What age children are these books for?
I gave myself 8-12 years as a rough guide for reading ability. there are massive child-by-child variations within that. some eight-year-olds may be reading something that 12-year-olds would struggle with, and vice versa. what I like about the 8-12 grade is that it is one of the most exciting periods for a child to read. some of the best children’s books are in this category.
You are reading: Best books for 11 year olds 2017
It’s also the time when, regardless of their reading ability or ability to hold a long story, reading begins to pop into children’s heads. If you’re a parent, take a moment to watch your child read and watch for rapid eye movements across the page. it’s really exciting. they’re starting to own it, and as a bookseller, that’s what makes it a joy to get it right: when you sell a book and the kid comes back the next day saying, “that was awesome,” that’s the response you get. get at this age, because reading is amazing for them at this age.
I’ve been selling children’s books for a long time. Since Harry Potter there has been an explosion in the market for children’s books. A lot of money has been invested in it and a lot of very smart people have been attracted to it as a career. it’s very, very exciting as a result. I feel like there are a number of writers who are spectacularly good right now, and here’s a small selection of those books.
let’s start with your first choice, good night stories for rebellious girls. We no longer have to read about princesses being rescued by princes and living happily ever after. Instead, we learn about real-life heroines like… Rosa Parks? is she there?
yes, rosa parks, maria callas, amelia earhart. the range is incredible. This is spectacular. I wish I had had this book when he was a kid. in terms of female role models, it’s wonderful. i took this on vacation over the summer and my 14 year old niece was reading it to my 8 year old daughter and they couldn’t stop. they shared stories, read to each other and regaled us with facts. “did you know?” or “this chemist did this and this astrophysicist did that.”
They are beautifully presented mini-biographies, perfectly written. the one by maria callas makes me choke every time I read it and it only has two or three paragraphs.
there are 100 of them, from all over the world.
yes, from all over the world, from the last two hundred years or even more, to the present day. the facts they have chosen about the lives of these women and their achievements are simply delightful. and it is a different illustrator for each individual.
is neither preachy nor overly political. it’s just a celebration of lives well lived, and a huge variety within it, so there really is something for everyone. my daughter now has at least 10 female role models that she can read more about, discover more about, and be inspired by. but it’s not just a book for girls, far from it.
yes, my 11 year old enjoyed it too.
I have my husband flipping through it. It is a lovely reference book. There’s been a lot about gender neutrality in the press, but I think kids really are less gender sensitive. I used to go to many schools and read. 10 or 12 years ago, you would never have gotten a little kid to pick up a book with a pink cover, because society had so many references to say, ‘don’t do that,’ whereas today I found out, they don’t differentiate themselves in that way anymore. it is more fashionable not to make that judgment.
book number 2 on your list is the bookstore girl, by sylvia bishop. is this about charlie and the chocolate factory, but about books instead of chocolate?
A lot of the comparisons in the reviews mention charlie and the chocolate factory, and there is a comparison in the sense that there is competition, but there the similarity ends. It’s hotter than Roald Dahl. i love roald dahl, but he has a deliciously cruel streak. this is kind and clever.
is very well organized. he drops little clues which are then skillfully and effortlessly picked up later in the story. it has a very recognizable structure for a children’s story, which is comforting for a young reader. they know where they are. there are bad, there are good. there is a simplicity to it. then the author creates the most complicated library imaginable which she brilliantly describes.
It’s very, very funny. I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed, as did my 8 year old daughter. he is also quite wise. she imparts sound life advice along the way, which comes as advice from a caring and genuinely funny aunt. this standardized structure for a children’s book is played out so beautifully and imaginatively, so beautifully expressed.
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heroin is born in the bookstore, right?
yes, it is found in the lost estate when it is five years old and it is called the jones estate. that’s the setup. the owner of the bookstore and her son maintain it. since they work in a bookstore and live with books, they assume that she can read because she is five years old, but in reality she cannot. part of the story is about her hiding the fact that she can’t read, but that becomes a determining factor in the plot, because she sees things differently. who helps her solve the mystery.
is subtly bright. because it’s set in a bookstore and to some extent it’s about books and words, it plays with language and also with the meaning of words. the meaning of ‘goodbye’ is ‘god be with you’, which means you can come back again. this definition is used to satisfying plot effect.
The next book on your list is The Island at the End of Everything.
I was talking about a golden age of children’s literature and the author of this book, kiran millwood hargrave, is up there. he started out as a poet. she writes books that feel like they’ve been around forever, and she’s only in her twenties. then she is precociously brilliant. her books are objects of excellence.
This book is for the upper end of the 8-12 year old range, so it’s for a really pretty sophisticated 11-12 year old reader.
It’s set on an island where people have leprosy, right?
yes, the girl’s name is ami and her mother has leprosy. they have only lived on this island. It is based on Culion Island in the Philippines. At first, Ami is content to live on her island. the descriptions of life on a tropical island, the heat, are exquisitely done. you are there: the color, the intensity, a beautifully described relationship between mother and daughter, and the mother with this terrible disease.
