Children's Books I hate! - Page 11

[kamesennin]

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[CherryBomb]

Well I'm sure this has been mentioned, but I really hate "I'm a Big Sister" (I think that's the title). Baby is bottlefed, of course, and it never ONCE shows the mom holding it! It's held by dad when it's being fed, but other than that it's in a stroller or walker. Yuck. I hate that freaking book.

I don't like Walter the Farting Dog but DD1 thinks it's hilarious and she's at the age where bodily functions are terribly amusing so I let it slide :P

[NYCVeg]

Originally Posted by spero

IMO, the reason that no one wanted to be friends with the Rainbow Fish is b/c he was stuck up and vain about his "beautiful" scales. HE didn't want to hang out with the other fish b/c he felt that he was too good for them. I don't think he had to bribe anyone to be his friend - he just discovered that he'd be awfully lonely if he wouldn't stop thinking he was better than all the "plain" fish. Only once he shared himself (physically AND emotionally) with the others could he realize the beauty of friendship.

Yeah...I just read this in the bookstore today, to see what all the fuss was about. I did NOT see it as a book about "conforming" at all. My reading was exactly the same as yours--that he didn't want to be friends with the plain fish BECAUSE they were plain, but then learned the value of sharing.

I also read Goodnight Gorilla, which I thought was a hoot. My only complaint is that it's set in a zoo (I'm not a big fan of animal captivity), but what are you gonna do?

As for people who think In the Night Kitchen is about masturbation because of the "free-flowing milky liquids"...erm, wow. And the "phallic" milk bottle? Have you seen a milk bottle that isn't phallic? Now, if it were a breast-shaped milk bottle...THAT would be something.

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by SummerLover

I happened across this while looking for information about the author of The Paper Bag Princess, one of my favorite books.



http://robertmunsch.com/books.cfm?bookid=40

The only book I've come across that I just couldn't bring myself to read to my dd was Junie B Jones.

Wow, that's so powerful it brought me to tears! I think that book is sweet, and I adore Robert Munsch! Of course if you take it literally it's creepy, but I think it's been well established that it's not supposed to be :P I don't buy books like that for my kids simply because I can't read them without bawling! Paper Bag Princess is one of my all time faves, though dd1 doesn't seem to apperciate it yet

[mykidsrock]

Originally Posted by MamaDimstam

This is obviously for slightly older readers, but I cannot stand the Junie B. Jones books for all the deliberate misspellings. Dd saw one and asked why the writer made Junie so "not smart." Awful.

ME TOO!!!!! I hate Junie's antics as well, she is always bisbehaving.

[Heffernhyphen]

Here's one I just "read" and am in no hurry to open again: Good Dog, Carl. I put "read" in quotes because it mostly doesn't have words, just pictures that force you to supply the story. And I'll have to work harder next time to come up with something better than this:

Okay, so the Mommy goes to work and leaves the baby home alone in her crib with a Rotteweiler as babysitter. The giant potentially deadly creature lifts the baby out of the crib and spends the day doing various life-threatening activities such as lowering her into the aquarium, dropping her down the laundry chute, submerging her in a bathtub and blasting a blowdryer in her face. But it's all good because by the time Mommy comes home, he has stealthily cleaned up all evidence of their shared naughtiness and Mom is none the wiser.

I'll tell you, you should have seen DS's eyes light up when he saw that the laundry chute is in reality a secret roller coaster. mental note: get child-proof latch on laundry chute, TODAY!

[Dov'sMom]

My two cents after reading this thread:

The Giving Tree always gave me the shudders. It takes a good book to do that -- but there is no way I would call it a children's book.

Felix -- I see what you mean about "No, David," though I always laugh when I think about it. It's the favorite of one of my friend's toddlers, probably because he is incredibly mischievous and identifies with David. So I was reading it to him one day and asking him questions about the different pictures. You know the page when David goes running naked in the streets? So I ask the toddler what's wrong with that, and he says "David doesn't have any shoes on!"

Runaway Bunny -- I don't mind the message, but the execution is annoying. Blow you whereever I want you to go? FISH for you? How about become a trout and swim along with you? Become a sailor and travel with you whereever YOU want to go?

The Story of Ping -- I only read it once, and a long time ago, but as I recall, it's very honest about the awful parts of growing up on the Yellow River as a duck raised for food. Being hit with a stick was part of that. The reality is that we hit animals -- if you don't want to talk about that with your dc, fine, but I think the book is a great way to start a conversation.

