What would you do about these children's books? - Page 4

[eminer]

I tend to not want to read (over and over) books that I don't like. If I don't like them because I object to their messages, I complain. Dd does the same. If she really wants to hear one that I hate reading, I'll relent sometimes.

I can really sympathize with the experience of being shocked by books from one's childhood! It's amazing how differently I perceive mine now. Dd perceives them differently, too. For example, I absolutely LOVED the Richard Scarry nursery rhyme book. Dd is not into nursery rhymes, and she doesn't get the anthropomorphic animal illustrations. Dd is definitely critical about books. She gets mad at Olivia's mom for being snippy with Olivia. Fortunately, she hasn't asked yet what "time out" means.

[Peppermint]

I never would have guessed that people wouldn't like "Rainbow Fish", I don't see it as "make everyone else pretty and you'll be popular", I saw it as "share and be kind and you will have more friends that when you refuse to share". Not that I am right and others are wrong, just interesting the way we see things so differently.

And- nak, so I can't find the name, but the mama bunny saying she will always find her baby bunny, we really enjoy giggling through that book.

Then again, we LOVE "No David" too, which is an often-hated book here

I also like "Guess How Much I Love You" my kids and I play that game a lot.

All of the aforementioned books are just fun in our house, we have TONS of childrens books and just really LOVE and have fun with reading. My oldest is 5, so we aren't into the deep stuff yet.

[robugmum]

Wow! I've really enjoyed this thread. I'm off to order the Burn Babar book as well as Birchbark house. I still love the Little House books (I read them obsessively when i was a kid and still have the boxed set). I love the idea of reading a parallel story of a First Nations child growing up at the same time as LIW. Thanks for all the food for thought!

[Dreaming]

Originally Posted by flyingspaghettimama

Ha! I hated this book as a kid, and I didn't realize why until I was an adult. You have expressed exactly why!

Mother bunny sort of took attachment parenting too far, and wasn't listening to her child's obvious need to individuate...I always wonder if it's this sort of relationship people imagine when thinking about AP. Mama will always find her baby! And swaddle him, sling him, and nurse him to sleep! Even when he is 35 and tries to escape. You cannot escape Attached Mama! Bwa ha ha (evil laugh).

OMG that's funny. My MIL never did AP but she's just as clingy as the mother bunny in that book. Freaking psycho.


Interesting thread. I have thrown out 3 books and reserved a few good sized board books to be recycled (I'll paint and draw on them when I get around to it).

One was "The Tale of Peter Rabbit". I wasn't very pleased with Peters uncle spanking Peter and Benjimen simply because they got cornered by a cat. How stupid is that??? Trash.

The other was Rainbow Fish. I saw it as everyone wanting what Rainbow fish had (his beautiful scales that he was BORN with). He wouldn't share so they didn't want to be his friend. He left and decided to give up everything he had to gain friends. All were then "equal". I'm not into the idea of Socialism. People shouldn't be expected to give up what they have just because others around them want it. That's silly.

The third was a pop up book called Dudley's Birthday or something like that. The birthday pig is demanding and obnoxious but the story isn't written in a way that makes a lesson of it. He demands presents and gets them. :

One of the soon to be painted books is an annoying Blue's Clues called "feelings". I didn't like that it labeled babies by their faces in the manner they did. One baby is said to be "cranky" when clearly the child is just upset and probably needs a hug.

Censoring this early on doesn't bother me in the slightest. When DD gets older and has critical thinking skills the censoring will stop.
I will always talk with our children about what the author is saying (or what a commercial is really saying or what Barbie is representing, etc). Left to their own devices, it can take years and even decades for people's brains to "click" and really "get it". I am seeing that here in this thread. Lot's of people like the OP saying they didn't even realize what the content of the book was as a child. I'm not thrilled with the idea of seeding my children's consciousness with a bunch of drivel- especially when that drivel can have a huge impact on their world view.

[Daffodil]

It's interesting how many people don't like The Runaway Bunny. It never would have occurred to me that anyone could have a problem with it. I would have described the story as "Little bunny playfully threatens to run away from home and mother bunny playfully reassures him that if he does, she will go to any lengths to find him again and bring him back, because she loves him so much."

I like Guess How Much I Love You, too.

The only book I've gotten rid of because of its content was Mortimer, by Robert Munsch. (A boy sings a loud song in bed despite everyone in his family yelling at him to be quiet. Then the family calls the police, who also can't get him to shut up, and the whole family and the police get into a big fight while the boy finally falls asleep.) The whole thing just seems so nasty, and the story isn't even interesting.

[Ravin]

Originally Posted by Zach'smom

There is also a lot of smoking going on in the curious George books! At one point even Curious George is smoking a pipe! Also I think the Man With The Yellow Hat should be reported to Child Protective Services. He keeps just leaving George alone, unsupervised to get into trouble!!! Or the times Curious George was in the hospital he just left him there alone! Bad, bad Man With the Yellow Hat!

I still love those books. I usually alter them a bit when reading them to DS though.

We have Curious George, and I read it to DD. But I can just see us in a couple of years:

"Mommy, where is George's mommy?"

"Well, uh, I think she was killed by poachers."

"Mommy, isn't smoking bad for you?"

"Well, they didn't know so much about that back in the 1930's..."

"Mommy, is that what jail is like?"

"Well, not in this country now, but eighty years ago, maybe..."

"Mommy, how come they call George a monkey? Isn't he a chimpanzee?"

"Well, baby, taxonomy wasn't so clearly defined or popularly understood in the 1930's..."

I have the same beef about calling apes monkeys in the book "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" which was one of my very favorites when I was little.

I do think one purpose of books is to give a glimpse into the worldview of other people and places. You might save "Catundra" and its ilk for when your child is a bit older, and look at them and do some moral/critical analysis together with your child.

But sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar, and a fun adventure or clever rhymes with beautiful and/or engaging illustrations doesn't need too much analysis.

[heartmama]

I loved the Serendipity books. Ds has enjoyed them. If some of the morals are outdated, I think the overall spirit of the books is still very gentle and reassuring.