# 'Fess up - what children's books make you groan?



## BohoMama (Jun 26, 2003)

For me, it's the ever-popular Clifford series. I loved 'em as a child, but now as a mama they seem so trite, and the drawings are awful. (Yes, I read them upon request but not with the same relish as other books.

I don't like Thomas the train books either!


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## bean0322 (Jul 15, 2005)

Oh my gosh...don't get me started!

Like you, the Clifford and Thomas books. Also, the Arthur books. My oldest son went on a huge Arthur binge and I was miserable. What else? Never liked Goodnight Moon.

Babe is calling - more soon.


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## tibdoml (Dec 30, 2003)

Guess How Much I Love You - it's just a book about how the parent will always love more than the kid. The dad one-up's the baby right to the end. Sewwt book, and good words, just a crummy way to portray it.

and

I'll Love You Forever - really not a book for kids! It's about getting older and dying!


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## TortelliniMama (Mar 11, 2004)

The Rainbow Fish -- If you don't give people what they want, then no one will like you. Or, it's important not to stand out or be special in any way if you want friends.

The Giving Tree -- Uh, could the boy possibly find any other way to meet his needs/wants without the tree repeatedly sacrificing herself? I was just talking about this book with someone who said that her mom always said it was a great example of how parents sacrifice for their kids. Uh, I suppose, in some cases that's true, but I don't think those are *healthy* parent-child relationships.









I totally agree with Guess How Much I Love You, too. Can you picture gift-giving at their house? Dad unwraps some child-made treasure that the baby bunny slaved over and says, "Wow, this is the greatest present ever. That is, it *would* have been, if I hadn't made you *this*!" and whips out an even cuter gift.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

The Berenstein Bears. The Papa is always yelling and threatening, the Mama is passive agressive, and the cubs are brats









My ds LOVES them though. He has 15 of them and reads them to himself all day. Plus we need to read at least one at bed time.


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## riversong (Aug 11, 2005)

I can't stand No David. The mom yells "No!" throughout the entire book until she hugs her son at the end. The illustrations are hideous. My 1st grade students love it, but I hate that it's even in our classroom library. Suffice it to say, my dd is not getting this book for our home bookshelves.


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## boatbaby (Aug 30, 2004)

Goodnight Moon

I can't believe somebody got PAID to write that.


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## MotherWhimsey (Mar 21, 2005)

someone gave us this jonah and the whale book and my dd loves it cause it has a fish in it. I HATE it. It's one of those scare tactic type books. You better be good or else a big fish is going to come and eat you up! It has mysteriously disappeared several times but I keep finding it back in the book basket. Not sure how it gets back there, I think dd keeps finding it.


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

berenstein bears here too, very hostile and rude...not fun or pleasant or very creative.

'paperbag princess' and 'i will love you always' are both by munsch (sp?) i think...and i dont like either one of them, not very well written imo, kinda lame and choppy....and i know the story behind 'love you always' but i still dont like it.

i also dont like 'jack and the beanstalk'. just because he is a giant doesnt auomatically make him mean and worthy of being stollen from and killed.

any tale of female woes that are cured and become 'happily everafter' when some guy finally discovers and marries her.

i actually dont like dr suess very much either







i can rhyme too if i just make up all the words







: some of them are kinda fun, sneeches and zaks and green eggs, etc...but green eggs would of been better at half the pages....i am not morally opposed, lol, they just make me groan when she grabs one.

they cant all be 'moonkeys' 'elisabeti''s and 'elmer's now can they


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## Altair (May 1, 2005)

i LOVE the david books. I find that they really can help Kindergarten classes start to talk about what is appropriate at school and whatnot, and the dicipline in the book seems like such a spoof anyway. i just find that the books bring out so much laughter and conversations that they are really worth it!

(i love David Goes to School)

I don't like ANY books tied to TV shows or movies. that cuts out about 90% of the books published right now.

I don't like books with gender of racial stereotypes. there are just too many to name.

i don't like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. no reason, it just annoys me to hear it all year. I don't like the jamberry one..

i'm just DYING to say which ones i love!


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## amybw (Jul 12, 2004)

I dont like the "Dum Ditty" book by is it Berenstein or Dr Seuss?

Not a fan of the Carl the dog books either. WTH leaving your baby alone with a dog to babysit!









My son ADORES Thomas and we bought this big thick book and read a chapter a night.
I dont think these stories are so good. What can kids learn from train wrecks where no one suffers any consequences from their practical jokes?







:


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## broodymama (May 3, 2004)

I know it is also a nursery rhyme, but for Christmas DS got the book version of "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". DH and I think it's a bit morbid and it has been put away until I remember to get rid if it.

"I don't know why she swallowed the fly, perhaps she'll die."


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## green betty (Jun 13, 2004)

Amen on the Carl books. My mom gave me one--I guess she thought we'd like it because we're dog people. The mother leaves the baby alone in a crib, and then she LEAVES THE HOUSE with no one else but the dog home. WTF?

I generally dislike didactic books that are built around the message they want to send. Literature is art. That absolutely includes children's literature. Ah well, we've come a long way. Can you believe that Maurice Sendak was vilified when Where The Wild Things Are first came out? It portrays a boy who is angry with his parents and fantasizes about his anger. Very risque for the time!


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## JBaxter (May 1, 2005)

Ours is Chicka Chicka boom boom I actually woke my self up reciting that this morning

Chicka chicka boom boom
will there be enough room
A told B and B told C
I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree.....

THe odd thing is this book was my ( now) 14yr old son's and I remember hiding it behind the TV set for a while


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## LadyMarmalade (May 22, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *uuelisabeth*
Can you believe that Maurice Sendak was vilified when Where The Wild Things Are first came out? It portrays a boy who is angry with his parents and fantasizes about his anger. Very risque for the time!

But he got an even bigger caning over 'Mickey in the Night Kitchen' because it showed *gasp* a naked child!


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Goodnight Moon drives me mad b/c of that one bad/non rhyme in it.

Nursery rhymes are awful. Some friends bought some inexpensive (possible dollar store, not that there's anything wrong with it, but I don't think they even LOOKED at the stories before popping out their dollars) nursery rhyme books for the baby shower they gave me, and gack. that One and twenty blackbirds *baked in a pie*? Yuck!

There's more nasty rhymes in it, but the one that's even worse than the bird pie one is...the one about a fairly obvious (stereotypical visual cues in the picture) enslaved woman telling someone what her children are good at, and telling the person to take whichever child pleases them.




























uke

We have this goodnight book and I can't read it anymore (even though it's GORGEOUS) b/c it's just ridiculous. There is no "mama fish", mama fish swim away, they aren't there to say goodnight...and what's this "the whole wide world is going to sleep" business, am I going to have to UNteach the concept that it's dark at the same time once he starts learning about things like that?...and quite frankly the stars being "on the loose" scares me.


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## earthflower (Jan 9, 2006)

Definitely No David! When I opened this post this was the book that came to mind!


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## oceanbaby (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tibdoml*
I'll Love You Forever - really not a book for kids! It's about getting older and dying!

Absolutely - I had to get rid of that book.


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## IansMommy (Jun 14, 2005)

UUuuuggghhh--anything disney princess, and Berenstein Bears.
I also can't stand Curious George.


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## pammysue (Jan 24, 2004)

I cannot stand Little Bear. The simplicity and repetition drive me nuts







. I guess it is good for new readers







, but I cannot stand it. Say "she said" just once instead of "Mother Bear said" for the twentieth time!!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *uuelisabeth*
I generally dislike didactic books that are built around the message they want to send.

I totally agree!


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## TortelliniMama (Mar 11, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LadyBug & BabyBug*
I know it is also a nursery rhyme, but for Christmas DS got the book version of "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". DH and I think it's a bit morbid and it has been put away until I remember to get rid if it.

"I don't know why she swallowed the fly, perhaps she'll die."

I wanted to use that book when I was teaching, because the kids in my class loved repetition, and books like that let even the less verbal ones learn to fill in some of the words (they all had autism), but I couldn't stand the cheery "perhaps she'll die" aspect. So I made my own with clip art (I put the pictures at the end of each line, so it was also good for nonreaders), and changed the words to "...I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Oh me, oh my!" and then it ended with "I know an old lady who swallowed a horse. She got sick, of course." It was a lot less disturbing, and now ds loves it.


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## meowmix (Jul 14, 2005)

I REALLY dislike the books that are condensed versions of Disney movies. Unless you have seen the movie and know what is happening, the book generally is choppy, reads so fast paced (I am almost out of breath when I am done reading it!) and jumps around so it is hard to know what is happening. Ugh, I groan everytime my kids grab that Disney collection of stories.

I also don't like any book based on TV. One of our rules when we go to the bookstore is "No books about TV characters or movies!" and that rules out just about every inexpensive book in the place.

I get sick of reading some of the books they have, like some of the longer fairy tales that take 30 minutes to read, but I still like them and always read them at their request.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Sandra Boynton's *Hey, Wake Up!*. Damn it, I don't _want_ to wake up in the morning. (At least, not when my kids do). And when I do, I am not cheerful. I detest the overall cheeriness about getting up in that book.

*Giving Tree*. Ditto to what's been said. But even though I despise it, I don't have to read it over and over, unlike for example, Byron Barton's *Machines at Work*, which is a fine book (dig the women construction workers!) but after too many repetitions of it I am losing my mind.

And *Arthur*? Harumph! My ds picked one up at the library. We don't have tv, but I knew it was on PBS so I thought it would be harmless. Ha. Ds learned the fine phrase, "You stink" from that book, and I've never heard the end of it.


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

I don't like the choppy sentences and lack of pronouns in the Magic Treehouse books. I end up lengthening the sentences when I read them aloud. And I read a Junie B. Jones first grader book to my first grader who didn't understand why Junie B. spoke in grammatically incorrect ways as much as she did, so I had to change some of the things she said while I was reading.

These aren't toddler books, necessarily, but you've mentioned a lot of annoying ones already.

Yeah, I hate all those cartoon characters books, like the Disney ones, or any of them, really.


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## NoHiddenFees (Mar 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TortelliniMama*
The Rainbow Fish -- If you don't give people what they want, then no one will like you. Or, it's important not to stand out or be special in any way if you want friends.

And you have to physically mutilate yourself to fit in. I would have preferred if it had been a shiny rock collection rather than scales.

Another one DD1 once brought to me at a B&N is called _Funny Bunny Honey Bunny_ (or some such), about a little girl who is essentially tortured by her brother. He finally listens to his parents and stops torturing her, but then ignores his sister. It ends with her condoning the torture as an expression of his love and things went back to "normal." Uck.


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## nonnymoose (Mar 12, 2004)

_The Runaway Bunny_:
"If you become the wind and blow me, I'll..."
Yeah. I skip the "blow me" part.


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

Dr. Seuss books are TOOOOO LOOOONNNNNGGGG.....

I am also appalled at the Serendipity books I thought were so great growing up.

And the Eric Carl Rooster book is sad when they all give up and go home.....


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## pammysue (Jan 24, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nonnymoose*
_The Runaway Bunny_:
"If you become the wind and blow me, I'll..."
Yeah. I skip the "blow me" part.









