Teacher Banning 8 y.o. DS from bringing Bunny vs Monkey books to school for his friends to read

Kids have to get used to rules. That’s life.

Well that's essentially what we are comparing here. There's a few people who havent seen the content of BvM. It's like modern tom and jerry with sci-fi and fart jokes.

Mental

Tom and Jerry versus Call of Duty. For 7 year olds.

Also if you think Bunny Vs Monkey is an issue I'd hate to see what you make of Looshkin.

I honestly cannot fathom anyone who sees the casual violence children are exposed to on TV, film and video games and decides Bunny Vs Monkey is the problem here. 🫠

Most schools don't allow toys/books to be brought in from home unless it's for a specific activity (eg) for a talk or to show as part of a topic. Bringing in own things causes so many problems. They often get lost, damaged or stolen.

@RedToothBrush my bank account is unhappy but the students will thank you :)

Agreed. None in our school library.

True fact!

If you can get hold of them, I'd recommend the graphics novel version of the Alex Ryder series. I don't think they are the cheapest but they are great because the content works for the end of primary and high school without the need to be a high reading age.

I think they've just started doing Percy Jackson too.

I really think they are great for boys because graphic novels are cool and 'not for babies' either. The bonus is that these kids can then relate to the kids who are reading the 'full version' because they know and understand the same story.

Comic books are a massive changer of the dynamics of reading for kids who struggle with reading. There's some really good titles out there now and the market has expanded massively in the last 4 years. There's now a whole section for them at most Waterstones. We bought dogman during the pandemic and there was nothing else similar.

The crucial point is the kids WANT to read these books. That's massive in an era of phones, TVs and computer games.

We should be embracing it, not pushing back against it.

When the library club kids at your school go on a murder rampage, we'll know who to blame, MrsH

I've just ordered a set of Bunny vs monkey for my secondary school library - please thank your son for the recommendation, @alixpally

You need to hear her version of events. It's entirely possible that your DS's mobile library, whilst very sweet and laudable in its intent, has caused all sorts of disruption during reading time due to arguments or fights over a particular book.

I'm also sure you are not the kind of parent who would aggressively hold the teacher accountable for damage caused to the books that your son has taken in voluntarily but she doesn't know that, and I'm afraid we can't afford to take the risk these days.

I don't know the books in question, and if they are aimed at kids I assume they aren't awful.

For those who are unaware.

They are recommended books by the Booktrust and they are recommended for children who have trouble with engagement with books (comic books more generally are recommended for this).

The target age is 6 - 10 years old.

https://www.achuka.co.uk/blog/bunny-vs-monkey-bunny-bonanza-by-jamie-smart/
Read the review by a parent.
(Website dedicated to children's books)

I am trying to find the piece about why Jamie Smart started doing these comics and how he was trying to engage with a certain target audience but I can't find it. It's enlightening.

It depends on the book.

I was a P.T. English in a Scottish secondary school. There was a wailing and a gnashing of teeth when I told one 12 yr old that he could not read a Walking Dead graphic novel in class for his personal reading. (Our school was on a campus where the school library was incorporated in the local library.)

I can't now remember which book in the series it was, but it was the one where the Governor has his foster-daughter's zombified head in a glass case.

In the course of that particular graphic novel, he rapes one of the main characters. She enacts her revenge by pinning him to the wooden floor, gouging out one of his eyes and cutting off his penis.

(The tv version missed out the penis removal, as I recall.)

I took it back to the library myself. One of the librarians informed me that - yes, it was in the adult section, but the local library rules are that anyone aged 12 or over is allowed to take books from the adult section.

Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I wasn't having it in my department.

Quite.

Bunny v Monkey has been great in bringing the kids who are struggling academically, in with some of the best boy readers in DS's class. They can all get something out of the books (and the likes of Dogman too).

I CAN see a problem with them. They've become so popular in DS's class that the parents have become competitive about ensuring their child has them in school on the day of release.

Frankly though, I do think the teachers need to harness this regardless of the problems they may create - they literally have a craze which centres on reading! For boys! And brings in the boys at the bottom of literacy levels!

This is like gold dust.

Kids will always have some sort of craze going on. But usually they are a genuine problem

Here you have kids wanting to read and encouraging each other to read. And making reading cool.

If the teacher can't find a way to make that work for them, I do seriously wonder why they are in education. They need to do better at management rather than a brainless ban based on the fact they are snobby about the content.

This may mean making sure that the books are put on the list for the school to buy and that kids can't bring their own in without permission.

But why on earth would you actively seek to entrench disengagement with books for boys?

I mean, unless she is some horrible anti-reading sadist, she probably has a reason for saying this which is based on the kids' welfare/smooth running of the class?

I am very opposed to censorship of kids' reading generally, and (within reason) always allowed my daughter to read pretty much what she fancied, even stuff that some might consider too old for her, or too trashy, or whatever - reading is one way to meet and explore the issues of the world before actually having to experience it in gritty reality ....

I don't know the books in question, and if they are aimed at kids I assume they aren't awful. It's not like he was passing round snuff movies and porn.

BUT, she probably LOVES the fact that kids read - all teachers do, even if they don't inherently, because it's one thing they are now judged on (rightly, perhaps).

So one can only assume that the books were causing problems - maybe some highly over protective parents were offended and blaming her? Maybe the kids were reenacting scenes from them, or fighting over them?

I mean, the only way to know for sure, is to politely ask her. But I wouldn't make a big deal of it - it's highly unlikely she intends to be mean.

And presumably if your son really wants to lend the books and his mates want them, you or your partner or whoever picks him up from school could pass them over to the other parents/carers at the school gates?

I was a bit concerned that your son was "crying" about it - sounds like an extreme reaction for 8 on the face of it - are you sure there isn't any coercion or bullying going on, with other kids demanding he shares their books with them? This could even be what the teacher is worried about. Sharing books should be a fun thing for him, not something that reduces him to tears when it can't happen......

It isn't.

It's about a teacher's poor choice of words when banning a book.

I've confiscated 50 shades of grey from a year 7 because that's inappropriate for an 11 year old to be reading in class.

Bunny vs monkey is not inappropriate.

The teacher might not like it. That's okay.
They might not like the disruption. That's also okay.
Criticising a child's choice of appropriate reading material is not okay.

Jeeeesus - is that you Miss Killjoy?

THIS!

Primary teachers should be cheering and clapping if a child is reading the back of a packet of crisps!

Anything that encourages reading is a good thing, surely?

I’m a teacher and I got a headache just reading your post. Will be nothing to do with the content of the books and everything to do with the distractions and time taken up by children bringing in their own things from home. I would be happy for one child to bring in one book to read themselves but i would absolutely say no to a child bringing in books for others. One will get lost/ripped/won’t be enough for everyone who wants one and the teacher would have to deal with that and won’t have time.

People read violent books/watch violent films all the time. 99.9% of them do not become violent criminals, because they can distinguish between fiction and reality.

This thread isn’t really about reading - it’s about a spoilt child who’s mum thinks rules don’t apply to him and therefore doesn’t know how to cope with being told “no”.

Goodness. Just ask the teacher what the class reading rules are this year?

Big Bunny vs Monkey fan here. Also a big fan of primary school teachers. New class, day one, give a bit of grace.

Some people here also really need to unclench about comics, comic-book violence, and fart humour.