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

I make all my children have at least one novel or decent non fiction book to read alongside graphic novels like this because I think they’re rubbish honestly - I’m all about the rights of the reader etc but if I let them have their way it’s literally all they’d read. They’re good for a first step for reluctant readers. But I don’t ban it and certainly not because they’re inappropriate?!

My son started reading bunny vs monkey because the school had a subscription to the phoenix comics!

Maybe she's worried that another child will go home and repeat a bit of the toilet humor stuff, and then other parents might complain to the school.

As a side note, I have an 8 year old boy too and I'm now off to Google the books!

It’s up to the teacher, but what a sad thing to do. The books are great at encouraging reluctant readers.

If she wants to define a culture you have to let her. It’s part of establishing order and concensus at that age. I don’t think it’s right your DS goes in on the first day and brings a culture with him when she has not got to know anyone yet, no matter how well intentioned and educational

There are far worse books for children.(cough...anything by David Walliams)

Sigh.
Just let the teacher get on with teaching.
She doesn't need any extra crap or aggro.
There's a world of literature out there and it's part of her job to introduce him to new genres.
Keep home books for home and let him share them with his friends out of school.

100% agree with this

I think that's a real shame. They're fun books and brilliant for those who might be a bit more reluctant. I thought teaching was a bit more enlightened nowadays, surely encouraging readjng for pleasure should be a big priority?

Still her rules….home school your kid if you have an issue ..but don’t expect a teacher to allow a random kid to bring his books into class to be distributed and read by his classmates in class time….fucking ridiculous ….obviously you have no respect for teachers unless they are doing things your way 🙄

Should you do anything? Yes - respect the teacher's wishes. Why can’t he just lend them to his friends out of school?

The books are good comic fun but in my experience encourage chikdren to act out "play" fights and lots of fart jokes. I don’t blame the teacher for not wanting to encourage that in school. I don’t suppose she's trying to make the children read Dickens, but there are more worthwhile books they could be reading in school time.

Ineffable23
spot on!

I'm thinking about it more and I'm gutted for this child - and irritated with the teacher. I would love nothing more than a kid coming to school with completely age appropriate books to share and talk about with his friends. That's an absolute JOY to watch and encourage. One of my favourite parts of being a teacher.

So you would expect a headteacher to overrule a class teacher because a mum wants her DS to be able to lend his books so that other children can read them in the class teachers class time?? ….WTAF 🙄

Is it worth a quick chat with the teacher to understand her reasoning?

The teacher is out of order shaming your son for the reading he enjoys. We studied comic books on my MA (on a course that then ranked third in the world), they regularly feature on university syllabi and have done for years. Perfectly adequate reading material and perfectly capable of being literature. Learning to read images alongside text is perhaps a key skill given that this is actually the dominant form of modern media.Is she going to ban the BFG because of fart jokes? Or Chaucer?

Could it possibly be that a parent of one of the other kids has complained about their child accessing/reading the book so the teacher has discouraged him from sharing it? Or there have been friendship issues and internal politics around kids sharing things and fallouts over silly things? That sounds most likely to me. Very doubtful that the average teacher would be concerned about the book content at all. I'm a teacher and 9/10 if we have to ask a child to refrain from interacting with another child or stop an action that on the surface seems harmless, it's because the other child/parent has asked us to discourage/stop it.

Thanks, yes! He likes me reading both of those to him, but still resists my attempts to get him to read them to himself. Ah well - we keep going with me reading to him for now. Sometimes we take it in turns and he reads a chapter to me and I then read two to him (the division of labour is very unfair!)

This is really short sighted, and frankly just wrong. Reading for pleasure is a big thing in primary schools right now, all children should have access to all books and reading materials suitable for their age. 'Set reading' books are dull as sh*t most of the time.

BvM are gateway books for many reluctant readers/children with SEND/literacy difficulties - especially at age 8, and especially boys. I consider Jamie Smart to be almost a god. I'd be moaning to the school I'm afraid. I'm a teacher.

Do it outside of school - he can still share his books and the school doesn't have to deal with the drama if books get lost, or damaged or if a parent objects to the content.

have you tried him with diary of a wimpy kid, and the treehouse books?

I’d be really pissed off if my dyslexic child of the same age was being distracted from her set reading by another child bringing in other books and encouraging her to read them.

Schools work hard in setting books for different abilities. They absolutely don’t need you and your son meddling and thinking they know better.

BvM is hilarious. Looshkin is even funnier!

My son is a massive Phoenix fan and comics in general. He also writes his own comics. He has a fantastic imagination. But I suppose some on here would say 'he's not really reading'. Ah well I'll continue to carry the memory of the writers at Phoenixfest who all said really lovely things about his comic that he showed them. (Still recovering from the Jamie Smart meet and greet queue...)

And these books are gateways to other more serious comics (or 'graphic novels'), which surely generate really good class discussions. Would anyone say that No Country 'isn't really reading'? Or The Arrival, which is all pictures and would make an excellent class book?