Anonymous wrote:I reread some of those Judy Blume books as an adult. I'm convinced they're why I became kind of a a mean girl in 6th and 7th grade. I always rooted for the underdogs in those books, but at the end time I think they normalized mean girl behavior enough in my young mind that I became one myself. I don't know. I was a dummy.

If think that’s true of most of he books aimed at tween girls. The story is almost always plucky heroine overcomes mean girl drama. But I feel like it just normalizes the expectation that girls are going to be mean and cliquey.

I reread some of those Judy Blume books as an adult. I'm convinced they're why I became kind of a a mean girl in 6th and 7th grade. I always rooted for the underdogs in those books, but at the end time I think they normalized mean girl behavior enough in my young mind that I became one myself. I don't know. I was a dummy.

Anonymous wrote:Five Chinese Brothers

The illustrations are incredibly racist

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m kind of over the cat in the hat. He’s awful.

I dont like how his message is essentially "dont tell mom a strange man came over and had a lot of fun with you and left in secret after destroying the house"

+1.

But on the PBS show, the kids ALWAYS ask their moms' permission to go off with the cat.

Anonymous wrote:Remember Johnny Tremain?

My dad used this book to explain to me why workers comp is necessary.

Anonymous wrote:Remember Johnny Tremain?

Wait, what's wrong with Johnny Tremain? We read it in 5th grade, I recall, and it seemed appropriate. I liked it.

I loved everything Rudyard Kipling but yeah, I understand why it's problematic. Same with Little House.

I started reading Piers Anthony around 6th grade and it took me a while to realize how messed up a lot of his worlds and characters / gender dynamics were. My parents were oblivious because the covers had dragons and puns.

I loved Deanie when I was 10 but reread it recently and am so glad I did! I returned it to the library before my daughter could read it. Maybe now that she’s 14, and if she found it on her own, but I wouldn’t want her to tell people, “My mom told me to read this book about a girl with scoliosis who likes to masterbate.”
Oh - and I read “Clan if the Cave Bear” series when I was about 14. Yikes.

The Lorax is a stupid and annoying story.

Tried to read Harriett the Spy with my 8-year-old. He thought it was too mean. I didn’t remember it that way, but upon rereading, I kind of agree. Definitely a different tone from today’s kids’ books.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m kind of over the cat in the hat. He’s awful.

I dont like how his message is essentially "dont tell mom a strange man came over and had a lot of fun with you and left in secret after destroying the house"

I know. The cat in the hat just doesn't respect boundaries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m kind of over the cat in the hat. He’s awful.

I dont like how his message is essentially "dont tell mom a strange man came over and had a lot of fun with you and left in secret after destroying the house"

You are definitely a product of the times

Anonymous wrote:I’m kind of over the cat in the hat. He’s awful.

I dont like how his message is essentially "dont tell mom a strange man came over and had a lot of fun with you and left in secret after destroying the house"

I’m kind of over the cat in the hat. He’s awful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The little match girl - I LOVED it. An orphan survives by selling matches on the street corner. On Christmas Eve she’s very cold in a blizzard and sees a family in their home all warm and happy. They welcome her in and she gets to enjoy this beautiful family scene. Except she didn’t really, that was a hallucination from hypothermia and she’s dead found dead on the street corner in the snow on Xmas morning.

Oh, how I also LOVED that story! But you've omitted that beautiful ending where she strikes all the matches and "sees" her loving grandmother reach out for her and take her to heaven. I adored my grandmothers and thought it was so very sad and yet a wonderful ending that she went to be with her grandmother.

The Little Match Girl, Johnny Tremain, and To Start a Fire are all examples of classic literature that are worth reading by people of the appropriate ages. They are not really meant to be little children's books. They are all important works in their own right and also because they are alluded to in other works of literature, so it is good for an educated person to be familiar with them.

They are not for little children thought.

The old Curious George's are great - they taught my toddler everything they needed to know about smoking, jail, kidnapping etc.