[SwissMama]

Originally Posted by g&a

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

Curious George - ok, I've only read the one book, but they tricked and kidnapped a monkey. Need I say more. They also threw the man with the yellow hat out on the street because he had a pet (out on the street seems harsh). They threw the monkey in jail becasue he called a wrong number - the fire dept. (also harsh punishment).

You forgot the part about the monkey SMOKING - having a pipe before he goes to bed.

[SwissMama]

Originally Posted by felix23

: The mom in I love you forever needs to cut the apron strings and let her son grow up. I really hate that book, it is just creepy.

"Love you forever" - ditto. Creeped the hell out of me. For people who say we are "taking it too literally" and you don't understand the creepiness - that's fine. You're reading too much into our dislike. I'm not talking about interpretting messages for my child, I'm just saying it creeped *ME* out.

I'm sure my daughter wouldn't mind it, but actually I get irked reading any Robert Munsch books, they just grate on me. Sorry. We have thousands of other books to choose from, so thats ok. It's a fun thread, and good to see there are other people that wrinkled their noses at some of the same books that I have.

[Heffernhyphen]

Originally Posted by SwissMama

. . . actually I get irked reading any Robert Munsch books, they just grate on me.

Not Paperbag Princess! You MUST love that one or we'll revoke your MDC card.

[g&a]

Originally Posted by SwissMama

You forgot the part about the monkey SMOKING - having a pipe before he goes to bed.

Oh ya, I forgot about that part!! I think it's just from a different era when smoking was much more ok. It's just kind of wierd for a monkey, but C.G. does all sorts of stuff that's wierd for a monkey!! I can't figure out why he needs pyjamas when he runs around all day with nothing on.

g.

[g&a]

Originally Posted by Momily

A lot of books that people are mentioning, I agree with the interpretations you're giving (e.g. Ping, Bedtime for Frances, Rainbow Fish, The Giving Tree, Curious George etc . . . ) but they're part of the reason why we love the bookss they're great jumping off points for conversations in which we reinforce our family values.

I agree with the stories being great jumping-off points for conversations, as long as your kid is old enough to have those conversations, and you want to have those particular discussions (and have time and energy for it). My DD is 2 1/2 and not ready for some of it, so we just avoid the books (for now).

I thought of another one: Jack and the beanstalk. The story irks me. First of all we're supposed to feel bad for Jack who made a bad decision about the beans. I agree, as a mom, I would be mad. Perhaps I'd handle it differently (make bean soup), but I'd be mad. I also think that perhaps the mom gave him more responsability than he could handle and should cut him some slack. Barbara Coloroso would ask him how he was going to fix the situation. But I digress......

Then he goes up the beanstalk and starts stealing stuff from the giant. Stealing is bad, even from mean people. The poor giant can't do anything right. When he gets upset about being stolen from they cut down the beanstalk and kill him. Jack didn't find out until afterwards that the giant had stolen from them in the first place.

I just like to think about the stories instead of just reading the words, and that's what this thread is about.

g.

[aywilkes]

Originally Posted by pixiepunk

re: green eggs and ham - the message we take away from that (and the one we discuss with DD everytime we read it) is that sometimes you think you're not going to like something just because of the way it looks, but then if you try it you might be surprised to discover that you really do like it.

Same message I received and relayed to my ds.

[Neth Naneth]

Originally Posted by pbandj

My mom thinks dd needs to say please more, so she got her a book that was called Say Please. Jeez she is only 2, I don't think it is necessary for her to say please all day long. I tossed that book, it was horrible.

Moms can be silly.

You know every time that I read this thread I consider suggesting a Children's Books I Love! but then I think about the fact that people will say I love BOOK. Then someone will say I hate BOOK.:

I have found some really neat books because of this thread though.

[Thalia the Muse]

I pretty much hate all the "Mommy (occasionally Daddy too) loves you SOOO MUCH! I love you more than anything in the world! You're loved! We love you!" books. Children who are loved know that they are loved. They don't need a picture book to tell them that, and IME the books tend to bore them. I always think those books just give the parents a chance to feel mawkish and self-congratulatory about what wonderful, loving parents they are toward their wonderful, special children.

[Caittune]

I haven't been able to read all 11 pages of this thread, but it is interesting to see other's prespectives.

I absolutely detest all the "noisy" books that my MIL bought my DD. There is the zoo train and another colours one that are extremely loud. One is now residing under my couch and the other is reserved for those extra special messy diapers.

