Baralier ([info]baralier) wrote,
@ 2006-12-05 19:07:00
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Current mood: busy
Entry tags:books, christmas

Christmas Present suggestions
Righto. I'm trying to find a suitable book for my 9 year-old niece for Christmas. Last year I bought Neil Gaiman's Coraline but it was a little too advanced for her (according to her mother). I was thinking the illustrated edition of Stardust might be a bit better this year though I'm not sure if it might still be a little advanced (her school report says she is reading 12 months ahead of her age group).

Someone else suggested Lloyd Alexander's The Black Cauldron from the The Chronicles of Prydain series.

I also bought her The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe which she apparently enjoys.

Anyone have any other suggestions? Or thoughts on the ones so far?


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[info]drjon
2006-12-05 08:11 am UTC (link)
The Dark Is Rising.

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[info]liluri
2006-12-05 08:44 am UTC (link)
What I was thinking!

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[info]lucy_anne
2006-12-05 06:40 pm UTC (link)
Damn, beat me to it!
(Also another vote for the Cofler books - although you may find you want to keep them for yourself)

You can also start her on the Redwall books (yes, I know, they're not deep but they are fun -- and there are a lot of 'stepping on' points), the Tamora Pierce Circle series (although that may be to old) and Diana Wynne Jones (but check the recommended age level -- she does write across categories).

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[info]liluri
2006-12-05 08:49 am UTC (link)
The Secret Garden might be worth a look

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[info]subtle_eye
2006-12-05 09:05 am UTC (link)
Phillip Pulman?

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[info]raven_
2006-12-05 09:06 am UTC (link)
Eoin Culfer - the Artemis Fowl series. You'd need to start from the first one, but they all ROCK. And yes, I've read each and every one of them, hot off the press. http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/products/detailed.asp?bookid=0141312122

or the Lemony Snicket series of unfortunate events - Tal adored them at that age.

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[info]neefsck
2006-12-05 09:16 am UTC (link)
Theres another Gaiman called "The Wolves in the Walls"
I rather liked it.

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[info]zey
2006-12-05 09:56 am UTC (link)
If she loves Harry Potter, 9 is probably old enough for Raymond E Feist's 'Magician' or Ursula Le Guin's 'Earthsea' novels.

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[info]rachelholkner
2006-12-05 10:46 am UTC (link)
Roald Dahl - Witches, BFG, etc assuming she hasn't read them all already!
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
I second The Secret Garden, plus any of the others by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Noel Streatfield - Ballet Shoes; Thursday's Child, there are stacks more.

Those are all oldies, but they're ones I read over and over at that age.

The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith is hilarious, and just the sort of slightly disturbed thing an uncle should give too!

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[info]andricongirl
2006-12-05 11:32 am UTC (link)
any dahl, lemmony snicket etc .. but shes probally read them all ready ?

but then if she can read those she should be well able to read the illustrated startdust, and coraline ;p

the books of the secret doll house is very cool, a pop up doll house thing, with info on different customs , victorian, edwardian, etc etc and theres also matching paper wedding dolls with costumes.

also the brian froud fairy books (and mrs cottinghams pressed fairys) are great for kids. and that book on gnomes ..


kids craft books, theres some cool sets , learn to knit , learn to crochet etc . they are fun.

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[info]binka_boo
2006-12-05 01:53 pm UTC (link)
lloyd alexander's stuff is good (though the black cauldron is not the first book... it's the second, but don't remember what the first is...)

i also recommend the rest of the narnia series if she hasn't read it

also, i got into brian caswell's stuff at about 10/11. Merryl of the Stones is a great little book if you can still get it, and there's a collection of short stories. they're pretty adultish, but they're about young people and shift between the 'real' and historical/fantasy worlds.

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[info]silverfiligree
2006-12-05 05:04 pm UTC (link)
I second the other suggestions, and I recommend Alan Garner's books for children who like fantasy. I would start her on The Weirdstone of Brisingamen because it's my favourite :)

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[info]silverfiligree
2006-12-05 05:06 pm UTC (link)
I forgot to mention The Gammage Cup by Carole Kendall, or what about The Hobbit?

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[info]redcountess
2006-12-05 07:06 pm UTC (link)
Not Fantasy, but Victorian, albeit American (set during the Civil War): Little Women. Also Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables. I loved those books when I were a lass.

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[info]juniper_maei
2006-12-05 10:49 pm UTC (link)
Mimus
The Artemis Fowl Books
The Book of Lies
Series of Unfortunate Events
Over Sea Under Stone or any of the other Dark is Rising Sequence.
The Children of Green Knowe
Famous Five
Truckers, Diggers and Wings

I can probably think of some more for you

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[info]bondchick_nett
2006-12-05 11:14 pm UTC (link)
Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men ! :D :D

Delightful at any age, and when she reads it again in ten years she'll discover so many more nuances and layers to couple with her nostalgia.

Oh man I posted this last night and it refused to work! Whats that about... *wonders*

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[info]cold_echo
2006-12-05 11:55 pm UTC (link)
I know the author is going to get as much Fantasy cred, but I was FAILING at buying my cousin books that she would read when she was about 10/11 (and she also loved the lion the witch and the wardrobe).
I ended up buying her Johns Marsden's book, "Tommorrow when the War began". For the next birthdays/christmas' I had to buy her the next book in the series.... She CHEWED them up.

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[info]absinthangel
2006-12-07 02:56 am UTC (link)
I adored "Miss Flower & Miss Happiness" by Rhumer Godden (?sp), so much so that in my adult years I pursued a discontinued hardcover edition to add to my book collection. I think you'd get a paperback on eBay or Amazon ... the story itself revolves around a young girl placed with distance relatives, and the arrival of two ornate Japanese Dolls from an aunt travelling abroad. It follows the trials and tribulations as the whole household bands together to build a genuine Japanese Dolls House in a bid to make Nona welcome & feel accepted as she adapts to her new life.

As a young gitl it really opened my eyes to the cultures and traditions of other countries, and I carry the facination for all the old Japanese Traditions with me to this day! It was a very impressionable read!

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(Anonymous)
2006-12-07 04:56 am UTC (link)
Dianne Wynne Jones Witch week.
It's brilliant.

Enid Blytons always good! Try Island of Adventure to start.

I also read Watership Down around 9 years old and enjoyed it muchly. Depends if she likes animals.


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As if you needed any more suggestions...
[info]kythys
2006-12-11 10:17 am UTC (link)
Stay away from Phillip Pullman, he's really more of an 11-12 age (don't care how advanced she is for a nine year old still some concepts in later books that won't make you popular with the parentals!)

Anything by Eva Ibbotson, eg Which Witch, Secret of Platform 13, Star of Kazan etc etc
Ella Enchanted, Gail Levine (much better than the movie)
Inkheart, Cornelia Funke


And the old favourites....
Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons (like Famous Five but with more creativity and better female role models)
Diana Wynne Jones, Witch Week, Chrestomanci series, Howl's Moving Castle, etc etc
Edward Eager, anything
E Nesbit, Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, Magic City
Charlotte's Web?

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