It must have an ebook reader version in mobi format. I imagine most do.
It must have an audio book available somewhere, which again is highly likely.
I have some extra reading time at the school I work with and I thought a Pratchett young adult book might be a good read for the kids, but I wouldn’t know where to begin.
In fact, I wouldn’t necessarily limit to Pratchett if you know of any other good reads that kids might enjoy during extra time. Nothing too hard to follow or with too high a vocabulary.
I will just slip in to say that the best Pratchett Young Adult book is The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, but I don’t know if it is available in the formats you mention. Probably is, though.
That’s my favourite of the Pratchett YAs, and one of my favourite discworld books full stop. Nation is also very good, but what age group are we looking at here?
All of the Tiffany Aching books {although And I Shall Wear Midnight is very dark in parts} are wonderful, but yeah, start with Wee Free Men. It has Feegles.
I notice that the Wikipedia says the Pratchett books “had swearing translated to rat language” in the first one. Is this something that the kids will find way too hilarious, like how inappropriate it is? I don’t always preview these “end of day” reading books and I don’t want their jaws hitting the floor in shock or anything.
I have fond memories of Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, which judging by this are available in mobi format. I read them when I was about 10 or so.
And the Feegles (prominent in all of the Tiffany Aching books) are perpetually sounding like they’re cussin’ up a storm, but it’s all actually completely tame.
I love both The Amazing Maurice… and The Wee Free Men but IMHO “The Bromeliad Trilogy” – consisting of Truckers, Diggers* and Wings – is even better. It seems they’re available in audio but not kindle.
Pratchett’s latest YA book is Dodger, which is sort of like a Shakespeare In Love of Charles Dickens, following a young kid from the poor end of town who becomes a hero overnight.
Not to say that they mightn’t be bad role models in other ways . . .
"“An’ things ha’ come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off’f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!”
You really CAN’T go wrong with ANY of Pratchett’s young adult books, though later Tiffany Aching books might be suited better to slightly older children, and Nation is super, SUPER SAD. I cried a LOT. Oddly, while everyone here seems to be raving about it, I don’t have any particularly strong impressions of The Amazing Maurice. I remember it being good, but that’s about all I remember.
I shall also take this opportunity to second The Chronicles of Prydain (though The High King always makes me cry. -_- ) and toss out my obligatory plug for The Dark Is Rising… uh… series, I guess. Though truthfully, Over Sea, Under Stone and Greenwich are a little meh, you kinda need to read them to have all the background for Silver on the Tree. That said, you COULD just read The Dark is Rising and The Grey King seperately and probably be quite content. And apparently the whole series is available in the formats you request.
I’d also maybe suggest Sabriel by Garth Nix, but I guess that’s more “Young Adult” than children’s.
Are you/the kids going to be reading out loud? If so, The Wee Free Men has a lot of thick Glaswegian-esque dialogue which might be a bit daunting.
Rat swearing in The Amazing Maurice is basically the rats going kyrrk at each other or the bad guys - it isn’t translated. As for Dodger, I think “shite” is mentioned a lot, as the sewers feature heavily, but it’s more a description of what’s in them than an expletive.
