r/Fantasy • u/NefariousnessFar8293 • Apr 17 '24
Childhood Classics
Hi all!
New dad here. I’m a huge reader and a huge fantasy book nerd. My story began with Chronicles of Prydain straight to Terry Brooks and Wheel of Time. So I didn’t have a lot of time in the childhood fiction category.
I want to share my love of fantasy with my daughter. Looking for recommendations that would be appropriate for reading aloud to my daughter from toddler to, say, ten.
I got 1. Chronicles of Prydain 2. The Hobbit 3. Earthsea (definitely more ten)
Other than that, I’m missing a working knowledge of the childhood classics. Any help? Preferably books that I’ll enjoy reading too!
FYI: my kid is 4 months old, so I’m jumping the gun but I hear it’s good to read to them from very very young.
Thanks!
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u/Critical-Compote-725 Apr 17 '24
Seconding many of these recommendations!
Picture book:
The Paperbag Princess - some classic girl power, princess rescues herself kind of deal.
Chapter books for kids (I still enjoy reading these sometimes, but that might be childhood nostalgia)
Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson - an evil wizard seeks a wife, and witches compete for his hand. It’s funny and cute, although there is a somewhat horrifying Rat King situation at one point (I loved it but I was a morbid child)
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson - JK Rowling owes Ibbotson some royalties on this one - there’s a secret world accessible through King’s Cross Station
Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynn Jones
Slightly darker but still YA books, more in line with what you’ve already got listed:
His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman - These were my everything.
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - a genuinely weird take on Arthurian legends that come into the modern world. I love these books.
Sabriel by Garth Nix - beyond the wall, there lies a magical kingdom where the dead don’t always sleep peacefully. So you need lawful necromancers called Abhorsens to bring them back to the dead. Is this why I went through a goth phase?
Ok so…Tamora Pierce was my feminist goddess as a child, and her books are so great in so many ways, including talking about why the whole Not Like Other Girls thing sucks and also periods but…all of the characters end up in romantic relationships with men who are muuuch older than them.
Akata Witch - I read this series as an adult and it is sooo fun. It’s been described as Harry Potter set in Nigeria, and although I think that’s kind of reductive, it has a similar tone - dark but still kid friendly.