Thread: Child's book
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I thought it was a GREAT kids book and I wanna read it to my lil isi
Good idea, that`s just what I`m going to do, that`s if I ever find a hubby and have kids. 
I love little kids. I think I`m good at looking after kids, firm but I like to have fun with them as well, just the right mum I think. Not too soft and not too firm.
I love little kids. I think I`m good at looking after kids, firm but I like to have fun with them as well, just the right mum I think. Not too soft and not too firm. 
Before I read the Hobbit, I always thought of it as a kids story. Now I know better. (I had to rent the Alan Lee illustrated version from the library, it was NICE!)
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As a writer, I can tell you that clear and concise writing like in "the HObbit" is a gift.
As a writer, I can tell you that clear and concise writing like in "the HObbit" is a gift.
Swampy that doesn't mean it isn't a child's story. There are tons of gifted children's writers that create wonderfully clear and concise stories for kids because that is exactly what children can grab onto...it isn't any less real writing anymore than babyfood isn't real people food. It's just more palatable and easy to digest. Simple stories are necessary for kids to learn not only how to read but to keep their attention and love the idea of literacy...you wouldn't get very far with kids and reading if you tried to turn them on to Kafka. That's where Dr. Seuss comes in. He tells a story in a way that grabs a kid's attention, and leaves them wanting to discover what the fuss is all about with huge volumes that don't have pictures!
I would add here that our very own Remmit got POTW this week for writing a brilliantly simple post. And we don't appreciate that?
The gift of children's literature is telling a meaningful story (however you define it) in a brilliantly simple way.
For example, The Lumox is a Dr Seuss story...it is the one, I hope, lest I be a big non source checking dork...that is about the guy chopping all the trees to make his factory bigger. A kiddie book and no one would argue that. But it's brilliant nonetheless. HUGE postBody there. Lifelong postBody I would hope.
The Bible is full of parables and other simple tales. Daniel. Noah. Shadrack Mischak and Abednigo. Loaves and two fishes. Whether you embrace the theology or not, they are simple yet meaningful stories.
Shel Silverstein is one of the most brilliant postAuthorIDs I could possibly imagine and he is considered a children's writer. The Giving Tree??? For Godsake that is inspired!
To be in such company as any of these people would not personally offend me. I don't know why it would be so insulting to anyone to be considered a children's postAuthorID...or to have written a children's story. If I'm not mistaken, the classification process is not even focussed on content of material. (There are kids stories about very grown up issues..."My Two Daddies"?) To Kill A Mockingbird was considered young adult fiction? Books are classified as a result of analyzing the vocabulary and which age group or grade level (within kids classifications) is most likely to be able to begin understanding it.
I suppose the difference between a good writer and a great writer is not being perfectly suitable to any one group or age, but to be able to write simply enough for children and simultaneously deep enough for adults to want to treasure a story long after they are able to read it.
I noticed the difference between the Hobbit and LOTR. I don't know if I thought this first and then read it, but Tolkien himself said it was a bedtime story for his children...and I remember thinking, "Yeah this is a tale you would tell around a campfire!" That is a distinctly different vibe from what I got reading LOTR which went down more like a cross between a novel and a history book and was much more difficult to follow. The Sil and Unfinished Tales, not that I know personally, because I haven't read them...are support and reference materials that lay the groundwork for both TH and LOTR so in that sense they would be "other".
But why would any of this get anyone's bloomers in a knot?
Some random thoughts since I started reading the whole thread here:
First, I didn't mean to sound like I was stealing any thunder here, I heard a lot of the same thoughts as mine and I thunk them up all by myself.
My fav part of WOW is when Toad first gets run over by the motorcar, then all he can say is "poop poop". Talk about your ROFL, I was coming absolutely unglued when I came up on that! WHICH is exactly the same delight I experienced when I read Bilbo's reaction (in TH) to finding out what all the adventure entailed...the whole "whistling like a teapot" thing, I was CRYING real tears and could not pull it together for a good five minutes!
Great childrens literature often goes on to inspire adults to do other creative and decidedly more grown up things. I guess a few things that come to mind, in addition to The Hobbit giving birth to LOTR...is how the HP books are getting more and more advanced as we go along. No one originally had any doubt that HP1 was a kid's story but I think the line for me was 1-2-3 kids and 4-5 grownups. Musicians have been inspired by kid's literature too. How many scores to childrens movies are complicated symphonic masterpieces? The music from TKAM was absolutely haunting, scary and delightfully innocent at the same time. Van Morrison wrote a song called "Wind in the Willows" too.
The classification system of books really has no bearing on who is reading it or how good it is. It has more to do with where to put the book in a library or bookstore so you can get the youngest audience possible...it's probably economics.
I think that's it.
But you know I'll be back if I forgot anything.
