May 19, 2009
No, son, I won’t read you that book, but I can use it to teach you a new word: inane.
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I won’t read Orison Scooby-Doo.
My mom wouldn’t read us Curious George.
What books are too annoying to read to your kids?
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Related:
• 22 of our favorite picture books
• Using kids books to teach literature
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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
The Gingerbread Man/Boy and The Pokey Little Puppy.
Berenstain Bears.
KP
Sponge Bob, Star Wars, pretty much any book based on a movie or TV show.
Where the Wild Things Are. No, just kidding. Love that book. Super excited about upcoming film adaptation.
Gossie. But my wife loves it.
I agree with The Berenstain Bears and the books based on movies or TV shows. We also stay away from books that “want to be” something else, like Harry Potter knock offs.
For some reason I was always suspicious of books by Avi. Then I read Crispin and enjoyed it. I think it was the single name that made me skeptical.
The Veggie Tales stuff that does “Bible” characters/stories.
Jen B., One of our family’s all-time favorite books is The End of the Beginning, by Avi. Hilarious (and sometimes profound, in a very simple sort of way) fun for the whole family–children and adults alike. I usually can’t bear to read chapter books more than once, but we’ve read this one maybe three times out loud, and each of my children who are already independently literate have read it by themselves at least once.
You can’t be serious.
Tell me you at least watch Scooby — you let the boy watch Scooby Doo, right?
wow.
All books are good books in this respect: your kids will never forget the hours you spent reading books to them. You can suffer through One Fish two Fish and all the Boynton books: these are the things that fill up the cracks in our emotional foundations with our kids.
FWIW, my son was not much of a read-to-himself reader until he read some adaptations of Star Wars. But those books taught him that there’s something more to reading than the words on the page.
Don’t be a snob about books, but don’t let your kids settle for the lowest common denominator. Unless by that you mean “Hank the Cow Dog.”
Berenstain Bears, Scooby Doo, Sponge Bob, just to name a few. Snobbery? No. Poorly written? Yes. Afterall, I am the one reading.
Love You Forever Creepy, yet beloved by so many.
And glad to see others who shun the Berenstain Bears. Just say no to books with doofus Dads.
“Go Dog Go” by P.D. Eastman. Such drivel! My little charge would ask for it by name before she could say “Mama.”
Finally I told her it was lost and hid it behind a Beatrix Potter collection.
Hey now, people are abandoning some real classics — like Go, Dog, Go! pat The Bunny might just be next! What’s the world coming to?? db
The DaVinci Code
I’m glad I’m not the only parent who screens things on the “inane” principle. Scooby Doo is out for us, too. Another one:
Dora
The
Explorer
Bernstein Bears! And any Cartoon Movie Made Into A Picture Book.
“Go Dog Go” was my favorite as a kid. I ran across it again in college and was stunned that what I had loved so much didn’t hold the same apeal. Upon reflection though, it was the visuals that really captured me as a kid. On that level, I still like it.
I prefer to avoid the TV / movie / knock-off books too, but we let the kids choose what they want for their bookshelves. I just don’t read their books for our read-out-loud times. For that, I pick what I think is worthwhile.
There are more than enough good stories to keep me busy reading with them for their entire childhood, and I get to do some exploring along the way too. I trust that over time they’ll be able to discern what makes a good story, and identify what they like / want from books. I’m looking forward to the day when they start telling me what they’ve read that they’d like to share. A “Grand Adventure” for all of us!
By the way, thanks for bringing up children’s literature so often. I’ve found a number of good reads through the comments! Toward that end, I stongly recommend the series by Ralph Moody that starts with “Little Britches”. We are really enjoying reading through them.
We love Bears on Wheels (Berenstain) and Go Dog Go! Not for the literary value…those are the first books my (then 3 yr old) son started to read by himself!
I can’t stand animated movie-turned-book books.
I can’t believe someone’s knocking Hank the Cow Dog :( Maybe it’s b/c I’m from the mid west, where every kid read at least 1 of the books as a class in elementary school and the author did tours around the area.
Now, Elephant and Piggie books (Mo Willems) I will never tire of!