I also dislike some of the touch and feel books. There is one that starts out with a picture of a lion and says "the lion is the king of the jungle" Um...lions don't live in the jungle!

[jomomma]

I have to agree about the Love You, Forever book. It's just plain creepy. And the little runaway bunny wouldn't want to run away if his mother would just give him some freakin' space. Let the poor bunny breathe, for Peter Rabbit's sake.

My least favorite books (though my dd is totally engrossed with them, and I do mean enGROSSED) are the Disney princess books. We tried successfully for over 3 years to keep them out of our home and then, lo and behold, we had a birthday party that rained down princess schlock in buckets. Why are their lives always so dismal and repairable only with the aid of some singing, royal forest-stalker in tights? A friend's daughter recently asked her mother, "When are you going to die?". Understandably, the friend was a little taken aback and asked her daughter what brought this question on. Her daughter (only 3, by the way) answered that all the princesses' mommies were dead, so she naturally assumed her own mother would be going the way of the dodo soon. She wasn't upset by the idea; if anything, she seemed completely unfazed -- having accepted the untimely demise of her beloved mother as simply being the way of the world. Thank you Hans, Walt and those oh-so-entertaining and aptly named Grimm boys.

Other books I ain't too keen on a-readin' are Spotty (absolutely horrible! - one of the rabbits in a litter of approximately a billion little white bunnies comes out with appalling brown spots. Because he is different, his mother's friends and sisters speak badly of him, shun him and invariably he is left home alone while everyone else trots off to his grandfather's birthday party because the mother is ashamed of him and certain the horrid old grandfather bunny won't love him. There is a "happy ending", but my kid is fairly sensitive -- she'd break down in tears if we read this in our house.). Equally, Millions of Cats would have the same effect. A childless, elderly couple decide to adopt a cat. News spreads among the feline community and millions of cats, all eager and anxious to be the couple's pet show up on their doorstep to vie for the honor. The couple explains they can only choose one which leads to an all out death match (literally) among the kit-kats, who claw and bite one another until only one scrawny kitten who hid under a bush remains. Pleasant, no? I remember this being a Weekly Reader pick when I was in kindergarten, I think. Granted, that was many moons ago -- when dynamite and shotguns were the usual props in children's cartoons.

I have to say, I just don't get In the Night Kitchen and I can't stand the wickedly depressed completely vacuous mother in Outside Over There.

Some absolutely GREAT books however -
Our all time favorite - I Know the Moon (really, the most beautiful kids' book I've ever had the pleasure of reading)
The Widow's Broom (it may sound horrible, but the image of a ghostly, axe-carrying broom roaming the forest late at night just makes me smile and smile - trust me, it's funny)
Busy Night (got my daughter to stop being afraid of giant lobster monsters that occasionally liked to take up residence under her bed -- have no idea where that came from)
The Hidden Treasure (if you love gardening and aren't so keen on laziness, you'll like this one)
and Monster, Monster (teaches kids that things are not always what they seem)
oh, and The Big Orange Splat (celebrating diversity, acceptance and art all in just a few short pages).
Of course, I like these books for their messages, but mostly, because they're fun to read.
Just throwin' my 5 cents in (I babbled on way too long for it to be just 2).

[jomomma]

Corrections, corrections -
It's The Big Orange Splot (not splat) by D. Manus Pinkwater
and The Buried Treasure (not hidden) by Djemma Bider. One more my daugher (and my dh and I) love is Guess How Much I Love You. Too sweet!

[Heffernhyphen]

I love The Big Orange Splot, too. I used to love to read it LOUDLY on my front porch, especially when my horrible neighbors were out. If only I had the courage to paint bulldozers and naked ladies on my house! It would be so worth it just to see the looks on their faces.

[mommymarliah]

I bought this book based on the awesome reviews it had on Amazon and because it was about a lion with special needs "Leo The LAte Bloomer"

I HATE this book. So much so that when I got it I put it aside and never let the kids see it. Its about this lion who can't talk and in the end finally does, the part everyone leaves out in the reviews is the section of the book where Leos father decides "to stop watching Leo and watch tv instead" and there are like four pages of the book where it says over and over blah, blah, blah, "leos father still wasnt watching"

It pretty much made dads of SN kids out to be ignorant TV watching creeps (and my DH is FAR from that). I was pissed. I couldnt believe a book that bashed fathers so badly was given such high reviews. I still have it hidden away. Why I don;t know. I should throw it away. No one should read that trash.