I admit that there are days — days as rare as I can keep them — that we don’t do much. If I’m not feeling my best, sometimes all I want to do is sit on the couch. And really, I don’t even want to do that, it’s just that I don’t want to do anything and that’s the minimum level of activity that’s open to me. But from a parenting point of view, this should be treated as a worst-possible scenario. Not just for your child’s sake (even if they jump at the possibility of TV hypnosis), but for your own — if you can summon up that minimum amount of energy to do something and do it with some small amount of cheer, it’s so much easier. This morning, even through a full dose of strong painkillers, my legs were throbbing badly as if I had taken nothing — serves me right for having a skipping and hopping game (“Daddy, I can be your skipping teacher”) with Nefarious before school — and I was worried that the day would be couch-ridden. I admit that for much of the day it was. I’m blessed with the ability to sleep through all but the sharpest breakthrough pain, and this exhaustion seems often to be my body’s response to discomfort as well (although strangely more so during the day than at night), and it really was wonderful to slip away into slumber and build up the strength I knew I’d have to — I’d want to — muster come 3:30PM.
Because it was band practice day, Nefarious and I filled the bathtub (thank you to Leila for having installed a big one) with blankets and pillows, closed the doors to make it the quietest room in the house, and read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Caitlin poked her head in and snapped this photo of us reading). The last few chapters have been great, with the appearance of the Death Eaters, and now Mad-Eye Moody and the announcement of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
At school they’re reading the Narnia series in class — she’s reading it in grade one, whereas I think I read it in grade seven, although I’m not sure — so she’s being thoroughly immersed in fantasy literature. I’ve been thinking of trying to find a good sci-fi for us next, but I’m not sure what would be good, and I don’t want to stumble across age-inappropriate scenes, so if anyone wants to suggest anything… She can handle complex stories, but I want to avoid sexual content and profanity and so on.
After school we usually play games for a while. I prefer games of skill like chess or memory or even connect-four, but someone gave us Quirkle for Christmas, a dominoes sort of game, and Nefarious totally loves it. There’s more of a random element than I like (you pull your tiles out of a bag and hope for combos of either color or shape — in some ways it’s a lot like the card game gin rummy), but it’s an enjoyable game of a predictable duration (which is good if you’re wanting to plan it into a schedule). Today as we played it we watched a documentary about a family of tigers after a small amount of howling that I wouldn’t let her watch TV like her mom does (which for all I know is the exact same line that she uses in reverse when she’s there).
Oh, and if you play Quirkle, we made a minor rule adjustment that improves the game play — if you play all your tiles at once (including your final move in the game), you get double the points. It’s a simple change, but it forces a little more strategy and emotionally makes it more stressful as you desperately hope for the piece you’re needing to make a set when you reach into the bag of tiles.
We did a little painting as well. Caitlin got us a new shower curtain last week so the old one has been laid out on the studio floor as a drop cloth. Nefarious and I are splitting the work on the two paintings, building them up layer by layer, probably in flat colors rather than complex fades or such things. I’m forcing her to take it seriously though, so it’s as much a “lesson” as it is for fun.
Speaking of lessons, on school days, now that Nefarious doesn’t have a room that has a sunset window (at our old place the sunrise woke her quite early) — to say nothing of the later winter sunrise — she is usually still asleep when my alarm goes off. Instead of just normally waking her, I’ve been going up to her room and playing the piano to gently rouse her. I’m not a very good piano player, but I play well enough to help get eyes open both on the day and on creating music herself. Tomorrow should be a great day for her, because the gymnastics class that Caitlin got her set up in starts and she’s been very excited.
37 Comments
Perhaps try Ender’s Game. I know part of the horror of the story is the fact that the soliders are children, but in a way it might make the story connect with her even more. As I remember it isn’t anymore violent than the Harry Potter series gets and there is no sexuality and even has a couple very strong female characters. Maybe I’m wrong but I think it may interest her, lots of tactics like your chess games, computer-usage and blogging by a different name. Some of the politics may be dry and dull however…Anyhow, $0.02
I might suggest the Ender’s Game series. The characters are mainly children who are trained to be soldiers to fight off an alien race threatening the earth. Further in the series it addresses issues of species tolerance and co-existence. Some of the material is a bit dark, but if your girl can handle the Harry Potter series, I think you might both enjoy the Ender’s Game series.
My first recommendation would be Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card for the already stated reasons but if she liked it enough to try for the next one in the series I’d recommend she read the novel Ender’s Shadow first. It takes place parallel to Ender’s Game and follows a character from the first. It is a little darker though.
I think Isaac Asimov’s collection of short stories “I Robot” could also be a fun read. The first story in the book is about a little girl and her robot. Though there aren’t really anymore featuring children most of the stories are involve people in R&D using logic to understand robots actions in some pretty funny scenarios.
