Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
But outmoded language will send kids running and screaming to the TV faster than anything. And I can't really blame them. When they have to stop twice per paragraph to ask what some turn-of-the-19th-century idiom means, how can they get involved in the story?
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I agree with Steve - I don't see why this should be a problem for kids, especially not one of 5 years old, whose mum will probably be reading with him and be able to explain anything he doesn't understand. I think you're underestimating kids' intelligence - I have several nephews a few years older, who are quite keen TV watchers & computer games players, and they've all got really into the older boys' adventure series such as Tom Swift and the Rover Boys, and my niece loves the Angela Brazil stories. It is true that they sometimes have to look up an unfamiliar word (although that's really quite easy to do with an ereader, as most have built-in dictionaries), but most of the time they can work it out from the context - I can't see that expansion of their vocabulary as being anything other than a good thing. It's often necessary even with modern books - even with the plethora of US TV programmes, there are some US terms in books that aren't at all clear, and I'm sure US readers have the same issue with books originating in the UK (assuming they are reading the originals and not the rewritten US versions).