30.2 - PJ Read's Task - As Suggested By Shannon South Africa - For The Children

[Lindsey]

Hi!
I don't have any children in my life whom it would be appropriate for me to pass on or recommend a book to. Could I donate the book I read to a library? Or are there any other alternatives that would be OK?

[Felina]

Charlotte's Web is a children's classic right?

Does anybody know if Dinah from The Red Tent is a child or a teenager?

[Megan]

Felina wrote: "Charlotte's Web is a children's classic right?

Does anybody know if Dinah from The Red Tent is a child or a teenager?"

She grows up during the book, and if I remember correctly, she's an adult when it ends.

---

I was subbing for the librarian today and discovered that someone's written a sequel to A Little Princess (my favorite classic kid's book). The sequel is called Wishing for Tomorrow: The Sequel to the Little Princess, so I think I'll use these two instead.

[Felina]

Hmmm guess that means that that won't work.

[Shannon SA]

Lindsey wrote: "Hi!
I don't have any children in my life whom it would be appropriate for me to pass on or recommend a book to. Could I donate the book I read to a library? Or are there any other alternatives that..."

Hi Lindsey, yes to passing the book on to the library or second-hand bookstore or anywhere you'd consider appropriate ... my aim was just to encourage a child to read a classic ...

[Shannon SA]

Felina wrote: "Charlotte's Web is a children's classic right?

Does anybody know if Dinah from The Red Tent is a child or a teenager?"

Hi Felina, yes Charlotte's Web is a children's classic. As Dinah becomes an adult during the course of the book, this one doesn't work for part B.

[Donna Jo]

Probably you could use To Kill a Mockingbird for part B

[Emily]

I am considering reading I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President - the main character is 12. It's nominated for the YALSA Teen Top Ten this year and has a fabulous title.

[Felina]

I had intended to use To Kill a Mockingbird but wanted to fit The Red Tent in somewhere.

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Felina wrote: "I had intended to use To Kill a Mockingbird but wanted to fit The Red Tent in somewhere."

well, we still have at least 11 more tasks not yet announced!

[Felina]

True true.

[Megan]

Emily wrote: "I am considering reading I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President - the main character is 12. It's nominated for the YALSA Teen Top Ten this year and h..."

I had completely forgotten about this book! I saw it subbing at the library around election time last year and wanted to read it. I'm going to go borrow this now as a pre-season warm-up~!

[Petra]

Just confirming that I can read The Magician's Nephew for Part A and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe for Part B?
This isn't a genre I'm very familiar with, so I thought I'd better ask.

[Cindy AL]

Are the color fairy books by Andrew Lang considered classic childrens' books?

[Shannon SA]

Petra wrote: "Just confirming that I can read The Magician's Nephew for Part A and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe for Part B?
This isn't a genre I'm very familiar with, so I thought I'd bett..."

Hi Petra, yes.

[Shannon SA]

Cindy wrote: "Are the color fairy books by Andrew Lang considered classic childrens' books?"

Hi Cindy, yes, just read 100 pages or more worth of stories.

[Sarah (Mood Reader)]

Thanks PJ... I can finally read a book and donate it to the hospital for kids! GREAT task Shannon!

[scherzo♫]

Sarah wrote: "Thanks PJ... I can finally read a book and donate it to the hospital for kids! GREAT task!"

The task is great thanks to Shannon ... not me.

[Sarah (Mood Reader)]

Does Are You There God, It's Me Margaret work for part A? I found it off of a kids classic books site.

[Liz M]

Sarah wrote: "Does Are You There God, It's Me Margaret work for part A? I found it off of a kids classic books site."

In post 25, Shannon defined classic as published before 1970. Are You There God, It's Me Margaret just misses that date -- it was published in 1970.

[Sarah (Mood Reader)]

So would it work for part B?

[Shannon SA]

Sarah wrote: "So would it work for part B?"

Yes, it works for part B.

[Ms. Hicks]

I'm reading Pigs in Heavenright now and wondering if this works for A. The story centers around Turtle, who is 6, but the story is told from the perspective of the adults around her.

[Shannon SA]

Hi DAnielle, Pigs in Heaven wasn't published before 1970, so it wouldn't work for part A, but it works for part B, I reckon Turtle is the MC.

[Lindsey]

Would The Golden Compass or one of Lemony Snicket's books be considered classic? I think they definitely will be eventually, but I don't know if they are yet. Thanks!

