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Adults reading children’s books

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Curious about people’s views on this.

I’ve been down a bit of a reading rabbit hole recently where reading Alan Garner’s later (adult) books has led me to revisit his earlier (children’s) books, which has then led me into other children’s fantasy fiction like Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander and Ursula K LeGuin. I only realised last night while reading in public (poolside at my son’s swimming lessons reading Elidor) that I felt self-conscious. That big Puffin on the spine of the book probably looks ridiculous in the hands of a grown man.

Do you get self-conscious reading children’s books? Especially in public? Or do you avoid it BECAUSE you feel self-conscious? Or do you think adults should avoid children’s fiction as a rule? Is there maybe a line you shouldn’t cross (ie, Harry Potter is okay but Roald Dahl is a step too far)?

Personally, I think many children’s books have an admirable brevity and directness that adult books could do with a bit more of. Many of these books I am reading now were ones I bypassed when I was younger, so I’m justified in getting to them now. Plus i think the line is blurred between the two anyway: Where do Watership Down and The Hobbit fit?

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Comments

  1. When I read children’s books in public I hide them in a jacket that says LUSTY LESBIAN LIBRARIANS, that spares me any embarrassment.

    Sorry Arthur, couldn’t resist… you could always pretend you’re vetting a Puffin before allowing your son to read it. Don’t know Lloyd Alexander, but it’s my impression that Garner, Cooper and LeGuin are read just as much by adults as by children.

    But actually, it’s nobody’s business what you read. Read what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

    Unless you live in Tennessee or Texas.

  2. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

    Corinthians, 11.

    Beloved of wedding readings, but one of the stupidest sentiments ever conceived. Putting aside childish things is the path to misery. Read what you like, and for god’s sake don’t worry about it, you nutter.

    • This forever.

      Also, Weirdstone, Earthsea and The Dark Is Rising are among the most brilliant things ever written. Can’t imagine denying myself the pleasure of going back to them just because they occupy a certain shelf in Waterstones.

      I genuinely believe that people who can’t find childlike joy in multiple things on a daily basis aren’t Getting It Right, whatever It might be. We’ve only one life. Be a kid for as much of it as seems good to you.

      See also silliness. I don’t trust people who can’t be silly, not one bit do I trust them.

  3. Good books are good books, and I don’t care what anybody else thinks of me based upon the book I’m reading. I’ve sat on a beach in Greece reading a copy of Pynchon’s V from which the entire cover lamination had peeled due to the effects of sun and sand, leaving a blank white cover. When asked what I was reading, the name of the book and the author was offered, but no further questions followed. I’ve sat on a tube train reading Harry Potter in the standard cover, and seen sneering looks from the corner of my eye. But my own sneers are reserved for the sad muppets who bought the Harry Potter books that had a ‘grown up’ cover instead of the garish artwork of the kiddie’s edition. Rowling and Pynchon scratch very different itches, but they both have merit and I don’t care who sees me reading either.

      • What is the answer to your he riddle on the front? I promise you I haven’t googled this but iirc Korky has boxing gloves on and is fighting an octopus with a boxing glove on the end each of his eight tentacles.

        The riddle says something like :

        Hey diddle diddle, what’s that you say?
        How many cats are in this fray?
        (Something something something)
        Korky is betting that you will get it wrong!

        My prediction is TWO because it’s an octoPUSS – but I’d quite like to know the answer.

  6. Generally I find kids’ books (and films) really boring. Which I think is as it should be, just as most kids are unlikely to see the appeal of most adult stuff. But there are exceptions. For example, wasn’t The Curious Incident of the Dog at Midnight written for youngsters? That was excellent. But comic books and superhero films can feck right off.

  7. Is it really so different to adults who follow superhero franchises? I haven’t seen a Spiderman / Batman movie in years, but have plenty of friends who can’t get enough of them.

    Read what you like, it’s no-one’s business but yours. Personally I quite enjoy a few episodes of Hey Duggee in the evening once the toddler’s in bed, it’s far sharper than many adult comedies.

  8. I like revisiting childhood favourites – Ursula Le Guin’s* Earthsea trilogy was a wonderful reimmersion in what I remembered as troubled, brooding magnificent texts that completely captured my imagination. Dipping back in, none of the joy was lost, and like hearing longlost songs again, the main instrumentation is as you remember it, but the incidental notes and fills that didn’t catch the attention stand out more than before – Ged’s time between the school and setting out to find his shadow, some of the people he encountered along the way, Tenar and Ged’s travels after leaving Atuan, and Ged’s final return from the Farthest Shore, fragile and all magic gone.

    The Garner books I started reading sequentially, but The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath disappointed – it might have been a pioneer, but the sort of bog standard elves and wizards caves and final battle episodes left me rather bored. I might go back for the Owl Service, which I remember as having just the right level of eerie creepiness. Probably go well with some hauntology music

    The House in Cornwall by Noel Streatfeild had just the sort of cold gloom that I relished on first reading – the cover alone indicated it was a how-to manual for trainee Goths.