I was going to suggest the Ender’s series, but I see that I’ve been beaten to it.
A Wrinkle in Time! It’s vaguely odd Christian undertones are kind of balanced in a libertarian kind of way. Perhaps His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman? What else..The Thief of Always by Clive Barker is fantastic, the Abarat series also by Clive Barker is amazing although it’s technically more of a fantasy slant. The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix is kind of a sci fi/fantasy crossover type thing. Who am I kidding I read almost exclusively fantasy stuff as a kid!
I can’t recommend The Thirteen and a Half Lives of Captain Bluebear enough!! This isn’t specifically sci-fi, but there are princes from other dimensions, “intelligence bacteria”, etc. Its been described as being similar to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but for kids.
Does she like short stories? I did sci-fi unit for one of my English classes in high school and we read a lot of those to get around time constraints. The one I remember best was The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury.
I’ve suggested it on here before, the Dark Materials trilogy for sure. I’m re-reading it right now.
As well as the whole Madeleine L’Enlgle Wrinkle in Time series. Oh man those were good!
I agree with Amanda – The Thirteen and a Half Lives of Captain Bluebear is great! Though I was actually going to suggest The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, my other half was introduced to it via the radio series and audio books at quite a young age, so I think it’d be suitable.
dragonsong + dragonsinger by anne mccaffrey. i know lots of other novels in this series count as sci-fi, not sure about this one. it’s an ace book though and what made me fall in love with reading when i was younger.
Ooh, Lexi good call on the Anne McCaffrey series. Those were fantastic!
I was hooked on Susan Cooper’s series of 5 books “The Dark is Rising” when i was young. Full of magic and fantasy and absorbing environments. I don’t remember them being any scarier than Harry Potter would be. :)
I agree with Ender’s Game. I think she’ll like it.
I’ll support the Ender’s Game answer yet again, all those books are great kids books!
Also check out His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik. It’s quite good and dragons essentially take the place of ships in Napoleonic Europe.
Also, Dies The Fire is good (though there’s some blood and guts you can pregame it pretty well). Actually the whole Emberverse series is pretty solid.
I also cast a vote for Ender’s Game. There is some violence, if I remember correctly, but the profanity and sexuality of it are at a minimum. It also raises some interesting ethical issues…it’s a very good read. :)
Oh I loved reading Naria and the series! e started reading it in grade 4 when it first came out (my how that was a long time ago lol) and I loved it! Good for Ari to be surrounded by fabulous literature, arts,strategy and plenty of social activities. I think its wonderful :)
Oh! I was going to suggest a Wrinkle in Time and other Madeline L’Engle books as well. I really enjoyed them as a kid.
I also suggest the Ender series. My favorite would be Ender’s Shadow.
Also the Alvin Maker series also by Orson Scott Card is fantastic. Card is a Mormon and religion does strongly factor in this series. However, I am Agnostic and I probably love the Alvin Maker series more than the Ender series. Card is wonderful story teller, very vivid descriptions and he does send you on a roller coaster of emotion as you follow Alvin on the journey he has to make.
I was going to recommend Clive Barker’s Abarat but I’ve been beaten to it. It’s a bit scary though, so be warned. I’ll second Card’s Maker series as well.
I’d also highly recommend Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series. They’re wonderful. The series is based on the roles of Death, Father Time, Mother Earth, the Three Fates, the God of War and Evil being offices that are gained by normal people in different ways relevant to the office and the stories behind the people in those offices. There is a some focus on the struggle between God and Satan but it’s mostly a good vs. evil thing that’s only relevant because it’s sort of an extension of the Incarnations jobs to keep balance and figure out how to use their office to the world’s best advantage without abusing it, rather than being at all religious or preachy. The whole thing takes place in a universe that has both advanced technology and magic. Each of the books is really linked to the others and, due to the magic involved, the timeline is really non-linear.
Meant to include that the Incarnations series is probably a bit more fantasy than sci-fi. Oh and the first 3 books in the series are the best and then they trail off a bit. I read the 4th and 5th, which were enjoyable just no as much as the first 3, and stopped there.
Maybe try the Artemis Fowl or Septimus Heap series? They’re aimed more at kids than most of the other series listed above, but they’re enjoyable for adults too. Fun, engaging, age appropriate, and not at all scary.
I know it isn’t a book, but you might want to “indulge” you and Ari’s tv craving with a bit of Doctor Who. I’m not talking the new flashy stuff, I’m talking about afros’ and loud scarves. I enjoyed the series very much as a child. My father used to let us (my younger brother and I) borrow the old 13″ tv with an antenna (to learn to tune in pbs of course) and let us camp out downstairs. I can’t even beging to recall the number of times he would storm down the stairs at midnight threatening all sorts of bizzare punishment if we did not become quiet. I now have figured out why Doctor Who was important to him (and mom), we were horrible kids, they needed time alone. HAHAHAHAHAA
Seriously, Ender’s Game (and the entire series). I am so disappointed that I was not introduced to these books until I was in my teens; they’re fantastic!
