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What age/ability to read Sherlock Holmes?

60 replies

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 20:29

I've not read it so no idea. It's for ds.

TIA.

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Hassled · 23/05/2009 20:31

Well I have a bookworm of a DS2 (nearly 11) who reads Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman etc. And he was bored silly - didn't get on with the language at all. I was gutted.

So older than that...

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 20:36

Ds has already read all these. He read them a few years ago, he's a good reader and has read alot of books. I'm not sure how scary/grusome Sherlock Holmes is. What about Agatha Christie? I need to read more don't I!

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janeite · 23/05/2009 20:36

They are probably a bit difficult and rambly at least at first. I use them with Yr 10 who are L4 plus but they need a lot of help with picking out the 'nitty gritties' from the stories.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 20:42

He's 10 but has a reading and comprehension age of 16+ so I don't think this will be a problem. I don't know about the content being too old for him though. I don't want to give him nightmares IYSWIM. God, I sound like I'm boasting now He's reading Harry Potter again at the moment so I need to get him reading something else. HP is fine but this will be the 30th time he's read them all.

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Hassled · 23/05/2009 20:49

Fluffy - I'm in the same boat with DS2 - bloody HP for the billionth time. He's a very competent reader but that doesn't mean he has the maturity to understand more adult stuff. So it's hard to know where to turn - has he tried the Hitchhiker's Guide books? They've gone down well.

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YanknCock · 23/05/2009 20:56

DH and I are Sherlock Holmes fans and both recently re-read the complete collection (fighting each other for the books at night). DH reckons the later stories get a bit 'dark' while I sort of think it would all be okay for a child with the reading ability you describe. Mind you, I was reading Stephen King quite early, and Sherlock Holmes stories are nowhere near as graphic! I don't think they are particularly scary at all.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 20:57

Yes, he's done Hitchikers (four times IIRC), all Terry Pratchet and Philip Pullman, Black beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the willows, Horrible Histories,Book thief, the number devil (he said this was good), Anne Frank, Alex rider, Narnia, he's read so many I can't remember them all. I'm not sure what to give him next. We have books all over the house and he's read every single one of them. I'm stuck for ideas now. Maybe some classics?

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:00

Has he read the young Bond books? They are quite graphic. Darren Shan? The 39 Steps?

Some of King's short stories might be worth a try but I'd suggest that you read them yourself first.

Inkheart and its sequels?

Of Mice And Men or some of Steinbeck's short stories?

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 21:03

He's done Inkhart, there's something about a dragon (elder????), not young bond though, I have not seen any of these. He could try Darren Shan. I didn't have access to books as a child so I don't know what to give to him.

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YanknCock · 23/05/2009 21:04

Am doing a bit of a and at myself, but I'm sure it was around your son's age that I had a thing about Edgar Allen Poe! IIRC, he's a bit gruesome!

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:05

I thing he'd like the young Bonds, if he enjoyed Alex Rider - they are like that but a bit more graphic and it is actually James Bond as a teenager, rather than a modern day Bondalike.

Please have a look at the Darren Shans as well before giving them to him: I found them to be intent on the horror rather than on the quality of writing iyswim.

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Wallace · 23/05/2009 21:05

What about the series by Willard Price - African Adventure and the like. Or would those be too young?

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:06

The dragon ones are Eragon etc - they are not very good!

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 21:08

Are they as bad as 'You're a bad man Mr Gum' ? God, this was a terrible book!

There were no books in my house when I was a child so only started to read properly in secondary school. I read alot of Dickens then Sweet Valley high I can't see him going for these myself. He's done some Dickens (christmas carol). I'll get hold of some James Bond, thankyou for this

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 21:10

I need books with alot of pages He's read 484 pages of HP since 10am so he gets through them a bit quickly. Something interesting, well written and long. It keeps him off my laptop!!

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Bink · 23/05/2009 21:18

Young Bond, I think (by Charlie Higson), not the original James Bonds by Ian Fleming. I think 10 is too young for the original James Bonds.

If he can get on with Christmas Carol, how about some of the other tougher classics - Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea); H Rider Haggard (She, Allan Quatermain, King Solomon's Mines); Moonfleet (J. Meade Falkner)? And Biggles, Ted Hughes's Iron Man, The Hobbit, even Lord of the Rings - that would keep him going for a week or two.

I'd let him loose in a library too.

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:18

The Bond ones are by Charlie somebody. Higson maybe?

Has he read all of the Pullman books, including the Sally Lockheart ones?

What about the 'Across The Nightingale Floor' series? And the 'Windsinger' series? And the 'Mortal Engines' series?

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:19

Yes, yes to The Hobbit - and thanks for the Charlie Higson info!

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:20

Doyle's 'The Lost World' is v good fun too. That and King S' Mines and a couple of others have been released in a really nice looking series.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 21:21

Done Jules Verne (journey to the centre of the earth, around the world, not 2000 leagues I don't think), he's done all of the lord of the rings (he did them all a few years ago), done the hobbit before lord of the rings. I'll write the rest down. Thankyou He goes for Captain Underpants in the library. I don't mind him reading this but he finishes it before leaving the library. It's easier if I just hand one to him and say 'here, try this'.

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:25

Sorry - ignore me if you want but are you sure he's understanding them all fully? If he keeps returning to Captain Underpants he may be wanting something a bit simpler to chill with sometimes.

I've just remembered somebody he HAS to read - Neil Gaiman!

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Bink · 23/05/2009 21:26

Also - Henry Treece, Geoffrey Trease, - plus someone whose name keeps slipping in and out of my mind, I'll post where I recall it. They're classic late 50s/60s Puffin authors -beautifully written serious (and wonderful) children's literature. See what your library has of them - they can be hard to find in bookshops.

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FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/05/2009 21:30

They assessed him at his last school for reading and comprehension, he was off the scale. It went up to age 16 and he was a 16+. I do have a chat with him after and ask him what the book was about, he does tell me. He laughs and reads the funny bits out so I think he understands.

He's got a silly streak which is where the Captain Underpants fits in. I don't mind him reading this to chill, reading should be fun so even captain underpants has a place on our shelves. I'd rather he enjoyed what he was reading (have refused to buy any more Mr Gum books though, I have to draw a line here).

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janeite · 23/05/2009 21:32

OK. I have missed out on the delights of Mr Gum I think - never heard of him!

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