Children's Books I hate! - Page 4

[spero]

I've participated in a lot of threads about Rainbow Fish and The Giving Tree - always to go against the grain and say that we love them. But then, we view them from a whole other perspective. My son LOVED The Giving Tree, and we always had a discussion about the story when we read it.

All of my kids just adored Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - we would all be shouting and laughing and silly! I think it's one of the most fun books ever! And right now I'm painting a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom wall mural in the children's section at our public library - really brightening up a drab corner, I might add!

Runaway Bunny is all about security and love, IMO.

My kids also love Where the Wild Things Are - again, reading that one aloud is a grand opportunity to be loud and boisterous, "RUMPUS, RUMPUS, RUMPUS!"

The only books I really loathe are Disney/Barbie/commercial character books. Even most of the Sesame Street books are pretty dull. I have fond memories of classic Little Golden Books, but have found that reading them to my own kids is a real yawn for all of us.

[sunnysideup]

Originally Posted by BusyMommy

Carl was used by his master--class system there. It's also likely he lacked his babysitters class certificate and was a boy under the age of 13.

You are kidding, right? I honestly can't tell anymore. :

Originally Posted by BusyMommy

I do have to say, though, that I have never liked the Giving Tree. Not for its Christian message or the self-sacrifice of the female tree. I just thought the "guy" was such a jerk.

He's supposed to be a jerk though. Sometimes, a character in a book is showing us how not to behave.

[Sarahbunny]

I've never liked I'll Love Your Forever - that's the one where the mom sneaks into her adult sons house, right? Something about it makes me very uncomfortable.

[BusyMommy]

Originally Posted by sunnysideup

You are kidding, right? I honestly can't tell anymore. : He's supposed to be a jerk though. Sometimes, a character in a book is showing us how not to behave.

Well, I have boys and they're both under the age of 13 and will face mucho suspicion b/c of those 2 variables so ... ...yep, I am j/k.

And yeah, but it's that eye for an eye, etc thing that comes out in me when I read the Giving Tree. I just wish the Tree would give him a big splinter where the sun's not shining. Mean, yes, I understand. But, well, that moral just doesn't gell w/me. Maybe, however, after reading Good Night Moon a few times, I'd be calm enough to accept its wisdom.


And, no-one's mentioned fairy tales, spec. Grimm's. I think they're hysterical. We love to read them. I love how Hansel & Gretel tricked the witch by using a chicken bone.

[Demeter9]

Sunnysideup - I agree with you. But I find that people do this with adult stories too. Take things literally where the message or point in the story is not literal. I don't think people are actually singling out children's books.

[AuntNi]

Originally Posted by Dreaming

for those of you saying "love you forever" and "runaway bunny" are acceptable messages,
i think the problem isn't when the kids are little.
i think the problem comes in when we are grown and the mother is still maintaining that the adult is her "baby".
it's the root of many disfunctional relationships and MIL discord.
i think that's what a lot of people are responding to.

I know that's what *I* think of since my MIL is smothering and overbearing.
Yuck.

Yeah, that's EXACTLY what creeps me out about it. I always think, "Yeah, I bet his wife LOVES having her MIL sneak in the window. " Keep in mind my experience is from my dad's mom and my DH's mom, both of whom *would* probably sneak in our window if they thought they could get by with it.

I feel strongly about lots of books, both for adult and children. I love love love some, and there are a few I do absolutely hate. Again, Love You Forever merely creeps me out because of my in-law experience.

Also, Crescent Dragonwagon's mother is Charlotte Zolotow, not Margaret Wise Brown.

[Mama Poot]

Originally Posted by boatbaby

There aren't any i HATE at the moment...

BUT - I never understood the appeal of...

Goodnight Moon
Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Olivia
Moo-Baa-La-La
Goodnight Gorilla

ROFL some of those are terrible. I was watching Sesame Street once and it waas at the end where Oscar reads to Wormie and he's looking for a book to read. As he leafs through books, he pulls out "Get Lost, Moon" and "The Very Angry Caterpiller" Someone at Sesame street is tired of these crappy books as well!

[SummerLover]

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

Love You Forever started as a song.

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
as long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."


I made that up after my wife and I had two babies born dead. The song was my song to my dead babies. For a long time I had it in my head and I couldn't even sing it because every time I tried to sing it I cried. It was very strange having a song in my head that I couldn't sing.

For a long time it was just a song but one day, while telling stories at a big theatre at the University of Guelph, it occurred to me that I might be able to make a story around the song.

Out popped Love You Forever, pretty much the way it is in the book.