First, I didn't mean to sound like I was stealing any thunder here, I heard a lot of the same thoughts as mine and I thunk them up all by myself.
My fav part of WOW is when Toad first gets run over by the motorcar, then all he can say is "poop poop". Talk about your ROFL, I was coming absolutely unglued when I came up on that! WHICH is exactly the same delight I experienced when I read Bilbo's reaction (in TH) to finding out what all the adventure entailed...the whole "whistling like a teapot" thing, I was CRYING real tears and could not pull it together for a good five minutes!
Great childrens literature often goes on to inspire adults to do other creative and decidedly more grown up things. I guess a few things that come to mind, in addition to The Hobbit giving birth to LOTR...is how the HP books are getting more and more advanced as we go along. No one originally had any doubt that HP1 was a kid's story but I think the line for me was 1-2-3 kids and 4-5 grownups. Musicians have been inspired by kid's literature too. How many scores to childrens movies are complicated symphonic masterpieces? The music from TKAM was absolutely haunting, scary and delightfully innocent at the same time. Van Morrison wrote a song called "Wind in the Willows" too.
The classification system of books really has no bearing on who is reading it or how good it is. It has more to do with where to put the book in a library or bookstore so you can get the youngest audience possible...it's probably economics.
I think that's it.
But you know I'll be back if I forgot anything.
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The Lumox is a Dr Seuss story...
The Lumox is a Dr Seuss story...
Just to clarify, I think this book was called The Lorax in other countries (or at least in Australia). It is definately one of my favourites.
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Yup. Quote:
The Lumox is a Dr Seuss story...
Just to clarify, I think this book was called The Lorax in other countries (or at least in Australia). It is definitely one of my favourites. The Lumox is a Dr Seuss story...
And the Lumox when spelled with two M's is colloquial for a clumsy or stupid person; a dunderhead. But don't feel like one MIM, because I couldn't remember the actual title either, even though I recognized the story from your description; besides, you may be long winded, but you are anything, but a lummox.
YES Just call me chowder head then. The LORAX. I knew I was probably wrong. Is there an interesting word for lazy? As in:
"MIM is a ________ chowder head!"
"MIM is a ________ chowder head!"
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Is there an interesting word for lazy? As in:
"MIM is a ________ chowder head!"
Well there almost is, but not really, though it works fine. According to my six inch thick Webster's. it would be "nice." However, rather than using its definition "7a ignorant; foolish," Is there an interesting word for lazy? As in:
"MIM is a ________ chowder head!"
I would choose to use the third word from its definition "6a agreeable, pleasant, delightful". 
So we would be left with:MIM is a delightful chowder head! I don't think that would be detrimental to anyone's self-esteem.
Now, after this little discussion, do we feel "nice" like the hobbit, Perigrin Took using the last word of definition 7a? I know I do.
[Edited on 14/8/2003 by Grondmaster]
I know The Hobbit can go for a "Child's book",I am reading it to my little sisters & brothers and they understand it and enjoy it as much as an adult can.I think what ppl mean by "Child's book" is that it has no obscene parts or extreme violence,least to me
I'm currently rereading The Hobbit for the umpteenth time and am still enjoying itof course I'm probably undergoing my second childhood, so maybe my view doesn't count for much.
Childs book?!??! It ainīt no childs book.....Itīs a horror novel! itīs really scary 
Personaly, I think "The Hobbit" is a book written mainly for children, regardless of age; you could be 10, 30 or 50 and still enjoy it! We alone decide when our inner child must die; what's wrong with those of us who don't let this happen? As for me, I've always considered "material" and "mature" two words too close not just in appearance, but also in meaning. Just think of Michael Ende's "Neverending Story".
As for Harry Potter, I haven't read "The Order of Phoenix", but the 4th book was clearly not for little kids! There are some parts that freaked me out! Imagine what that would do to a not-yet-10-year-old child! Other than that, I really liked the book; it's better than the first three ones, IMO! I guess little Harry is growing up, right?
If I was to make a comparison (though it's hardly possible!), I would say TH is on the same level with HP4.
Namarie!
As for Harry Potter, I haven't read "The Order of Phoenix", but the 4th book was clearly not for little kids! There are some parts that freaked me out! Imagine what that would do to a not-yet-10-year-old child! Other than that, I really liked the book; it's better than the first three ones, IMO! I guess little Harry is growing up, right?
If I was to make a comparison (though it's hardly possible!), I would say TH is on the same level with HP4.
Namarie!
I think it's one of those novels that is made for anybody, it's never too old or too young, and everybody can enjoy it, from Fea's younger siblings to um, "older people" such as Grondy
Yea, Andrea, I think u got it right: this book has no age; why should its readers have an "established age"?
I think the the Hobbit is a great book. You are right when you say that all people can enjoy it. It is the kind of book that can enchant you just by picking it up.