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Lindsey wrote: "Would The Golden Compass or one of Lemony Snicket's books be considered classic? I think they definitely will be eventually, but I don't know if they are yet. Thanks!"

The "classic" book has to be published before 1970.

[Lindsey]

Oooh ok thanks I must have missed that part :)

[Kate]

Would Trixie Belden or Nancy Drew books published before 1970 work for part A? My family has several from when my mom was a kid.

[Shannon SA]

Kathryn wrote: "Would Trixie Belden or Nancy Drew books published before 1970 work for part A? My family has several from when my mom was a kid."

Yes.

[Angie]

PJ or Shannon... I just read The Magician's Nephew and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to change my "Part B" book to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Can I do that or did you want them to be different books from different series/different authors?

[Shannon SA]

CaliAngie wrote: "PJ or Shannon... I just read The Magician's Nephew and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to change my "Part B" book to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Can I do that..."

Same series/same authors is fine, enjoy!

[Liz]

I saw that The Lightning Thief works for part B. Does that mean The Sea of Monsters would work as well? I don't know if the character has aged in it at all?

[Lindsey]

I think he's a year older in The Sea of Monsters, since he has completed another school year between when it starts and The Lightning Thief finishes.

[Liz]

So that would make him 13, which still works if I remember correctly?

[Lindsey]

Yep! For some reason, I was thinking 12 and younger, but I just went back and looked, and Shannon said 13 and younger. So I'm not positive that Percy is 13 in Sea of Monsters, but it would make sense that he is, since we know for sure he's 12 in the first book, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a birthday during that book.

[El]

The blurb about the book says something about being in seventh grade. So 13 would probably be accurate, though I haven't read it personally to vouch for him.

[Shannon SA]

I think a 7th grader would be 12 or 13, so I'm happy with Sea of Monsters for part B.

[Liz]

Thanks Shannon!

[Elizabeth (NC)]

For part A, can you read it aloud to a child, or do you have to read it and then pass it along to another child?
Thanks!

[Shannon SA]

Hi Elizabeth, I guess reading aloud is passing it on in a way, so I'll accept.

[Elizabeth (NC)]

Excellent! Thanks

[Leigh Ann]

Does anyone know how old Lily is in The Secret Life of Bees? I'd like to read it for part B.

[Kristina Simon]

Leigh Ann wrote: "Does anyone know how old Lily is in The Secret Life of Bees? I'd like to read it for part B."

According to wikipedia, she's 14.

[Leigh Ann]

Shannon, I just want to confirm that The Lovely Bones will work. I was originally going to read The Secret Life of Bees but since she's 14 I thought it was vetoed so I looked and saw that The Lovely Bones was apparently approved in like post #2, but she's also 14. I just don't want to read something and then not get credit for it so I thought I'd double check.

[Shannon SA]

Hi Leigh Ann, I see I didn't actually "approve" The Lovely Bones, post #2 is a list of suggestions, so as the main character in The Lovely Bones is 14, it won't work for part B, sorry.

[Leigh Ann]

OK, no problem! Glad I checked!

[Terri FL]

Would that be the same for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? I had this book and saw it listed in post 2 as a suggestion so started reading it. I am not sure how old Christopher is or forgot it if it was mentioned.

[Liz M]

Terri wrote: "Would that be the same for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? I had this book and saw it listed in post 2 as a suggestion so started reading it. I am not sure how old Christopher ..."

From Wiki: "The story is written in the first-person perspective of Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy with Asperger syndrome..."

[Terri FL]

Liz wrote: "Terri wrote: "Would that be the same for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? I had this book and saw it listed in post 2 as a suggestion so started reading it. I am not sure how ol..."

Thanks Liz! Guess I'll have to find a new book for this challenge but still want to finish this one! Maybe I can fit it in for another challenge.

[Terri FL]

Found one on my TBR list!

Set in Communist Hungary, Barnás’s (Ferenc Barnas) novel is the story of a nine-year-old child, the ninth child of Hungarian Catholics eking out a miserable living in the small northern town of Pomáz. Bordering on the stream-of-conscious, The Ninth: A Novel deals with life under the soft Communist rule of the late 1960’s, but from the point of view of a child with no basis for comparison. The picture we gain from our young narrator is uncomplicated by subtlety, politics, morality, and without the self-conscious morbidity and sexuality found in so many adult narrators. He’s an observer.