Children's books that drive you crazy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever picked up a book that you remember reading a kid, started to read it to your kid and realized "holy sh*t this is racist and terrible! How did anyone ever read this to me?" That's what happened when my mom brought over my Uncle Remus book.

Yes, The Story About Ping. Holy crap, and the running away/spanking. I loved that book as a kid and I clearly did not get it...

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Love You Forever, though it was given to us by my own overbearing mom. (We are fans of Paper Bag Princess -- I'm Canadian, so Munsch is obligatory -- but don't like when she calls Ronald a bum.)

Giving Tree works for me in two ways: sort of a cautionary tale about the wrong way to relate to others (you have to supply your own consequences for the boy) and as an ecological parable. (Pretty literal interpretation, actually.)

On the subject of embarrassing "classics": most of Babar, when Harry the dirty dog "walks in the shade that a fat lady made," and the minstrel show in Little House. "Darkies"?!? Oh, Pa.

We also have an old potty book that flushes, along with other sounds, but the worst part is that it's crazy loud.

Pinkalicious must die!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another vote for Love You Forever, though it was given to us by my own overbearing mom. (We are fans of Paper Bag Princess -- I'm Canadian, so Munsch is obligatory -- but don't like when she calls Ronald a bum.)

Giving Tree works for me in two ways: sort of a cautionary tale about the wrong way to relate to others (you have to supply your own consequences for the boy) and as an ecological parable. (Pretty literal interpretation, actually.)

On the subject of embarrassing "classics": most of Babar, when Harry the dirty dog "walks in the shade that a fat lady made," and the minstrel show in Little House. "Darkies"?!? Oh, Pa.

We also have an old potty book that flushes, along with other sounds, but the worst part is that it's crazy loud.

Pinkalicious must die!

Yes. We were happily reading The Little House in the Big Woods to our biracial children, when we came to the "darkie"part. WTF. I clapped the book shut 6 years ago and haven't opened it since. I am white as is DH, kids are adopted. I just could not go on reading it to them. It brings tears to my eyes to recall the memory. It ruined the book for me. I know, strong reaction, but it was during a time when race dynamics were coming on strong in our family and it just upset me.

[Anonymous]

I love the berenstein books!! I think they have a good message for kids.

I hate curious george, he never does as hes told, gets into a lot of trouble and then is a hero at the end....not a message I like

[Anonymous]

The bernstein bears books are hilarious if you change them just slightly (I have a collection from the 80s that is so ridiculous). I also HATE SKIPPYJON JONES!! Got it from the library once--weirdest non-sensical book ever. Never again. Love Dr. Seus but they take forever. Agree the giving tree is great but for adults. We bought it for DS and then kind of realize how it doesn't work for him. And Richard Scarry's best first book ever. We literally spent months reading that every night and would just do the inside cover and then skip to the page with the trains

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Yes. We were happily reading The Little House in the Big Woods to our biracial children, when we came to the "darkie"part. WTF. I clapped the book shut 6 years ago and haven't opened it since. I am white as is DH, kids are adopted. I just could not go on reading it to them. It brings tears to my eyes to recall the memory. It ruined the book for me. I know, strong reaction, but it was during a time when race dynamics were coming on strong in our family and it just upset me.

Sigh. I have no idea what do to about the Little House series. They were my absolute favorite books when I was a kid. I read all of them until the covers fell off. They were what made me fall in love with reading. Now, however, I'm married to an Indian, our kids are (obviously) Indians, and we try to spend as much time as we can teaching them about their tribe, their history, etc. And the Little House books are just SO problematic when it comes to Indians (not to mention that whole horrific minstrel show thing that the PPs have mentioned).

On the one hand, the books offer a great opportunity to talk about Native American history, racism, stereotyping, and all kinds of other important issues. On the other hand, I'm not sure it would be a pleasant experience to read these books to my kids and have to stop every five pages to offer some sort of important commentary on racism. (I can my imagine my 6-year-old saying, "Just read the story, mom!")

