Modern literature for children is significantly different from the books that their parents or grandparents read. Many of them nowadays prefer to turn on their TV when reading, but cartoons and anime will never replace books for children 9-10 years old. The list of literature that develops children's consciousness and curiosity is simply huge. It includes the works of Russian, Soviet and foreign writers, whose stories give children the opportunity to dream and create.
Children's Soviet literature: Valentina Oseeva and Alexander Volkov
If you make a list of the best books for children 9-10 years of Soviet time, then the first in it may be the works of Valentina Oseeva and Alexander Volkov. Their heroes are also known by modern children.
Valentina Oseeva was born back in the Russian Empire, in 1902, in Kiev. Since childhood, the future writer dreamed of becoming an actress and even studied at the Lysenko Kiev Institute at the acting department, but in 1923 she had to drop out and move to Moscow with her parents. Finding herself once at her mother’s work in a commune for street children, Valya decided that she wanted to help the children and became a teacher.
Her story "Dinka" - about an honest, brave and open girl, whose childhood was in the years of the first revolution of 1905 - fell in love with the Soviet children. Such literature for children 9-10 years old brought up a sense of justice and empathy for the people around them. Together with Dinka, they still learn to help the poor, destitute and weak.
The heroes of books about the wizard of the Emerald City, about Oorfene Deuce and the seven underground kings of Alexander Volkov are today no less popular than in Soviet times.
The extraordinary adventures of Ellie and the dog Totoshka in the Emerald City, their help to new friends in achieving their goals became an example to follow. For modern children, these books are just as interesting as for those who lived in the middle of the 20th century.
A. Nekrasov
Books for children 9-10 years old are still popular today, the list of which is continued by the work of the Soviet author Andrei Nekrasov.
Before becoming a writer, he tried himself in various fields: he was a sailor, traveled a lot and recorded tales of experienced sea "wolves". These notes subsequently formed the basis of his humorous story "The Adventures of Captain Vrungel."
This incredibly funny book was loved not only by Soviet children, it is read with pleasure by today's schoolchildren of elementary grades. It tells about the participation of captain Vrungel, his apprentice sailor Lom and a sharpie from Calais Fuchs in the international regatta on the yacht "Trouble". Numerous obstacles that the main characters had to go through and which they overcame with four were described with such a sense of humor that even adults love to reread this work.
Such books for children 9-10 years old (the list contains many works of authors from different countries) teach that any adversity can be overcome if you do not lose the presence of mind.
The writers of England: Lewis Carroll and P.L. Travers
Great Britain gave the world a large number of children's writers, whose works are read not only toddlers, but also to their parents. For example, Lewis Carroll, a professor of mathematics at Oxford University, has written books such as Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Published in 1865, the tale of a girl who, through a rabbit hole, entered an unusual world in which strange creatures live, enjoys the same love among children and adults. This work, written in the genre of absurdity, influenced the development of children's literature in the style of fantasy. Alice's subsequent adventures on the other side of the mirror are also full of mathematical and philosophical jokes, and the works themselves remain so popular that they still shoot films and cartoons on them.
Pamela Travers is known not only in her native England, but throughout the world thanks to a series of books about Mary Poppins - the nanny, who appeared in the Banks family with an east wind. The magic surrounding the young woman has a positive effect on the children she is looking after. These authors and their works are included in the list of the best books for children.
J.M. Barry
The next great writer from England that the whole world knows is J.M. Barry, author of books about Peter Pan.
The story of Peter Pan, who will never grow, is based on the author’s sadness for his brother who died at 9 years old. JM Barry settled the main character in the country of Netland and gave him the opportunity to fly. Lost boys, fairies, mermaids and evil pirates live with him there. The adventures of children from the Darling family in Netland are so exciting that until now, filmmakers continue to shoot new versions of the play, which was first staged in 1904.
Instructive literature for children is no less popular (9-10), the list of which continues the fantasy genre that appeared in the 20th century. Today it has thousands of fans around the world, and books written in this style are in constant demand and popularity.
Clive Staples Lewis
A close friend of Tolkien - the famous Irish poet and writer Clive Staples Lewis - is familiar to children from such works as The Chronicles of Narnia.
The story of four children who, by chance, ended up in the magical land of Narnia, is liked by children 9-10 years old because here the heroes are not only their peers or animals they know, but also those that they could hear about from ancient Irish legends and myths of Ancient Greece.
The liberation of Narnia from the power of the White Sorceress, which brought the inhabitants of the country not only a lot of troubles, but also a hundred-year winter without Christmas and New Year, is the basis of the first book. In total, Lewis wrote a series of seven novels, the first of which was “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was published in 1950, and the last in 1956.
Since the first publications, this series has enjoyed continued success and is among the top best books for children 9-10 years old. By 2006, more than 100 million copies were sold, which were translated into 41 languages.
Joanne Rowling
England gave the children another famous writer - Joanne Rowling. She is known to children around the world in a series of novels about Harry Potter. The story of an orphan boy, who grew up in the inhospitable house of his uncle and later became a great magician, has such an exciting story that more than 400 million copies of books recognized as the best-selling in history were sold.
Movies about Harry Potter, which became the second in cinema at the box office, enjoy the same popularity. These books for children of 9-10 years old (the list contains 7 works) have become loved by adults as well, as Joan Rowling inspired many ordinary people to change their lives for the better with their example. As a secretary-translator, living on a small salary, she became a writer and multimillionaire.
Robert Lewis Stevenson and Arthur Conan Doyle
No less popular with children are authors such as Stevenson and Conan Doyle. For several generations of readers, their heroes have been admired, and the interest of filmmakers and animators suggests that they are attractive to modern children.
“Treasure Island” is suitable for those children who dream of becoming pirates or find a treasure. This novel by English author Robert Lewis Stevenson has both. The protagonist of the book, a boy named Jim Hawkins, became the owner of a card that marked the place where the famous captain Flint had hidden his wealth. The teenager went looking for him with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey.
Their many adventures still occupy the minds of young visionaries, and for more than 100 years the book itself has been included in the category of "best literature for children 9-10 years old."
The list continues with another English celebrity - Arthur Conan Doyle, author of short stories about Sherlock Holmes. The adventures of the great detective and his faithful assistant, Dr. Watson, were so fond of readers that the British made an apartment on Baker Street in London, where Sherlock Holmes supposedly lived, a museum of these literary heroes.
Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have been kids' favorite heroes for 140 years. Their adventures, described with an excellent sense of humor by an American writer Mark Twain, have influenced many people's childhood.
The protagonists today are an example of how even a child can influence events, show courage and ingenuity, to help friends in trouble and to punish people guilty of crimes. Mark Twain's works are good literature for children aged 9-10, the list of his books can be continued with such novels as “The Prince and the Pauper” and “Yankees at the Court of King Arthur”, which will be no less interesting for schoolchildren.
Jules Verne
For those who dream of traveling, books for children 9-10 years old will be the best choice, the list of which is headed by adventure novels by Jules Verne, a writer from France. His works “Children of Captain Grant”, “Fifteen Years Captain”, “Mysterious Island”, “Around the World in 80 Days”, “5 Weeks in a Balloon” and others are unsurpassed masterpieces of cognitive fiction.
In each work of this author there is a hero who has extensive knowledge, which he shares with small readers in an unobtrusive instructive form. Jules Verne's works are still relevant, as he wrote about scientific achievements that became possible only in the 20th century.