Awful, awful children's books - Page 12

[j924]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

My MIL says the EXACT same thing about this book. She despises this book and dosent get what its about. I agree 100% w/ her. But dont tell her!

We call it the Codependent Tree over here

[LittleSaylorBoat]

My daughter is obsessed with Penguins, so I got her "Where's My Mommy?" about a penguin at a zoo who lost his mommy. Not only is the baby penguin drawn inaccurately, but the text has racist undertones. "You're not my mommy, your skin is too har'd (to the tortoise).

[JSerene]

I just thought of another one. Has anyone read Honey Bunny Funnybunny by Marilyn Sadler? P.J. Funnybunny (big brother) loves Honey Bunny Funnybunny(little sister) very much, but he likes to pick on her. He does all sorts of mean things throughout the book like pouring O.J. on her cereal, ripping the heads off her dolls, putting her favorite blanket in the freezer, mashing carrots on her head, etc. Finally he goes too far and his parents tell him he's a bad bunny and that he has to stop. So then he ignores his little sister altogether. In the end, she misses him and learns that she has to put up with his abuse to keep his attention.

[bellymama]

Originally Posted by momileigh

Very clever and very simple, which unlike some people suppose, is not that easy to produce. I find it amazing that some people can be annoyed that others' creative ideas are so simple, and claim they could do it themselves, yet they never actually come up with anything creative themselves. Kind of like people who think "modern art" isn't art because it looks so simple... a rather uninformed and bitter attitude, if you ask me.

how do you know that they don't come up with creative things themselves?
and i majored in dance in college, and modern dance,which i studied intensely for years, although i like it, is annoying because it's so damn pretentious that it assumes if someone doesn't like it, then they just aren't deep enough...i am a fan of art that reaches people, not art that thinks it is so much better because nobody gets it or likes it. because it just might suck.
look, speaking for myself, i don't like the sandra boynton books, but i was being playful when talking up my hatred of her, because this is a silly thread...nobody sounds bitter, but you.

[Katielady]

Originally Posted by j924

We call it the Codependent Tree over here

[LittleSaylorBoat]

Originally Posted by Katielady

!!!

I hate Eric Carle. It's not so much that the books are boring, it's that they're UGLY. The colors, the chunky collages, everything about them repulses me. I don't get their popularity at all. Although DS did love the bear book when he was a baby.

Eric Carle had been built up so much, and when I got a few I thought we were going to be in for a real disappointment, but my daughter loves them as long as we read them really really fast. Instead of "brown bear brown bear what do you see", we just do "brown bear, red bird, purple cat, white dog, teacher, children, the end." We do the same thing with the one about the spider "cow, horse, sheep, goat, owl, the end". She likes to turn the pages and point at the different animals and have me name them. We couldn't get into the catepillar one, maybe when she is a bit older and more into counting.

[karina5]

Oh, I just thought of one! I hate this book where this little bear doesn't want any of the good food (cheese, apples, tomatoes, etc) and only wants to eat honey.

DS has such a sweet tooth and I feel like it gives him ideas.

[bellacymom]

Walter the Farting Dog
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wal...9780525472179/

[Carley]

Originally Posted by LittleSaylorBoat

"You're not my mommy, your skin is too har'd (to the tortoise).

Um, huh?

[krystyn33]

Originally Posted by nubianamy

Those awful stories like Beatrix Potter where animals are being eaten... I guess I would liken those to folktales or fairy tales. Terrible things are happening in those stories all the time. Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment" addresses the importance of this in a kids' psyche.

Yes--thank you! I kept thinking of this book as I was reading... Part of why I love children's lit so much is that I keenly remember feelings and perspectives from my childhood. Stories resonate so differently with children at different stages, and we grown ups generally operate from a different place altogether.

While I won't prohibit these books, I'm with the camp that can't stand the books as marketing materials, with toy and TV characters. Poor writing & empty calorie story is much worse than violence or controversy IMO.

[bellymama]

Originally Posted by nubianamy View Post
Those awful stories like Beatrix Potter where animals are being eaten... I guess I would liken those to folktales or fairy tales. Terrible things are happening in those stories all the time. Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment" addresses the importance of this in a kids' psyche.

yes! every single one of you who withhold books from your kid for this reason should so read that book. it's a great read.

[momileigh]

Originally Posted by bellymama

how do you know that they don't come up with creative things themselves?

Oh, call it a "hunch" I had, that someone who runs around proclaiming numerous things to "suck" might not have a whole lot of literary creativity.