:


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## Bartock (Feb 2, 2006)

Calliou does it for me. Everytime I see DS Calliou books, that annoying Calliou cartoon theme song goes through my head, with Calliou annoying voice singing it AAHHH, Shut it up make it stop LOL. Oh well I have made my own words to that song(ones ds will never here LOL). And what's up with his lack of hair, at 4 years old he SHOULD have hair LOL. He have secret lukemia no one knows about?


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Those "Spot" books. Man, are they ever dull as dirt. Also, they're another set with weird parenting practices from time to time.

Along the same lines, not a huge fan of the "Froggy" series or the Little Critter series.

I don't like Chicka Chicka 123. I'm not sure I even get the story, and I find the pictures boring.

Another secret non-fan of Goodnight Moon here, too.

I get sick of all the endless "mommy" books. Where is daddy? Can he love the baby more than anythingelseinthewholewideworld once in a while?

It always bums me out when I realize I've brought home a library book where some baby is toting around a bottle. (And I used bottles, because I ending up EPing...it just bugs.)


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## mommaJ (May 3, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *earthflower*
Definitely No David! When I opened this post this was the book that came to mind!


ITA!!! ugh.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mollyeilis*
Goodnight Moon drives me mad b/c of that one bad/non rhyme in it.


Which bad rhyme? I am drawing a blank.


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## sweetpea333 (Jul 2, 2005)

has anyone ever heard of the "george's peekaboo farm" series, i really find it annoying, im not sure why but it's very irratating, and it happens to be my dd favorite books


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## peaceful_mama (May 27, 2005)

OMG DS is OBSESSED with this book he got last week, all it is is pictures of like a boy, a girl, shoes, a duck, a dog, a cat, a train, a car....with the word under it. CONSTANTLY bringing me that thing to read to him!

And if I have to read "Max's Ride" ONE MORE TIME.....'Go' said Max. DOWN went Max. Over a bump, between two trees..... 

Max's Bath isn't too bad, but we also haven't read it 17,000 times in a week yet!'
(DS is in a little book phase...I have to read to him a couple of times a day, a couple books each...)

I don't mind Sandra Boynton's Belly Button Book, I think it's pretty funny for a kid's book. I don't mind "Going On A Bear Hunt" even though we've read it about a MILLION times. Guess How Much I Love You I love, but I have thought it's kind of a competititive little story. (OK so I mostly like the end where the dad kisses the baby goodnight, and since DS was born, I've whispered to him that I love HIM 'right up to the moon and back.' A little sentimentality there.) I agree, Love You Forever is not really a kid's book.


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## Carolinamidwife (Dec 18, 2001)

OK, here's my confession: I get rid of books I can't stand! If I have read a book a few times and I really hate it I donate it and the kids never even ask where it is, lol. The result is a big library of books I really like and don't mind reading... unless dd is on one of her one-book-for-three-months jags and then I feel crazy.

The one book we have right now that I can't stand is Stella: Star of the Sea and I can't get rid of it because it's my dd's name, lol. It's long, boring, and repetitive in a long and boring way.


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *the_lissa*
Which bad rhyme? I am drawing a blank.

I had to go find it; the books that he loves drive me so crazy that DH is now the reader.









It's got a bit of a rhythm going, you know, "a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush, And a quiet old lady who was whispering 'hush'"...and it's fun to say, you're sort of going circular with your voice, it's fun.

Then "goodnight room, goodnight moon" and all of a sudden..."goodnight cow jumping over the moon"?

What the? Moon and moon rhyme, I'll give you that.







But you're not *supposed* to use the same word...







:

The book is tripping lightly over my tongue and then it just goes *clunk*. ugh.


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Anything with chimpanzees in the illustrations which get called monkeys. This includes Curious George, and "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" which was one of my absolute favorites as a kid (I still love the rhythm to it, dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum), but THOSE ARE NOT MONkEYS, THEY ARE CLEARLY CHIMPANZEES. They have no tails, for crying out loud! Curious George is shown knuckle walking. Monkeys don't knuckle walk, only African apes.

Okay, in HHFT, they might be bonobos, as evinced by their hair parts. But bonobos aren't monkeys either...


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## `guest` (Nov 20, 2001)

I loved guess how much I love you? It always made me cry, I did not see the comptetitive aspect at all, just a parent comforting the child. ALso good night moon always has a rythym, but alas does not always rhyme.
I did not like any books that are too long, I like the books that are simple and easy to follow for my young children. As they get older, the books will get more complex.
Also, parents don't expect your children to have the same view on life you do. They still believe in magic, and see things in a different way.


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## mamaGjr (Jul 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *the_lissa*
Which bad rhyme? I am drawing a blank.


ha ha
i read this book to my son , but it is in weirdly translated spanish so I am not sure ...but I do know that you are referring to goodnight moon. My spanish stinks and so does my accent but I read it anyway .. I think it might be helping me to learn, not sure what it does for ds but he requests it all the time ...well he used to ...before he turned 3!


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## Avonlea (Jan 21, 2002)

Berenstein Bears. Every time I have to read one of those things I want to scream. I cannot stand them..so darn preachy and self righteous...YUCK!


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nonnymoose*
_The Runaway Bunny_:
"If you become the wind and blow me, I'll..."
Yeah. I skip the "blow me" part.

Haha! I hate that book. Freaking Runaway Bunny. My mother used to read it to me, and I totally read between the lines to see what a controlling freak stalker mama bunny was, even then.

I also don't like No, David, mostly because the art and words seem to resemble some childhood nightmare. It's like looking at the world through the eyes of a homicidal maniac, all jagged edges and blurriness.


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

Agreed with PP about I love you forever ...dude, if your mom is coming over to your house with a ladder on her car so she can crawl in your marital window and rock you to sleep...you got bigger problems than your taxes are late or the dog needs walkies. Big, big problems.


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## VBMama (Jan 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tibdoml*
I'll Love You Forever - really not a book for kids! It's about getting older and dying!

My MIL sent this in a big box of books for ds. I didn't skim it before jumping right in and reading it to him, and I started bawling during the last few pages. Too much for this mama...but of course he loves it. Mostly we just read the page about the 2yo tearing up the bathroom, because that's ds!

Quote:

...dude, if your mom is coming over to your house with a ladder on her car so she can crawl in your marital window and rock you to sleep...you got bigger problems than your taxes are late or the dog needs walkies. Big, big problems.








: OMG, I had to edit so I could quote this! I totally forgot about that and you're so right.







:

Okay, nobody flame me for this, because there was a thread a while back about how this was everyone's favorite book, but I hate _Go, Dog, Go!_ It reads like a box of rocks. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. And the text is bizarre and not at all entertaining.

And I love Goodnight Moon.


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## tuffykenwell (Oct 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TortelliniMama*
The Giving Tree -- Uh, could the boy possibly find any other way to meet his needs/wants without the tree repeatedly sacrificing herself? I was just talking about this book with someone who said that her mom always said it was a great example of how parents sacrifice for their kids. Uh, I suppose, in some cases that's true, but I don't think those are *healthy* parent-child relationships.









I really like Shel Silverstein but I refuse to own this book because I absolutely hate it!

Steph


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## BennyPai (Jul 22, 2005)

I'll Love You Forever -
COMPLETELY freaks dh and me out. Just the thought of the mother driving across town with her ladder and sneaking into her grown son's window... Heebie-Jeebies!!!!! And we were gifted two copies of this one... somehow one is still in dd's collection and keeps re-surfacing.

I hate reading Guess How Much I Love You. I just don't like repeating Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare throughout the story. Of course, it's one of dd's faves, so it's in the bedtime story rotation.
I am also less and less fond of Dr. Seuss.


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## BohoMama (Jun 26, 2003)

flyingspaghettimama said:


> Haha! I hate that book. Freaking Runaway Bunny. My mother used to read it to me, and I totally read between the lines to see what a controlling freak stalker mama bunny was, even then.
> QUOTE]
> 
> 
> ...


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## scrapadoozer (Jun 10, 2004)

Spot books, blech.

Anything with less than 50 words in it. DD likes a long story (so do we)


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*
I don't like Chicka Chicka 123. I'm not sure I even get the story, and I find the pictures boring.

I agree.

Quote:

I get sick of all the endless "mommy" books. Where is daddy? Can he love the baby more than anythingelseinthewholewideworld once in a while?
Yep, in Guess How Much I Love You (which surprising numbers of people seem to dislike!) Though for some reason it took me a while to realize that those nutbrown hares were probably father and son. I thought they were just two guys who really liked each other.









I love Goodnight Moon, especially "Goodnight nobody."

I think Eric Carle books are boring, boring, boring. (Except for Draw Me a Star, which I actually like.) My DD doesn't seem terribly interested in them either.


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## KayasMama04 (Feb 4, 2006)

The only books I can't stand are the disney ones...and its more because its choppy.

I will read anything dd wants because its about her enjoyment not if I like the book or not(unless it has something I just don't agree with). She is 19m so books like spot are good for her because its simple and not so long that we only get to page two.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

That's funny about Runaway bunny. I always laugh like a hyena at the blow me part, but I do love that book.

I read Goodnight Moon and she also rhymes room with moon and baloon. That's annoying.


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## EFmom (Mar 16, 2002)

I loathe Curious George. There are a lot of things that make me cringe, like the jerk in the yellow hat abducting George and giving him cigars. But basically, I just find them interminable.

I also hate any books with flaps, especially after you've read them more than six thousand times.

Can't stand Eric Carle in any form, but it's not so much the books, it's the mental imagery they cause. When campaigning, GWB would read them for every single school photo op, whether he was reading to kindergarteners or PhD candidates. I guess it was one author he thought he had a decent chance of comprehending.


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## mattjule (Nov 6, 2003)

I think it is important to remember that children do not glean from a book what an adult would. A lot of you even said you loved such and such book as a child but found it repellent as an adult. Did you get the lesson as a child that you perceive as an adult? That said, we love The Giving Tree and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb at our house.

I did purchase I Love You Forever way before I had kids and agree that when I read it to ds the first time I was very creeped out. It seems so disrespectful to the child, you know? But I am skeeved out by people touching people when they are asleep. I also don't like the stalker aspect of Runaway Bunny-MIL gave it to us. Really I am just tired of the played out "Your parent REALLY loves you" premise of children's books. We get it, they get it, let's read something interesting.

I bought a slew of Curious George books when pg with ds1. Man, I hate them. Plus they are ghost written, not original Curious George stories. Sometimes they are really preachy but mostly they are just long and poorly written.

I HATE Alexander and the No Good Very Bad Day. Seriously, why would I want to read a book to ds describing how to be petulant and irritable without ever turning his attitude around? I really don't like books that have yelling or bad moods in them, they tend to make me feel yucky.

I agree that the bedtime book It's Time To Sleep borders on the ridiculous with the mama fish and also some of the baby animals are called by their baby animal name (like foal) and some are called by the adult name with little or baby in front of it (little goose). THAT annoys me.

We don't have movie or TV character books and no one buys them for us so I can't attest to the poor quality.

I agree that the Eric Carle books are BORING!

And the Jamie Lee Curtis ones are TERRIBLE (plus the illustrations are ugly). We got them out of the Scholastic catalog and they suck.

