Children's Books

I tried the arithmetic ones (there are two if I recall correctly, the second being More Sideways Arithmetic), and I couldn't understand the math stuff at all. I seem to genuinely have dyscalculia.

Word puzzles where letters serve as fill-ins for numbers are actually a common thing in puzzle books, and Sideways Arithmetic was just a framing device for those.

Got my copy of The Whispering Skull in the mail! Lockwood and Co is shaping up to be a very fun series.

edited 21st Sep '14 12:45:44 PM by Bur

I've read Narnia, which was great if not somewhat heavy on symbolism. I've also read the Percy Jackson books, which were pretty decent, all things considered. And the Harry Potter ones which were... not.

edited 21st Sep '14 12:58:21 PM by LogoP

For the sake of liveblog fun, I'm rereading The Adventures of Archie Reynolds.

And here is the liveblog.

Alright I admit it I read kids books, there are quite a few really good series like the chronicles of ancient darkness.

And yet I refuse to read any teen novels, they're just....weird...... just really really weird.

I always thought that teen novels were just less fun.

I often feel like the children's novels have better writing too.

I don't read teen novels because there always seems to be a romantic subplot crammed in somewhere. and I hate romance in books. and kinda in real life. Kids books are less so. Friendship is magic and all.

My Roommate is taking a YA/kid lit class this semester, and I've been reading her books out loud to her while she draws or cleans or decorates. it's fun.

I agree about the romantic subplot thing!! I hate how they're shoved into pretty much anything! Even kid movies often have one shoved in to try to entertain the adults. It's obnoxious.

I absolutely agree. At this point stuff like thats been driven so far into our culture that the whole idea of young love( especially for teens) has become obnoxious.

Also because most love triangles seem to be Main girl loves best friend. everyone thinks they are adorable. then a new, mysterious guy shows up (often antagonistic toward her at first or at least ambivalent), and she's so torn, but eventually ends up with new guy. friendship remains? (or friend turns out to be a jerkface)

It's sooooooo done.

Re: the whole YA/children divide. I feel like saying "teen/YA novels are cliche-ridden romantic tripe" is just as inaccurate as saying "children's novels are simplistic and can be only seriously enjoyed by children", though? Sturgeon's Law and all that. At their best, they can examine darker themes and the whole coming-of-age process in a poignant way. At their worst, they're...cliche-ridden plotless tripe.

Case in point: Frances Hardinge writes some fantastic children's novels, and I just finished her new book The Lie Tree. I think this is the first one of her books to be classified as YA, but I thought it was just as good as her children's works.

Always that dark, mysterious, mean tough guy, huh? Maybe they should avert that trope by having her reject him quickly, or subvert it by having her appear to be drawn to him, then realize he's an ass and turn against him.

Makes me think of Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. Even as a little kid, I wondered what Olive Oyl ever saw in Bluto.

Been a long time since I last read any kind of book. Last book I read was Running Out of Time. Haven't read since. Maybe I should find the time to do so. I was thinking of rereading Pyrates or On the Run.

not always a 'tough' or 'dark' new guy. sometimes just mysterious and new. but the love triangles seem to be between "old best friend" and "new hot guy"

Dump them both and be happy alone . Okay not really I guess it's just such a cliche that it gets annoying, I've seen some do various things with the dynamic.

I'm up for that. I wish there were more Asexual characters or characters who don't end up with anyone.

Oh I'm aromantic (though heterosexual) so I want more characters like that. Also more Asexual characters would be good to and some Aro Ace characters but also like Asexual characters with an interest in romance, and aromantic people with an interest in having sexual relationships, and have them maybe have some of them wind up with people they have an emotional attachment with to, like friends or something. Oh and make some of the Asexual characters homoromantic or biromantic wouldn't be awful either.

But I'm fine with people just not being in a relationship you know.

Sorry that got a little rambley and off-topic. I like how much urban fantasy YA has.

edited 31st May '15 3:04:04 PM by phantom1

I'm with you 100%. (I'm Asexual, Demi-romantic, if not Aromantic, still figuring that out). the book I just finished has an Aro Ace main character, although that never actually got explicitly mentioned, it never came up just because of plot reasons. But that should get fixed when I write the sequel.

I made a promise to myself that for every book I wrote with a romance or romantic main character, I'd have one with an Ace/Aro/Aro Ace character.

edited 2nd Jun '15 8:06:57 AM by Ellowen

@Ellowen Oh that's cool . Is it YA? You are much more dedicated than I am I'm one of those people that never actually finishes their hypothetical books.

I sometimes read picture books, that's mostly for work. (Sorry I'm trying to stay on topic and have another conversation)

It is YA. It's called "Epicish" and I'm working on editing, hoping to send out query letters to folks around october.

It's about a girl named Mella who wants to go on an adventure like the characters in her books, because those characters always make friends, discover self worth, gain magic, etc. One day she ends up in a fantasy world, and starts frolicking because "BEST DAY EVER" until it turns out she's not the chosen one, she's there by sheer accident. There are other Chosen Ones from her school, and they get all the cliche "I've never held a sword but now I'm an expert" and "oh, so I have magic?" stuff. Mella tags along so as to not die, and it turns out she's pretty good at guessing plot twists because of her being genre savvy.

I read a lot of picture books too. My roommates and I have story time some nights, and I'm the unofficial "apartment Mom/ Mom Friend" so I do most of the reading.

edited 4th Jun '15 8:56:17 AM by Ellowen

Playing with tropes? An interesting take on it. It sounds like the kind of story that one would have to be very familiar with the genre to be able to appreciate - not a kid's first fantasy adventure story, but one to try for kids who've read lots of fantasy adventure stories.

@Ellowen Oh Genre Savy protagonist is fun, especially since she won't be all powerful. Hope you succeed.

That's cool we still have tons of old children's books in our basement mom was going to get rid of them, but than my brother had a kid (well he was married and he and his wife were trying for a while it wasn't out of nowhere) and I went into ECCE and suddenly needed them for school, so we wound up keeping them.

edited 5th Jun '15 4:57:31 PM by phantom1

When it comes to the fantasy genre, kids books are all I read. I have given up on adult fantasy and teen fantasy, finding both genres to be repetitive and trite. All the creative fantasy stories, it seems, are to be found in the YA section. "Harry Potter," the "Nicholas Flamel" series, "The Order of Odd-Fish," "Warriors," all the good stuff is in the children's section. Adult fantasy writers seem to concerned with being "epic" and trying to outdo Tolkien, while teen fantasy just feels like the typical high school genre with magic tossed in. The children's section is the only place I've been able to find straightforward fantasy books, where the author isn't trying to do anything other than write a fantasy story.

You know, I can see that. Kids' novels in general tend to focus on the singular adventure of the one kid, and it's great to keep things focused like that.

Funny this thread should get a new post just now, because I honestly have been thinking recently of liveblogging one of my favorite kid novels, the somewhat eccentric Samantha Stone and the Mermaid's Quest. Anyone think they'd be up for reading such a liveblog?

edited 30th Oct '15 10:38:35 AM by BonsaiForest