“Haroun and the Sea of Stories” by Salman Rushdie is obviously a children’s book but great for adults who like stories about stories.
I still enjoy re-reading Roald Dahl’s children’s books (and his adult stories, too).
And I haven’t read them all (yet) but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of the Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events books. I heard the author on the radio the other day–apparently he’s started a new Lemony Snicket series.
WHOO HOO! I absolutely love Lemony Snickett!
I also love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It’s amazing that the first one ever saw print, being written and illustrated like a real child would keep a diary.
And nobody’s mentioned Harry Potter?
If we’re including stuff for really little kids, I’ll offer the Frog and Toad series. They’re my favorite thing to read with my two-year-old. The stories are very short and simple, but there’s a lot of wry humor in both the plots and the tone of the language. And though most of the stories are just silly, there are subtle lessons in a few of them that adults can appreciate, too - they’re refreshingly realistic. Instead of earnest stuff like, “It’s important to work hard,” they’re more along the lines of, “It’s more fun to be lazy when you’ve already done your chores.” There are a lot of books for very small children that are pretty and sweet and warm and pleasant, but few that I’ve found that are actually funny or interesting at all, like these are.
That shit isn’t good for anyone. It’s mediocre YA fiction by a merely average author who got lucky. I mean, I’d let my kids read it, but I’d hope they’d be able to distinguish it from the good YA fiction that’s out there.
The only good thing I have to say about it is that the books’ complexity, tone and characters grew up as I did. Maybe I’d read one to my kid per year so they get that experience. Without it I’d say they’re not particularly notable for quality, only their long stint as the fad of the day. Even then, I was reading far darker, more adult fiction by the time we’d gotten to book 4.
That book was off the hook.
I read the new Lemony Snicket a while back. It’s called “Who Could That Be At This Hour?” It’s a good read - a take on Snicket when he was a young boy and learning to be a spy/reporter. I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus books.
I am a mild fan of the Harry Potter books, because they’re so entertaining and because it was fun to be a part of the phenomenon where a substantial portion of the whole world was all eagerly awaiting, and then reading and talking about, the same book at the same time.
They are books that can be read and enjoyed by both children and adults (they were even printed in different covers for children and adults in their UK editions). But I don’t think they qualify as “more meaningful for adults”: I don’t think I got much of anything out of the books that a child wouldn’t have gotten.
Treme. Season 1.
John Goodman.
“Harry… fucking… Potter.”
Laughed so hard I really did hurt myself.
As for books in this vein, I’d nominate all of the Heinlein juveniles. Accessible for youngsters, entertaining for adults, thought-provoking for both.
I was scrolling through the thread and saw this, and thought, “Man, NitroPress REALLY doesn’t understand this thread.”
Oops.
Anyways, I’d forgotten that line, but just imagining it in Goodman’s voice makes me crack up.
Oh, yeah. I read and enjoy them to this day. I just think they don’t deserve to be considered particularly special, and like you say, aren’t especially relevant to adults - except for the fact that many people on this site will have grown up with them and have special fondness for that reason.
I wouldn’t think the next generation will feel the same way about them because they’ll pick them up, read them in a marathon rather than with years between episodes, go “Huh, why’s my mum always going on like these are so awesome?” and go back to reading whatever the Twilight or Hunger Games of their day is.
I recently read Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, and thought it was awesome. My friend and her kids (4-8 years old) thought it was awesome, too.
Just about anything by Diana Wynne Jones.
Really. Just about anything.
If you don’t mind going for funny rather than meaningful, let me recommend Julia Donaldson. Here are my favorites of hers:
The Gruffalo (the book she’s best known for)
The Gruffalo’s Child
Tiddler/The Fish Who Cried Wolf (depending on which side of the pond you’re on)
Stick Man
Zog
Tyrannosaurous Drip
Room on the Broom
What the Ladybug Heard
A Squash and a Squeeze
The Princess and the Wizard
I’ve been reading most of these to my son for 3+ years. I’ll let you know when I get tired of any of them. There’s barely a moral or meaning in the lot, but they’re all great fun, and the rhymes and rhythms are terrific. I grew up on Dr. Seuss, but I’d rather read Julia Donaldson.
I agree with what you’re saying here, but IME these stories do wear thin after awhile. I’ll be glad when my five year old can read them for himself. He’s working on it.
She wrote at least one book that was more suitable for adults.
I still re-read her books on occasion. Now, she had a problem with writing endings, but the books are still enjoyable.
Several of my favourites have already been mentioned, so I will submit: any book by Michael Ende .
(Momo being one of the best known ones).
… I wonder whether I did the linky thing right?
Say them anyway! It’s fun to learn what other dopers like to read.
Oh! Almost skipped Shel Silverstein! He’s such a good children’s author for adults that it’s easy to forget he’s a children’s author.
(Maybe somebody would like to start a whole thread about The Giving Tree … to go with the other 32.)
James Thurber’s two children’s books, The Thirteen Clocks and Many Moons.