    Interesting to have the internet as a place to research authors who I knew little of back as a child
    – although not always a positive experience – there was one old book on my shelf that was written by somebody who subsequently was prosecuted for child molesting – fortunately not a book I was particularly fond of – it went straight in the bin.

    I read the Harry Potter books as an adult – they were almost unavoidable, I hated them because they were so derivative of Earthsea and the sort of elitist fantasies (Mallory Towers) that didn’t reflect my memory of what it was like to go to boarding school (and I looked like Harry Potter – only with NHS specs). My issue, not anyone else’s – but I would be curious if there’s anyone else not in the almost universal fan club.

    Nice to have an excuse to reminisce about children’s books – it was a golden age for me, and never a shame to read and be seen reading them. One I never read, but meant to, is Watership Down, I have a feeling that would be an ageless classic.
    ———————–
    *I always thought the’K’ was like the ‘M’ in Iain Banks – reserved for the sci-fi books.

    • A few comments on your (very interesting) views:

      – I agree re Harry Potter. So yes, I’m in your club as well. I tried them as an adult, after being told (as a non-lover of the films) repeatedly that “the books are much better!”. But I didn’t even make it through the first one. It just felt so laboured and patronising, trying to summon up some non-existent golden age of children’s fantasy adventure stories.

      – Shame you didn’t like the early Alan Garner books. Yes, The Owl Service is deliciously weird and twisted: there’s also a TV series from 1968 with surrealism, horror and lust to the forefront… and which unbelievably was a children’s teatime drama!
      Weirdstone and Gomrath I just LOVE: I think they have a twist of weirdness and horror which elevates them above yer bog standard fantasy books. Something deeper going on there.
      Elidor is the one though: just a great little narrative… creepy but poignant, with fabulous, efficient prose. And with lots of relevant sociological context about post-war Manchester as well.

      – Watership Down. Hands down my favourite book of all time, and I didn’t read it until adulthood! For me that book is beyond criticism (yes, even the non-specific ethnic stereotype gull, Kehaar) and has the whole of life within it.

      • Cheers, Arthur – I am heartened by all your comments and will dig into the other 2 Garner books and the rabbit saga.

        Actually children’s books are a living theme for me. 2 daughters immersed in German stories, I really want them to have the joy of English stories as well. The Usbourne bedtime fairy stories are a good way in for my 7 year old, but what to go to next which isn’t too text-heavy or archaic? (there’s so much Victorian/Edwardian heritage – have you tried reading Alice in Wonderland recently?)

        Here’s a song for you all

        • The Alice books are tough going. What were these Victorian kids on? They are far more interesting as kind of cultural touchstones that have led to many, many interesting things from “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane to that creepy Jan Svankmaer (spelling?) animation with dolls and dead animals, to that Dennis Potter play.

          On a slight tangent, one book I love is a compilation of short stories called “Wonderland”, which uses Alice as a springboard for some great horror tales.

      • They may be overshadowed by the latter’s success, but they stands alone as a lasting legacy – though I’m not due about the Japanese animated film version – seemed a bit insipid and beige from what I saw.

        For me its like comparing The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission, or I suppose, Rsdiohead and Coldplay. The first aren’t alleys an way listen, but reward attention. The second take the basic template, write fairly lightweigh, derivative but crowd-pleasing songs, and are very successful.

  9. Considering that a reasonable proportion of those that may raise an eyebrow at what I may be reading / watching / listening to will settle down to watch Mrs Brown’s Boys without a moment’s compunction and actually laugh at it then frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.

  10. I couldn’t give a flying feck what other people think of what I do/read/watch/listen to. I don’t think I’d read kids books, but my mate makes regular reference to the Batman comics I read being for kids. I disagree, of course, but it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference if they were.

    I struggled with the Hobbit for years though, owing rin. I never read it as a kid, but tried to read it several times as a grown up, only to pack in soon after because the writing was clearly aimed at a younger audience. I forced myself to read it prior to the Lord of the Rings films coming out, but it was a struggle to read. The Lord of the Rings is much better. Although I only read the first two, prior to their respective films coming out. I had intended to read the third, but unfortunately it was the time when I became quite unwell, so I wasn’t able to hold the book, let alone read it. I saw the film during a weekend’s release from hospital, but I never felt the urge to go back and read it afterwards.

  11. I have very fond memories of watching the original BBC Schools’ adaptation of Tom’s Midnight Garden when I was a nipper (circa 1968). I recently read the novel by Philippa Pearce for the first time, and a finer children’s adventure story it would be hard to find. I have a small collection of Puffin books amassed through browsing secondhand bookshops and online booksellers. My teacher in primary school used to read a story to us every day, and through that and joining the Puffin Club a lifelong interest in books and reading was born. It takes a special kind of talent to write books for children – celebrity dabblers take note.

  12. Isn’t there also a set of books which were written for adults but have become mainly read by children because they are staples of the school curriculum- Lord of the Flies, To kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men?

    • They have teen fiction now, which wasn’t a thing when we were young. We went straight from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Dr Who novels to James Herbert and Stephen King. My dad always liked reading Westerns, so I used to read his Edge books, which could be quite violent.

