Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t have my preschooler reading books at a 6th grade level. Have them stick to books for kids K-2, where the concepts are age appropriate. Just because they are capable of reading at that level at age 4, it doesn’t mean you need to give them books that advanced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No on Secret Garden, which appears on quite a few lists of racist children's literature. Mary spends quite a bit of time complaining about the sub-human Indian savages.

Most books older than a few years are on that list, if they're not already on the sexist transphobic one. It's an excellent way to keep people out of the used market.

For what it's worth, Mary is presented explicitly as not being someone to emulate.

"[Mary's mother] had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived."

Imagine reading that to your child of color and what they will think about themselves when they read that. I don't have to imagine it, because I started reading the book to my child who is not white and found myself having to cut out passages from it and then putting it down in disgust.

I don't have white children, but I also don't have such self-introspective sensitive ones. You have my deepest sympathies; it must be hard.

I feel sorry for your children that neither they nor you don't see a problem with children's literature referring to people with dark skin as less than human.

+1. PP is a typical white mom

^ Oops! I messed up the quote. Here you can see what I’m posting vs. quoting:

I think The Secret Garden is a beautiful book that can be shared to children when they’re old enough to understand historical context. There is also content that might be disturbing for a preschooler (her parents are dead, the cries in the night from the boy concerned over his hump - and his mother’s dead too, the father’s coldness, etc). I think it’s too intense for a preschooler, and I think they’d enjoy and appreciate it more when they’re a little older. I think it’s probably really good for a 3rd-5th grader.

It's been banned in many schools for racist language and viewpoints. But if your child is white, perhaps it won't strike them as that awful (which is sad in and of itself).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No on Secret Garden, which appears on quite a few lists of racist children's literature. Mary spends quite a bit of time complaining about the sub-human Indian savages.

Most books older than a few years are on that list, if they're not already on the sexist transphobic one. It's an excellent way to keep people out of the used market.

For what it's worth, Mary is presented explicitly as not being someone to emulate.

"[Mary's mother] had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived."

Imagine reading that to your child of color and what they will think about themselves when they read that. I don't have to imagine it, because I started reading the book to my child who is not white and found myself having to cut out passages from it and then putting it down in disgust.

I don't have white children, but I also don't have such self-introspective sensitive ones. You have my deepest sympathies; it must be hard.

I feel sorry for your children that neither they nor you don't see a problem with children's literature referring to people with dark skin as less than human.

+1. PP is a typical white mom

^ Oops! I messed up the quote. Here you can see what I’m posting vs. quoting:

I think The Secret Garden is a beautiful book that can be shared to children when they’re old enough to understand historical context. There is also content that might be disturbing for a preschooler (her parents are dead, the cries in the night from the boy concerned over his hump - and his mother’s dead too, the father’s coldness, etc). I think it’s too intense for a preschooler, and I think they’d enjoy and appreciate it more when they’re a little older. I think it’s probably really good for a 3rd-5th grader.

Anonymous wrote:My early and advanced reader ADORED Elephant and Piggie. She also liked Knuffle Bunny, Frog & Toad, and the Frances books. Were they hard for her to read? No. But they were funny, and pitched right at her emotional level, and she became a delightfully expressive reader because of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hatchet is too old for a preschooler -- even the tamer "My side of the Mountain" is about a boy running away from home and living on his own. Those are meant for older kids.

OP, the fabulous advice I got was this: there is a window of time for the magic of certain levels of children's books -- don't miss it because you were pushing the child to read books meant for older kids. Your child will read those when older, but will never want to go back and read the wonderful literature meant for little ones. Stay in the little kids section of the library for a while longer yet. You won't be getting back there.

+1

Also, as our children's librarian said, "Picture books is a genre, not a reading level." Many of them have beautiful artwork, lovely stories, and even advanced vocabulary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No on Secret Garden, which appears on quite a few lists of racist children's literature. Mary spends quite a bit of time complaining about the sub-human Indian savages.

Most books older than a few years are on that list, if they're not already on the sexist transphobic one. It's an excellent way to keep people out of the used market.

For what it's worth, Mary is presented explicitly as not being someone to emulate.

"[Mary's mother] had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived."

Imagine reading that to your child of color and what they will think about themselves when they read that. I don't have to imagine it, because I started reading the book to my child who is not white and found myself having to cut out passages from it and then putting it down in disgust.

I don't have white children, but I also don't have such self-introspective sensitive ones. You have my deepest sympathies; it must be hard.

I feel sorry for your children that neither they nor you don't see a problem with children's literature referring to people with dark skin as less than human.

+1. PP is a typical white mom

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No on Secret Garden, which appears on quite a few lists of racist children's literature. Mary spends quite a bit of time complaining about the sub-human Indian savages.

Most books older than a few years are on that list, if they're not already on the sexist transphobic one. It's an excellent way to keep people out of the used market.

For what it's worth, Mary is presented explicitly as not being someone to emulate.

"[Mary's mother] had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived."

Imagine reading that to your child of color and what they will think about themselves when they read that. I don't have to imagine it, because I started reading the book to my child who is not white and found myself having to cut out passages from it and then putting it down in disgust.

I don't have white children, but I also don't have such self-introspective sensitive ones. You have my deepest sympathies; it must be hard.

I feel sorry for your children that neither they nor you don't see a problem with children's literature referring to people with dark skin as less than human.

+1. PP is a typical white mom

I think The Secret Garden is a beautiful book that can be shared to children when they’re old enough to understand historical context. There is also content that might be disturbing for a preschooler (her parents are dead, the cries in the night from the boy concerned over his hump - and his mother’s dead too, the father’s coldness, etc). I think it’s too intense for a preschooler, and I think they’d enjoy and appreciate it more when they’re a little older. I think it’s probably really good for a 3rd-5th grader.