There is a bedtime book that could conceivably be good (can't remember the name) but each quotation ends in said Willa or said Willoughby. So imagine a dialog like this:
""what's that?" asked Willoughby
"It's my jumper" said Willa
"What do you think it is doing?" said Willoughby
"I don't know" said Willa
"It's waiting" said Willoughby
etc. It gets very tiresome. I just take out most of them when I read it but seeing them gets on my nerves!


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## L&IsMama (Jan 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EFmom*
Can't stand Eric Carle in any form, but it's not so much the books, it's the mental imagery they cause. When campaigning, GWB would read them for every single school photo op, whether he was reading to kindergarteners or PhD candidates. I guess it was one author he thought he had a decent chance of comprehending.


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## m0mmaw0lf (May 18, 2005)

My MIL gave DD a book called A Fly Went By. She had given it along w/ One Fish Two Fish and The Cat in the Hat (DD loves both and I don't mind reading Seuss) so I thought nothing of A Fly Went By. Boy did I learn my lesson about previewing books. It starts out harmless enough with a frightened fly going by a boy. The fly is running from a frog who is running from a cat who is running from a dog, etc....then we get to a fox and the boy starts telling the fox he's going to whip the fox but the fox says he's running from a hunter who is going to KILL KILL KILL him! And yes it says that. I was mortified. I threw it in the trash because I didn't want anyone to read it!!! I mean, whipping and killing? This is a children's book?

Also, DD went through a Red Riding Hood phase - had to make her a red cape and everything. But we changed the ending. I just couldn't bring myself to read about the hunter cutting open the wolf's stomach. Plus, I'm really mad that the mother lets her daughter walk alone through the woods!! I just can't get over that. And Red and the grandmother are just so witless it annoys the heck outta me! I began to use the story as a lesson, "What could Red have done instead?" That kind of thing....


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

Any book tied to a TV show or movie which cuts majorly into our avaliable book choices.

I guess I'm just wierd, I LOVE I'll Love You Forever, I have the dang thing memorized.

The Winnie The Pooh short stories (not the original book, the new little books put out by Disney).

Oh, and this huge stack of books a woman at my church got me "Help Me Be Good" is the series, it's all about being good and obeying your parents. The whole thing is "People won't like you if you're bossy/whiny/angry/disobeying/etc" I have like 30 of them.


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mattjule*
IThere is a bedtime book that could conceivably be good (can't remember the name) but each quotation ends in said Willa or said Willoughby. So imagine a dialog like this:
""what's that?" asked Willoughby
"It's my jumper" said Willa
"What do you think it is doing?" said Willoughby
"I don't know" said Willa
"It's waiting" said Willoughby
etc. It gets very tiresome. I just take out most of them when I read it but seeing them gets on my nerves!









lol, we just got this from the library, and i had to give up that name crap after the first few pages...i just slightly changed my voice for the brother or sister.







it was very nice, overall...cute and simple bed time book....by why all those names!!!!!


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## spero (Apr 22, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caloli*
But he got an even bigger caning over 'Mickey in the Night Kitchen' because it showed *gasp* a naked child!


AND he's INTACT!


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## Kathryn (Oct 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BennyPai*

I hate reading Guess How Much I Love You. I just don't like repeating Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare throughout the story. Of course, it's one of dd's faves, so it's in the bedtime story rotation.

Dh and I love this book, but we can hardly read it. We always seem to say "Big brown nut hair and little brown nut hair" and then start cracking up when we realized what we just said.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *uuelisabeth*
Amen on the Carl books. My mom gave me one--I guess she thought we'd like it because we're dog people. The mother leaves the baby alone in a crib, and then she LEAVES THE HOUSE with no one else but the dog home. WTF?

I really don't get the Carl disapproval. I mean, do we really suppose that the scenario in the Carl books is meant to be real? It's a story!

In an ideal world, I would love to leave my baby in the care of a large, obviously competent, cuddly, dog babysitter while I go enjoy tea and adult conversation in the park.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Maybe I'm just weird, or my sense of humor is broken, but I really don't like Sandra Boynton. I like the Going to Bed Book okay, but I can't get into any of the others. They just don't tickle my funny bone.

And then there's this little board book that DD and DH read called Daddy Kisses. It's all about daddy animals kissing their babies-- like "Daddy deer kisses his fawn on the nose" and "Daddy cow kisses his calf on the head" etc. and I guess it's a really good daddy-bonding book, and I'm sure it's harmless for DD. But the inaccuracy of it really rubs me the wrong way, from an adult perspective. Most of those species of animals don't have fathers that are involved in their rearing, and then on the frog page it talks about "Daddy frog and his froglet." What the BLEEP is a froglet? Do they mean tadpole? Why not say so?

Anyway, it's a great book for kids, but it rides my nerves.


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## rose angel (Sep 1, 2003)

Quote:

The Giving Tree -- Uh, could the boy possibly find any other way to meet his needs/wants without the tree repeatedly sacrificing herself? I was just talking about this book with someone who said that her mom always said it was a great example of how parents sacrifice for their kids. Uh, I suppose, in some cases that's true, but I don't think those are *healthy* parent-child relationships.
Can you say "co-dependent?" Hate that book, sold it at a yard sale!


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

I am totally conflicted about Runaway Bunny. It always seemed VERY creepy to me before I had a kid, but now I "get it." At the same time it still eeghs me out a little. DD is completely fascinated by it for some reason--I think it appeals to her two-ness.

Speaking of lines like "blow me," we have had a hard time reading our beautifully illustrated copy of "The Owl and the Pussycat" with a straight face. "Oh lovely pussy....oh pussy, my love....what a beautiful pussy you are, you are!"









I don't really care for the biologically inaccurate "Time to Sleep" either. Also, although I love the art, "Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me"'s story is weirdly confusing at the end.

One that makes me crazy is called "Farmer Duck" or something like that. It's about a farmer who's lazy and makes the duck do all the work feeding and herding the other animals. Then the other animals feel sorry for the duck and band together to overthrow the farmer. Okay, so I appreciate the socialist element, but dude, if all you animals have human agency and consciousness, why did the duck have to herd you and plow the fields and all that in the first place?







: Makes no freaking sense.


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## Throkmorton (Jun 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *VBMama*
Okay, nobody flame me for this, because there was a thread a while back about how this was everyone's favorite book, but I hate _Go, Dog, Go!_ It reads like a box of rocks. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. And the text is bizarre and not at all entertaining.

Thank you! No one understands my deep-seated hatred of this book.

Oh, and berenstain bears. Seriously. I tossed the Berenstain books, but DS always manages to find them at the library. I swear, he has radar.

Oh, and Max and Ruby, because DH and I think Ruby buried their parents in the cellar.


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Viola*
I don't like the choppy sentences and lack of pronouns in the Magic Treehouse books. I end up lengthening the sentences when I read them aloud. And I read a Junie B. Jones first grader book to my first grader who didn't understand why Junie B. spoke in grammatically incorrect ways as much as she did, so I had to change some of the things she said while I was reading.
.

Ditto Ditto!!!! My 4 year old speaks MUCH better than Junie B. The stories do make us giggle though


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

Hmm - Not many I hate. But then again we are past the read it one more time stage























I did make a big ol' whoops though when in my anti-Disney stance I picked up the original versions of a bunch of fairy tales. Having the evil stepmother wanting to eat Snow White's heart and lungs was a bit much for me - so I skipped it. Unfortunately on the previous reading dh had not - my gruesome girl wanted that page read over and over...

Sleeping beauty and Hansel and Gretel were also big hits - ack!!


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Throkmorton*

Oh, and Max and Ruby, because DH and I think Ruby buried their parents in the cellar.

No kidding. Even DD is concerned about what is happening in that family!! I usaully LOVE Rosemary Wells though. The Bunny Planet trilogy has been a fav for years...


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*
One that makes me crazy is called "Farmer Duck" or something like that. It's about a farmer who's lazy and makes the duck do all the work feeding and herding the other animals. Then the other animals feel sorry for the duck and band together to overthrow the farmer. Okay, so I appreciate the socialist element, but dude, if all you animals have human agency and consciousness, why did the duck have to herd you and plow the fields and all that in the first place?







: Makes no freaking sense.

Yeah, we got that one from the library recently, and I was bothered by the same thing!

I thought of another book that bugs me - Is Your Mama a Llama? The words are kind of awkward and the rhythm isn't always quite right, but I think what bothers me the most is the illustration of the kangaroo. Its front legs bend the wrong way and its feet look like hooves! If you were getting paid to draw a picture of a kangaroo, don't you think you'd take a minute to look at a photograph of one and find out what they actually look like?

And on the topic of scientific inaccuracies, has anyone else ever noticed how many children's books encourage the mistaken notion that the moon is out only at night? Like in the Going to Bed Book where she says "And when the moon is on the rise . . ." implying that this happens at the same time every night. Or another one we got from the library once where the sun talked about all the things it had seen that the moon would never see.


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*
One that makes me crazy is called "Farmer Duck" or something like that. It's about a farmer who's lazy and makes the duck do all the work feeding and herding the other animals. Then the other animals feel sorry for the duck and band together to overthrow the farmer. Okay, so I appreciate the socialist element, but dude, if all you animals have human agency and consciousness, why did the duck have to herd you and plow the fields and all that in the first place?







: Makes no freaking sense.

"Click Clack Moo?" Is that it? I really dig that one. I mean, you can't beat unionized cows in a children's book.


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## SiValleySteph (Feb 26, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*
Speaking of lines like "blow me," we have had a hard time reading our beautifully illustrated copy of "The Owl and the Pussycat" with a straight face. "Oh lovely pussy....oh pussy, my love....what a beautiful pussy you are, you are!"









I have the exact same problem! Luckily, DS is not a big fan of this one and usually turns the page before I have to wax poetically about the lovely pussy.

Guess How Much I Love You is really the only book I can't stand. DS feels the same way, so it's not a problem.









Oh, Go, Dog, Go is his favorite. I don't mind it too much, although I do wonder if night is not a time for play, why are those 3 dogs having a party, on a boat, at night?


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Throkmorton*
Oh, and Max and Ruby, because DH and I think Ruby buried their parents in the cellar.
































i HATE HATE HATE max and ruby, those books are so annoying, i saw the cartoon once a few years ago, and it bugged the heck out of me, why is that little rabbit girl taking care of her baby brother, and where are her parents? i saw grandma once, but no parents

ive read on book by Jamie Lee Curtis, it was when i was little, or something like that, and it was cute







the preschoolers at the daycare i work at really like that one too


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## Twocoolboys (Mar 10, 2006)

Love this thread - LOL. I have never been a fan of Dr. Suess. Aren't we "supposed to" love him? I do kind of like Mr. Brown can Moo, Can You? Only because my 1 year old really likes it and is so darn funny as he tries to make all the noises.

But, Green Eggs and Ham drives me batty. My 6 year old used to like me to read that to him when he was about 2. Now, it has "mysteriously dissappeared" from our bookcase - lol. Way to repetative for me.


