Fowl," I call it "Artemis Foul." It really sinks to a new level of despicable for children's literature. It may not appeal to girls, however, so it may not be a concern for you.

I have the same problem finding books for my kids. Mine I think are younger than yours ... my oldest is 9. She likes mysteries, so I got her the Encyclopedia Brown short stories that I read as a kid. She read all the Junie B. Jones books in the summer before second grade, and there are some single-title books I've found that are good. She read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in second grade for an advanced reading class and she started the next book, but didn't get into it.

When I was in 3rd grade, a friend introduced me to Trixie Belden. I read all 36 books, but can't find them anywhere now. I have all but the first 5 in the series. They are great for kids aged 8-12. When I was 10 I started Nancy Drew and read virtually every one (of the original ... the new ones are garbage). I own half the Nancy Drew books, but I think my daughter is a little too young. After Nancy Drew, I read all 80+ books of Agatha Christie (probably starting at age 12). Some went over my head. When I was 14 I started Stephen King and read everything he wrote up until the last few years.

Anyway, my point is reading is so important to introduce to kids, but it is also important to weed out bad books, either because they're just poorly written, or because they could damage them. I read every Judy Blume book and learned things I probably shouldn't have learned when I read them. But some of the books were actually OK (the ones with the younger characters, not the teen-agers!)

If anyone has suggestions on books for pre-teens, pass them along. I did see the Lemony Snickett and the Unfortunate Incident books and didn't think they were appropriate.