Book recommendation - and a question...

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RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
16,002
3,400
47
Melbourne, Victoria
#1
... my five-year-old nephew is starting to play soccer - sorry, F.A. Football - with a team. So I bought him a book called Tiny Timmy, Soccer Superstar! by Tim Cahill, the former captain of the Australian F.A. football team.

The book has cute illustrations on every page, and a good, positive story about being a team player, trying you best and not giving up. I recommend it for kids of all ages, but especially young 'uns. :)

My question is this: what age group would you say that Pterry's kids books would suit? "Where's My Cow", "The World of Poo", "Father Christmas's Fake Beard", "The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner" etc.

What about the Asterix books - what age group would they be for? I remember reading Asterix as a kid and enjoying the heck out of it. I still do, but mainly because I like the puns, the Latin and the ancient place names (e.g. Lutetia, Carthago, Roma etc.) ;)

I have a two nephews (one aged 5 and one aged 2), and a niece aged 9. Thanks! :)
 

=Tamar

Lieutenant
May 20, 2012
11,961
2,900
#2
I think all of Pterry's kids' books that you listed would suit the 5 year old, though some of the humor in The World of Poo would probably be over his head due to lack of experience. If he's read or heard the original Pooh stories and poems, he might get the title joke; if not, you may have to consider whether you want to be responsible for getting him started on puns. (And get him copies of the original Pooh - it's part of his heritage.) Where's My Cow would suit the 2 year old, but mainly because of the funny noises. It's also popular with 70 year olds, but there's a point somewhere in between where some kids think they're too old to enjoy a picture book (or maybe just too old to admit to it). The reprints of the newspaper stories (Witch's Vacuum, Fake Beard) should work for most 5 year olds. The World of Poo might work for the 9 year old, but it would depend very much on the individual at that point. Some 9 year olds can handle full-strength Discworld, others can't. Even The Wee Free Men was too much for one kid I knew. Asterix stories are basically comic books with jokes for all ages, and should work for any reasonably bright kid who can read, with more fun upon later rereading.
 

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
16,002
3,400
47
Melbourne, Victoria
#3
I think he already has the "Pooh" stories, so that shouldn't be a problem. (Also, the Pooh/poo joke is not so far-fetched; in Victorian times and afterwards, saying "Pooh!" to someone was an insult, sometimes even an insult worth challenging that person to a duel. I guess that the Winnie the Pooh stories made the word "pooh" less offensive, but the word even became a verb - "to pooh-pooh", i.e. to denigrate, insult or belittle someone or something).

Would "Where's My Cow?" be okay for a 5 or 9-year-old?

All right, I'll try to find them (WMC or Asterix) at the local library before I splash out. My big sister (whose kids the 5 & 9-y-o are) is dubious on Asterix because she doesn't know what it is, and is afraid it's too violent. (I don't think it is - if anything, it's comedy-violence like Bugs Bunny etc.) ;)

So if I borrow it and show her, and I get the kids enjoying them, she can see that Asterix is nothing to be afraid of. What do you reckon?
 

=Tamar

Lieutenant
May 20, 2012
11,961
2,900
#4
I think a 5-year-old would enjoy WMC. The 9 year-old might or might not, depending on whether they would think they were above children's books or, to the contrary, might enjoy the more subtle humor of the artwork. It depends very much on the individual.
I agree that Asterix is comedy violence. Some people object to it, some don't. There are so many different Asterix stories (a bit like Discworld that way), it should be possible to choose one that covers a topic your sister is interested in. If you can get _her_ into it, problem solved!
 

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