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## bobica (May 31, 2004)

this thread is so funny! aside from "guess how much i love you" (blech), i can't think of too many i dislike enough to remember







I'm fine with eric carle, dr. seuss, etc. dd loves the disney princesses & will sit & read the books over & over, so they're fine with me too







: i'm sure there's SOMETHING in her room i don't like......


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## TEAK's Mom (Apr 25, 2003)

Sam and the Firefly. I HATE HATE HATE it.

And anything by Hans Christian Anderson. The man was a #*&%ing sadist. People have given us beautifully illustrated versions of both the Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling (in situations where I couldn't prescreen) and they are mean, violent and the messages are horrible. My only consolation is that my girls prefer to be the sea witch and her poisonous snakes.


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zakers_mama*
And if I have to read "Max's Ride" ONE MORE TIME.....'Go' said Max. DOWN went Max. Over a bump, between two trees..... 


Quote:


Originally Posted by *Throkmorton*
Oh, and Max and Ruby, because DH and I think Ruby buried their parents in the cellar.

There is a page in "Max's Bedtime" that I have always loved!

It's the one where Max is all wrapped up in the argyle-patterned toy snake, and the caption is: "But Max could not relax."

I so want a T-shirt with that on it.

The Max and Ruby cartoon, though.....









alsoSarah


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## MountainLaurel (Dec 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caloli*
But he got an even bigger caning over 'Mickey in the Night Kitchen' because it showed *gasp* a naked child!

Can you believe that when that book came out, there were legions of "good citizens" going around pasting paper diapers over the child's genital region in libraries across the country? Could Americans get any more repressed?














:


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## catnip (Mar 25, 2002)

I love "Is your Mama a Llama?"!

I hate Suess's "Butter Battle Book" Too hopeless. Ans I love "The Lorax" for grown ups, but not for little kids please.


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## amybw (Jul 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MountainLaurel*
Can you believe that when that book came out, there were legions of "good citizens" going around pasting paper diapers over the child's genital region in libraries across the country? Could Americans get any more repressed?














:









wonder if they have done the same thng to the once upon a potty books








Speaking of...i dont mind the book, i hate the lingo " A pee pee for making wee wee" I change it to penis.







We dont need little cutesy terms for boy parts









Another one i thought of is the Babar books. I got a bunch of books from a previous coworker when her daughter outgrew them to have on hand for my nephew. I started reading it to him one day and had to stop because of his mother being killed or whatever th story is.
It is buried on a shelf...i just need to go get rid of it!

And i agree about the bad rhyme in "Goodnight Moon" Drives me nuts !


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## nonnymoose (Mar 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SiValleySteph*
Oh, Go, Dog, Go is his favorite. I don't mind it too much, although I do wonder if night is not a time for play, why are those 3 dogs having a party, on a boat, at night?









:

I'm over it now, but I used to skip over the hat part. Talk about a jarring departure from the storyline! It did make for an amusing moment while DH and I were watching _Lost_, though...

That Eric Carle moon book does have one of the weirdest non-endings ever. It drives DH nuts!


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## 3 Little Monkeys (Mar 13, 2003)

Which ones make me groan? Any book does after I've read it for the 5th time in one day


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## jentilla (Nov 18, 2004)

OMG this thread is so funny. I have to ask dh which ones he hates. I know we had some book like I'll love you forever, but it was the female version with the dying father at the end and the dd is taking care of him-UGH! Weird! Gone! We also had a book, both of these were grandparent gifts, called "The Littlest Angel" Freaking awful and it too is gone









I hate any cartoon, Disney movie book and we don't own any-thank God!

Eric is a big fav around here, but I can see how some of them a can be viewed as weird and boring.

We're going on a Bear Hunt-loved it as a kid, bought it for dd and now I HATE it!

Fairy tales, but dd LOVES them and is way into Red Riding Hood as well and MIL bought her these finger puppets last year that are RRH, the wolf, grandma, and teh wolf in grandma's clothing and she is CRAZY for the wolf! It's all about the wolf and howling like a wolf. She could care less about RRH so we say that the wolf gets sent to the zoo at the end.


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## lindberg99 (Apr 23, 2003)

"Wacky Wednesday" drives me nuts. My mom had it at her house but the kids always wanted her to read it to them and it was driving her crazy so she gave it to them to bring home! Thanks mom.

My MIL has a book called Cyril and the Dinner Party which really bugs me. It's about a boy who discovers that he can change people into things and changes all his adult relatives into weird things like a clock, a seal, etc. And he changes his mother into a "terrible smell" which is the part that drives me the craziest!

Also The Berenstein Bears. To write a Bears book, just come up with some shortcoming (whining, eating too much, watching too much TV) and make the cubs and Papa do it. Mama is perfect. The cubs change their ways pretty quickly, Papa always has the hardest time changing. Every single book is like this! (Although I do have to admit I kind of like the Too Much Vacation book because that is exactly how my DH is on vacation!)


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## blue heron (Oct 17, 2002)

It's funny this thread is here. Just last week i decided to banish all the books I hate. I've been hiding them, waiting for a moment to sneak them off to the thrift shop. Today ds was happily playing so I put some in a bag, well ds knew something was up, came over and pulled out Richard Scarry's Mother Goose and made me read it to him. Yuck, there's a rhyme in there about having a wife who cooks and cleans and brings him ale while he sits around.
I have to say since I've put away all the ones I hate reading is so much more fun because I know he's not going to pick out any torture books. The one's I can't stand have pretty much already been mentioned here. Berenstain Bears, Clifford, Rainbow Fish, Curious George.


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## L&IsMama (Jan 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*
Speaking of lines like "blow me," we have had a hard time reading our beautifully illustrated copy of "The Owl and the Pussycat" with a straight face. "Oh lovely pussy....oh pussy, my love....what a beautiful pussy you are, you are!"









OMG,LMAO! We have a few older books that refer to cat's as pussy,







and I always substitute it with kitty.


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## nonnymoose (Mar 12, 2004)

DS also has a Little Einstein alphabet book with photos of real paintings used to illustrate the letters. Each letter also has a question or two about the painting. "A" is for angel. That's cool...but one of the questions is, "What is different about you and the angel?" Um, the angel is DEAD, how 'bout that? What a stupid question!


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## Laurel (Jan 30, 2002)

I love "Go Dog, Go". It was the first ever book that my ds would sit through and also request, so it's a sentimental favorite. I also like 'Goodnight, Moon". I like that it is nice and short, and that ds can participate in reading it, and I think it is sweet to say goodnight to all the objects in the room and outside. However, Margaret Wise Brown has a companion book to that one called "My World", and it is truly dull.

As far as books I hate: Sesame Street books, Berenstain Bears (especially the annoying "A Book", "B Book", etc. I am not really fond of Dr. Suess, again because they are sooooooo looooooong. One of ds's current favorites is "If I Ran the Zoo", and there are parts which make me uncomfortable because they portray using guns and force to capture animals to take to the zoo. However, ds thinks that all the funny, strange animals with the silly names are totally hilarious, so he requests this book a lot. He loves to play around with words, so Suess is big in his life. I don't like Curious George because they are again so long and dull. But ds loves those too. Oh well. Most of the books that I buy because of their good writing, funny story-lines, and great illustrations lie unchosen on his bookshelf.


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## pammysue (Jan 24, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Laurel*
However, Margaret Wise Brown has a companion book to that one called "My World", and it is truly dull.









:

Very disappointing (Good Night Moon is my fav., not matter what y'all say







)


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## mattjule (Nov 6, 2003)

Have any of you read "Julius"? It was a fav of mine as a child and I was appalled when I read it to ds one day (The only day I EVER read it). Capturing an animal with guns for the circus and all the animals are DISAPPOINTED not to be chosen and keeping the animals in small cages with bars, not to mention the lovely brown skinned porters and the white guys in pith helmets. Ugh. I was very disturbed.

I also hate the Sesame Street golden books. But I really don't like any book written in dialog balloons. My kids are 4 and 1, if I don't point it out they have no idea who is talking. It makes the books seem weird and nonsensical


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## oceanbaby (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flyingspaghettimama*
Agreed with PP about I love you forever ...dude, if your mom is coming over to your house with a ladder on her car so she can crawl in your marital window and rock you to sleep...you got bigger problems than your taxes are late or the dog needs walkies. Big, big problems.

Yep, that's the part that lost me. Psycho stalker mommy creeping along in the dead of night to crawl into her son's window. And if that wasn't bad enough, then we've got her death to deal with. I have never had such a violent negative reaction to a children's book.


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## JesiLynne (Aug 25, 2004)

I love you forever creeps me out b/c dh's mom IS REALLY LIKE THAT

It's UBER CREEPY

I like goodnight moon







:

I just threw out all the "condensed disney movie in to book" when we moved and the kids were at my moms
I hated them, and we had tons, we even had several of the same book







:


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## MamaHippo (Dec 4, 2004)

I got "guess how much I love you" in a baby gift basket and i can't stand it. That one will be going away soon, i hope. Its just too nutty for me.
There's also this book my DS LOVES called "Some things go together", and it is rhymes like "Franks with beans, kings with queens".. and thats the whole book. I cant stand it - i think that one is going in the Goodwill box.
I can't stand the Curious George books, any disney books, the new Pooh stories where C. Robin is all modern and bratty, and any tv-related books.

I also love Goodnight Moon. My son pulls it off the shelf every night before bed.

On the topic of good books,
I love the books Wakeity Wake , Tumble me tumbly, The Pea Pod Babies, and Yum tummy Tickly by Karen Baicker, with pictures by Sam Williams. The rhymes are silly but fun to say, and my toddler loves the different sounds the language makes. Sam Williams does the most beautiful watercolor-and-pencil drawings, and my son loves the drawings of the babies. Simple, but lovely.


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## Quagmire (Sep 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nonnymoose*
_The Runaway Bunny_:
"If you become the wind and blow me, I'll..."
Yeah. I skip the "blow me" part.









Glad I'm not the only one who does that! My DH always tells me I'm a sicko...


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## Quagmire (Sep 27, 2005)

I really can't stand Once Upon a Potty. I hate the terms she uses for Prudence's parts, pee and poop, and the fact that it's written in first person from the mother's point of view.

Also, thanks to that book we now have to wave goodbye to everyone's poop before it gets flushed. Yes everyone's. Argh.


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## Quagmire (Sep 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Llyra*
Maybe I'm just weird, or my sense of humor is broken, but I really don't like Sandra Boynton. I like the Going to Bed Book okay, but I can't get into any of the others. They just don't tickle my funny bone.

This book really bugs me. Why do they take a bath ... and THEN exercise AFTER?


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## bjorker (Jul 25, 2005)

This has been a really interesting thread to read, because I work in the children's section at a bookstore once a week. I'll have to take a look at some of these books for myself and see what I think. It's always nice to know what to avoid when people ask for recommendations.









I have read "I Love You Forever" before just to see what the big fuss was about, and I totally agree with you all. That was just weird.

I am really conflicted about the Berenstein Bears. I grew up with a lot of these books & I still have them. On one hand, I know if I hadn't, I probably would not like them now at all. Too preachy for sure. On the other hand... it's definately very nostalgic for me. I loved them as a kid, and looking back I have no idea why, but I did.

