Children's Books I hate! - Page 8

[NYCVeg]

Originally Posted by maygee

ot, but....In the Night Kitchen is the best children's book ever---and they tried to ban it because it was about masturbation, I heard... never got that, personally. Sendak was a genius, imo. Higglety pigglety pop is great too--

Erm...I'm pretty sure that people try to (and do) ban ITNK because it shows the boy's penis in the illustrations (masturbation? seriously?). My MIL is a school librarian, and she said that, in another school she's familiar with, a prudish librarian drew underwear on all the pictures of Mickey.

[Pandora114]

Shell Silverstein books are plain ol creepy and scary..

[root*children]

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is Ping or maybe it's called The Story of Ping, or something similar. About the little duck in China. The last duck that gets on the boat each night gets whipped. I loved that one as a child, but had forgotten the whipping part, until I found it for my kids. Fortunatly, they didn't really like it

Shel Silverstein? REally? We LOVELOVELOVE him! When I was little, I thought his photo on teh back was creepy, but his poetry rocks. He's written a good deal of adult stuff too (think cartoons in vintage playboys). The older stuff for adults he wrote was HILARIOUS! He wrote another really long poem about smoking pot... I think it was like a contest to see who had the best herb, and thousands of people came and filled a stadium, etc.

And speaking of drug related books (wasn't someone referencing Maurice Sendak in that way?), has anyone read Cat Steven's Teaser and the Firecat book? Talk about acid! We love that one

[northcountrymamma]

I don't dislike Shel Silverstien...but man the picture of him on the back of his books....CREEPY!!! Dd wont read them because of this photo

Couldn't the publishers have chosen something a little less.....psychotic looking:

ETA: posted at the same time as you root children.

[TexasSuz]

I love just about every children's book I pick up - especially the ones written before WWII. What I don't like are the newer PC kids books that try to force some diversity message or political crud on our kids. I personally like children's literature without any heavy messages. I try to read it and see it like a child would - with wonder and awe!

My goal right now is to read every book in the Sonlight homeschool catalog. There are some GREAT books in there! I am having a blast reading them.

[Thalia the Muse]

I don't like aggressively PC or preachy children's books either. I can't even look at the covers of the Jamie Lee Curtis books in the bookstore without getting annoyed!

I mean, I like books with multethnic characters, girls doing active stuff and being assertive, etc., but I don't like it when the author feels the need to lecture children.

[formerluddite]

Originally Posted by root*children

Shel Silverstein? REally? We LOVELOVELOVE him! When I was little, I thought his photo on teh back was creepy, but his poetry rocks. He's written a good deal of adult stuff too (think cartoons in vintage playboys). The older stuff for adults he wrote was HILARIOUS! He wrote another really long poem about smoking pot... I think it was like a contest to see who had the best herb, and thousands of people came and filled a stadium, etc.

oh, my, the smoke off: "now in the laid-back california town of sunny san rafael, lived a girl named pearly sweetcakes, you prob'ly knew her well. she'd been stoned 15 of her 18 years, and her story was widely told, how she could smoke 'em faster than any dude could roll." in 1980 i could recite the entire 6 minute poem, recorded off of dr. demento with a radio shack cassette player, written down and memorized. hmmm, i got out of high school with a 2.8. questionable application of study habits...

Originally Posted by northcountrymamma

I don't dislike Shel Silverstien...but man the picture of him on the back of his books....CREEPY!!! Dd wont read them because of this photo

Couldn't the publishers have chosen something a little less.....psychotic looking:

he was a beatnik, and probably chose it himself. he also wrote "uncle shelby's ABZ's, which teaches a mixed up alphabet, with little stories for each letter, such as "D is for Daddy," who is sleeping on the couch, and can't afford a haircut, so why don't you go and get the scissors and give him one. H is for hole, and the suggestion is to push little sister into it. pretty un PC stuff, we all loved it in high school. i think i still have it on a shelf somewhere. i should show it to the kids!

my other favorite poems of his are "sara cynthia sylvia stout" who is swallowed up by the garbage she wouldn't take out, "someone ate the baby," (but she wasn't very sweet), "i'm being eaten by a boa constrictor," and lazy jane.

lazy
lazy
lazy
lazy
lazy
lazy
jane,
she
wants
a
drink
of
water,
so
she
waits
and
waits
and
waits
and
waits
and
waits
for
it
to
rain.
(into a drawing of her lying on her back with her mouth open).

thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[maya44]

Originally Posted by gwen's mom

I have a BA and an MS in English education so it is very hard for me to say that I "hate" any book but one of the worst we have come across for our DD has been Goldie is Mad by Margie Palatini. Here is the review I left on Amazon...


I have a very hard time parting with books, even the bad ones, however this one went straight into the trash.

One should not "hate anyone or anything" REALLY? Why in the world not. Things are not "upset" about our hatred for them, so what's wrong with saying that?

And people...some people are hateful.

While I don't think its the nicest emotion, children often do feel like they hate a sibling. Why deny the feeling?

[maygee]

"Many librarians were not so thrilled when Sendak's In the Night Kitchen emerged in 1970. In it a small boy named Mickey ends up naked as he explores the city work that goes on at night. According to Sendak this development is only sensible since Mickey goes romping through great vats of dough and milk – that is, skinny dipping is the pleasant alternative to slogging about in soggy, dough-sodden clothes. But a number of librarians and booksellers of the period promptly rejected the book. And a number of others accepted it only to turn around and deface it, giving Mickey little marker drawn shorts -- or possibly, says Sendak, taped on paper diapers.