      James Herbert was hands down my favourite though. His books were pretty gruesome, but I was watching all the films that eventually got banned as video nasties when I was 12-13 years old, so I loved all things horror, as you’d very quickly pick up by looking at my bookshelves and Blu Ray shelves. In fact, I have a large IKEA unit pretty much full of horror films, so those formative years have a lot to answer for. Both my kids are going in the same direction. In fact, my daughter is quite miffed that her boyfriend is such a wuss with horror films (“dad, he even made me turn Scream off!”).

      • My horror and ghost story reading was the anthologies issued by Pan and edited by Herbert van Thal. I think they started off with classics like Poe and Lord Dunsany and then moved onto newer writers. But for me it was a bit of a phase, like science fiction, which I also read obsessively at the time, and then found that I didn’t. Not a conscious decision, and there was some good writing there, just that my tastes changed.

  13. I tried rereading a Jennings book a while back a series I loved back in the day (I was at boarding school) but they were undreadably dated. So probably the only one I’ve gone back to successfully (and regularly) is Molesworth. He’ll still be as good when I’m 80.

    I have a soft spot for the adventure-style writers – Buchan, Rider Haggard, Stevenson – which were probably written for the younger age group back in the day. But I discovered them as an adult and I bet a child hasn’t read one in 50 years.

  14. I recently read a book called Moondust by Gemma Fowler. It would be suitable for kids even if not specifically intended for them. I loved it. Full of ideas, and totally exciting with it. If that’s a kids book then I’ll take it. No tedious overwrought sex. Just plot, philosophical provocation and action.

  15. If I’m putting the lad to bed, he reads his school book to me, then I read something to him while he drops off. It’s usually either one of the quite amusing Wimpy Kid books (although I wonder if he thinks the main character is as disagreeable as I do) or, better still, one of the 13 *n Storey Treehouse books which are completely daft and quite charming too. I am wondering about sneaking a peek through some of the others.

  16. One of my fondest memories is reading stories to my kids at bedtime. The very simple ones about Disney princesses and the like were read 100s of times. “Forgetting” names, getting crucial details wrong and predicting the wrong ending allows the child to correct you and there’s also a great deal of laughs to be had when my predictions turn out to be wrong.

    Once I was reading a Captain Underpants book to my son and I lost it because it was so funny. Actual tears – my son (around 7 at the time) said “Dad, are you all right?”.

  17. I was a strange “child” who read more adult literary fiction than I read childrens fiction, enjoying Strindberg and Shakespeare and the latest novels from the library at five years old. But I loved all (good) books equally, I just wanted to learn things I didn’t already know at the time, so mum’s bookshelves had more to offer.

    (I never felt that I was a child when I was one, and I don’t think I’m a proper adult either. I feel like I was born being around 20 years old, and stayed that age through all of my supposed ages!)

    I’ve continued to read all kinds of books all through my life, and often buy childrens fiction – last one I bought was a brilliant picture book based on Waiting For Godot; equally funny for kids and adults. I’d happily read it on the bus, but picture books take up a lot of space and don’t last through the whole bus ride! I don’t care about the opinion of strangers (or, to be perfectly honest, friends).

    If it bothers you: how about an e-reader?

  18. I’ve never made the distinction. I’ll read what I like, regardless of the market it’s aimed at. The YA or Young Adult market is very big in publishing right now, with a rigid set of defining parameters set by Old Adults (including addressing “issues”). When I was a child, and even a Young Adult (which is what, incidentally?) I read whatever I could get my hands on, anything with an interesting cover, or first page I enjoyed. The last thing I wanted was something deemed suitable for my age, something with a moralising tone. I was reading James Bond at eleven, not because I was mature but because it was exciting stuff. H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, Ray Bradbury … authors I still enjoy. I don’t remember reading any novels specifically aimed at kids (other than picture books) except The Hobbit, which I disliked for its patronising tone. First read Lord Of The Rings at thirteen, and I’m rereading it now, the same copy. It’s a book which satisfies the adult and the child equally, without aiming itself at either (like Molesworth).

    • Is it a “dry Oxbridge academic” thing? When he tried to write a children’s book, he ended up writing down to the audience – always doomed to failure, since kids always know when they’re being patronised – whereas Lord of the Rings wasn’t written to a specific age group and hence works for everyone. I was given a copy (the three paperbacks) by my first girlfriend when a teenager and just fell in. I’ve been reading it every two or three years ever since – in fact, I feel it’s due for a re-read now.

      Funnily enough, I was also reading Bond at 11 – along with Alistair Maclean novels – but they don’t appeal to me so much as an adult.

  19. I am reading Treasure Island at the moment which I missed out on when I was younger.
    An enjoyable read so far. Is this classed as a children’s book ?
    Incidentally it is a free read on kindle.

    • That book is almost certainly the book I’ve read the largest number of times.

      Bad flu? Upset guts? Steaming hangover? Just feeling morose on a dull day?

      No problem, grab one of my copies of Treasure Island – I must have three or four – get comfy and wrap up warm, make a good cup of tea and maybe a slice of nice cheese, then join Jim at the Admiral Benbow and wait for the adventure to unfold.

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