Which book to read to my little cousin?

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
My cousin is 9, and my attempt to get her to read Watership Down (with bunnies!) totally flopped. Well, I've regrouped and bought a few books off Amazon using the 4 for 3.

So I have
Arrows of the Queen by Lackey
A Wrinkle in Time by L'engle
The Neverending Story by Ende

I've read Wrinkle in Time sooo long ago that I don't quite remember it. I've only seen the Neverending Story, and the Arrows book I heard of recently and it sounded neat. Wrinkle is by far the thinnest of the books and in a font that will keep me from reading outloud with it plastered to my face :D

I've considered letting her pick, but then I can't turn around and give her the remaining two as an xmas gift :tongue

Any thoughts?

If it helps, I'll only be visiting for 3 weeks and I'll be working 8-5ish.
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
This is also assuming we don't end up glued to her Wii or playing with the legos she inherited from me. Two bins of legos, ftw.

:D
 

regdog

The Scavengers
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
58,075
Reaction score
21,013
Location
She/Her
I always liked Hugo the Hippo
 

Etola

Still looking for stars...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
2,867
Reaction score
429
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I've always loved the book of The Neverending Story, but it is long. And I think that because the book relies on the visual dichotomy going on in the actual text (with the whole red-and-green font thing), it would probably lose a little if read aloud. That said, I think it would be a fun story to read aloud, with all its oddball characters and descriptions of weird places.

Arrows for the Queen (IIRC) has at least some implied "adult situations", and has some characters in openly gay relationships. So depending on how mature your cousin is, and the sort of values she's been raised with, this may lead to some awkward questions. I can't remember how much the book goes into it (since I haven't read it since high school), but just a forewarning. However, there's nothing too explicit because (again, IIRC), they were written geared to YA.

My vote would be with A Wrinkle in Time. L'Engle was my gateway drug into fantasy when I was about her age :)
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Oh, no, you make a good point, Bettie. I hope I have my Black Stallion collection at home somewhere (about 90% of the series) so she can inherit another of my grand imagination 'toys'.

*Considers phoning mom to check the shelves* :D
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
Where's the poll? :wag:

.... um... I'd vote for reading one you haven't read, if only to keep you interested in it. Of course, as you don't remember anything from Wrinkle other than you read it...

I guess that advice doesn't help.

I vote for "The Princess Bride."
 

bettielee

I'm a sparkly fairy princess!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
24,466
Reaction score
12,761
Location
Enchanted Forest and/or editing cave
Website
bettielee.wordpress.com
Oh, no, you make a good point, Bettie. I hope I have my Black Stallion collection at home somewhere (about 90% of the series) so she can inherit another of my grand imagination 'toys'.

*Considers phoning mom to check the shelves* :D

glad my foolishness was helpful... :)
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Heh, I rather enjoyed The Princess Bride book, but I think the humor will go right over her head. (It did zip past mine at first, until I remembered I was reading a book that a satire was based upon. Duh)

And the books are not, as I suspected, on the shelves. I remember the Boxcar Children being up there, and a few random books. The rest must be boxed up and in the shed, so I'll have fun digging through bins when I get home.
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
I found them repetitive after the 25th or so book ;) BUT, I did make my own boxcar children 'set' (with help, I'm sure) and got little dolls and a plastic dog to play with :D
 
Last edited:

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
I assume these must be followed by something like The Color Purple, ya?
 

Kurtz

Fix up, look sharp.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
955
Reaction score
131
Location
Teotihuacan
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy Roverandom by JRR Tolkien. I still remember it fondly as my favourite Tolkien story.
 

katiemac

Five by Five
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
11,521
Reaction score
1,661
Location
Yesterday
This isn't on your list but if you want ideas for later ... The Wainscott Weasel. She might be ever-so-slightly too old for it but this is one of my favorite books, and I gift it to people for all kinds of special occasions even if they're not eight years old.

Watership Down with bunnies might have flopped, but weasels wearing eyepatches? Awesome. Plus the artwork is just gorgeous.

But out of your list .... Wrinkle in Time. :)
 

K_Woods

9 of 10 Overlords prefer Evil Pie!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
1,222
Reaction score
178
Location
South Dakota
Website
web.itctel.com
Definitely A Wrinkle in Time. Though I know I didn't manage to read it on my first try, and I was ten (or maybe just turned eleven?). It could go either way.

Outside the list, have you considered Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH? I was about nine or ten when I first read it.
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Oh, more good choices for future book gifting sprees :)

Joe, unfortunately my Firefox has decided to be incompatible with pdfs. I'll have a look when I get back home.
 

Millicent M'Lady

Exploring the infinite abyss
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
1,021
Reaction score
350
Location
By the kettle. Anyone for tea? :)
Ooh, Oscar Wilde's children's stories are simplistically beautiful. They won't appeal to every child but if you think she's in any way a romantic or sensitive child, she'll love them. I still do!:D
 

bohololita

When I was nine (which was only a decade ago), I read Little Women for the first time and fell in love with it. It's still my favorite novel even now after several several more books.
 

Mumut

Well begun is half done...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
3,371
Reaction score
399
Location
Brisbane, Australia
You're assuming children's stories at 9. I've found lots of 9yo's have read Harry Potter. My youngest daughter didn't want to read until, at age 10, she found Murder on the Nile by Agatha Cristie. She never turned back.

If your 9yo wants a good adventure (no swearing, romance, sex) then The Guardian of the Gate by yours truely might be the one.
 

bohololita

I hate to add this too, but by the time I was ten I had read the majority of the V.C.
Andrews series. Most nine year olds I know are more into teenage books.
 

kayleamay

I'm on the phone.
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2009
Messages
15,143
Reaction score
4,250
Location
Vantucky, WA
I guess it depends on what she's interested in and what level she's reading on. From your list, I would pick Wrinkle in Time, but I don't think my nine year old (boy) would stay interested in it long enough to engage. I used to make the mistake of trying to interest my kids in the books I liked rather than the books that appeal to them. I say, take her to the bookstore and see what she gravitates toward. My fourth grader is reading Diary of a Whimpy Kid and and I hear him laughing out loud when he's reading. The other two are engaged in the Warriors series and the Percy Jackson books.