King Arthur storiees and novels for ten plus?

[Katiepoes]

Hello all, can anyone help me? My ten yearold daughter has been watching Merlin and is fascinated with the legends, I remember reading them around that age but would like some recommendations. She's a confident reader, does anyone have any suggestions? It can be novels or tales, help?

You could try The School For Good and Evil - it's not King Arthur (although he pops up a lot, Guinevere and Lancelot more so) but his son. So not the traditional tales. Ultimately they are about the battle for Camelot.

The Once And Future King by T. H. White. It's hefty but my 10 yo loved it.

The Mary Stewart books (The Crystal Cave series) are absolutely fabulous. I’ve not read them for a while, so I’m not entirely sure they’re suitable for a 10 year old, and I can’t remember when I first read them! Any unsuitability would be relationship based, rather than gore, if that makes a difference?

But just wonderful books, with lots of references to actual documents etc (but I love all Mary Stewart’s books!)

The Sword in the Stone (volume one of TOAFK) is age appropriate and entertaining. If she likes it then she could go on to the others but they’re much more adult in tone (not swearing and sex, just the nature of the subject matter). Roger Lancelyn Green’s King Arthur book is good.

Kevin Crossley Holland wrote a great series that starts with The Seeing Stone. It's a slightly different take on the stories but I thought they were excellent.

Kevin Crossley Holland series. I think The Seeing Stone is the first. I remember reading this years ago and really enjoyed it. I have the series on my Waiting To Read It mental pile but it is a huge pile...

Excellent! I remember The Sword in the Stone and the Roger Lancelyn Green one now. I like the idea of different takes too. I'll go look at all these, this is marvellous thank you all!

The Dark is Rising sequence refers to the Arthurian legends.

Very different type of story but The Weathermonger by Peter Dickinson, too.

King Arthur by Antonia Fraser was my favourite book at your daughters age. I’ve still got my battered copy, all held together with crispy old sellotape. I might re-read it now!

Once she's read some of the above, she could go on to other books which include characters from Arthurian legends eg Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series or Peter Dickinson's Changes trilogy.

Cross posted!

And Rosemary Sutcliff also wrote an Arthurian set I think - the Shining Company, The Light Beyond the Forest.

And a more adult one called Sword at Sunset that was my favourite book when I was 10.

1066vegan Great minds think alike...

Rosemary Sutcliffe's version is also great, start with The Sword and the Circle. Roger Lancelyn GreenAlso Bernard Cornwell though that might be a bit old (IMO the Mary Stewart version might be a bit old for 10 too, certainly the 3rd and 4th ones, but obviously depends on the 10yr old!).

I have the Susan Cooper series stashed away, I found a set at a jumble sale, I don't think she's ready and I don't want to put her off (sad mistake made with Ballet Shoes. Sob.) Rosemary Sutcliffe I'll add to my list too.

I suspect I will have to read them all to be sure. What a hardship

Ah yes T.H. White is the name I couldn't remember

Seconding Roger Lancelyn Green as the best straightforward retelling (I would start with his one), and The Once and Future King as an excellent less straightforward retelling.

I was ten when the BBC version of the Mary Stewart books was aired and read all the books soon after. They are a tad old but they didn't scar me. Really need to reread them, it's been too long.

Sharan Newman's Guinevere series are very good and show a bit of a different take on the story.

Not quite King Arthur, but fantasy for children 'Chronicles of Prydain' by Lloyd Alexander; 'The Snow Spider' (Magician Trilogy) by Jenny Nimmo and Alan Garner's books.

TimeIHadaNameChange - there was a BBC adaptation? Omg, I will now spend far too long trying to hunt that down!

My gut feel was that the books were a tad old, but not in any major way. They are my favourite Arthurian books, I’ve had to replace the whole series a few tones as I’d read them so much!

Grr fat fingers. I’ve replaced them a few times!

Just treated myself to The Changes on dvd. I wonder if it's as good as I remember from when I was a kid.

We have the one by Michael Morpurgo, Arthur High King of Britain, which we enjoyed.

www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/3052/Arthur-High-King-Of-Britain-by-Michael-Morpurgo.html

As a child I read Roger Lancelyn Green's book and loved it! I've heard good things about T H White but not read Sword in the Stone. Would also recommend Rosemary Sutcliff's Arthurian novels: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Sutcliff#Arthurian_novels