Classic Literature for Children.

Talking with my sister and Nephew this week brought up the subject of childrens books. We were talking of Asterix and Obelix and how to a child they are a comic book, yet they are some of the most educational stories ever written.

There was an occasion when Matthew was doing a childrens quiz on line and to the question "What is an ancient Egyptian coffin called?" his older sister Heidi was gobsmacked that he knew the answer! She hadn't known the answer herself and immediately demanded how he knew that. His answer was blatantly "From Asterix and Cleopatra."

From that day on I never complained about Matthew having his head hidden behind an Asterix Comic and he then rose to the challenge of reading the entire works. We researched the internet to find ALL titles and gradually ordered one or two per visit from the library untill there are still only about two from the 52 titles we found, that Matthew has still not read. I am sure we will find copies of them some day.

Here are some of the sites that list the genius works of Rene and Goscinny (the authors) or still follow their cult stories today and make history funnier than you could ever imagine.

http://www.asterix-obelix.nl/ http://gb.asterix.com/ P.S. The answer was 'Sarcophagus'


Tonight, we were watching a documentary on Arthur Conan Doyle, another lovable genius producing "Sherlock Holmes" and "The Lost World". If your child does not enjoy reading, film and video are just as effective at teaching your child about these classic literatures and fun for you too. Also the library is effective at keeping reading costs to a minimum unless like us you forget to return them :-)

Other classic literatures for children are the current Harry Potter series, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl to name but a few.

For the more advanced teen reader we would also recommend Debbi Gliori's series of "Pure Dead Magic" "Pure Dead Wicked" "Pure Dead Brilliant" "Deep Trouble" and "Deep Water". Based around a magical family who live in a run down Scottish Castle and keep a Loch Ness Monster, Crocodil, Yetti, Gargoyle and Dragon as family pets, Debbi's insight into life's little quirks lends the books an utmost adult sense of humour mixed with a childrens rags-no-riches fairytale setting. One for any member of the family to enjoy. Heidi and I have fought over several episodes on who gets to read it first and although these books are not yet classed as a classic - watch out they will be!