if she doesn't read them now. of course, she can always read them when she's older.

i dunno where she sees her life going and/or in which direction you plan to push her, but like it or not, there's a canon of lit that will be referenced over and over if she ends up in the higher reaches of education. basically if she's gonna hang w/the smart kids she'll be better off if she's read what they've read. and they read the classics, as far as i know. or they did when i was hanging w/them. thankfully i'd read most of what they'd read so i could keep up. but if i hadn't i might've been frustrated.

outside of education - there are adult conversations where the classics come up. my boss likes to make references to classic lit in work conversations. i've been at dinner parties and cocktail hours and networking events where ppl have dropped references. if she's going to be involved in literature at all as a career or just a personal interest she'll run across references to the classics. she's better off knowing what's being referenced but if she doesn't she can read up on that stuff later.

outside of that stuff...the so-called classics are by and large good reads. fun, even. i can think of few i've read w/o enjoying - even if i was frustrated by the reading at the beginning or at some other point.

i can't think of good reasons NOT to read them. i can think of good reasons not to LIMIT one's reading to the classics, of course.