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kristacecilia
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| Posted: May 04 2012 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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We found a used copy of Mossflower for a very good price. I picked it up and DS1 (age, just turned 8) devoured it in a few days and wants to read ALL the Redwall books.
I know they are highly recommended on this board, but I was wondering if there were any specific events or books in the series that might not be appropriate for a just-turned-eight year old?
I also noticed that it seems like some of the series was written by a different author? Are those books still just as good?
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Booksnbabes
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| Posted: May 04 2012 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
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The entire series is by the same author, who passed away last year. I personally love them, and our dd devoured them all at that age, but there is violence. It is very definitely good vs evil violence though. We allowed her to read them all over the past couple years and we've listened to some of them as a family too. Taggerung seems a bit more violent, as did Eulalia! and the Sable Quean and The Pearls of Lutra. Redwall is hands-down the family favorite.
My dd says the first three, Redwall, Mossflower, and Mattimeo, are the best, so maybe stick with those for now until you can preread the others? It's really a matter of parental discretion I think.
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: May 04 2012 at 1:32pm | IP Logged
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We're okay with good vs. evil violence. Actually, DS says the battles are his favorite parts. He loves other fantasy series/books- LOTR, The Hobbit, and Narnia are among his favorites.
I am glad to know they are all by the same author. I was confused about that when I was looking them up. Sad to hear he passed away.
We just put Martin the Warrior on hold at the library. I'll see if I can get Redwall and Mattimeo, too. They only have a few.
Thanks for the response!
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Aagot
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Redwall has been a huge hit here. They do get progressively more violent. I have regrets in letting the kids get started with this. Not so much because of Redwall but because this opens the door to a genre that is difficult to control. My boys are so deep into fantasy now that I don't think I will ever get them back. They started with Redwall and followed other good suggestions here but I wish I had avoided it all together. The main problem is that there is so much out there it is very difficult to pre-read and keep up with their voracious desire for these books. I can no longer be sure they have read only good books. HTH
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: May 04 2012 at 1:44pm | IP Logged
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Aagot wrote:
| Redwall has been a huge hit here. They do get progressively more violent. I have regrets in letting the kids get started with this. Not so much because of Redwall but because this opens the door to a genre that is difficult to control. My boys are so deep into fantasy now that I don't think I will ever get them back. They started with Redwall and followed other good suggestions here but I wish I had avoided it all together. The main problem is that there is so much out there it is very difficult to pre-read and keep up with their voracious desire for these books. I can no longer be sure they have read only good books. HTH |
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I totally understand how this could happen. So far I am really strict on what books they read- most of them I have to purchase because our library is very small. The ones they do get from the library I screen.
I read some fantasy myself, so I know how good and how bad the genre can be. Unfortunately. :/
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CatholicMommy
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My son devoured them as well - and while I tried to keep up with him, I've been a book or two behind the whole time.
I got HIM started on it! We were at the library and I saw the series. I'd never read them, but I knew of them as boy-books and I know at least 5 homeschool families who have read at least some of the books aloud with their children.
So we picked up Redwall. I handed it to him; 3 pages into it, he says, "There's not enough adventure" and gave it back to me.
Cluny the Scourge is coming on the first page! And that's not adventure!?
Well, I read it a bit more on our next visit. I told him, "Yeah, maybe when you're older; this is definitely not a book for a boy your age." (I was SERIOUS!)
So he picked it up and began reading.
Hasn't looked back.
There IS a lot of violence and I do have a tiny bit of regret (loss of innocence?) but the reality is that his innocence in that regard had already been lost and the emphasis of these books is that good triumphs NO MATTER WHAT. And the reality is that there will be losses, even when good triumphs.
The side of good has fewer losses as the books go on; to the point of being critiqued as "magical" how so few of the good side die in such terrible battles.
We have thus far been able to stem the flow of getting into areas I don't agree with, by delving into a Narnia study of late; we are also getting more back into reading historical fiction as well as historical non-fiction - thereby getting out of the fantasy realm (we've already done Lord of the Rings - he's read the trilogy at least twice through; Narnia; Redwall; now it's time to focus on reality for a while. He is also going through several boy-books like "Young Man's Handybook" and learning about survival skills and such. Very rugged and captures his imagination in a different way. (he's also reading books suggested in that book and similar others - Robin Crusoe is his next library plan).
In other words, we just got busy with other things, so we're nixing the fantasy for a while, though he can re-read whenever he wants.
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stefoodie
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| Posted: May 04 2012 at 2:31pm | IP Logged
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Redwall lovers here as well, for several years now -- we first picked them up when the freshly-minted 21-year-old (girl) was a teen. I was at first concerned about the violence, but my boys were already naturally violent (in a good way)  even before reading the books, and I didn't notice an escalation afterwards, just more "boys being boys". And even now they'll still reread them. The 10-yo (then ~4) is now devouring them as well, she started reading them about age 7/8 but didn't read the later ones (just out of choice) until about 9 when she went on a Redwall binge. 
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JennGM
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I got my nephew hooked on this series. The difference with Redwall is that it isn't people, but animals acting as people (anthropomorphic). It doesn't minimize the violence aspect, BUT it is a bit different.
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Redwall Series- Maturity level?