My brother speaks highly of the Hitchhiker’s Guide, and read it at a very early age.
The Bromeliad Trilogy: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings by Terry Pratchett!
I came back to see what other people have posted and I think I’m going to have to indulge my inner child and reread all these great books. I’m so excited for her to experience all these for the first time. Happy travels!
Definitely A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle (and the subsequent books, A Wind At The Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and Many Waters). I have fond memories of my mother reading them to me as a child and eventually me reading parts back to her. Those books inspired my love of reading and the pseudo-science in A Wind At The Door is quite fun.
Not to be a wet blanket, but from what I remember of Piers Anthony- he’s kind of an old perv. I know it wasn’t in all of his books- but some of them were kind of icky (I promise- I’m not some kind of uptight church lady, and I think violence is a waaaaaay worse influence on young minds than sexual content- but some of his books struck me as outright creepy.) If you’re looking for fantasy, I think Robert Asprin’s myth-adventure books were distinctly hilarious and full of jokes and visuals that went over well with me when i read them as a kid.
I also remember that my mom read White Fang to me when I was about Ari’s age, and I LOVED it. (Though she also read Where the red fern grows and Old yeller so I cant remember if White fang was free from all the traumatic animal deaths, or only comparatively so when put up against those other ones.)
Do you feel like she’s too young for Tolkien? I know it’s some pretty tragic, heartbreaking stuff, but I feel like it runs circles around Pullman or Orson Scott Card in terms of truly three dimensional characters who you love and empathize with. I know he’s most well known for being a theist, but I don’t feel like the religious undertones are explicit in the least (and I remember the first time I read the books as an adult- they struck me as explicitly humanistic.)
Also- Hitchhiker’s Guide is excellent- but I’d save it until her 16th birthday- it’s difficult to appreciate the true brilliance of Adams’ humour until you’ve stood in line at the DMV at least once in your life!
How about the Wrinkle in Time series by Madeline L’Engle? One of my childhood favorites and probably not too advanced for smart Ari.
I gave my 7 year old nephew the Artemis Fowl series for Christmas and he loves them already, so they’d probably be good for Ari.
And I immediately thought of Madeline L’Engle like everyone else, so her books are probably a good bet.
I would suggest “This Perfect Day” by Ira Levin(Rosemary’s Baby). I read it when I was 9-10 as I remember. I think of it as 1984 “light”. It’s been awhile since I read it, but I don’t think there is any sexual content. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I read it as a kid.
I remember really enjoying Ursula LeGuin’s books (the Earthsea ones?) when I was younger. More fantasy than sci-fi as well though.
I also love the Ender’s game series. Read it first though to make sure it is appropriate. It is a quick read. I always thought of it as a middle school book. There is some language (most of it takes place in battle school, so you get some name-calling/swearing). Additionally it is basically about kids who never get to be kids, they have to grow up quickly with the weight of the world on their shoulders. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll just say that there are some bullies and with that of course comes some violence. Great series and well-written. I also like Alvin Maker. It is historical fantasy/fiction, so you may want to make sure she knows it is not what really happened even though there are real people and events featured in the series. Red Prophet (the second book in that series) is a bit violent and may upset her, so again read before you read to her so you can judge.
Thinking about it…Piers Anthony can be a bit pervy, depending on the series. I mean I can’t remember anything inappropriate in the Incarnations of Immortality series but there was definitely sexual content in the Apprentice Adept series and he did write a book called Pornucopia. She might enjoy the Incarnations series when she’s older, but yeah sorry for the bad suggestion!
The “Abhorsen” trilogy by Garth Nix is AMAZING fantasy that should keep her in the vein of Harry Potter. It’s got a strong female lead with no sex and creative violence. Should be spooky and fun.
Orson Scott Card is the obvious safe bet. Also, Jim Butcher’s “Furies of Calderon” is action packed, with fun plot lines and solid female presence.
In a few years you can get her into Frank Herbert.
my mother had a rare chronic illness (mysthenia gravis) and never knew when her muscles would work or fail… and reading your blog just sort of gives me an insight into where a lot of her anger came from… she wanted to be a better mother to her five children, but the physical limitations of her illness and the resentment at her lot in life and the fact that people couldn’t understand what she was going through got turned into anger. i remember her as angry. she remembers herself as overwhelmed. i think ari will remember you as engaged and loving. you are a good father.
Post a Comment