unforum

[addlepated]

Items for ARGlets

[Puppy_Zwolle]

You must know by now there is no such thing as mini when it comes to ARG or ARG-like stuff. It is a state of mind.

When you are young and you play your mind makes it real (ish). When you get older you need a bit more to get you going. It isn't about treasure, it is about the hunt, the adventure.

One particular gem springs to mind:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty [Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo] (1947)

[Rogi Ocnorb]

Nancy Drew? Maybe a little much for her at seven.
Boxcar Children was something my daughter liked a lot around that age.

[konamouse]

The Great Brain series was a big favorite of mine at that age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Brain

[notgordian]

I'd consider Norton Juster's "The Phantom Tollbooth" mandatory reading for kids interested in that kind of thing. I also enjoyed "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder a lot. Then there's stuff like Encyclopedia Brown for straight-up mysteries to be solved. I'm trying to remember another series that was really good at the whole childhood treasure hunt angle...I'll post when I find it.

ADDENDUM: It might have been Enid Blyton's books. And whatever the book was, it was doubtless modeled off of E Nesbit's brilliant writing (highly suggested: The Enchanted Castle)

And now I really want to reread the Boxcar Children books.

[Phaedra]

Even thought the rest of The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper isn't particularly ARGish, it's still worth reading.

I'll second the Phantom Tollbooth and the Egypt Game. They might be a little too spooky for her, or they might not, but in the creepy mystery department, I always loved the work of John Bellairs. The House With A Clock in its Walls has mystery and magic and treasure hunts and clues. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is another one that I think of in the same breath as the Egypt Game. The Westing Game might be a little old for her yet, but that's a good one for budding PMs, or budding writers, I think. Interstellar Pig is a quirky sci-fi novel about a game that's actually a lot more.

[sixsidedsquare]

I gotta say when I was little I absolutely ate up those Usborne puzzle adventures. The good thing with those is that they have the whole range from younger kids stories all the way to much harder and rather fiendish puzzle books. I was also a fan of those puzzly type picture books, like Puzzle Island or Eleventh Hour, where you can just spend ages pouring over the pictures looking for things.

[addlepated]

Thanks for the awesome suggestions, all!

Phaedra, I'm actually re-re-re-re-re-reading TDIR series in preparation for this fall's movie version, even though it sounds like they're royally horking it up (Will Stanton is NOT an ex-pat American). And the scene where the wife says "Boom!" in The Westing Game and startles everyone never fails to make me laugh until I cry, even 28 years after reading it the first time.

[Phaedra]

[Mikeyj]