Do you enjoy reading books meant for younger readers than yourself?

It depends on the book of course, I don't like them because of it, I like them because of the topic of the particular book. but anyway, I have noticed that I never quit reading or liking YA books.
The last book I finished was written by R L Stine (Fear Street).

Anyone else enjoy teen books? (It doesn't count if you're a teenager!) Or for that matter, any teens here who still enjoy children's books?

I read my first adult books when I was 11 (Dean Koontz) and had no problem with that. Ever since that I have found myself reading and enjoying both.

Anyone else have similar likes?

I'm not sure if this counts, but my favourite manga is 'Yotsuba to'. It might just be my favourite because I don't read manga very often but I'd like to think it caught my attention where others have failed.

I tried reading the Narnia stories but found I couldn't enjoy them very much. I'm not convinced I would have liked them as a child either. I still consider Roald Dahl one of my favourite authors and I think the themes of his books, where children are laden with adversity through no fault of their own and do the best they can to overcome it, would appeal to any age.

I can't say I very often seek out children's authors anymore though. I haven't even read Harry Potter.

I like children's picture books with few lines on every page. The last one I bought was "Duck, Death and the Tulip" . It tells about death in a sensitive way.

There is a review in English.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/de ... ook-review



But I couldn't buy children's books nowadays. I feel I can't identify myself with the young protagonists anymore so I prefer to reread my old children's books from time to time, most of them were by Thomas Brezina like The Knickerbocker Gang (if anyone is familiar with it).

Are mangas considered 'childish'?
I like Dragonball, and I very much enjoy Ranma, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon Adventures.
Some comics, too, like Nemi, Garfield, Tundra, Foxtrot and a few others.



Maybe that's part of it - I (usually) have an easier time identifying with young protagonists?
Maybe because I feel younger than my chronological age? But I thought you did too, Mikan?


Cough... A lot of the books currently on my x-mas wish list are teen books.

Well, I take solace in Philip Pullman's quote on the cover of Susan Price's "The Sterkarm handshake" (the Norwegian edition anyway): "This is one of those books that are so good you'll only find them in the youngster section" as well as Stephanie Meyer's claim that she doesn't let a good book get away just because she's outside its target group. So at least I'm not the only one.

No, not generally speaking.

Although I do believe most of the ones you just mentioned appeal to a younger audience. The target audience doesn't necessarily make it childish in my opinion. The word childish implies that its a frivolous interest and I don't think it is.

Yeah, I still feel that I'm around 12 or so. But still... for new books it's hard to me to get sunk in the story. I can't read it with the eyes of a 12 year old who doesn't know anything about the big world. But for old books I can remember how I felt when I read this or that book so I could read them over and over. It wouldn't work for new books - once read and never again.

I don't read novels, but I do like graphic novels and science literature. I say graphic novels just to cover a more broad spectrum of books than manga. I probably read manga that is geared towards at least teenagers, I don't really know. I'd assume the themes I am interested in at times would go over the heads of someone TOO young. The last manga I was reading before my trip was a one-volume story called Solanin about a 20-something girl who just finished college, doesn't like her job, and doesn't know what to do with her life. AKA me in female form haha. I guess it's "age-appropriate", but I've definitely read stuff that others would think was too "childish". If you like it, you like it.

The only children's book I like is The Hobbit.
I don't normally enjoy fiction though, and mostly read factual books on subjects I find interesting.

I can count the fiction books I like on one hand and most of these are aimed at adults.

Sometimes I feel like what I'm reading was designed for old gross men who accidentally fall into your boob in public.

My reading selection is all over the page. I once (ACCIDENTALLY) started reading a semi-erotic novel at the age of... 8? 9? I also read Stephen King books before then...I just heard he was a cool author and began reading. My bad...

Though a fun thing is, as a teenager I read plenty of 'adult' fiction, it's normal for me. I also like reading books for what I consider younger folk. Of course, 'younger folk' I consider it like harry potter. I picked up harry potter in 5th grade actually, so I always considered it a children's novel... for some reason...

Harry Potter is a big one for me. I feel very guilty about liking it so much because I've never managed to get out of the idea that it's solely a children's book. But, really, I started reading them at age 10 and the last one wasn't published until I was friggen' 17, so I sort of grew up with it and I'm too attatched to let it go. My enjoyment of it differs a lot from back when I was wee, of course. In my head Hermione is a lesbian, and so is most of the female cast, and Fleur and Gabrielle are...incestuous...I started reading fanfiction when I was 10 too, and, weirdly enough, one of the first stories I remember reading was Harry/Draco smut...which was interesting, to say the least.

Anyways, I think childrens/YA literature is appealing because it tends to be more pure lighthearted fantasy. Adult literature seems to get bogged down by "gritty realism" and crap like that, which, while not being necessarily bad, is annoying to read over and over and over. I think it lends itself better to escapism. It's nice to take a break and read something that isn't overly graphic and dark.

I read some C.S. Lewis books a few years ago and really enjoyed what I read. The books by Lewis that I read were from The Chronicles of Narnia which is a series which comprises a few books, and Out of the Silent Planet which is the first book of a science fiction trilogy called The Space Trilogy.

I don't read age "inappropriate" books often because, well, I don't read as often as I should.

I adored the Harry Potter books and less so the Twilight books and I've read the first 2 of the Phillip Pullman Northern Lights books.
I do read the occasional teenage fiction book I've seen recommended.
I dont have a problem reading age 'inapproprate' books. So yes, I do enjoy them.

As I was posting my reply I was thinking "Rezu is going to mention Harry Potter".

Right when I finished submitting my reply, I noticed that you mentioned it.

YOU GOTTA PROBLEM?!

You should have read it by now. You're supposed to have read and watched everything relevant to my interests, bitch.

While I don't read books written for children or teenagers, I do read and very much enjoy a lot of shonen manga geared towards those demographics.

Yeah as long as it's not written for five year olds and I like the story I'll read it. Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, my favorite author when I was a kid John Bellairs, etc.

No one in this thread should feel bad about liking "age inappropriate" books lol because my mom is almost 59 & her favorite author is R.L. Stine, & her favorite series is "Goosebumps"

I love the "Twilight" series, even though it's made about someone 10-11 years younger than me. I also loved "Eragon" which was about a 14 or 15 year old boy, "Harry Potter" though I only read one book (the first one), I really liked it & he was only about 11 or 12 lol, plus I really love this book called "City of Ember" which is about a girl who's around 12 or 13 or so. So, I definitely do like "age inappropriate" stuff lol

i saw this in the bookstore last week and thought it was cool, but didn't have the money to buy it.

i read some children's stories. the OZ series by Baum, i liked the Snicket mysteries, Bunnicula. i like Beatrix Potter for her artwork.

Has anyone here read anything from Kenneth Oppel? He's a Canadian author I used to read from as a child. He is especially known for his Silverwing series (Silverwing, Sunwing, Firewing, (And Darkwing, though that is more of an offshoot novel)) which are about the daily life of bats and getting into a few ridiculous adventures as bats. I found it very interesting how the series gave bats their own religions and conflicts that strikingly resemble humans but yet make sense for bats.