I've had an epiphany. In the spirit of the Cannonball Read II: EBNWMLCMMIRWD, I'm going to see if my daughters want to join. They're usually pretty stoked about anything Pajiba related (read: fully indoctrinated)so I'm pretty sure they'll be in it to win it. I'm doing this for two reasons:
1. The excess of video games the kids have been playing and the amount of tv watching has started to bother me. (iCarly should be drawn and quartered). So perhaps this is a way to get them away from that.
2. My middle daughter can read fairly well, but generally dismisses anything that requires effort. Perhaps an performance/reward approach would help to motivate her to explore the written word.
I think I may also have my eldest write up a couple of reviews for shits and gigs. I have no doubt that she could read a book a week with little effort. The kid reads at a grade nine/ten level already.
Now, good people, what do I offer as a reward? Besides the Pajiba donation. Hmmm, I suppose I should check with Dustin on that one. Suggestions may be made below. Also, gimme some awesome book suggestions. Now!
SADdness and the Light at the End of the Tunnel
10 years ago
They get to live another day? And Tru Jackson, VP makes iCarly look like the Royal Shakesperian Theater Company.
ReplyDeleteAwesome awesome idea. As for book suggestions...gah. It's so hard for me to remember what I read as a kid, I read SO MUCH.
ReplyDeleteOne that I LOVED was The Princess Bride-the "good parts" version by William Goldman. I don't remember there being too much that was adult themed, and if she liked the movie she'll like the book.
Louis Sachar's Holes was good. To Kill a Mockingbird was my favorite in 6th grade (might want to wait on that).
The Giver was great. And ooh! Before I Die by Jenny Downham was really amazing. That might be too young adult too, how old is she? Fuck. I should never have kids.
She's nine, Julie. However I was looking for suggestions for me. I'll let the kids do as they wish (they're pretty good about selection anyways).
ReplyDeleteAnything and everything by Madeline L'Engle. Start with A Wrinkle in Time.
ReplyDeleteWhat else . . . I should be better at this. I DEVOURED the YA section of the library in my hometown.
The Narnia series is still kind of awesome.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The Chosen and its sequel, The Promise by Chaim Potok.
--MyySharona
And the gf suggests a classic, Little Women.
I read a ton of old Nancy Drew when I was a tot. I read just about everything though.
ReplyDeleteHow about an over night stay at a local hotel/motel that has a pool ... do your kids love to swim?
ReplyDeleteThat was always a cool thing to do. A little pricey when you are talking about a party of five, though...
Great idea - involving the girls.
Read the Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx. It has Newfies in it. Or, my fave, Geek Love, Katherine Dunne. It's very...interesting.
ReplyDeleteFOR YOU - NOT FOR THE WEE BAIRNS! Oh Christ, what have I done?!
ReplyDeleteGo for a day trip. Kids love that. My nieces and nephew go nuts for a trip to Universal and Disney (it helps that I get free tickets) or to the Science Center. If they get through their books every month, they get a day trip.
ReplyDeleteIn the States, there was a program called Book It! Kids would set a goal for the number of books they would read in a week and if they accomplished said goal, they got a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. Man, I was a reading fool then. I do love pizza...
I'll second The Giver suggestion, and its two sequels, for the kids. But I'm still trying to come up with ideas for myself.
ReplyDeleteI loved Book It!, Trouble! I'm amazed I didn't end up a fat kid because I participated as much as I could.
Terry Pratchett's 'kid's' books. I added the quotations because he clearly believes (as he should) that children are quite capable of thinking and should not be talked down to, so they're not traditional kids books. Extra recommendations for Wee Free Men and the sequels, Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith.
ReplyDeleteFor your eldest, maybe try getting her into the classics. I didn't get into them until adulthood, and I wish I'd been introduced earlier. Asimov and HG Wells if she loves her Sci-Fi, Conan-Doyle and Christie if she's into mysteries.
Definitely second the Madeleine L'Engle, but also throw anything by Gordon Korman on that list - it may be more male-oriented but the Bruno and Boots books, I Want to Go Home, and other early works are outstanding. I'd add the Asterix comics, but that may not be fully age-appropriate or qualify as a book.
ReplyDeleteSuggestions for Admin:
ReplyDeleteJust about anything by Umberto Eco if you want a challenge. If you haven't read the Song of Ice and Fire books, get on that. What else? Oh, Gaiman. All of it.
Also a good time to read some classics, like Mark Twain.
This is kinda hard not knowing what you like to read/have read already...
Good sir, if you have not read anything by the Good Doctor Hunter S. Thompson, hie thee to a lending library or book merchant and secure copies of "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" and "The Rum Diaries".
ReplyDeleteThe Doctor is my hero and was my role model, until I decided that I wanted to live past my 30th birthday (and it was a close call).
And because you are encouraging your kids to read, I hereby award you Egg Island's highest honor: The GMF Medal w/ Oak Leaf Cluster.
You make me proud, sir.
I *hope* you've already added some Lucy Maud Montgomery to their required reading lists! Never too young for Anne of Green Gables!
ReplyDeleteI second Lordhelmet's suggestion of the Bruno and Boots books--they're definitely not just for boys.
ACK! Sorry Admin, really should have read your post propely. Can we pretend I was suggesting Pratchett's adult books and the classics? Nope? Okaythen.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to echo Blonde Savant, what are you into?
I read mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy. A lot of it. No Pratchett though, except for Good Omens. I've ready The Song of Ice and Fire, Blonde. Three times. I've also read all Salvatore, Goodkind, Jordan, Tolkien, most Asimov, Card, Brooks, Feist, Herbert and Hamilton.
ReplyDeletePhew, I need to expand methinks.
Dude, you HAVE to listen to Spender, Hunter S. Thompson IS the funniest thing going. If your into ludicrous funny shit done by people high on ether and stuff. Bear in mind, I read Fantasy almost exclusively (and I don't care what anyone says), but Hunter makes me laugh out loud while reading. Also, pick up the Malazan series by Stephen Erikson, 9 books out already, best Fantasy I've ever read. Ever.
ReplyDeleteWell in that case, get a pen my friend. Ready?
ReplyDelete-Alfred Bester
-Roger Zelazny
-Carol Berg (specifically Transformation)
-Umberto Eco (start with Foucalt's Pendulum)
-Douglas Adams (if you haven't already that is)
-Patricia McKillip (if you can find the Riddle-master books, those are my favorites)
-Ben Bova
-Robert Heinlein (if you're feeling a bit misogynistic)
-Margaret Atwood (whom I cannot fucking stand, but some people like)
Sara Douglass (ONLY the Wayfarer Redemption though. Everything else she wrote was utter shit.)
-Salman Rushdie (more along the lines of magical realism, but I dig it)
And of course..
-Neil Gaiman (always and forever, amen)
I still think that you would really like Mark Twain. And you could let The Good One read him too. Not The Bad One though. She'd get too many ideas.