Fantasy @lemmy.ml dresden @discuss.online 2y ago

Artemis Fowl, is it good for 8-9 year old?

Hi,

Has anyone here read Artemis Fowl series? Thinking about getting it for my kid. Was wondering if it is fine for 8-9 year old kid.

Also, any other recommendations? He loved Diary of the Wimpy Kid, but struggled to get into Harry Potter.

Thanks.

36 comments

I was about that age when I first read the Fowl books, and they were some of my favorites! There were a few concepts that I didn’t fully understand at the time (e.g., I wasn’t sure what the Russian mafia was when they discussed it in book 2), but overall there’s nothing horribly traumatizing for a child in there. Your kid will be fine!
- Thanks for you input! Much appreciated.
Artemis fowl is great at that age.

There's still the occasional image, like in the series, the fairy language is read in a spiral, so there's an image of it with a simple cipher so they can translate it themselves, and other bits like that.

The characters are funny, yet the plot remains serious.

While someone did point out there's some serious things in there, they're not actually explicit, it's not worse than any other book. Harry Potter has murder, slavery, violence, and a nazi-like cult, but that doesn't mean it's an adult-only book. It's about the presentation of these themes. Artemis Fowl IS fairy Die Hard, but it's not rated R, it's written for kids, and I highly recommend it for yours, it was perfect for me at that age.
- That's actually a pretty valid point. Thanks for your comment.
It's great for that age range. I loved those books near that age range.
- Thanks for the input!
Try Percy Jackson (and any other Riordan books) or Alcatraz vs The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
- How's Alcatraz vs The Evil Librarians? I am a big Brandon Sanderson fan, but haven't gotten around to reading those yet.
  
  I haven't yet either but I've read his Cytonic stuff and while it's not young enough, it's younger. I imagine the Alcatraz one is really well done. My buddies 8 yr old read them and loved them.
  
  Great user name btw
Yes. Too bad Disney did a terrible job with the movie. It is bland.
- I have never seen the movie actually. Guess I lucked out. 😀
I'd pull back the Fowl series for a couple years. It's got complicated issues involving consent, imprisonment, and violence in those situations that might not be very easy to contextually for someone that young. I was advanced for a reader at that age, but I found a lot of enjoyment in the Redwall series. It had great worldbuilding and an interesting setting for a kid just about that age. They might be a little difficult to get them to actually sit down and read though, as they are definitely larger books for children.
- Yeah, I have seen kind of mixed response to this. So, going to read it myself first, and then decide.
  
  Thanks for your input!
  
  It's hard finding kid appropriate content anymore, especially with relevance to wider literature influences. If you dont mind movies, have you considered Howard Lovecraft animated series?
Been a qhile since I've read it,
- I agree, I am looking for a general idea.
  
  Thanks for the input!
Give the Percy Jackson series a try
- I read them quite a while ago, they felt more fun for YA than kids. Right?
  
  I'd agree.
  
  I read the Artemis Fowl books a good few years before Percy Jacksons, and they sat well with me.
  
  I recall they could be somewhat graphic at times, so maybe check out some summaries before getting into each one, and space them out a bit?
I enjoyed them in early highschool. I don't think there's any subject matter that isn't appropriate for an 8-9yr old
I really just think about the dwarf who opened the butt flap on his pajamas and tunneled around.

36 comments