Book reviews

Has anyone here read: brainboy and the deathmaster? It's a children's book, and I'm thinking about picking up for inspiration
(planning on witting a children's book). I've been told it's a good read but I'd feel better if you guys tell me what you think about it first.

Children's books should never be called "brainboy" or "deathmasher". Those would be teenager book names. People stop being adequate in their tastes when they're around 11-12 years old, and at that point they become an entirely different audience with tastes incompatible to children. You can't even aim at most intelligent of teenagers, because all their tastes seriously are messed up hardcore until they are at least 20-22. If you're writing for 14 year olds, you either should completely  dive into all that immature stuff that gets "mature" parental-advise ratings, or not write for that audience at all.

Now, if you want a quality children's book to read for inspiration, go re-read "The Hobbit". Perhaps, it's the best think Tolkien ever wrote, after all. Another amazing example is "The Eye of the Dragon" by Stephen King. Now that's a high-standard children't tale by one gritty horror novelist.

Remember that children aren't very fast with their thinking, sure, but they also aren't imbeciles. Treat them as kind of slow thinking, unexperienced adults. Their minds and judgement often are quite unclouded, too, so you don't really have to explicitly refer to anything external, like politics, philosophy and especially established arts, because that won't ring any bells at all.

Children's tastes aren't yet developed, so they are glad to take everything they're given, but it's your duty to never abuse that last property of their's. Just remember that whatever you feed them now either makes them intelligent, tasteful readers, or just some additional freaking DaVinci Code devourers later on. Think this way: if when they were kids they read the best you could give, and if your best was good enough, they'll never turn to lesser prose and storytelling, and concepts later on.

I haven't read the OP's book either, but googling it does get some reviews if he's set on finding some.  I seriously doubt anyone here has read it.

As for children's books, depending on the age range, I always liked stuff by Roald Dahl or Rudyard Kipling.  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is good too.  I remember enjoying the Wrinkle of Time books as a kid.

The Narnia books are good examples too, despite all of the criticism against them (for the record, I'm a hardline atheist). 

>>3
In my opinion, Alice in Wonderland is the worst example of a kid's book of all possible.

Alice is satire on society, not a fairytale. I never ever saw a child that genuinely liked it. Most of the time, people are told that Alice books are children's book that are but oh so adorable, while they are angry and offensive, using absurdism as a way to take on real world absurd. Protagonist girl is not there to cater to children also, but only serves as a train for Carrol's paedophilic needs, really: he couldn't do photography without undressing some underage cousins, and, similarly, back when he was younger couldn't he write a tale without having a litle girl as protagonist.

Also, I heartily agree with Tolkien's criticism on Alice stories, them not being proper fairy-tales at all, since it's explicitly stated that nothing described really happened, which certainly is a fine move for satire; but fairy-tales have to do the opposite and are all but pointless if even the story itself tells the reader to never really believe in whatever is being told.

Did I mention the low-quality, horendously boring even for adult reader prose? Anyway, I did now.

>>4
lol drama.  Thread derailed.

But anyway, I genuinely liked it as a kid, so if you continue to say that you'll be lying.  Most of your complaints seem without substance ('it isn't technically a fairytale', 'protagonist is just a little girl because the author was a paedophile', etc.); the rest are no more than opinion.  I suppose I may as well try to address them, though:

-While anger and offense exist and have a place in the book, they don't constitute the majority of the story.  It certainly isn't a scathing satire on reality written by a bitter old paedo, as you make it out.
-Who cares why the author chose to make the protagonist a young female?  It certainly doesn't change the story at all.
-Who cares if by some arbitrary pedantic standard it isn't a fairytale?  I never said it was.  I doubt Brainboy and the Deathmaster is technically a fairytale either.
-I didn't find the prose to be low quality or "horendously boring" in the least.  On the contrary, I felt it danced between franticness, comedy, and contemplation quite artfully.  Moreover, most children do not seem so terribly critical of prose (though I'll concede they can be critical in other things), and would probably be content with even the thinnest prose to connect their imaginations, the illustrations, and the story.

And what satire is lost on children if they are too young might seep into their mind later.  Frequently, growing up, I remember thinking back to scenes or characters in Alice in Wonderland.

>>5
 >It certainly isn't a scathing satire on reality written by a bitter old paedo, as you make it out.
Oh, now. What else is it, then? A fairytale? Anyway, let's see:
- satire: check;
- a paedophile: check; (Except he wasn't old back then.)
- a fairytale: fail.
I wonder at your arguments, especially after you've pointed how mine presumably are "without substance".

 >by some arbitrary pedantic standard it isn't a fairytale
I wonder who's more competent in the theory and subject of fantastic literature in your opinion, Tolkien or Dodgson?

>I wonder who's more competent in the theory and subject of fantastic literature in your opinion, Tolkien or Dodgson?
As if it matters. Whether Alice is a fairytale is besides the point as there are plenty of stories written for children that aren't fairytales. Not to mention the only one who's been arguing whether it is or isn't a fairytale, is you.

While I agree the satire in Dodgson's work will probably go over the heads of most children today, I doubt the children would mind. I for one remember enjoying it as a simply fairytale (or fantastical story, if you prefer) when I was younger.

When did you first realise?

As for myself, I was 14 at the time and my cousin (she was 5 then) was over to stay for a couple of weeks. I'd never really been around a little girl before, apart from my little sister who is only 2 years younger than me and towards whom I have never felt anything but platonic love.

Anyway, my cousin and I really got on well. She was at the age where she was reading anything and everything, and she wanted people to listen to her read. She loved me because I loved to listen to her read.

One day while we were reading, and she was sitting on my lap with a big book (Alice in Wonderland with big pictures) and my hands were clasped around her tummy, she put down the book, wriggled free and turned around; she leaned into me, wrapped her tiny arms around my neck, closed her eyes, leaned in and kissed me straight on the lips. I didn't know what to do, so I did nothing. I didn't even kiss her back, I just sat there for a few seconds and let her kiss me.

She then went on to explain in a very matter-of-fact way that this is what grown-ups do when they love someone, and that she loved me very much. Then she turned around, grabbed my hands, and clasped them back around her tummy, and picked back up the book as if nothing happened. Meanwhile I hadn't said anything at all, I just sat there confused for a minute or two barely hearing her read, and praying to god I didn't get an erection while she was sitting on my knee.

On that day, I knew I was in love with her.

>>7
You aren't being particularly professional, my friend. We agree that Alice isn't a fantasy story, and we agree it's harsh satire on society. Thus, we should either agree it doesn't quite qualify as children's fiction; or find out what other kid-friendly third genre it belongs to (in your opinion).

If you can't pinpoint what presumably makes Alice a good children's story, you can't write one yourself either.