the most overrated childrens books

[swottybetty]

two thomas tank books have somehow made their way into our house. pre-kids i really had no idea just how shite they are. even the bloody drawings are awful. why does my otherwise discerning dd love them so much?

and that feckin beatrix potter? were there no other kids books published at the time thus they achieved popularity simply by existing? seeing as there are loads and loads of kids books now, surely publishers can just write BP off as a unseemly blot on the otherwise wonderful world of childrens books

[bruffin]

We all have different tastes and interests, would be a very boring world if we all liked the same thing.

[itwasntme]

we're going on a bloody boring bear hunt

[Miggsie]

If you pay attention you will find Beatrix Potter was a superb social observer and her drawings have been used as a guide to farm and gardening methods in that period due to their exceptional detail.

How many modern children's books have the word "goffering" in them?

[PfftTheMagicDragon]

Oh we love Bear Hunt

We hate Mr Men.

[lovechoc]

Mr Men books are quality! they are not only for the children but for the adults too. DS only has Mr Sneeze but we love reading it to him because we both enjoy the story as well.

I have a set of Beatrix Potter books, will wait til DS is a bit older to read them to him. They are quite long.

Each to their own, we all have different tastes.

[Arsed]

Bear hunt. I do t believe in damaging books but I put bear hunt in the bin, I just couldn't bear to put myself through it again.

I regularly see on here that people don't like the Thomas books, dd loves them and so do I

love mr men too.

[MrsJohnDeere]

Another vote for We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

Also Guess How Much I Love You.

I rather like the Mr Men books though.

[shockers]

I loved Beatrix Potter and my DS adored them from about 4yrs old. My sister hates them ( she says the language is too old fashioned)but I read them to her girls when they're at my house and they love them too!

[MrsJohnDeere]

Another vote for the Bear Hunt.

Also Guess How Much I Love You.

I rather like the Mr Men books though.

[notnowbernard]

Peter Pan

The A.A Milne Pooh Bear stories

[Nux]

Hmm, I have to say as a child I adored all the Railway stories (since co-opted as Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends) - I spent a year being Henry the Green Engine and chuffed everywhere. I have to say I have not yet tried Guess How Much I Love You, mostly because the title made me feel a little bit pukey so I have never picked it up.

[trice]

guess how much I love you makes me wince.

I like BP, I get to put on my comedy cumbrian accent.

Mr men books are too long. I make up my own stories. I love the pictures though.

[notnowbernard]

I love Ber Hunt

My teacher friend had a Reception class one yr and traumatised herself once by announcing to them all that they were going to read a story called 'We're Going On A Bear Cunt'

[MaMight]

Beatrix Potter books are wonderful! My 3 yr old adores them and I could read them forever. Dh hates them though...

[GossipMonger]

'Where the wild things are' freaks me and ds out!

I know that it is meant to be a classic though and that a film has been made of it but I doubt we will see it.

[HumphreyCobbler]

Bear Hunt is great. So there.

I agree about Thomas books though, absolutely deadly.

[JeremyVile]

God yes, Bear hunt - hate, hate, hate it.

[MrsBadger]

DH loathes Topsy and Tim for their 'moral messages' and I have to say I can see hi spoint

loved them as a child though, and so does dd, so there must be somethign in them

[choosyfloosy]

Thomas. Arse.

Bear Hunt. Torture.

The entire genre of Cute. Guess How Much I Wuv'oo. Big Hugs for Ickle Bears etc. But No Matter What is the exception (except the blurb which is hamfisted).

Winnie the Pooh. Dull and complicated - though I do think that some of the problem is that very young children are given these books because they are out of copyright and therefore extremely cheap to turn into massive merchandising ranges, when in fact they are only appropriate for older children.

But Beatrix Potter - depends on the book. The Fierce Bad Rabbit is beyond genius. Tom Kitten is a masterpiece of uneasy horror. Peter Rabbit great therapy for those finding their siblings a pain. Not really for little kids though.

[badietbuddy]

Mr Men. Shite shite shite.
And, dare I say it, the Dr Seuss can get a bit tedious as well

[DeadTall]

My favourite was "Whatever Next?"
DD loved The Baby Who Wouldn't Go To Bed because it makes me yawn uncontrollably every time I read it (or even think about it - I've just yawned twice!)

Bear Hunt is fab - but Guess How Much I Love You makes me want to throw up...

We read all sorts to ours when they were smaller, over & over again, and they both love reading - so it was definitely worth it. Looking back, they soon weeded out the badly written ones themselves.

[choosyfloosy]

I'm Special, I'm Me [boak].

[Campaspe]

I find the Thomas books pretty awful, though my DD adores them, so we plough through a fair amount of them. I know that anything she loves has its place, but I do try to limit my exposure to those engines...