Quick Pratchett advice please!

[TheLittleOldWomanWhoShrinks]

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

Fab, another stocking filler sorted!

'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

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.

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

Thank you all for all this!

Pullman is Northern Lights etc? Is that right?

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

All three Johnny books are great.

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

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

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

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

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.

Have you tried her with E Nesbit? There are some wonderful short stories about magic and dragons, and the Five Children and It trilogy are terrific. Enchanted Castle too (and the Railway Children, but that's not magical).

How To Train Your Dragon books are funny and an easy read to wintry days. The audiobooks read by David Tennant are great. They were popular here from ages 6 to 13.

Eva Ibbotson has some great books for kids as well. Adventure like Star Of Kazan and humour like Beasts Of Clawston Castle were good fun.

Yes to E Nesbit - I've read her all the 5C and It trilogy and her godmother has recently given her a copy of The Book of Dragons (think it's called that). And yes to Eva Ibbotson. She enjoyed The Beasts (I admit to having skipped over part of the scene in Dr Manners' lab as it was just too horrible, but most of it engaged a lot of the themes she likes) and also really liked One Dog and his Boy.

The How to Train your Dragon books she started to read herself, not sure how far she got. (She is a big dragon fan).

Pratchett - Wee Free Men and Amazing Maurice.

Eva Ibbotson - Secret of Platform 13 and Ogre of Oglefort

SF Said - Varjak Paw

The 3 Malamander books

Oh, and Jasper Fforde - The last Dragonslayer

Thank you!

How about some Diana Wynne Jones? There’s the whole Chrestomanci series, and Howl’s Moving Castle…