Curiously, while Sendak admits the book is, in part, about a small boy glorifying in his sensuality, some critics have taken interpretation of the book to a Freudian sexual extreme, seeing the nudity, free-flowing milky fluids, and giant (supposedly) "phallic" milk bottle as convenient symbols within a subversive tale about masturbation. Little wonder given such conflicts, real or imagined, that the book routinely appears on the American Library Association's listings of frequently challenged and banned books: even in 2004, the book made the top-ten. Despite this fact, the book continues to be celebrated by children and parents everywhere and has become a well-loved classic."

[UUMom]

Originally Posted by maygee

"Many librarians were not so thrilled when Sendak's In the Night Kitchen emerged in 1970. In it a small boy named Mickey ends up naked as he explores the city work that goes on at night. According to Sendak this development is only sensible since Mickey goes romping through great vats of dough and milk – that is, skinny dipping is the pleasant alternative to slogging about in soggy, dough-sodden clothes. But a number of librarians and booksellers of the period promptly rejected the book. And a number of others accepted it only to turn around and deface it, giving Mickey little marker drawn shorts -- or possibly, says Sendak, taped on paper diapers.

Curiously, while Sendak admits the book is, in part, about a small boy glorifying in his sensuality, some critics have taken interpretation of the book to a Freudian sexual extreme, seeing the nudity, free-flowing milky fluids, and giant (supposedly) "phallic" milk bottle as convenient symbols within a subversive tale about masturbation. Little wonder given such conflicts, real or imagined, that the book routinely appears on the American Library Association's listings of frequently challenged and banned books: even in 2004, the book made the top-ten. Despite this fact, the book continues to be celebrated by children and parents everywhere and has become a well-loved classic."

Any book that has anyone drawing undies on a nakey baby boy has my vote! I love things that go against the grain of uptight society. Of course, it's the same reason I buy my children books from the 'banned books' list every year.

[box_of_rain]

Originally Posted by UUMom

Any book that has anyone drawing undies on a nakey baby boy has my vote! I love things that go against the grain of uptight society. Of course, it's the same reason I buy my children books from the 'banned books' list every year.

I agree! I LOVE INTK!! Little mickey is so chunky and loveable - and intact!

It's the first one I always put on display at the library where I work when Banned Book Week rolls around. Love it!

[box_of_rain]

Originally Posted by root*children

has anyone read Cat Steven's Teaser and the Firecat book? Talk about acid! We love that one

This has always been one of my favorites. I love how it's writen in three languages and I absolutely LOVE when they're floating down the river on the moon and come to the waterfall! What a GREAT book!
Teaser and the Firecat - check it out!

[lula]

The only book that really freaked my dd out was Outside Over There. I think the ice baby did her in.

[Meg Murry.]

Originally Posted by g&a

OK, I LOVE kids books, but some of them have storylines I don't agree with.

Green Eggs and Ham - You get pestered to do something you don't want to do until you give in. Especially when this is a message about food - You might not be hungry, or in the mood for eggs but I'm pestering you to eat them anyway. Not a good way to teach kids to stick up for themselves or to listen to their bodies about food.
!

Would it make you feel better to know my theory, specifically that it's about not being racist or generally biased?

[Meg Murry.]

I don't know about you folks, but I was really horrified by Kate Di Camillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.


For one, I really, REALLY object to a child's bunny toy being crucified. ---->Edward the Crucified Bunny

[Meg Murry.]

Originally Posted by fiddledebi

I can't stand Olivia! She's so annoying and --while I hate the word, I'll use it -- bratty. I worked for the organization that gives children's book awards, and knocking Olivia there was like saying you don't believe in apple pie or grandmothers, but yuck. I don't like her..

Me neither. She has such an air of smug entitlement.

[raksmama]

Originally Posted by Daffodil;7227624
I think it's weird how many people think the mother in [I

Runaway Bunny[/I] is too controlling. (It's been mentioned before in threads like this.) It's about a little bunny, not a bunny who's grown up and ready to get his own apartment. If you were a little kid thinking about running away, would you want your mom to just shrug and say, "Okay, bye, it was nice knowing you?" If your 3 year old did run away, wouldn't you search the world and do whatever it took to find her again?

I agree with you. My son loved the Runaway Bunny for years. I never would have thought that the mother was controlling! I remember a few years back there was an article in Mothering Magazine about a mother who had several sons. The older one liked Runaway Bunny but the younger one hated it.

Although I appreciate his originality I think some of Robert Munsch's books really do teach bad behaviour. Like the one where the girl invites the whole school over for her birthday or the one where the girl colours her whole body with markers.

[spero]

Originally Posted by formerluddite

"someone ate the baby," (but she wasn't very sweet),

Used to listen to George Carlin recite that one on Dr. Demento!

[Oana]

So far it's "No, David". The text is depressing to me, and the ilustrations are between ugly and scary.

Which is why I appreciate everyone's input who actually gets that book or finds it useful, it redeemed it a bit.

[knowerofnada]

Originally Posted by Dreaming

rainbow fish.

the other fish pressure the rainbow fish into sharing his scales.
i don't appreciate the entitlement angle at all.
honestly, why *should* the rainbow fish remove the scales he was born with and give them away just to make the other fish happy?
why can't the other fish just be content with their own scales?

talk about political indoctorination.
went right into the trash at our house.

I've read reviews on this book that completely agreed with yours. Not something I would want to teach DD.