As for us... we do not get anything with licensed characters in it. They all bug me. Working at the bookstore I hear SO many kids *only* want to look at books with such-n-such character. I think Thomas the Tank Engine takes the cake. What a way to kill imagination. It seems to largely be the cause a lot of tantrums, too.


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bjorker*
I think Thomas the Tank Engine takes the cake. What a way to kill imagination. It seems to largely be the cause a lot of tantrums, too.

What's wrong with anthropomorphised trains? Oh, right. _Everything_.

Thomas has special "tantrum powers" that only children can sense. Thomas wants to be your friend. If you buy this book/game/train/track/merchandising tie-in, Thomas and Edward will be your friends. Why won't mommy let you be Thomas' friend? Mommy must hate Thomas. What a mean mommy you have, little boy...she must not know how badly you want it...


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## Sweeney (Sep 8, 2003)

Wacky Wednesday bothers the poo out of me too! My son is 2.5, there's no way he gets that book and yet he still begs to read it.

And *Babar*, I lurved Babar as a child but when I finally pulled it out to read to DS I was bothered by it and my sister finally figured it out.... Babar is a gigolo! He goes and lives with an old lady who buys him clothes, takes him out to dinner, supports him, and they :ahem: 'excercise' together. And Babar's Mama dies- enough said.

We have a dachsund so *Pretzel* is very popular here. It has a wonderful plot about how you give people gifts so they love you, stalk them when they don't return your affection, and if you save their life they'll marry you.

I hate Thomas the train. I am beseiged by relatives who think DS cannot live without it. Ewww!


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sweeney*
I lurved Babar as a child but when I finally pulled it out to read to DS I was bothered by it and my sister finally figured it out.... Babar is a gigolo! He goes and lives with an old lady who buys him clothes, takes him out to dinner, supports him, and they :ahem: 'excercise' together. And Babar's Mama dies- enough said.


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## ~Coyotebones~ (Feb 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sweeney*

We have a dachsund so *Pretzel* is very popular here. It has a wonderful plot about how you give people gifts so they love you, stalk them when they don't return your affection, and if you save their life they'll marry you.


I LOVE Pretzel. I spent years looking for it because I remembered from when I was 5 and checked it out all the time, but then was lost from the library. My baby loves it too.

I really don't like the dr. Suess stuff. I think it is mostly the art that bugs me. It always has, but it seems that everyone in my life always loves it. One of those things that always makes me wonder why I am so out of sinc.

One Barenstien Bears book I like is the Big Honey Hunt. The dad and little bear go on a big search for honey and in the end, after many mishaps, have to buy some honey. I guess I like it 'cause it is fairly long, but my baby liked it from the time he was 3 months old. It has always had a sort of magical effect on him, and I like that it allowed me to introduce reading to him so young (a lot of other stuff he wouldn't sit through.)


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## bjorker (Jul 25, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flyingspaghettimama*
What's wrong with anthropomorphised trains? Oh, right. _Everything_.

Thomas has special "tantrum powers" that only children can sense. Thomas wants to be your friend. If you buy this book/game/train/track/merchandising tie-in, Thomas and Edward will be your friends. Why won't mommy let you be Thomas' friend? Mommy must hate Thomas. What a mean mommy you have, little boy...she must not know how badly you want it...

You always have such a way of cracking me up, spaghetti lady.

Sad part is... you're right. DOH.


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## darsmama (Jul 23, 2004)

Chicka chicka boom boom, hands down.


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## ChrisCountryGirl (Dec 8, 2004)

There's a lot of children's books I don't like....I definitely hate the books that has characters from a movie or television show especially Disney movies.


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## Apryl Srissa (Oct 1, 2005)

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like Dr Suess! People always look at me like I'm nuts, but I've already put oldest dh (he's almost 10) in charge of all Suess reading to the younger two, I just can't do it









I also found Goodnight Moon annoying. I do have to admit a soft spot for Guess How Much I Love You. Don't particularly like it, but have mushy feelings as it was my oldest's fave forever.

My two yr old has a fav called Sleepy Dog. Overall cute, but when the dog wakes up, it says turn off the moon, turn on the sun, (cuz the moon is only at night?) and turn off the clock, turn on the light. Why turn on the light in the sub bright room? I skip the light part completely.

He likes the Pooh books too. But the Disney 'tell the movie' books are a waste. We don't buy them, but my oldest has bought two over the years. Still has them, swears he likes them, but never see them off the shelf.


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## boatbaby (Aug 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*

Speaking of lines like "blow me," we have had a hard time reading our beautifully illustrated copy of "The Owl and the Pussycat" with a straight face. "Oh lovely pussy....oh pussy, my love....what a beautiful pussy you are, you are!"










I have recited that story to DS EVERY night and EVERY nap time since BIRTH (we have the book but I have it memorized) and I have to admit although I ADORE the story and so does DS -- I add an extra "cat" everytime there is a lone "pussy". Makes it easier for me to get through and then I don't have to worry about him pointing at a friend's house and yelling "PUSSY!" when he sees their cat next to their daughter


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## Throkmorton (Jun 30, 2003)

I thought of one more book that makes me groan.
The book "Dealing with your Parent's Divorce" that was sent in a box of stuff to DS from FIL.







:
Dh and I are happily married, thankyouverymuch. It went in the trash, while I was in a hormonal rage.


----------



## BlueStateMama (Apr 12, 2004)

Quote:

Agreed with PP about I love you forever ...dude, if your mom is coming over to your house with a ladder on her car so she can crawl in your marital window and rock you to sleep...you got bigger problems than your taxes are late or the dog needs walkies. Big, big problems.
HUGE ditto...and TWO people have given that book to me as a baby present...it's a creepy book...that poor wife in the story!

ITA with the comments on Runaway Bunny too...stalkerish.


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## Charles Baudelaire (Apr 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zinemama*
I really don't get the Carl disapproval. I mean, do we really suppose that the scenario in the Carl books is meant to be real? It's a story!

In an ideal world, I would love to leave my baby in the care of a large, obviously competent, cuddly, dog babysitter while I go enjoy tea and adult conversation in the park.

I can't stand the Carl books because he's a Rottweiler.

I imagine that "Good Dog, Carl," is being said right before he tears into an unsuspecting two-year-old.


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

You know, it's nice to see this thread. I've been accused by my "do whatever everyone else is doing" friends of overthinking things.

But you know, I still remember books read to me as a child, and in fact one of my phobias (the only nonsensical one) is directly due to one of those books (I'm afraid of butterflies b/c of a Golden Book?I think showing a ton of butterflies all sort of coming at the reader), and I also remember a terrified puppy's face that scared me in another?same? book.

I don't want that sort of thing for E, and I also don't want to have to re-teach things (it's a Blue's Clues episode that finally got through to me, just the other day, what the earth is doing to make it day and night, and I was a "gifted" student for goshsakes!) that he is initially taught wrong, by poorly chosen books.

I also have a hard time reading books that use the other word for "cat". And I shy away from skipping or changing words, mainly because I read incredibly early (picked up a newspaper and read it aloud at 2, nearly causing my mom to faint) and I don't want to confuse Eamon in case he reads early too (it's not being encouraged, though).


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## Charles Baudelaire (Apr 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ceilydhmama*
Ditto Ditto!!!! My 4 year old speaks MUCH better than Junie B. The stories do make us giggle though









I actually got in a big pissy fight about Junie B. Jones, so at the risk of starting yet another one, I'll say that I find the books encourage unethical behavior and leave it at that.

Seriously, I'd rather have my kid watch _Brokeback Mountain_ than read a Junie B. Jones book.


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## Charles Baudelaire (Apr 14, 2003)

Hey, get a load of this book -- it's one of those Little Golden Books.

Look inside here and here too.

Okay, now look at this very, very funny parody. Same illustrations -- creepy eyes and all -- and very different text.

Little Golden Book About Zogg


----------



## riversong (Aug 11, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Throkmorton*
I thought of one more book that makes me groan.
The book "Dealing with your Parent's Divorce" that was sent in a box of stuff to DS from FIL.







:
Dh and I are happily married, thankyouverymuch. It went in the trash, while I was in a hormonal rage.

That is hilarious! I am actually LOL!


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## riversong (Aug 11, 2005)

The Disney books are bad enough, but there are also tons of books based on worthless cartoons and toys like Sponge Bob, Strawberry Shortcake, Cabbage Patch Kids and much more. Ugh, these are ubiquitous in the Scholastic book club catalogs that kids get at school.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bean0322*
Like you, the Clifford and Thomas books. Also, the Arthur books. My oldest son went on a huge Arthur binge and I was miserable. What else? Never liked Goodnight Moon.

didn't read all the posts but was wondernig about thomas and author - which bother you - the original or the ones born out of the marketing of the TV shows etc or both.

I think the original Thomas is nice but hate the newer stuff. The original Arthur books are better but I still am not fan. i like the original pooh buthate the disney stuff.

books that I dislike:
the Giving tre
I love you forever
the rainbow fish
word bird books
anything that is a spin off of TV or movies.


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Charles Baudelaire*

Okay, now look at this very, very funny parody. Same illustrations -- creepy eyes and all -- and very different text.

Little Golden Book About Zogg

Weelll, I was _trying_ to nak...but my baby doesn't like the milkshake.

Too, too funny!


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

I find it so interesting how many hate "Love you forever" This book kills me - I sniffle through it and love it. Munsch is so over the top in *all* his books - the mother and the ladder thing have never struck me as odd. Heck, in "Smelly Socks" the girl wears those things for weeks and weeks and kills off most of the local wildlife in the process. The man likes hyperbole...

And I'm going to see him at the Childrens Festival - Yee Haa!!

For hate books though - some of those whingy Angelina books drive me bonkers. And dd LOVES "What to Expect When You go to the Doctor" - I would like to burn it.

I did ban the Rainbow fish - now THAT is creepy. Who would give away their body parts just because someone else wants them and is jealous - ack!


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Quote:

Today ds was happily playing so I put some in a bag, well ds knew something was up, came over and pulled out Richard Scarry's Mother Goose and made me read it to him. Yuck, there's a rhyme in there about having a wife who cooks and cleans and brings him ale while he sits around.
We have this book. I SO skip that one, along with anything about people being hit and animals fighting.

I forgot Curious George. Really hate that one. So colonialist-creepy.

I maintain that I was warped forever by a collection of Hans Christian Anderson stories, unaltered and faithfully translated, that we had when I was a girl. SO sad and creepy, and every single inanimate object has feelings. To this day I cannot throw away the Christmas tree without feeling terrible.

Also, the cartoon of the "Lorax" made me cry hysterically when I was little. As did Charlotte's Web. I love both books, but I took them too personally, I guess...


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## mamato2sweeties (Feb 24, 2006)

I'm with you on "No, David".

Although my ds and I are devoted train fans, Thomas puts me to sleep everytime.

But the ones I find really troubling are the children's books with spelling and grammar errors!! My mom gave my dd a version of "Peter Rabbit", which used the word "presently" at least 7 times in the short story. But even better was the sentence that included "presently" and currently". How dare they publish a book that has not been properly edited!??


