Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Tagged: At the Back of the North Wind, George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie, The Princess and the Goblin

This topic has 10 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 8 months ago by missceegee.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

Author
Posts
July 28, 2013 at 4:34 am
Dawn
Participant
I am considering reading book group 3 to my children this year. I noticed though that there are 2 George Macdonald books on there. I have not read any of his books, but just the title seems like it would be frightening to children. The Princess and the Goblin and At the back of the North wind. My children are ages 11, 9, 6, 3 and then 1. We normally do read alouds for the entire family. Are these titles that could potentially frighten children by introducing death and kidnapping? Please let me know your experience with these storylines. We have read most of the other stories in the other younger students sections.
July 28, 2013 at 4:57 am
missceegee
Participant
I LOVE George MacDonald. I have kids ages 12, 9, 6, 3. The older 3 have enjoyed The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, At the Back of the North Wind. These are wonderful Victorian fairy tales IMO.
The Princess and the Goblin – see sample chapters, descriptions, reviews at Amazon via the link.
The Princess & Curdie – again, see samples and reviews; same characters as above
At the Back of the North Wind – see samples and reviews
My children have not been bothered by anything in theses stories. However, each family is different. We’ve read aloud many books with scenes that others may find frightening, I suppose. I suggest previewing for yourself as only you can determine what is appropriate for your family.
July 28, 2013 at 5:05 am
Dawn
Participant
Thank you. I actually found a free kindle edition of At the Back of the North Wind after I posted my question so I am going to read it. I did see that they have great reviews. Still it is helpful to hear other people’s experiences with kids similar in age. My concern was with the 6 and 4 year old (oops, I still have her as 3 above – lol!). Just wasn’t sure if these were topics to save for later.
July 28, 2013 at 5:09 am
missceegee
Participant
My 3 yo often listens in. He doesn’t follow some of the longer stories like this as well, though. We listened to all of the in the car together, though and had no issues.
July 28, 2013 at 11:38 am
Rachel White
Participant
My children have loved MacDonald as well and I would reitterate what Christie said above about our family as well. I dind’t read them aloud, they read them independently before they were ten.
July 28, 2013 at 2:01 pm
erin.kate
Participant
My children, 9, 7, 7, and 4 LOVE LOVE LOVE The Princess and the Goblin. There are so many teachable truths nestled in MacDondald’s works, as well. My 9yo is now reading Princess and Curdie on her own and my girls will be reading The Light Princess this year for assigned reading. As a family we will be reading At the Back of the North Wind. Nothing has frightened them … at one part of Princess and Goblin, when Curdie goes down to the goblins in his search for the Princess, my 4yo just kept saying how brave Curdie was and he was praying that the princess was kept safe, not how frightening the scene could have seemed. All families are different but these are definitely worth trying … you can always set it aside until another time if you feel so led.
July 29, 2013 at 1:03 am
Dawn
Participant
oh good. Sounds like we won’t have a problem with it then and they are wonderful stories.
August 17, 2013 at 2:16 am
MariAnKenobi
Participant
Along with The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie, I also love Sir Gibbie, Phantastes, Lilith, and some short stories like The Light Princess, The Golden Key, and The Lost Princess.
August 20, 2013 at 3:14 am
Rebekahy
Participant
Christie – where did you get the audiobooks to listen to in the car?
August 20, 2013 at 1:04 pm
sheraz
Participant
I’m not Christie, Rebekahy, but here are some resources for audios:
There are audiobooks free at librivox:
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=George+Macdonald&status=all&action=Search
For download purchase at Audible.com:
http://www.audible.com/search/ref=hp_tseft?advsearchKeywords=George+macdonald&filterby=field-keywords&x=-1074&y=-163
For download purchase from Blackstone Audio:
http://www.downpour.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=George+Macdonald
For actual CD’s from Amazon, click on the “audio CD” tab under each book (where applicable):
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=george%20macdonald%20books&sprefix=George+Mac%2Cstripbooks%2C182

August 20, 2013 at 1:53 pm
missceegee
Participant
Thank you!