The Prydain Chronicles
I mentioned here and here the books that have failed or succeeded in capturing my eldest child's fancy. It's up with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl, down with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles Of Narnia. What did this mean? Were the older books that I grew up with so far removed in topic or style from her interest? I don't want to think so. I'd like to think my daughter will grow up to have wide tastes because she said she enjoyed Natalie Savage Carlson's The Family Under The Bridge, and I've seen her eyeing my old copy of Beverly Cleary's Dear Mr. Henshaw, two old books with realist settings. Maybe it's the way fantasy is presented in these older works? Well, she got her hands on a copy of The Book Of Three recently, the first book in Lloyd Alexander's The Prydain Chronicles. I watched her closely to see how she'd react.Great news! After less than two weeks, she's worked her way to the fifth and final book, The High King. She's halfway through it as of today. This is the first of the older books that has grabbed her the way Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl have. I now engage her in coversations about the series' characters: Taran Assistant Pig-Keeper, Princess Eilonwy, Gurgi, Kaw, and all the others. I have a surprise for her too. As far as she knows there are only five books in the series, but I have a copy of The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain, a book of short stories narrating the backgrounds of some of the main characters. I can't wait to spring it on her and see her read it!
posted by pgenrestories at 5:27 PM
18 Comments:
I think some books age well while others... don't.
Congrats to your daughter!
I recommend Lloyd Alexander's Westmark trilogy. It's a little darker, though.
There's also Dianne Wynne-Jones' Spellcoats tetralogy.
@Charles: Thanks! I wonder why The Hobbit and The Chronicles haven't grabbed her though. The movies ought to have stirred her interest.
@Dominique: Thanks for the recommendations. I've got the Westmark trilogy somewhere around, but I haven't tried Jones yet. I just might.
How old is your daughter? The Hobbit for me is still too much adult fantasy, or young adult at best. At the other end of the spectrum, Chronicles of Narnia for me is too sparse on the text. Both books I think have aged--Tolkien with the writing style, Lewis with the subject matter and overall impact of his stories (if America wasn't a Christian country, it's a good runner-up for a banned book).
@charles: My daughter is eight-years-old, turning nine in a month or so. Well, with the movies of both books coming soon, I expect her interest to be renewed. Let's see!
i'd have to disagree with charles. i don't think it's the 'aging' of the styles. at the risk of sounding sexist, both Tolkien and Lewis have always had a certain indefinable 'masculine' quality to their fiction; at heart they are adventure stories for boys. particularly Tolkien; there's that geekboy aesthete to it that has kept young lads virgins for generations (at least until the internets made geekdom cool). from the list on this post, it sounds like your daughter tends towards things that are, shall we say, more in touch with the feminine side of fiction and writing.
You may be on to something there, skinny, though I was hoping my daughter would be like other ladies I know who have enjoyed Tolkien and Lewis. But there's time, let's see. Someone did suggest Tamora Pierce. I read up about her and her books have female protagonists, so that kind of jives with your suggestion too. Thanks!
I absolutely love The Prydain Chronicles! :) I read them in high school (I think I read "The High King" in grade school--I read the books in reverse order, ehehe). I really liked them because Lloyd Alexander can actually write humor, dialogue, and even a little bit of romance very well, and not a lot of children's fantasy books have that. All his characters were likeable, too. And I think Taran was my inspiration growing up too--I think it's because of his being just a "simple Assistant Pig-keeper" but with very big dreams--I could then sympathize with him.
I liked "The Foundling" too, especially that short story about (little!) Dallben.
I'd recommend Diana Wynne Jones too, although my favorites are "Howl's Moving Castle" and the Chrestomanci Chronicles. ^_^
For realist YA fiction--how about "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech? ^_^
Hi Celestine. How are you?
I'm glad that my daughter isn't alone in liking these stories. After she showed no interest with The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, I thought it might be the same for the Prydain Chronicles. Luckily, not so!
Thanks for the recommendations. I will look them up.
I was thinking of Island of the Blue Dolphins, or Call It Courage, or even The Witch of Blackbird Pond, but perhaps she has to grow a bit more first. What do you think of those books (if you've read them)?
I guess she's also too young for The Earthsea books of leGuin, or L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time and the rest of the books in that series. She's only eight, going nine.
I read "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" when I was in Grade 2, and really liked it even then (it's one of those books that I still like reading even now that I'm older), so I think it's already okay for her to read that. :) (Besides, she's already read the Prydain Chronicles, so I think she could handle that, hehe...)
I haven't read "Island of the Blue Dolphins" or "Call It Courage" though.
And yes, I think she's too young for the Earthsea series and the Time Quartet as well...especially Earthsea, as it tends to be a bit heavy even now for me, ehehe. (Especially the fourth book, "Tehanu".) But when she's older I think she'll like those books too. :)
How about Philippine YA fiction? (Like "The Secret" by Lin Acacio-Flores and Carla M. Pacis' novels...) Although there's so little so far...
Okay. I'll surreptitiously leave a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond around for my daughter to find. Let's see if it grabs her attention.
I'll consider too the local YA books. Thanks again for the reco's!
Ako bahala sa Pinoy YA, LOL!!! One of my cooky dreams is to make for this country things similar to Full Metal Panic and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in Japan. (To explain myself, those two anime titles did not start as manga, but as a series of young adult novels with drawings in them.) Sama ka sakin, luckychan?
I think your daughter can also handle A Wrinkle in Time. She should also try some of the young adult classics! A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (the basis for the Princess Sara cartoon) is really good.
EK 8 )
Good luck writing your YA books! I'm looking forward to reading them!
And thanks for the suggestions too!
EK: Haha, sige, sama ako!!! :D I would really love to write a YA book someday. ^_^
(Actually, I have an ongoing serial, but that's mostly teen-fantasy, not exactly YA. ^^;)
I hope your daughter keeps reading, Kenneth! :) I'll go look for local YA books that would be recommendable. ^^
Hi Kenneth, I know this is an old post, but I came across it on a recent Google search for "Philippine YA Fiction." :)
I will join the ranks enthusiastically recommending "A Wrinkle in Time." :) There's a nice 5-volume box set in bookstores right now, but it's not too hard to find at least the first book for cheap in Book Sale. ;) I would also recommend Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" sequence, though I hope you and your daughter skipped the abysmal movie adaptation.
Thanks, Luis! I have L'Engle's books already, as well as Cooper's, so that's covered. :)
She skipped the movie, I'm happy to tell you. :)
hi! i love the chronicles of prydain! my favorite is book 4, Taran Wanderer, where he finally leaves his old ideas about life, and grows up, becomes his own man. I remember buying the book of three at the old Boodmark bookstore in alabang... good times!
@gabby: I started with The Book Of Three in grade school, and spent a lot of time looking for the rest. Took me a year to find them. Particularly difficult to find back then was The Castle Of Llyr, but eventually it popped up. :)
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