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Author
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Comment
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Jess
Unregistered User
(8/20/03 7:16 pm)
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Re: Captain Underpants
Read them? Oh yes, many times. I usually try to read at least one
book in a series to get a sense for what my kids are reading, but
as it turns out my 5 year old who doesn't read yet likes CU too.
Sigh, boys. I just don't have the stomach for them. Sorry. But,
as I said, my boys love them. As for "moving on" to Raold
Dahl, Coville, Sacher, and the like, my boys were reading those
books BEFORE they discovered Captain Underpants. Sigh. As I said
before though, so long as they read things I do think challenge
their thinking, I can put up with a little CU now and again. For
the most part, I let them pick out their own books, but it doesn't
hurt to have a little parental marketing going on.
I have a difficult time with Junie B. Jones as do you. My complaint with that series is that it is aimed at young children, but it often includes horrid grammer and (I may be mistaken here) incorrect spelling. The children that are most likely to read these books are also the ones that are usually struggling the most with their own grammer and spelling. At least with CU it is clear the improper spelling and grammer is the "work" of the characters and not the author.
Jess
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denag
Registered User
(9/3/03 11:29 am)
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Dianne Wynne Jones and others
Am I the only person here who isn't madly keen on Dianne Wynne Jones?
Admittedly, I've only tried one ("Cart and Cwidder", of the Dalemark Quartet), but it just didn't do it for me. I loved the ideas, but found it frustrating that everything was explained for me, rather than leaving me to figure things out.
I eventually decided that it was truly aimed at children, and perhaps I was expecting too much as an adult reader, having been spoiled by Pullman. I am also on the point of giving up with William Nicholson's "The Wind Singer", for similar reasons, and haven't tried another Brian Jacques after "Castaways from the Flying Dutchman". (If those of you familiar with these authors think I'm missing something by not reading on, please say so, and I'll have another go.)
But for some reason, I have happily read all the Harry Potter books, and have just raced through the second Artemis Fowl with great pleasure, despite the fact that they seem targeted towards children of ages similar to those reading Jones, Nicholson and Jacques.
Pullman's books I think of as rather "older". Particularly His Dark Materials. I loved these (albeit with some reservations about what he was trying to tell me). Funnily enough though, it was the Sally Lockhart series that appealed to me the most. Even though I think the writing is much better in HDM than the Sally Lockhart books, there was just something about Sally's adventures that hooked me in, as did HP and Artemis Fowl.
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Nav
Unregistered User
(9/8/03 10:59 pm)
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Quite probably...
...of those that are familiar with her work, anyway. I thought the Dalemark Quartet was anything but explanatory, and her most brilliant work. She writes books on different levels; maybe you should check out Archer's Goon, the Chrestomanci series, or Deep Secret. The last is one of my favorites of hers, and begging to be made into a film.
Ultimately everyone has different tastes, and it would be a dreary world if they didn't. Something has to be pretty bad for me not to get any fun out of it at all, and Harry Potter is a lot of fun, I think, in spite of all the charges levelled against it. Many of them are true, but who cares?
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denag
Registered User
(9/9/03 1:20 am)
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fair point
thanks, Nav. I agree it would be a colourless world if we all liked the same things. however, your post has encouraged me to give DWJ another shot. i'll try the books you suggest.
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Nav
Unregistered User
(9/10/03 12:47 am)
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Sure thing.
I think you'll like some of them. DWJ is anything but redundant. Some of her stories seem like they were written by different people, but there is enough of her in them to make them her own. Hope you enjoy them!
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Rosemary
Lake
Registered User
(10/4/03 9:14 pm)
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Pullman
I hadn't read Pullman till this spring, after some interesting debates in newsgroups. This added a whole new dimension -- reading to find out what he really said, in contrast with what his opponents were attributing to him. :-)
I web-searched a lot of his interviews. I could never find any statement from him about didacticism in general, or authors pushing their worldview in general, etc. All I found was, if I'm recalling correctly, a very short remark about his reaction as a reader when he noticed some of the hidden messages in Narnia.
R.
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