Anonymous wrote:The funny thing for me is that my kid is getting these books from the school library and the classroom! Teachers and librarians are recommending “lesser” series. I’ve spent hundreds (thousands?) of dollars and many hours setting up a home library, researching books, sourcing books from my own child, etc to put together a high quality reading environment. I converted a family room into a study and we don’t really watch modern TV or own iPads. And yet I’ve got a Minecraft manual sitting in his room and Diary of A Wimpy Kid in the living room, both checked out from the school library.

This was a good lesson for me while my kid was still young. I am an influence on my child, but even in early elementary, I cannot control what else influences my child. He spends a huge amount of time at school and he chooses his friends.

I figure if I can learn how to navigate those influences and still teach my kid to be respectful, kind, and make good choices… then maybe he has a shot at getting through the middle grades, high school and beyond as a decent individual who can be in charge of his own body and behavior.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junie B Jones and the Weird School books were quickly banned from our house. Junie B Jones was problematic because of her awful behavior and how lenient every adult was. The kids were allowed to behave horrifically. Weird School had bullying, misogyny (look at how the male characters treated the female characters), and the Teachers were written to be complete idiots. I found them disrespectful and tolerant of awful behavior.

A lot of books for kids include a certain amount of teasing and bad behavior but you normally can see how that is balanced by kids getting in trouble for said behavior.

I have not bought the Dork Diaries but I am fine skipping them. They don't sound like a series that I would appreciate.

The books aren't written for you appreciate. Ypu are not the target audience. My kids read all these books and never became rude or mean.

Anonymous wrote:When my DD was in kinder & 1st grade, the hot books were Junie B. Jones. And all the little girls reading them became super bratty, just like the main character. I told DD that these books were not good for her, and I would help her find books that wouldn't cause her to have bad behavior, because it wouldn't be fun if she got punished. And then we went to the library and did that.

Since your kid is 10, I would give her the choice. "Since you've been reading the Dork Diaries, your behavior has become unacceptable. You do A, B, and C, which I can tell you lift straight from these books. The Dork Diaries are a bad influence on you. I know you love them, so I am going to put you in control. If you can manage your behavior and stop doing A, B and C, then you can keep reading them. If you don't stop within two days, I am taking the books away, and we will find other books that are conducive to better behavior. Go think about what I said and let me know which direction you've chosen to go in."

Anonymous wrote:You've learned a lesson here - prescreen the books you give your kids. Mine weren't allowed to read Junie B. Jones, for example, because my sister told me how awful the character was. Dork Diaries, based on its name alone, sounds like a bad idea, so we haven't brought it into our home. There are so many books out there, surely you can find something else for your child to read.

Anonymous wrote:Why do these authors produce this crap!?

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing for me is that my kid is getting these books from the school library and the classroom! Teachers and librarians are recommending “lesser” series. I’ve spent hundreds (thousands?) of dollars and many hours setting up a home library, researching books, sourcing books from my own child, etc to put together a high quality reading environment. I converted a family room into a study and we don’t really watch modern TV or own iPads. And yet I’ve got a Minecraft manual sitting in his room and Diary of A Wimpy Kid in the living room, both checked out from the school library.

This was a good lesson for me while my kid was still young. I am an influence on my child, but even in early elementary, I cannot control what else influences my child. He spends a huge amount of time at school and he chooses his friends.

I figure if I can learn how to navigate those influences and still teach my kid to be respectful, kind, and make good choices… then maybe he has a shot at getting through the middle grades, high school and beyond as a decent individual who can be in charge of his own body and behavior.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read some Harry Potter fan fiction, there are lots of Draco and Voldemort fans out there, it is kind of weird.

I was not aware of that. That is weird

Yeah, the fan fiction is kind of eye opening. Kids are going to choose a character that they like and it might not be the character that they are supposed to like.

My daughter has always been drawn to the evil characters. I think it's genetic. She likes to go against the grain, not follow the crowd, fight the "rules", and she fantasizes a lot about being powerful and doing whatever she wants. She has a bit of an activist streak - she doesn't accept the status quo, she carries a lot of anger about unfairness or injustices. Honestly it's a pain in the butt sometimes but I also think it's kind of awesome and cool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing for me is that my kid is getting these books from the school library and the classroom! Teachers and librarians are recommending “lesser” series. I’ve spent hundreds (thousands?) of dollars and many hours setting up a home library, researching books, sourcing books from my own child, etc to put together a high quality reading environment. I converted a family room into a study and we don’t really watch modern TV or own iPads. And yet I’ve got a Minecraft manual sitting in his room and Diary of A Wimpy Kid in the living room, both checked out from the school library.

This was a good lesson for me while my kid was still young. I am an influence on my child, but even in early elementary, I cannot control what else influences my child. He spends a huge amount of time at school and he chooses his friends.

I figure if I can learn how to navigate those influences and still teach my kid to be respectful, kind, and make good choices… then maybe he has a shot at getting through the middle grades, high school and beyond as a decent individual who can be in charge of his own body and behavior.

In other words, you sure know more than their teacher and librarian, huh.

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing for me is that my kid is getting these books from the school library and the classroom! Teachers and librarians are recommending “lesser” series. I’ve spent hundreds (thousands?) of dollars and many hours setting up a home library, researching books, sourcing books from my own child, etc to put together a high quality reading environment. I converted a family room into a study and we don’t really watch modern TV or own iPads. And yet I’ve got a Minecraft manual sitting in his room and Diary of A Wimpy Kid in the living room, both checked out from the school library.

This was a good lesson for me while my kid was still young. I am an influence on my child, but even in early elementary, I cannot control what else influences my child. He spends a huge amount of time at school and he chooses his friends.

I figure if I can learn how to navigate those influences and still teach my kid to be respectful, kind, and make good choices… then maybe he has a shot at getting through the middle grades, high school and beyond as a decent individual who can be in charge of his own body and behavior.