Very early in the book, the island is formalized as a leper colony. the girl can no longer stay with her mother, because she does not have leprosy, so she is taken away. the story is about her trying to get back with her mother, and it’s full of adventures.
sounds sad.
there’s something touching about it. but there is also a joy. it is never overwhelmingly sad. I believe that children have powerful emotions, especially at this age. They’re dealing with sadness, and I think ideas like that are very, very good to deal with when faced with the sophistication that Kiran Millwood Hargrave can bring to the table. there are great themes here. he’s adventurous, he’s bold.
this background allows ami, the young heroine, to show her bravery, her independence, her morality. these are things that young readers can also do when reading the book. they are allowed to experience their own bravery.
one of the reviews said it has a kind of magical quality, the book. Is that what you feel too?
totally. I find the magical writing. each sentence is full of life. she has this spicy way of writing. It’s about bravery, action and strength. Just to give you a sample, this is one of the sentences that most caught my attention:
“This is when your heart hardens in your chest, like petals turning into pebbles.”
I think you can learn a lot about writing and creative writing by reading it. you’re not really aware of that when you’re reading, you’re lost in the story, but she demonstrates great writing beautifully, which is really important.
yes, that’s a good example, because in school children are always told to put metaphors in their stories.
yeah, it’s got a lot in there. metaphors, similes, everything.
Shall we move on to winter magic? this is a story book right?
yes. again, this is at the upper end of the age range. it is very, very difficult to choose five books. I felt guilty about leaving out certain writers, so I cheated a bit and chose a selection of short stories from a variety of writers I admire: Geraldine McCaughrean, Abi Elphinstone, Michelle Magorian, Jamila Gavin, Katherine Woodfine, Piers Torday. It is a very good collection.
is very varied. Geraldine McCaughrean’s story is strange and almost pagan and then there are more elvish and playful fantasies. there is a good range. I also chose it because I think it has been a bit underrated. short stories are an underrated genre anyway, but this is a truly exceptional collection. very daring choices, for girls or boys, it doesn’t matter.
Also, for children who feel overwhelmed trying to hold a longer book, a sophisticated short story can be a great way to build confidence. by the time they finish it, they’ve read a really long book, even if they feel like they just dove in and out. that’s a pretty important step in reading, if you’re a concerned parent.
I love stories, because they’re also a great way to learn about the art of creative writing. a short story is a great starting point for a child to learn an entire book. a lot of kids like that, so having some good story examples available in your home is great. for example the wells tales are wonderful classics, as are the tales of roald dahl and the ghost stories of mr. james, they are absolutely terrifying. there are similarities in this collection with all those writers.
We’re already on your latest book, Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans. this is supposed to be really, really funny.
it is. where to start? full marks to the editor for actually taking a risk.
who is the publisher?
david fickle books. is an independent publisher and is really worth checking out. he also produces something called the phoenix comic, which is great for all readers, but especially if you have a reluctant reader in the family. It gave my nephew the inspiration he needed and now he is an avid reader. all the books they publish are really exciting and very high quality.
why is this book a risk?
Because it is, even by children’s book standards, where there’s no real limit to where you set a story or the characters you create. You can do whatever you want. but even by those standards, this book is completely unavailable. it is exceptionally unusual. It may not be to everyone’s taste…
it’s a bit like the wizard of oz movie, where real life is black and white, and oz is technicolor. It also reminded me of another book called The Hounds of the Morrigan, which is about two boys who go on a quest in some kind of fairy tale land. this is not a fairy tale land, but there are similarities.
There are two children who are damaged. the girl’s name is fidge and her father died two years ago in the story, and since then she hasn’t been able to hug anyone. everything is contained within it. her cousin has several personality disorders and fears. she has transition objects and a variety of therapists, it seems. these two children end up in this magical adventure. fidge’s little sister has a picture book called the land of wimley woos, which is a ridiculous book. all bright colors with these silly wimbley woo characters, who only speak in rhyme. everyone knows it by heart because it’s the book she asks to be read to her every night.
Coming down a basement stairs and due to a massive lightning strike, fidge and his very unstable cousin end up in the picture book, and this is where you end up in full technicolor. it’s all bright primary colors here. it’s completely crazy.
His quest and adventure takes place in this children’s book and it is a particularly irritating children’s book. because lissa evans is so funny and so very, very skilled that she can pull it off. her reactions to situations, to big purple creatures, is absolutely real. makes it even more fun. I just laughed and laughed and laughed. I think I was actually huffing and puffing at one point. It is a good lesson to face the fears and difficulties of life with laughter. I don’t want to be too heavy on this point, because it’s a very, very, very funny book.
Also, as a parent who reads bedtime stories to younger children all the time, I related to many of his jokes. she’s gently teasing the over-the-top picture book genre, with characters only speaking in rhyme. however, it is very cleverly done. it’s incredibly weird, but then again, I had a lump in my throat at the end. the characters were vividly drawn and I sympathized with them completely.
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