CLIFFORD!
I agree with the TV knockoff books. My son has a Bob the Builder book though that he loves and I’m letting him have it because I intend to *never* allow Bob the Builder shows in our home. I. can’t. take it.
Totally agree with Love You Forever Margaret. Freaky.
I agree w/ a lot of you about the t.v./movies made into books.
Our boys were given some books from family who knew we are “religious” . The worst?
Waldo the Whale: The story of the whale who felt worthless and lonely, until God used him to swallow Jonah. I can’t remember all the details, but I’m absolutely sure it had nothing to do with God’s mercy and compassion on sinners. The focus was on how “it really tickled” to have Jonah in there…and it probably “felt like forever” until God told him he could spit him out. Moral of the story??? none to be found.
Also…
Anyone want to challenge my ban on Captain Underpants? I’ve only read an excerpt and it was just potty humor.
“The Lorax”. Too preachy.
Books I DO read to my son but would prefer NOT to:
“Go Dog Go”. Seussian knock-off, and so weird (what’s with the dog party in the tree?)
“The Cat in the Hat”. A classic? Yes. Do I find the cat terribly annoying? Yes. I’m pretty much the fish in the pot.
Also, I love the comment about how “I’ll Love You Forever” is creepy! So true! I have the image of that picture of the granny rocking her adult son to sleep in my head. So bizarre.
Disney books based on movies are annoying. Like anyone could even do justice to a Disney read-aloud book! Okay. Maybe someone could.
My mother bought a “cute looking” little Bible for my daughter. It had something to with bears, and it made a mockery of Jesus!
I only read that to her once to tell her why it was wrong. Its in the the land fill by now, plus it was so “Cutesy” It made me want to vomit.
scooby doo is horrible. Curious george is CHAMP
What? Really? The comments above just ripped on some of my favorite books from childhood. I love the Berenstien Bears and Dr. Seuss.
On another note, my dad wouldn’t read the Aristocats to me because he couldn’t pronounce all the French names. haha.
Your mom, then, would probably enjoy that our 3YO grandson always asks me to read him “Curse George” books. Which I do. Again and again. :)
I can’t believe only one person so far has mentioned the Poky Little Puppy. How it is the best-selling children’s book of all time I’ll never know.
I learned to read with Dr. Suess, Berenstein Bears and Curious George. Those books gave me a love for reading, if I did not get to read those books as a kid I probably would have watched Mother Goose 5-10 times a day. Hmm, now that I think about it maybe that is why she read all those books to me. I have “one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish” and “Green Eggs and Ham” memorized to this day. So I will not have to read them to my Kids. ;p
The Little Engine That Could
Man. What a bunch of spoil-sport parents.
Of course those books and programs are inane… that’s why they appeal to kids under 7 years old. Let ‘em be kids!
“The Rainbow Fish.” It’s a story about how it’s bad to be special and the poor Rainbow fish has to choose to either be special or have friends. In the end he caves and buys his friends.
I’m getting off the subject and commenting on comments, as so often is the case here!
Go, Dog. Go! is one of the most nonsensically written and illustrated books ever, which is what makes it so fun! It’s an action classic with “drive” for sure!
However I’ve always been a bit weirded-out by Pink Poodle’s apparent quest for acceptance by wearing the “right hat”… or the lengths she‘d go in changing her hat to gain approval and be able to ride off in the car with “Party Dog“!
I wonder at Pink Poodle’s discernment and discretion.
What does it matter what he thinks of her hat!
I mean I think he’s wearing a non-original PAPER hat when they drive off!
I wonder if he has a job.
And I wonder who let that dog out.
I’m not much into dissecting moral lessons from Dr. Seuss or P.D. Eastman, so I wonder if I’m thinking too much.
Still, I like the book’s silliness a lot!
If you find this book at a thrift shop, do buy it and enjoy it!
I just linked to the video Jesus Wants the Rose that you posted a while back in my Are We All Afraid Post…
http://howtosavethekosmos.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/we-are-afraid-of-fear/
Thanks for posting that powerful video!
dbro- agreed! glad you said it first :)
It’s fun to ask my kids what it is that they like about a book that I find ultra boring or inane. Sometimes it’s just a humorous picture or a silly phrase.