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## bu's mama (Mar 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nonnymoose*
_The Runaway Bunny_:
"If you become the wind and blow me, I'll..."
Yeah. I skip the "blow me" part.

OK, I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only one who cringes at that part.


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## miasmommy (Feb 4, 2005)

Interesting thread!

The only book that DD has that I truly hate is the "Old Lady that Swallowed the Fly"... really creepy... perhaps she'll die?... and it shows her eating a "cat sandwich"... UGH!

I don't really mind Dr. Seuss books except they are way too long!

miasmommy


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## PancakeGoddess (Oct 8, 2004)

I don't think there's anything _wrong_ with reading thsoe annoying books to your kids if they request them, but I've just never been willing to keep books around if I hate reading them. If there were a more limited number of books in the world, I'd concede, but there are SO MANY AWESOME books in the library that I just am not willing to sit through crap.

My kids always manage to agree on lots of books, and although I don't like repeating any book, I will repeat a decent book a million times. An annoying book, otoh, I will avoid, and I'd rather look forward to reading with them.

Same goes for read alouds with the big kids. They are free to read annoying books to themselves. Mean mean mommy.


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## spinspin (Feb 14, 2006)

I just read the posts on this topic and found them really quite intelligent... better reading than anything on Urban Baby. Anyway, I hate my 2.9yo son's Richard Scarry books "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" and "Busy Busy Town." Sure, the pickle truck is sort of funny... but the "plot" is so pointless, and the pages are so busy and hard to look at. Bleh.
I'm with everybody who also hates the Ber. Bears and other cheesy series books. Random House should be smacked one time for EVERY Thomas book sold-- they are complete drek. Would it be SO hard to write a decent story or two about the little trendy train?
I'm also not wild about-- controversially-- the Olivia books. They are so clever and beautiful to look at, but they use so much irony. I think little kids deserve more honesty on the page.
Odd that so many people raise their hands about hating Good Night Moon. I think that book is so beautiful and lilting. I was just explaining to my toddler "do you know HOW we should tell your baby brother to stop screaming? Don't scream yourself... tell him just like 'the quiet old lady who is whispering hush' in Night Night Moon..." He knew just what I meant!


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## joandsarah77 (Jul 5, 2005)

The worst books that i can think of that we own at the moment (going to goodwill!) are 'There is Hipopotamus on our roof' and another book in the same series. Totaly weirds me out. The kid has an imaganary hippo friend that lives on the roof. Also hate the way the parents talk to her. I'de do a quote from the books but think it went out in the last boxfull.

'Jenny's Baby Brother' agg! I bought that second thinking it was a nice story about how a sister and new brother become friends. Well they do but....
quote 'she passed Pete in the hall. He put out a cubby foot and tripped her up.' " Well done Pete!" she said dabbing at a bleeding lip'








After that they are suposed to be friends?









I also hate the Clifford books. We only had one and it's now gone. Weird thing is dh got a clifforf movie from the video shop which dd is watiching right now lol and I quite like it!









Quote:

But the ones I find really troubling are the children's books with spelling and grammar errors!! My mom gave my dd a version of "Peter Rabbit", which used the word "presently" at least 7 times in the short story. But even better was the sentence that included "presently" and currently". How dare they publish a book that has not been properly edited!??
Ok well we (Australians) spell 'presently' and 'currently' exactly like that. Just check if it was printed in/ or written by someone Australian or English before thinking it's a spelling error. Petter rabbit was writen by betrix Potter who was English. We also say colour instead of color, so don't asume everyone spells the same as you yanks







I know my spelling isn't great either, but it may not be as bad as you think


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## maizy (May 13, 2003)

My son is obsessed with Dora books, it is all he wants to read while we have a ton of great things to read and he wants to read Dora, 'swiper no swiping", I have to say it with him.... ugggg....... Even worse my mother in law keeps buying more, we've got five or so Dora books.
Upside is as least he is learning some Spanish words
















Also don't care for Carl the dog or Rainbow Fish...
Gotta stick up for Goodnight Moon though and the Big Red Barn


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## mamaGjr (Jul 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka*
books that I dislike:
the Giving tre
anything that is a spin off of TV or movies.

why don't you like the giving tree? i find it depressing but kind of realistic!


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## mamaGjr (Jul 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JesiLynne*
I love you forever creeps me out b/c dh's mom IS REALLY LIKE THAT

It's UBER CREEPY

I like goodnight moon







:

I


I kept reading all the posts on "I love you forever" and I was confused







I guess I have not read that one ....
I thought ya'll were talking about
"guess how much I love you"









I have seen some negative posts on that one too. I don't mind it . anyway I am off to check out what this "i love you forever " book is all about


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *joandsarah77*
Ok well we (Australians) spell 'presently' and 'currently' exactly like that. Just check if it was printed in/ or written by someone Australian or English before thinking it's a spelling error. Petter rabbit was writen by betrix Potter who was English.

According to my crazy-smart brother who paid FAR too much attention in English classes, as far as I can remember, the problem with those is that they aren't grammatically correct. That those words aren't really supposed to exist. Said brother cringes when someone says "luckily" and so forth, because it's not really a word.

So I think that's what the PP is getting at...they aren't supposed to be used.

I had different English teachers than my brother did and was never taught that, so I feel differently (ha) about those words than my brother or the previous poster...but I do think that's what she was getting at.

And if I'm wrong, I will presently apologize LOL.


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## Charles Baudelaire (Apr 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mollyeilis*
According to my crazy-smart brother who paid FAR too much attention in English classes, as far as I can remember, the problem with those is that they aren't grammatically correct. That those words aren't really supposed to exist. Said brother cringes when someone says "luckily" and so forth, because it's not really a word.

So I think that's what the PP is getting at...they aren't supposed to be used.

I had different English teachers than my brother did and was never taught that, so I feel differently (ha) about those words than my brother or the previous poster...but I do think that's what she was getting at.

And if I'm wrong, I will presently apologize LOL.









I have to say that even after having taught English for ten years, even after having gotten an M.A. in the subject from a selective private university, and even after being one of those picky people to whom _Eats Shoots and Leaves_ was basically a waste of time because, well, nothing in it was new to me, I never heard of there being a problem with _luckily_. _Hopefully_, yes. People misuse that one regularly in sentences like, "Hopefully, my car will be out of the shop by Tuesday." Unless you mean that your car will be "full of hope" AND in good repair too, you should probably use another word or phrase such as, "With luck," or "If all goes well." Would you mind explaining what the problem is with _luckily_?

Now back to our regularly scheduled bickering.


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## Thursday Girl (Mar 26, 2004)

i looked at this book in the library i think it's called elouise, it's the christmas book. I made the mistake of just readin it to DD b/c i have heard so much about it. The child lives in a hotel with her nanny and her mom is calling from another country on christmas eve. i couldn't beleive it. dd was all confused so i had to try and explain what a nanny was and why the girls mother wasn't around.

i hate the disney books, new pooh, arrgghh someone gave dd a barbie book, one that was made into a movie what trashy drivel!!! poorly written books. I think kids books should be well written and have nice illustrations.

I do like go dogs go it was one of my favorites as a kid and dd loves it. the hat part is cool. dd puts all sorts of things on her head and says "do you like my hat"

i hate all the religous books we have, my mom got her all these "what are angels like" what is god like "what is prayer" and i was just reading what is god like tonight thinking man this one has to go, i can't read this stuff to her i don't believe it "i am the creator, i am the ruler" cute pictures but i just don't feel right reading it to her, i need to unteach what i'm saying. oh and someone got her this four pack of angel books from the dollar store and they are so dumb. they say rainbows are from ana ngel painting the sky, snowflakes are cut out of soft tissue paper by angels..jesus is it any wonder kids have sych a hard time in school when early books are full of lies??

that said we have recently come across two good books
big sister now a story about me and our new baby. the mom breastfeeds in the book. i find it so realistic to our live with a new babe and a big sister. the illustration sare super cute. their house is messy, how great is that after all thes books with new moms and clean houses. the only thing is there is a box of sosies in one picture and there are bottles all over the house. but no bottle feeding.overall i love it. oh crib, and the new mother of an obviosuley brand new baby is skinny.(but maybe i am touchy about that right now)
the other which is an absolute favortie is Skippyjon jones, what an all around GREAT book!!!!


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## TortelliniMama (Mar 11, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *joandsarah77*
Ok well we (Australians) spell 'presently' and 'currently' exactly like that. Just check if it was printed in/ or written by someone Australian or English before thinking it's a spelling error. Petter rabbit was writen by betrix Potter who was English. We also say colour instead of color, so don't asume everyone spells the same as you yanks







I know my spelling isn't great either, but it may not be as bad as you think









I don't think it was a spelling issue. (Those are the spellings I've always seen in the U.S. as well.) I think the problems were using "presently" over and over again within a short amount of text and using "presently" and "currently" in the same sentence, even though they meant basically the same thing in the sentence (as if you were to write/say, "Immediately, he did it right away," or "She quickly asked the question speedily.").


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## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

I was really surprised by how much I hate the Richard Scarry books, because I loved them soooo much when I was a kid. They are so incredibly boring to read out loud. And ditto The Berenstain Bears, plus I hate how the dad is so weak and bumbling. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I do, however, love Goodnight Moon.







One of my favorites to read to the kids going to bed at night.


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## icxcnika (Dec 4, 2002)

+

Wasn't Beatrix Potter (author of Peter Rabbit) British? If so, it would make sense that "presently" and "currently" were used in the same sentence. In British English, "presently" means something more like "next" or "in a little while" rather than being a synonym for "currently". So if it was the original story (or a British re-write), that would make sense.









God bless,
icxcnika


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Charles Baudelaire*
Hey, get a load of this book -- it's one of those Little Golden Books.

Look inside here and here too.

Okay, now look at this very, very funny parody. Same illustrations -- creepy eyes and all -- and very different text.

Little Golden Book About Zogg


i have that book, and i love eloise wilkins illustrations...... one of my favorite books with her illustrations was "we like kindergarten" ..... her books go for a killing on ebay too


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Charles Baudelaire*
I have to say that even after having taught English for ten years, even after having gotten an M.A. in the subject from a selective private university, and even after being one of those picky people to whom _Eats Shoots and Leaves_ was basically a waste of time because, well, nothing in it was new to me, I never heard of there being a problem with _luckily_. _Hopefully_, yes. People misuse that one regularly in sentences like, "Hopefully, my car will be out of the shop by Tuesday." Unless you mean that your car will be "full of hope" AND in good repair too, you should probably use another word or phrase such as, "With luck," or "If all goes well." Would you mind explaining what the problem is with _luckily_?

Now back to our regularly scheduled bickering.









I dunno.







Twas from my bro back when he was taking all the AP classes he could get his mitts on and lecturing to his silly older sister already attending university.









Also I might have remembered wrong.







wrongly? not remembered correctly? After all, that was when we were in school, and we are currently LOL 34 and 36.

Adverbs schmadverbs, I hate 'em!


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## Mummoth (Oct 30, 2003)

Thomas the Tank Engine bothered me until I realized that DS thinks James, Percy & Edward are 'girl trains'... somehow that made it better.

Calliou went to the second hand store within a week. 'Little Sister' was like a training manual for abusing the new baby.

