The Good Story Gremlin?

[snick_backup]

Then there's the opposite to the Suck Fairy, which I lack a cutsey name for: that personage that goes in children's books I thought were boring as a kid and made them good. Winnie the Pooh is the series that comes immediately to mind; I found them bland as a kid and adored them now. And I've been meaning to reread Watership Down one of these days, which I read as a kid (because they shelved it with the kids books, that's why!), and which I'm told is much better.

What about you? Kids' books that are better now?

Comments

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

"The Wind in the Willows," my all-time favorite book now. I also love "Bambi," the real book written originally in German by Felix Salten, not some Disney cartoon version with virtually all the meat removed. Both can be read on several levels, as is true with the best children's fiction. However, both books have serious adult, philosophical content and beauty of prose style that simply can't be grasped by young children, even bright ones. They deal with concepts that are, at that point in life, beyond their grasp.

[snickfic]

I was actually thinking about The Wind in the Willows! I can't claim it's one of mine, but I have an adult friend who loves it to bits, and I just picked up a copy a couple of days ago and started reading it again, on his recommendation.

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

Did you get the original and not some rewritten for kids version? It's so lovely -- the friendship of Rat and Mole so sweet. Several parts especially come to mind: the story surrounding rat's response to meeting the sea-faring rat, tiny Christmas carolers eating at Badger's table, the portion involving the great god Pan, and so much else. It's so beautifully written. Read the real "Bambi" next. It's a rather dark book, actually, not one bit Disneyesque.

[snickfic]

Yeah, it's the original Wind in the Willows. I'm only maybe fifteen pages in, though, in it's a large font. So, not very far. *g*

I've actually read Bambi (in English, granted), and was underwhelmed. I think I was maybe eleven or twelve, and rather felt that the book cared more than its philosophy than its story. I do remember it being fairly dark, though.

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

Try rereading "Bambi." You were too young at 11 or 12 to appreciate it, just as one is with "Alice" and so fiction for children. For example, there is the dialog between the two leaves on the tree at the edge of the meadow in autumn. That's marvelous. German, English, either way, it's a great book, and interestingly, the English translation was done by Whittaker Chambers. Yes, really!

[ghostyouknow27.livejournal.com]

I remember Bambi totally depressing me when I read it as 3rd grader. Maybe I should give it another shot.

I can't think of any kid's books that I hated as a kid and loved as an adult. Maybe I just haven't reread them ...

I hated "I Am the Cheese" as a kid and loved "The Chocolate War" as an adult. Same author. Maybe I'd like "I Am the Cheese," now.

[snickfic]

I'll have to think about it. I have such a list of things I want to read!

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

A translation of the original "Bambi" is waaaaaay beyond third grade reading level and eons beyond 3rd grade emotionally, what with hunters, death of the mother, abandonment by the father, forest fires, battles to the death during rutting season, and so on. A truly enchanting story and beautifully written, but also a dark book in spots. You may likely not have read the original, and I repeat: translated by Whittaker Chambers. Make sure what you get is neither expurgated for children nor abridged. It's about an inch and a half thick, if memory serves: not short and not normal third grade fare. It's a wonderful book -- truly! I also love the Grimm's Fairy Tales, but in a true translation, "grim"'s the correct word. I also love the British colored fairy books.

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

It never ends. I remember standing in the stacks of the main branch of my home town library and staring at all the ranks of shelved books when I was about in 7th grade. I'd been systematically working my way through the entire mythology and folklore section: Bulfinch's Greek and Roman, Norse, Irish, Pacific Islands, African, Russian . . . It was one of those moments of realization that come in life: "Oh God! I'll never live long enough to read all the books!" Yes indeed -- book freak here. :-)

[ghostyouknow27.livejournal.com]

I remember it being a long novel (then again, what's long to a 3rd grader?). I have absolutely no idea who translated it. I didn't read it as part of a class or anything, just on my own. I tended to read age-inappropriate stuff, so it's not impossible to think that I would have grabbed a big book with a title similar to a Disney movie.

I mostly remember the deer who was raised by humans and thought he could trust them and whose mother thought he was special and didn't have to fear humans. He was shot, of course. Oh, and Bambi discovering that the only way to live a long life was to live it alone. Hence the depression. It was a long time ago!

[rahirah]

I'd second both Bambi and The Wind In The Willows, and add the Doctor Doolittle books (with the caveat that they contain some stuff which is problematic by today's standards regarding characters of color - but they have sympathetic and heroic characters of color, which is a rarity for children's books of that era.)

I'd also add Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet books, My Father's Dragon and sequels, and the Narnia series, and The Hobbit. And The Jungle Books.

[snickfic]

I'm amused that Narnia has come up in both contexts. Depends on your inclination, I suppose.

I dearly loved the Doctor Doolittle books and the Mushroom when I was younger and would like to try them again. The sense of whimsy and wonder they're both thick with was soul-food back when I was desperately reading all the kids' fantasy I could find. Ah, the pre-Potter days...

I have never even heard of My Father's Dragon, though.

[rahirah]

My Father's Dragon is aimed at somewhat younger children, but I loved the heck out of it as a kid - I was a huge fan of dragons, and this was long before they became so popular.

I think you're the only other person I've run into who's read the Mushroom Planet books, though!

[snickfic]

I'm not sure I read more than one or maybe two of the Mushroom Planet books - I was at the mercy of the local library then. But I thought it/they were awfully fun.

[rahirah]

IIRC there were four or five altogether - it took me a long, long time to track down all of them. (I had a project as a kid to visit every branch library in Phoenix.)

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Alice in Wonderland/ Through the Lookinglass; much better than it seemed when I was a kid.

Also E Nesbitt's books. I re-read the Bastable stories (The Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, and the New Treasure Seekers) as an adult and they are so much better that I remember them as a child.

[snickfic]

I know a number of people who adore E. Nesbit. I don't think I ever read any, but I should.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Edith Nesbitt's just a great writer. Her characters are children, but they are very three dimensional. they have flaws, they screw up, and they mean well. Some of the attitudes towards gender roles is dated (the girls are the ones who sew & mend for example) but you get the feeling that Nesbitt is showing that those attitudes aren't necessarily what the author thinks is the way things should be done.

Give 'em a try! You might like them!

[snickfic]

Noted. Thank you!