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Original poster

Quick Pratchett advice please!

43 replies

TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 09:52

I'm currently reading the Bromeliad trilogy to dd (9) and she's very much enjoying it. She liked the short story collections (Dragons at Crumbling Castle and the Witch's Vacuum Cleaner) before that - but she didn't like the short-story version of the Carpet People so not going down that route. Would the Tiffany Aching series be a good place to go next, or is she still a bit too young for that?

That's it, really. Thank you Flowers

OP posts:
EveryKneeShallBow · 08/12/2024 11:54

TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 11:34

Thank you all for all this! Flowers

Pullman is Northern Lights etc? Is that right?

Yes, that’s right. I highly recommend it because it’s one of those series that an adult can enjoy while the kids like it, possibly without getting all the allusions and implications. We listened in the car on the school run and the whole family got something out of it.

Original poster
TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 11:46

I love the wealth of knowledge on here! Why is there no heart emoji?

OP posts:
NotbloodyGivingupYet · 08/12/2024 11:40

Yes, northern lights etc. They get very dark and deep.
The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents is a great Pratchett book, very funny.

JingleB · 08/12/2024 11:38

TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 11:34

Thank you all for all this! Flowers

Pullman is Northern Lights etc? Is that right?

Yes, but I’d leave it for a couple of years. 9 is young for the complexity and ambiguity of Northern Lights.

NotbloodyGivingupYet · 08/12/2024 11:38

Philip Pullman is not exactly light touch for a 9 year old, though I suppose it depends on the 9 year old.

JingleB · 08/12/2024 11:37

Perfect age for Only You Can Save Mankind, Johnny And The Dead, Johnny And The Bomb by Pratchett.

All three Johnny books are great.

Original poster
TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 11:34

Thank you all for all this! Flowers

Pullman is Northern Lights etc? Is that right?

OP posts:
EveryKneeShallBow · 08/12/2024 11:24

Not Pratchett, as you’ve already had great advice, but my son enjoyed the Philip Pullman books at that age.

SprigatitoYouAndIKnow · 08/12/2024 11:19

The first 3 should be fine. I read them with ds at 9. Book 4 is very dark. Book 5 is sad and feels unfinished. It was the last book he wrote before he died and the only one I ever read of his that had loose ends.

MILLYmo0se · 08/12/2024 11:18

MILLYmo0se · 08/12/2024 10:09

Ya as with many series (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc) they tend to get darker in the later books, but I d give the first one a go anyway they do have to be read immediately after each other

'dont' have to be read immediately after each other, sorry, typo! As in they are kinda stand alone, you don't need to read the next one to find the conclusion of the first story so you can leave a gap til she s a bit older if you find them too dark

Original poster
TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 10:23

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 08/12/2024 10:21

Yes. It's brilliant- perfect for that age!

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Fab, another stocking filler sorted!

OP posts:
AllProperTeaIsTheft · 08/12/2024 10:21

TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 10:18

Ah, thanks all for all this. So I gather they don't have to be done in strict order, which sounds as if it's just as well (what I'm really liking about the Bromeliad books is that they touch on big issues but with a mostly very light touch). The Wee Free Men is the first one, right?

Yes. It's brilliant- perfect for that age!

Original poster
TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 10:18

Ah, thanks all for all this. So I gather they don't have to be done in strict order, which sounds as if it's just as well (what I'm really liking about the Bromeliad books is that they touch on big issues but with a mostly very light touch). The Wee Free Men is the first one, right?

OP posts:
MILLYmo0se · 08/12/2024 10:09

Ya as with many series (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc) they tend to get darker in the later books, but I d give the first one a go anyway they do have to be read immediately after each other

UnaOfStormhold · 08/12/2024 10:06

The first Tiffany Aching is great for that age but the later ones in the series get quite dark (Amber Petty's story, the Crooked Man and the persecution of witches) so might be ones to hold off on for a while. The Amazing Maurice is a good one to try.

Borka · 08/12/2024 10:05

I'd be a bit wary of I Shall Wear Midnight (4th in the series) as it's much darker than the others. There's a part where a father beats his pregnant teenage daughter and causes her to have a miscarriage.

Original poster
TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks · 08/12/2024 10:01

Yay! Thank you :)
I've older dc too but they were never into fantasy so all this is a whole new chapter (as it were) for me and a lot of fun.

OP posts:
PsychoSyd · 08/12/2024 09:53

Nope, she's just the right age for Tiffany Aching 😀