[bellymama]

you sound like such a nice lady.

we are talking about books that suck. to us. the thread title is "awful, awful childrens books"...right? so am i not supposed to be talking about the book i don't like?

just calm down.

[NYCVeg]

Originally Posted by momileigh

Oh, call it a "hunch" I had, that someone who runs around proclaiming numerous things to "suck" might not have a whole lot of literary creativity.

Oh, good grief. Are we not allowed to have our own tastes? I don't like Sandra Boynton. I don't think the books are especially well-written, and I think they're boring (dd does, too, incidentally--she showed no interest in the couple we had). I am also a writer and I hold an advanced degree in English. In addition to store-bought books, dd has a number of books that I've "written" myself, and when I finish my PhD, I plan to write (young adult novels) full time. Do you think "creative" people must somehow love every other thing ever created, simply because they create themselves? If so, you must not know a whole lot of writers and artists. Artists and writers are probably more critical and selective when it comes to other art than anyone.

Anyway, wasn't it you who posted about how choosing which books we read to our young children is not "censorship"--because we're the ones doing the reading, and it only makes sense for us to read what we like?

[LittleSaylorBoat]

Originally Posted by Carley

Um, huh?

That would have been a long post but nap time ended.

The whole book is about how different all the animals are, and I don't think it is productive to over-emphasize difference when we should really have a dialogue about how we are the same. What about "you could be my mommy because we both live in the water?" Wouldn't that be better? Maybe I am overly sensitive..

[gardenmommy]

Originally Posted by goodheartedmama

The "Miss Nelson" books. They're more for preschoolers, I guess. I love how the teacher dresses up as a mean person to scare the kids into behaving :

I can't believe that someone doesn't like Miss Nelson! We LOVE Miss Nelson here! Of course, it's all in fun; my kids think it's terribly funny that one of the suggestions for where Miss Nelson went is "maybe a flock of angry butterflies carried her off" (or words to that effect). It is a stock line for where something might be that they are looking for. I mean, who hasn't had days when you wish that you could drag out your evil alter ego to whip everyone into shape? Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who has bad days like that, lol!

[hippymama]

Originally Posted by hippymama

The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley.

I thought this was a really bad book until I learned about this new one this morning: My Beautiful Mommy by Dr. Alexander Salzhauer. It explains mommy's plastic surgery to 4-7 yr olds. It depicts the surgeon as a caped super hero. It also comes in a spanish version. Salzhauer hopes it will appeal to patients in Latin America, where cosmetic medicine is also popular.

[Dr.Worm]

Here's something to discuss...

we love WALTER THE FARTING DOG BOOKS! yes, simply books about a dog that passes gas very badly all the time..we love Carl too....Carl and Walter need a book together.

[zipworth]

Originally Posted by Dr.Worm

Here's something to discuss...

we love WALTER THE FARTING DOG BOOKS! yes, simply books about a dog that passes gas very badly all the time..we love Carl too....Carl and Walter need a book together.

Sorry but...Carl is waaaaaay too dignified for Walter.

[momileigh]

Originally Posted by bellymama

you sound like such a nice lady.

we are talking about books that suck. to us. the thread title is "awful, awful childrens books"...right? so am i not supposed to be talking about the book i don't like?

just calm down.

Going back to the OP, no, I don't think this thread was supposed to be about "books that suck to us." And I don't think it was meant to be a "silly thread" as you categorized it. It started out looking at reasons why classic children's books might have morals or messages that don't fit with people's values today. The concerns were legitimate and the responses were often thoughtful. I doubt it was meant to degenerate into, "Oh, and So-and-So SUCKS because I personally don't like rhyming!" Honestly the thing that turned me off the most about your posts is that you said that an individual sucked. Not her books, but herself. That's just not cool.

Oh, and NYCVeg... no, that wasn't me talking about censorship. And I don't have a problem with everyone having their own tastes, but I hate for books to be labeled "awful" or "sucky" in a legitimate reasonable conversation just because they aren't something you personally enjoy. It is terribly juvenile. Now, give a REASON why they may be unacceptable (the wrong message for kids, violence, underlying racism, very scary, commercialistic, etc) and that's a true addition to the dialogue. The person who had issues w/ Pajama Time and the warthog, for instance, although I feel she was reading too much into it, had a legitimate concern. "Boynton sucks" is not, IMO, a legitimate concern, nor is it a valuable addition to any adult conversation.