I like Goodnight Moon... every couple of pages I growl "Goodnight _kids_!" as if I'm growing increasingly frustrated with their still-awake status. They think it's hillarious.


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## Tanya828 (Apr 16, 2004)

The free Barney book from the hospital LOL.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamaGjr*
why don't you like the giving tree? i find it depressing but kind of realistic!

its not so much that the boy is a user (taking from the tree without ever giving back or showing any true apperciation) but the tree (personofied as a woman) only finds value in being used by the boy/man. So many women are like that. Can never be happy unless some ungrateful jerk is using them to the point of abuse.

perhaps I am reading too much into it . . . .


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka*
its not so much that the boy is a user (taking from the tree without ever giving back or showing any true apperciation) but the tree (personofied as a woman) only finds value in being used by the boy/man. So many women are like that. Can never be happy unless some ungrateful jerk is using them to the point of abuse.

perhaps I am reading too much into it . . . .

lol... I do this all the time... DD actually got mad at me recently (we were reading Rupert the Bear and I was explaining that despite the lack of girls in the story - girls can have adventures too) and she said "Mother, some books are just silly fun - there is not always a DEEPER SOCIAL MEANING."









Seems she's picking up on the lingo, even if she disputes my analysis


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## mamaGjr (Jul 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka*
but the tree (personofied as a woman) only finds value in being used by the boy/man.

Whoa! I can see why you don't like it then. that is deep !









I have never thought of the tree as a woman...I guess I wasn't paying attention









I hope I will be able to read this book again someday....


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Quote from the book (I assume the beginning?) from Amazon.com...

'Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy.'

Wow there are 442 reviews of it on Amazon....sure does make people talk!


----------



## PancakeGoddess (Oct 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ashleyhaugh*
i have that book, and i love eloise wilkins illustrations...... one of my favorite books with her illustrations was "we like kindergarten" ..... her books go for a killing on ebay too

I love her illustrations, too. Some of those are still in print, in board books even.


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## mamaGjr (Jul 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mollyeilis*
Quote from the book (I assume the beginning?) from Amazon.com...

'Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy.'

Wow there are 442 reviews of it on Amazon....sure does make people talk!


WOW! I just broke the book out and thumbed through it. She and her is littered throughout! I guess I have been subconsciously in denial!


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## Charles Baudelaire (Apr 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ceilydhmama*
lol... I do this all the time... DD actually got mad at me recently (we were reading Rupert the Bear and I was explaining that despite the lack of girls in the story - girls can have adventures too) and she said "Mother, some books are just silly fun - there is not always a DEEPER SOCIAL MEANING."









Seems she's picking up on the lingo, even if she disputes my analysis






























Hey, we all know that _Green Eggs_ and Ham is really a politically liberal polemic against racial and religious prejudice.

To wit:

The protagonist of the book, whom I will call Black Hat, is clearly prejudiced against the green eggs and ham. Quite obviously, the milieu in which the dish is presented is not his issue -- he "would not like them in a box" and "would not like them in the car...in a boat...on the train," and so on. Moreover, it is not the company with which he could theoretically eat the aforementioned dish: Black Hat repeatedly states he "would not eat them with a fox...with a mouse...with a goat," and so on.

In the penultimate scene of the book, we learn in fact that it is not a previous negative experience with the GE&H that causes Black Hat's antipathy: indeed, when he tries them, he eagerly admits "They are so good, so good, you see." Not only has he apparently never tried them before, but when he does, he finds them savory.

When we eliminate all of these commonsense reasons for disliking a food, the only thing we're really left with as a basis of Black Hat's unreasonable prejudice is a very simple one:

COLOR. That's right, COLOR.

It would be sufficient to communicate this point if the eggs alone were green, but as Sam-I-Am repeatedly points out, the eggs AND ham are both the "offensive" color. The reason for the ham is clear: it is an allusion to religious prejudice. The author has clearly chosen a form of symbolic inversion (by which something is represented by its opposite) to represent prejudice against the group whose most notable dietary laws prohibit the consumption of pork, green or otherwise: Muslims and Jews.

The messages of the book are clear. Judge not by the color of the eggs, but by the content of their flavor. They are so good, so good, you see!

AND

Don't be an anti-SAMite.


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## gilleoin (Jan 30, 2006)

I am just sick of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.......But that's because each of our three kids have latched onto it for some freaking reason...for months at a time, repeatedly







Enough to drive one insane


----------



## Apryl Srissa (Oct 1, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Charles Baudelaire*
Hey, we all know that _Green Eggs_ and Ham is really a politically liberal polemic against racial and religious prejudice.

To wit:

The protagonist of the book, whom I will call Black Hat, is clearly prejudiced against the green eggs and ham. Quite obviously, the milieu in which the dish is presented is not his issue -- he "would not like them in a box" and "would not like them in the car...in a boat...on the train," and so on. Moreover, it is not the company with which he could theoretically eat the aforementioned dish: Black Hat repeatedly states he "would not eat them with a fox...with a mouse...with a goat," and so on.

In the penultimate scene of the book, we learn in fact that it is not a previous negative experience with the GE&H that causes Black Hat's antipathy: indeed, when he tries them, he eagerly admits "They are so good, so good, you see." Not only has he apparently never tried them before, but when he does, he finds them savory.

When we eliminate all of these commonsense reasons for disliking a food, the only thing we're really left with as a basis of Black Hat's unreasonable prejudice is a very simple one:

COLOR. That's right, COLOR.

It would be sufficient to communicate this point if the eggs alone were green, but as Sam-I-Am repeatedly points out, the eggs AND ham are both the "offensive" color. The reason for the ham is clear: it is an allusion to religious prejudice. The author has clearly chosen a form of symbolic inversion (by which something is represented by its opposite) to represent prejudice against the group whose most notable dietary laws prohibit the consumption of pork, green or otherwise: Muslims and Jews.

The messages of the book are clear. Judge not by the color of the eggs, but by the content of their flavor. They are so good, so good, you see!

AND

Don't be an anti-SAMite.









I saw the don't judge on color, but never saw that next step, thanks for pointing it out! Maybe the book has redeeming qualities, though I don't know if it makes up for being WAY to long and boring lol









Any good meanings to One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish? That was my favorite as a kid, but as a mom, is too long for me.


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## ceilydhmama (Mar 31, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Charles Baudelaire*
Hey, we all know that _Green Eggs_ and Ham is really a politically liberal polemic against racial and religious prejudice.










I'll mention this to Maia - lol














:lo


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## mraven721 (Mar 10, 2004)

I do a slient groan everytime DS pickes out a Thomas book, but the Mercer Mayer books really erk me for some reason. 'Sometimes, I remember, sometimes I just forget'. I could seriously go forever without reading it again, but DS just loves the pictures!


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## nonnymoose (Mar 12, 2004)

If anyone's worried about the symbolism in _The Giving Tree_, go get yourself a copy of the original _Little Blue Engine that Could_. The train that breaks down is female, all the non-helping trains are male, and guess what the LBE is? It's a chick power story in disguise.


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## CountryMom2e (Apr 1, 2005)

Curious George. Someone gave us one, and I just don't like the story about how this monkey causes all sorts of trouble and then gets away with it.

I do love Jamberry though - DS loves it, can recite nearly all of it, and it's very cute. I also love Goodnight Moon, but I'm not a huge fan of Runaway Bunny, probably b/c it is long and doesn't rhyme.

DS loves books that rhyme


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## kellybelly (Jul 17, 2004)

My DD loves Harold and the Purple Crayon, so I got her another Harold book: Harold's Trip to the Sky. Its terrible!
So, Harold draws a desert this time, and gets bored. "Then he remembered how the government has fun on the desert." So then he ends up in space and draws an alien and gets scared, etc. Groan.


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## Bufomander (Feb 6, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *VBMama*
My MIL sent this in a big box of books for ds. I didn't skim it before jumping right in and reading it to him, and I started bawling during the last few pages. Too much for this mama...but of course he loves it. Mostly we just read the page about the 2yo tearing up the bathroom, because that's ds!








: OMG, I had to edit so I could quote this! I totally forgot about that and you're so right.







:

Okay, nobody flame me for this, because there was a thread a while back about how this was everyone's favorite book, but I hate _Go, Dog, Go!_ It reads like a box of rocks. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. And the text is bizarre and not at all entertaining.


yep, a big thumbs down on go dog go. i don't like how snotty the poodle is, either. i mean, i know that's the whole point, but nonetheless, i don't like it...

and about i'll love you forever -- i agree about the weirdness of the mother climbing into the adult son's window, etc (a friend said if the genders were reversed -- father and dd -- the book would never fly) but i disagree that just because books deal with death/aging they aren't appropriate for children...


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## Thursday Girl (Mar 26, 2004)

i like jamberry but it has one spot where the rhythm or the rhyme is messed up (it's been a couple of years since i read it) but if you just switch the lines on that page it sounds right.

i never thought about some of the stuff you all are mentioning. i guess i'm just not deep. but i want too tell dh NOT to get dd a copy of the giving tree. i was always a little weirded out by how the tree gives and gives and the boy just doesn't care. it always seemed wrong to me, although the everlasting love always got me.


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## Britishmum (Dec 25, 2001)

I _love_ Love You Forever. I have a tape of Munsch himself reading it to a group of kids - it is wonderful. The way he reads it is totally un-creepy - it's hilarious, then deeply touching. I think he's one of the greatest children's authors.









Personally, I can't stand Dr Seuss. I had nightmares about the Cat in the Hat as a kid, & still hate all his books. Unfortunately though my kids love them and keep getting them from the library.


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## rabrog (Dec 20, 2005)

The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton - we hid it for a while!

I got rid of one that was about Noah and the Ark - read it once, didn't even finish it and that was the end of that. It was awful - scaring the reader into loving God, following God or else.

Jenn


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## Bufomander (Feb 6, 2005)

wanted to agree with the no tv-show/movie related books -- boo!
and -- the opposite of someone else's posts -- i like most dr seuss stuff alright -- though he's certainly not my favorite -- but i DO NOT LIKE Mr. Brown Can Moo -- most books i'll read to my daughter 20 times in a row if she wants me to -- that one is soley my dh's domain.


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## apmama2myboo (Mar 30, 2005)

i had no idea there were so many haters of Dr. Seuss and Berenstain Bears, or Curious George! LMAO. this is very amusing, this discussion! i do have kindred souls with the hate of the Love you Forever creepy book, so that's good. LOL. here's mine:

hates:
these educational books we got illustrated by mandy stanley (my words, my shapes, my numbers, my colors), while they are great for teaching her things and came with great free posters, i am SOOO freakin tired of them. they don't read, they're picture books! lol.

barney "ready set go" teaches how to do zippers and velcro and tie. i hate barney, so i hate this book.

Are you my mother? --she hated this one since birth, and i swear it fueled her separation anxiety anytime she saw the cover of the thing. lol.