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.

[Demeter9]

I dislike Beatrix Potter books, because I generally don't like the message OR the way it is put. People being spanked, threatening, chased down, beaten, getting in trouble and causing trouble because of not being supervised, etc.

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by UUMom

That Maragaret Wise Brown (mother of Crescent Dragonwagon, let me add) was a real sicko.

Actually, Crescent Dragonwagon is Charlotte Zolotow's daughter. (I just looked it up.) (ETA: I see AuntNi beat me to it on that one.) Speaking of that sicko, MWB, I love the story about the little girl who gets a steamroller for Christmas and rolls a bunch of people and animals flat as shadows. (Including her teacher, knocked down and flattened out with a Merry Christmas smile still on her face.)

Just kidding, of course. I actually hate that story because it advocates going overboard on Christmas spending (the parents not only buy the girl a steamroller, they get her a steam shovel, too!) and because it shows such irresponsible parenting. What kind of parents would let their child drive a steamroller unsupervised? (Without even explaining how the controls worked!)

[molarmama]

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 also HATE this book and will not have it in my house. My husband has a masters in Literacy and they actually talked about this in one of his grad classes. We vowed to never read it to our kids.

[molarmama]

Originally Posted by AuntNi

Love You Forever. The big guy in his mother's lap just creeps me out.

This book makes me cry every time I read it. I really love it. I think you may feel different when your DC is an adult. I think you'll WISH could could do that. My eyes are welling up

[mirlee]

Originally Posted by BusyMommy

Okay, I'll fess up, too.
Even if we disagree, we love to read them and it's fun to open discussions.

No-one's mentioned Walter the Farting Dog yet!

We have this one and another Walter book. Should I also admit to having a stuffed version of Walter that "farts" when you squeeze his middle? :

[kewb]

Originally Posted by Madre Piadosa

on professor i had swore that harry the dirty dog was racist. when the dog is black and dirty the family doesn't want him or love him, but once is is white and clean he is acceptable.

Wow. I never got that at all from Harry the Dirty Dog. No one wanted him around when he is white and clean in the beginning. That is why he was alone in the first place to get covered in seaweed and be mistaken for a sea monster.

[boatbaby]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

ROFL some of those are terrible. I was watching Sesame Street once and it waas at the end where Oscar reads to Wormie and he's looking for a book to read. As he leafs through books, he pulls out "Get Lost, Moon" and "The Very Angry Caterpiller" Someone at Sesame street is tired of these crappy books as well!

Now THAT IS FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :

[mommy2abigail]

What are you talking about? My mama still rocks me to sleep? While I rock dd to sleep! We're just a pile of runaway bunnies on an old rocking chair! Ok, jk! I just dislike books that are boring for ME to read. So I hide those, or tell dd to ask daddy to read them. Otherwise, I dont really HATE any messages in her childrens books...

[northcountrymamma]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

"Get Lost, Moon" and "The Very Angry Caterpiller"

As much as I LOVE both of those books...that's crazy funny!

People seriously don't like "where the wild things are" ???
That book is truly one of the best kids book I have EVER read! In fact we have two, one at her dad's house and one here. I can't imagine a better book to read when my lil one is feeling wacky and wanting to be noisy and crazy... and to slowly settle into our evening routine we read this one. It always chills her out...lets her know it's okay to get this stuff out of her system.

She knows i would never deprive her from food...that i will always love her and that this is just a story with a very fun tone!

[mimim]

I love a lot of these books.

Who doesn't like feisty, strong, creative, feminist Olivia???? (Although William does have bottles.)

Green Eggs and Ham is about not saying you don't like something when you haven't even tried it.

Love You Forever is about unconditional love and the fact that your parents will always cherish you even when you are grown and you should do the same. We think it's hilarious when she climbs in his window. It's not meant to be literal!


A lot of books (Curious George is one) can be used to discuss cultural and historical difference and why we don't agree with the values of the book.

Although, I do agree Rainbow Fish is boring and insipid. Clifford bores me too.

[spero]

Originally Posted by northcountrymamma

People seriously don't like "where the wild things are" ???
That book is truly one of the best kids book I have EVER read! In fact we have two, one at her dad's house and one here. I can't imagine a better book to read when my lil one is feeling wacky and wanting to be noisy and crazy... and to slowly settle into our evening routine we read this one. It always chills her out...lets her know it's okay to get this stuff out of her system.

Your DD would probably also love Katie and the Night Noises! D

[spero]

My 6-yo loves Junie B. Jones! Those are the only books she will read on her own, to herself.