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For a 9 year old

(91 Posts)
mrsmopp Fri 30-Mar-18 11:55:51

Advice on how to wean a 9 year old off Enid Blyton? She reads loads of EB books and while it's good that she enjoyed reading and devours these by the bucketload, I'd like her to have some variety. Can anyone suggest a classic she would enjoy? She's a lovely girl, enjoys dancing and the piano. If I pick the wrong Classic it might put her off. Any idea?
Must admit I was hooked on EB too!

mcem Fri 30-Mar-18 12:08:40

I've never been a fan of Enid Blyton for several reasons.
One is that many parents/grandparents actively encourage children to 'tick off' the titles as they read as if working their way through them is in itself an achievement.
I don't know how you define a classic but if you're open-minded and not just harking back to your own childhood favourites then there are wonderful, more modern authors to explore.
For easy-to-read, enjoyable stories try Michael Bond. As well as the Paddington series there is the delightful Olga da Polga.
Joan Aitken's books are excellent - Necklace of Raindrops for example.
The Harry Potter series is a little more challenging.
My GS loved The Christmasaurus.
Browse through around the library (Amazon's children section) with an open mind.

mcem Fri 30-Mar-18 12:10:51

Don't know what happened to that last sentence!

Browse around the library. (or Amazon's children's section) with an open mind.

Grandma70s Fri 30-Mar-18 12:16:55

I don’t think it matters that she reads so much Enid Blyton. She will grow out of it. I presume she’s read Roal Dahl. How about Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes? It’s not as exclusively about ballet as the title implies, though it does come into it. Very lively girl characters. Published in 1936, but today’s children will recognise the emotions and problems.

I wonder if she’s old enough for What Katy Did or Anne of Green of Gables? It depends on which end of nine she is, probably.

I’m not up to date about modern classics for girls, but have a nine-year-old grandson who devours books. I know it’s not fashionable to think boys and girls like different books, but in fact I think there is a difference.

Luckygirl Fri 30-Mar-18 12:23:20

A lot of children get hooked on one author - I know my DDs did. There is something to be said for just leaving them to it!

To pick up on her dancing interest you might try:
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Magic Ballerina series by Darcey Bussell

She sounds as though she is a lovely girl.

Grandma70s Fri 30-Mar-18 12:25:15

That should have read Roald Dahl, obviously.

I didn’t like Enid Blyton when I was a child. I thought the children she wrote about were really boring, and I wasn’t into ‘adventure’.

My grandson loved The Christmasaurus, too, mcem, and books by David Walliams. I wouldn’t call those classics, though.

MissAdventure Fri 30-Mar-18 12:27:57

I love the David Walliams books. smile

Eglantine21 Fri 30-Mar-18 12:45:02

Diana Wynne Jones.

Especially
Wilkins Tooth
The Ogre Downstairs
Black Maria

hildajenniJ Fri 30-Mar-18 15:39:27

My DD read The Hobbit and loved it when she was a nine year old.
How about Terry Pratchett's Truckers /Diggers /Wings books (the Bromeliad trilogy) about little nomes trying to make it in a world full of humans. Funny books.
Classics she might enjoy, how about Tom's Midnight Garden or any other of the Phillipa Pearce books.

hildajenniJ Fri 30-Mar-18 15:41:24

PS, I read Jayne Sure when I was nine, but I was an extensive and adventurous reader!

hildajenniJ Fri 30-Mar-18 15:42:28

Make that Jane Eyre. (Who is Jayne Sure?)

Greyduster Fri 30-Mar-18 15:46:04

Last year I bought GS a book called “Fortunately the Milk”, by Neil Gaimon, and he thought it was very funny. Lots of good stuff out there though.

jacq10 Fri 30-Mar-18 16:22:24

Thanks Greyduster - I have just read the reviews for and ordered "Fortunately the Milk" for grandson. We are reading Jeremy Strong at the moment which I enjoy as much as him.

Greyduster Fri 30-Mar-18 16:44:25

They all have their favourites that they simply can’t tear themselves away from, though. I have lost count of the number of times GS has read and re-read the Harry Potter series (Deathly Hallowes again as we speak!); also Percy Jackson, and Magnus Chase, though he has a bedroom full of books he hasn’t read yet. I tried to get him going on Penelope Lively’s ‘The Ghost of Thomas Kempe’ recently but though it is a good story, and age appropriate, I think it was a bit too much of a slow burn for him.

midgey Fri 30-Mar-18 17:50:35

My young eleven year old granddaughter loves Ruby Redford by Lauren Child’s.

silverlining48 Fri 30-Mar-18 19:26:16

Good night stories for rebel girls first edition crowd funded with second book out now. One page illustrated stories about strong women and girls from ancient history to modern times. Saw it in the front window of Waterstones this week. It will expand horizons.

BBbevan Fri 30-Mar-18 19:36:08

It really depends on how good a reader she is. When my DG was 9 she loved the How to train your dragon books. She also read Call of the Wild, Little Women. The Malory Towers books and Lamb's Shakespeare Tales.

Grandma70s Fri 30-Mar-18 20:00:22

It doesn’t have to be fiction, or prose. I read a lot of poetry at that age, thanks to my mother who bought me anthologies. History and biography, appropriately written, can also be good.

Cherrytree59 Fri 30-Mar-18 20:47:21

I loved Enid Blyton.

My lovely grandfather however sent me a children's classic book every birthday (with a packet of milky way to munch on whilst reading).
So I also read The Jane Eyre type classics
As well as Black Beauty and Heidi and the 'what Katy Did' books.

My daughter read them all before they were consigned to the loft.

I would recommend taking your DGD to visit to a book store. Some have lovely comfy areas seating areas where you can sit and look through books before buying.
There will be plenty of authors for her a
to check out.

A visit to the library is a good way to pick up books by several different authors.

morningdew Sat 31-Mar-18 09:11:46

Take her to the library and let her have a good browse , see what she fancies

Millie8 Sat 31-Mar-18 09:16:34

She will probably just grow out of them by herself. At least she is reading.

ReadyMeals Sat 31-Mar-18 09:18:48

Is it a particular sort of Enid Blyton? I used to like the ones about schoolgirls because I liked that they were realistic. Even as a child I never liked books where the child hero didn't seem to have parents or home it left me feeling unsettled. I'd find out which Blyton books she likes best then try to find other authors who write about similar situations. For me it was all about situation and nothing about author.

Jaycee5 Sat 31-Mar-18 09:23:15

I went through phases as a child and liked to read everything by the same author. I went through a Dr. Doolittle phase and a Just William one but they are probably too old fashioned now. I'm pretty sure that I chose them myself and at 9 I think that is part of the enjoyment. I agree with people who say take her to the library and let her have plenty of time to choose.

Harris27 Sat 31-Mar-18 09:28:25

If think the issue here is that she's reading! It's lovely to hear this as most children are on ipads and computers so I wouldn't worry . Have a look at the book people I buy lots fir granddaughter there.

Skweek1 Sat 31-Mar-18 09:33:05

If she's into dancing, what's wrong with Ballet Shoes? Or Pamela Brown The Swish of the curtain and sequels about teenagers setting up their own theatre. Any of the old favourites - Tom's Midnight Garden and the Secret Garden I found superb. I know kids may find them old hat nowadays. Or, on a different theme, Duncton Wood, Watership Down etc.