Loves:
Dr. Seuss (when i haven't read it 3x already that day)--also we checked out a copy of the video cartoons -from like the 70's-it's got cat in the hat, green eggs, sneetches and i think one other one, the lorax maybe. she LOVES the green eggs and ham one. it's like 15 minutes long and i confess if i've read it already or have a headache, she gets that one, cause it's pretty much verbatim LOL

The Bear books, by Karma Wilson. Bear wants more, Bear Snores on, Bear stays up for christmas. LOVE LOVE LOVE these books. and the animals in the bear wants more book, on the cover they're doing the sign for "more"--got to love that. love the illustrations by Jane Chapman.

she loves the bear books, they're her favorites. she likes the shorter berenstain bear books, but will sit thru the most annoying strawberry shortcake valentine book that is paragraphs every page, i have no idea why. she doesn't like the cat in the hat much. she loves Good Dog, Carl, and so do I  my parents have a rottie and she loves him, he's a big teddybear.

of course, i hate ANY book if i've read it more than 3x in a day. lol.

jen
caitlyn 2/9/04


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Oh, Goddess, where do I _start?!_









We have this book called "The Runaway Chick", where the chick gets warned to STAY IN THE YARD, or the bad fox will EAT YOU!!!







So, the chick runs away, and then gets all scared but it turns out only to be the family dog coming to rescue it. Then he says "I will NEVER leave the farmyard again!" Pul-eeeze. Don't explore, or horrible things will happen to you!







: DS likes it because of the "doggy". Hehe.

I am gonna be unpopular for saying this, but Dr. Seuss makes me want to uke I used to love his stuff (for SOME reason!







), but the made up words and rhymes are....*shudder* It bugs me to no end.







:

Curious George is awesome (well, I love him anyway!), but have you SEEN some of the things he does?!?!? He gets into the ETHER, and *trips out*!!! WTF?!?!? DH and I were like








He breaks his LEG! He goes into the hospital for surgery because he swallowed a puzzle piece! It's messed up! But, DS loves monkeys and "Dorge!" in particular for some reason. Heh. But some of the stories are kinda scary.

"The Rainbow Fish" makes me







: too...like, you have to give people stuff or they won't like you! Someone else already mentioned it but I had to as well.

"Five Little Monkeys"...jump on the bed, have fun, and get hurt. But hey, they all sleep in bed together, yay co-sleeping! (I like "Ten in the Bed" for this reason as well.







But we're talking about books we DON'T like!







)

The Gingerbread Man is kinda creepy. "Snap, snap, GULP!"







:

Frog and Toad are DH's favorite stories of all time. But I think Toad is a jerk.









Some Sandra Boynton books make me want to find her and















Two that come to mind are "Birthday Monsters" and "Snuggle Puppy". Yarg.








But I like some of her other ones.

Okay, enough out of me! Fun thread!


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## nikirj (Oct 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mollyeilis*
I had to go find it; the books that he loves drive me so crazy that DH is now the reader.









It's got a bit of a rhythm going, you know, "a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush, And a quiet old lady who was whispering 'hush'"...and it's fun to say, you're sort of going circular with your voice, it's fun.

Then "goodnight room, goodnight moon" and all of a sudden..."goodnight cow jumping over the moon"?

What the? Moon and moon rhyme, I'll give you that.







But you're not *supposed* to use the same word...







:

The book is tripping lightly over my tongue and then it just goes *clunk*. ugh.

It goes MUCH more smoothly if you take a good pause after the word "cow". So it goes "Goodnight cow...jumping over the moon". I have actually always LIKED that particular set of lines.

Books I hate:

YES the "Love you Forever" and it was given by the hospital as a "first book". W.T.F. They also gave a "Spot" book and it is horrid.

I detest with a passion any book based on a Disney movie. They are horribly written and unnecessarily wordy.

I also dislike books with too many characters and too much dialogue, like the newer Winnie the Pooh books.

They took some out of the Dr. Seuss books when they made them board books and this makes some of them more bearable because the originals are pretty long. But they ditched the "Vug Under the Rug" which was a favorite line of ours, and the kids seemed to find it therapeutic to talk about a 'scary' and make fun of it like that.


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## dogmama (May 24, 2005)

Little Critter- Mercer Mayer books. They truly make me nauseous, so of course dd wants to read them over and over. She gets an evil grin when she pulls out one of the books I hate. I hide them, throw them away, and they keep turning up. I think bad books sneak under the couch and reproduce.


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## TortelliniMama (Mar 11, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Faery*
Some Sandra Boynton books make me want to find her and















Two that come to mind are "Birthday Monsters" and "Snuggle Puppy". Yarg.








But I like some of her other ones.

I didn't care for Snuggle Puppy when I first saw it. I couldn't figure out how to read it, because I couldn't find the rhythm. Then we got Philadelphia Chickens, one of her CDs, and it has Snuggle Puppy as a song. Now that I know how to sing it, I love the book. And ds is so cute when he chimes in on the "oooo"s.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TortelliniMama*
I didn't care for Snuggle Puppy when I first saw it. I couldn't figure out how to read it, because I couldn't find the rhythm. Then we got Philadelphia Chickens, one of her CDs, and it has Snuggle Puppy as a song. Now that I know how to sing it, I love the book. And ds is so cute when he chimes in on the "oooo"s.









Ohmigosh! There's a CD?!?!?! Now *that* I could get into! *grin*


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## TortelliniMama (Mar 11, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Faery*
Ohmigosh! There's a CD?!?!?! Now *that* I could get into! *grin*

OT, but there are samples of the songs at Amazon. She also has Rhinoceros Tap and Dog Train. (No samples on the Dog Train page. I don't care for it as much as the previous two, either. Maybe I just haven't listened to it enough?)


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## boingo82 (Feb 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc*
..

I maintain that I was warped forever by a collection of Hans Christian Anderson stories, unaltered and faithfully translated, that we had when I was a girl. SO sad and creepy, and every single inanimate object has feelings. To this day I cannot throw away the Christmas tree without feeling terrible.
..

I had a little set of those. Gotta love the little matchstick girl who is out selling matches on the cold winter street to survive, and she freezes/starves to death.


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## boingo82 (Feb 19, 2004)

The only one we have now that we really hate is Baby Mickey's Bedtime.
The whole little thing is about baby Mickey giving himself a bath, getting himself a bottle, tucking himself into bed, etc. There are no parents anywhere in it, he seems like he's been completely abandoned.


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## LizD (Feb 22, 2002)

Nursery Rhymes are really important, IMO. Their origins are very interesting and those rhymes plus Grimm's fairy tales bring the children a lot of important archetypes in a very satisfying way. Children are *relieved* when the witch has to dance to death in red-hot shoes. There's a great book called Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme which goes into the origins of a lot of these.

I love Dr Seuss (and most of the classics dissed here- I mostly hate modern boring "educational" stories and there's so many *bad* books being published these days) and if you read his bio you might too! Very interesting. Don't try to play Scrabble after reading Dr Seuss to your kids all day- you will think you've got a seven-letter triple word score with "abimoxy" or adding "derbooz" as a suffix of "van!"


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## pammysue (Jan 24, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nikirj*
It goes MUCH more smoothly if you take a good pause after the word "cow". So it goes "Goodnight cow...jumping over the moon". I have actually always LIKED that particular set of lines.

I just realized that I put in that pause subconsciously. Those lines are my favorite part of Goodnight Moon (probably my favorite children's books for many reasons).


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## solstar (May 26, 2002)

Mr. Seahorse. We got it from the library and I was about to spontaneously combust if I had to read it again!


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## MerelyGod (Apr 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *catnip*
Ans I love "The Lorax" for grown ups, but not for little kids please.

OK, now I love _The Lorax_ and DD1 loved it when she was younger. When she was 3 or so, everytime we saw a tree stump, she climb up on it and say "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!"

I can't stand _If You Give a Mouse a Cookie_. It drives me CRAZY! It's OK to say no!

And _The Rainbow Fish_, ugh! We got that one from the library and read it once before returning it. I agree, how creepy.

I also hate, with a book burning passion, any of the Disney books. They're books that are based on movies, THAT WERE BASED ON BOOKS in the first place! How can you write a book like that? The Winnie the Pooh ones are definitely the worst. The originals are so charming, but Disney turns Christopher Robin into a snotty brat and poor, simple Pooh into a complete idiot.

And those dumb little board books with absolutely no content. Like, what's the point? To me, board books are just durable versions of stories we like, but now all these little books are out and there is absolutely nothing to them. I just don't get it.

And I guess I'm in the minority on this, but I hate the cleaned up versions of fables and fairy tales. I won't read them if the stories have been changed. If it's not age appropriate, then we'll skip it until she's older.

I also love _The Giving Tree_, and just about anything by Dr. Seuss. _Goodnight Moon_ is one of my favorites. I mean, "goodnight nobody, goodnight mush" is genius!


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## Lazyhead (Mar 27, 2006)

i hate the usual suspects--clifford, curious george (weirdly colonialist for sure) & babar. we had a babar book in which celeste (babar's wife) has babies. first of all, babar can't deal with situation so he goes and sits on a mountaintop while his wife is in labor. he abandons her basically. and THEN celeste's doctor weighs her babies and says they aren't gaining enough weight and that celeste will need to start supplementing. i pre-read a bag of books my mom gave my dd and that one i just threw across the room in disgust.


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## KC in KS (Feb 24, 2005)

You've probably never heard of it - I can't even find it anywhere on line to show you.

But this book is my lesson in always, always prereading books before I give them to DD. I picked this one up in a used bookstore, because it had a cute fuzzy cow face on the cover and when you push his nose, he moos. Perfect for not-yet-one, right?

Now that we've read it (a few hundred times), DH and I refer to it as The Communist Cow.

See, there's this baby calf, and one day he goes walking through the barnyard. He meets three different animals. In each case the animal makes it's correct sound (the duck goes "quack") and so the calf goes "quack back". He then gets scolded, "No, no, you must moo!".

The book ends like this "The cow, who'd grown wiser by now, did what all cows like to do. He said Moo!"

Poor little quadralingual calf is forced into conformity with community expectations of his species by constant peer pressure.









DH does do a really funny version with characters like Comrade Duck. LOL

KC


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Faery*
Frog and Toad are DH's favorite stories of all time. But I think Toad is a jerk.









I love Toad. I love his exclamations. I love the way he's so insecure. It's a good thing, too, because my son adores those books. I have read them all, many times.

He'll ask for anything by Arnold Lobel, including that intensely stupid book about the Owl. (Or as my son says it, "owl-oh.") There's nothing wrong with the book, it's age-appropriate, I just don't like it.

Because he likes Frog and Toad, my son wants to read any book in that beginning reader series. The one about the puppy who eats pizza







, the one about the anteater and Halloween







: or any book whose cover art is on the back of one of the other books.

One thing that bugs me is when there is a book like Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh or The Wind in the Willows, and some publisher puts out an abridged version with new illustrations. Hello! the point is that Beatrix Potter was a clever writer and a brilliant illustrator! Why the bleepin' bleep would I want to read my kid a book called Peter Rabbit with abridged text and some other bunnies in the pictures?

Don't even get me started about the fake Winnie-the-Pooh.

I've been pretty lucky, though. There aren't too many books that he loves that I can't stand. There was one week when we went to the library and randomly picked out five books about children who don't want to eat healthy food. I'm not sure how that happened.


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