We have friends that have read the books to their kids but heavily edited or completely omitted all of the problematic sections. I'm just not sure what the right approach is here or if I should just give up on the books altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Also the spinoffs of When you Give a Mouse a Cookie. I always enjoyed the original, but talk about beating a dead horse. The Froggy books are such a burden to read.

Thank you! I think some of the writing in this is just plain, awkward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Yes. We were happily reading The Little House in the Big Woods to our biracial children, when we came to the "darkie"part. WTF. I clapped the book shut 6 years ago and haven't opened it since. I am white as is DH, kids are adopted. I just could not go on reading it to them. It brings tears to my eyes to recall the memory. It ruined the book for me. I know, strong reaction, but it was during a time when race dynamics were coming on strong in our family and it just upset me.

Sigh. I have no idea what do to about the Little House series. They were my absolute favorite books when I was a kid. I read all of them until the covers fell off. They were what made me fall in love with reading. Now, however, I'm married to an Indian, our kids are (obviously) Indians, and we try to spend as much time as we can teaching them about their tribe, their history, etc. And the Little House books are just SO problematic when it comes to Indians (not to mention that whole horrific minstrel show thing that the PPs have mentioned).

On the one hand, the books offer a great opportunity to talk about Native American history, racism, stereotyping, and all kinds of other important issues. On the other hand, I'm not sure it would be a pleasant experience to read these books to my kids and have to stop every five pages to offer some sort of important commentary on racism. (I can my imagine my 6-year-old saying, "Just read the story, mom!")

We have friends that have read the books to their kids but heavily edited or completely omitted all of the problematic sections. I'm just not sure what the right approach is here or if I should just give up on the books altogether.

Maybe the best thing to do is let the children read it when they're a little older, but before they do, give them one short commentary on the racism, so they're warned. Chances are, when they're old enough, they'll know something is off and they can talk to you about it if they want. I too, loved those books and many others that had offensive stereotypes. But since I was exposed to many different things, they certainly didn't make me racist, as you aren't now.

[Anonymous]

I would just tell the kids that little house was written a long time ago and people were different then. It's ok if your kids realize that there is an historical component to racism.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for I Love You Forever. That mother has serious boundary issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Richard Scarry -- the "Cars, Trucks, and Things That Go" book is I swear like 70 pages long. I think DS deliberately chooses it for bedtime because it takes forever to read it. And you have to find this super teeny tiny bug "Goldbug" on nearly every page. It drives me insane. But...DS loves the book and the pictures are cute and interesting, so what's a mom gonna do, right?!

There was a Thomas the Train ABC book that we also "lost" at one point because it was so obnoxious.

Ha! We skip huge chunks of the Things That Go book. The pigs will be at the beach and then all of the sudden driving through the snow then back home again. THE END.

[Anonymous]

I remember having this book where you would turn a page and there was a picture of two guys with guys peeking from behind a tree. It was a paperback book. does anyone know what book this was?

[Anonymous]

First Little House PP here, and yes, the stories were horrid in recalling Native Americans. I'd probably introduce them to my kids -- who are white, so not as personally implicated in the insults -- when they were old enough to read them alone and understand the context, after a serious chat about the history. Teachable moment, etc.

While we're pounding on the Ingalls clan, does anyone remember Ida, Laura's BFF, who was adopted by the reverend and therefore always had to be good, lest they send her back. (Clearly, I pored over the series for years.) But WTF, clergyman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Scarry -- the "Cars, Trucks, and Things That Go" book is I swear like 70 pages long. I think DS deliberately chooses it for bedtime because it takes forever to read it. And you have to find this super teeny tiny bug "Goldbug" on nearly every page. It drives me insane. But...DS loves the book and the pictures are cute and interesting, so what's a mom gonna do, right?!

Love this thread. Yes, Cars and Trucks can be long but I've found that DS knows where goldbug is now, and the book moves fairly quicly because all he wants to do is locate Goldbug and turn the page.

We relegated "Cars, Trucks..." as a bathroom book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may be in the minority, but I *hate* reading The Cat in the Hat. Monotonous, the Cat is annoying, and long.

I also think "I Love You Forever" is super creepy.

How long have you been this cynical?