But it’s a good way to get to know my kids and what makes them tick.
I just have to say that I love it whenever I can read an in-depth analysis of “Go Dog Go.”
Perhaps some books are both inane and OK?
having read to other people’s kids enough for a lifetime, i personally enjoy some of the books (let’s face it, they’re ALL a little inane, aren’t they?). but yeah, the ones that are a pain to read, or you’ve read a zillion times, or are just plain boring . . . i hide them.
Love You Forever at face value is a little freaky, but when you know that the author and his wife had suffered three miscarriages and were desperate for a child, The idea of “Ill love you forever, Ill like for always, As long as Im living my baby youll be,” becomes very sweet and understandable.
And for the Captain Underpants ban… I too would have supported that until I actually read one. I can see a place for books like this. I only wish Dav Pilkey would write stories that grow progressively harder as his readership grows in age. Its always sad to me to get young children reading and interested in a series and then have it stay at a reading level the reader has progressed past.
Any movie/tv character book(Dora, etc). Most “Christian” picture books. I got sick of having to screen them for blatant errors.
No Scooby Doo here either. We don’t do the Rainbow Fish.
Strangely, the books I dislike intensely are the ones my kids love…
Barbapapa’s Ark. Nothing scares kids like people in gas masks fleeing an over-polluted planet, and shape-shifting living bean-bags.
Also, the Brothers Karamozov.
Ahhh…well I think that there are just so many wonderful books out there. When my kids were little I spent my time reading great books to my kids and getting really excited about those books. They could certainly sense my enjoyment and love for the books we thought were worth reading.
Did I go out of my way to point out the inane ones? I didn’t really have to. If they ever randomly got into our house or given as gifts or assigned as school reading it was a great comparison to the other great books. They spoke for themselves.
To this day my kids are voracious readers and love quality literature.
The DaVinci Code
Wacky Wednesday.
I read Curious George books to my kids all the time, but it did bother me how he always got rewarded for disobeying, and I made sure my kids knew I didn’t approve of that. It It didn’t spoil their fun, though, because these were among my their favorite books–especially Curious George Goes to the Hospital. I’m happy that, unlike George, they were pretty obedient. I have also noticed that when the local pro sports stars come to the public library in the summer to promote reading, during question and answer time when I ask them what their favorite books were when they were growing up (as a teacher and former librarian I just have to know), they will most often say, “I didn’t read much except the sports page,” but I do remember my mom reading books about a little monkey named Curious George. I really liked those books!”
Curious George Goes to the Hospital, Scoobie Doobie Doo, Where Are You?
How could anyone not love these books?
For me the criterion for a good kids’ book is if my boys like it while I’m reading it to them. I love seeing their interested/excited faces.
I’ve found that pretty much every kiddie book teaches them something good…at the very least spelling and vocabulary.
Ditto the Berenstein bears.
Pretty much anything in that size and format when you get right down to it.,
This is the one time I will probably post these words on this blog: Are you serious???
Berenstein Bears was a staple at my house. I think my mother also read me every single Golden Book out there (not that the Bears and Golden Books are related).
If the kid likes it (and it does not pervert his mind or heart) it will be read to him. My grandfather must have read me this book on chocolate making a hundred times…probably awful to him, but he read it to me because I loved it.
I love reading silly books to my kids….Dr. Suess and other classic sillies! Another frivolous favorite is “Let George Do It!” by George Foreman!
I’m so thankful I’m not the only one who finds “Love you Forever” creepy. Totally creepy. I mean, is it necessary for the mother to crawl around on all fours, sneak into windows, etc.? I’ve never read it to my kids, but my husband happened to bring it home from the library this week, so I will have to see what they think…
Llama llama red pajama
“The Booklet’s Baking Boo-boo” Read it. I never heard it because my Dad hid it in obscure locations we would uncover in 7 year intervals
I will read any kids book he wants to read. As long as he wants to read, I can suffer through annoying books. I even read the brochure/guide from the aquarium with him because he wants to.