Comments on: Raising a Nerdy Child: A Catalog of Artifacts, Part One

By: The All-Time Top 10 Ice Planets - Techland - TIME.com

The All-Time Top 10 Ice Planets - Techland - TIME.com — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:48:47 +0000

[...] 5. Pluto. Yeah, it's real, so what? Thing's still made of ice. Or partly. If I had to pick the best fictional context for Pluto, it'd have to be the part in Larry Niven's World of Ptavvs (top 10 greatest titles ever!) where somebody tries to land a rocket on it, and it turns out that a lot of the frozen gases are flammable, and the whole planet catches on fire. 6. Niflheim. The primorial world of mist and ice in Norse mythology. Those Norse, they knew from ice. Brought to you by D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths. [...]

By: queensmajor

queensmajor — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:51:04 +0000

This is great everybody! Keep laying the titles on me. My younger sister is about to be 10 and she never reads, and she’s only interested in the tween-girl disney channel tv shows.

She needs some serious nerdifying!

By: carterjp

carterjp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:41:15 +0000

Incredibly good first choice for an artifact. Got the Greek Myths from an aunt when I was young, which led me to get the Norse book from the library and keep it for so long I was afraid they’d come to my house to collect the fine.

Looking forward to the next artifact–will it be Legos? E. Nesbit’s Dragon book? How about the Philadelphia Orchestra’s version of Peter and the Wolf [narrated by David Bowie?] May not be nerdy enough but it sure is creepy/delightful.

By: Raising a Nerdy Child: iPhone Games - Techland - Time.com

Raising a Nerdy Child: iPhone Games - Techland - Time.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:00:51 +0000

[...] is part 2 of an irregular series about my attempts to turn my daughter into a complete [...]

By: thatguyivan

thatguyivan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:59:52 +0000

Can’t wait to see what the second artifact will be !!!

By: Cliff

Cliff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:54:24 +0000

So I’m just going to supply her with some of the key nerdy artifacts of my own childhood and see if they contribute to the natural emergence of nerdy behavior.
.
That’s pretty much how it worked with me. My parents put me in close proximity to mythology books and their SF&F books, and voila!
.
The dude sacrificed himself to himself.
.
That’s why he’s The Boss.

By: Lev Grossman

Lev Grossman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:43:37 +0000

@yummycarrots picked up Trolls on the same shopping binge!

By: pittsburghpoet

pittsburghpoet — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:49:00 +0000

Mainline it. Edith Hamilton’s _Mythology_.

By: michellekerns

michellekerns — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:13:19 +0000

Have her listen to the full ensemble cast audiobook recording of The Hobbit when you’re done reading the book to her. She’ll become a devout Tolkeinist, guaranteed.

By: yummycarrots

yummycarrots — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:26:36 +0000

Tell me you’ve seen D’aulaires’ Trolls, too! So many horrific and amazing illustrations of many-headed trolls and steam-nosed horsebeasts and the dangers of turning into rock when the sun rose… those D’aulaires must have thrown excellent parties.