Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Children's books

Join in for children's book recommendations.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Which is your most hated book for reading aloud to your DCs

131 replies

BarcodeZebra · 04/12/2008 20:35

It has to be almost any of the Mr Men books, for me. They are unreadable. I seriously doubt that anyone bothered to read them aloud at any point during the editorial process (a criticism that could be leveled at any number of books published today too.)Reading them aloud is like the verbal equivalent of walking barefoot over broken bricks.

Come on, dish the dirt. Which ones really make your heart sink when your child hands them to you to read out?

OP posts:
EugenesAxe · 05/07/2012 21:02

'The Bravest Ever Bear'. It has 'best book for reading aloud' accolade on the back but it's shite. The only children it might possibly work for are those aged about 3-4, who are with it enough to recognise the changes of 'person' from the perspective of the narrative but who aren't old enough to read. Toddlers are baffled; I reckon it would be a rubbish book for an early reader.

Mr Men are bad for very young children or those with poor attention span because there's a lot of prose and little picture diversity. But I love/loved the stories!

stressheaderic · 05/07/2012 21:00

Guess How Much I Love You bores the tits off me. I'm especially annoyed as someone bought us the 'gift' edition which is ginormous, and therefore, un-hideable.

I could read Rosie's Hat every night for a thousand years and still love it.

COCKadoodledooo · 05/07/2012 20:59

Right now the Snail and the Freaking Whale. I have read it eleventy gazillion times this week.

Dh has just glanced at the thread and asked if I remembered Pudding. It was ds1's favourite. I have just recited it word for word, and have no idea where the book is may now have to kill dh for getting it stuck in my head again

MNHQ
OliviaLMumsnet · 05/07/2012 20:53

That one's banned from my house Shatner.

ShatnersBassoon · 05/07/2012 20:51

We're Going on a Bear Hunt. So plodding and wearing.

MNHQ
OliviaLMumsnet · 05/07/2012 20:49

@GetKnitted

I know this is an old thread, but I needed somewhere to scream I HATE FIREMAN BLOODY SAM!

Ahhhh and relax Blush

I feel your pain. I spent the whole of my second labour with the theme tune from FS in my head.
cookielove · 05/07/2012 20:47

Urgh this is also a pain to read urgh

cookielove · 05/07/2012 20:42

I really can't believe no one has mention this piece of s**t HUG.

I to agree Mr Men is absolutely vile to read!!

GhouliaYelps · 05/07/2012 20:36

hate to say this as DD adores them but the Charlie and Lola books I find awful! The clunky prose: "he said, she said, he said, she said"

illustrations fantastic but content is not there.

Clarice Beans are great though

Guitargirl · 05/07/2012 20:29

Pippy Longstocking makes me grind my teeth.

She just looks like she needs a good wash and the stories are so frigging long.

lisa1968 · 05/07/2012 20:24

....mr men..
....bob the builder...
....thomas tank.....
....longwinded disney books....
YAWN!!!!

GetKnitted · 05/07/2012 15:29

I know this is an old thread, but I needed somewhere to scream I HATE FIREMAN BLOODY SAM!

Ahhhh and relax Blush

LauraGas · 08/12/2008 19:59

It has to be Ant and flipping Bee. I loved these as a child but find them impossible to read now. DH feels the same and we have secretly moved them to the top of the bookshelf

dilemma456 · 06/12/2008 20:51

Message withdrawn

Original poster
BarcodeZebra · 06/12/2008 19:39

Have just fallen asleep ("DADDY WAKE UP") whilst reading the whole of "Louise The Lily Fairy" to DD1. It sent me off but totally failed to bore her sufficiently.

That is the point of those books isn't it?

OP posts:
neversaydie · 06/12/2008 18:02

I used to vet books before I introduced them to DS - those I didn't like never made it onto the reading list. Unfortunately, Grandma passed on the entire set of Mr Men, lovingly preserved from when my husband was a child in the 1970s. And gave them directly to DS. I loathed them. I also remember book which combined a checkered elephant and pushing buttons for sound effects which was left behind somewhere pdq (gift from my sister). Self inflicted (and subsequently regretted) were any rip the flap books. I should have known better.

harpomarx · 05/12/2008 22:19

ah, The Gigaaaantic Turnipzzzz........

the repetition. the worthiness. the dreariness.

lizziebeth · 05/12/2008 22:09

In the Night Garden - specifically Iggle Piggle's Lost His Blanket.

Drives me nuts that one.

saadia · 05/12/2008 22:02

Also not a fan of any version of The Gigantic Turnip and The Gingerbread Man.

saadia · 05/12/2008 22:02

I like Mr Men books, I can't stand those Disney books where they summarise the films (Bambi, Tarzan etc) really badly. Also don't like those books for very young children where you have to make the sound of an aeroplane whooshing or an ambulance nee naa-ing or a boat splish splash sploshing.

LolaLadybird · 05/12/2008 21:51

Has to be Little Red Hen - every bloody page, 'not I said the dog, not I said the ....... aaagh. Tried to relieve the boredom by coming up with new voices for each animal every night but novelty was short-lived.

Takver · 05/12/2008 14:36

(Forgot to say, said cooked kernel grows into a plant)

Takver · 05/12/2008 14:35

Comma I have NEVER forgiven Richard Scarry for having one of his characters plant a cooked sweetcorn kernel (can't remember in which book).
I loved them as a child, but have now tactfully 'left them at Nanny's so that she can have the pleasure of reading them'

itcameuponamidnightexpress · 05/12/2008 13:35

Comma, it's not that I don't like him, it's just that I have read Cars and Trucks and Things that Go a kerjillion squillion times - it is completely worn through, pages falling out, cover falling off. And they are so long too. And while I love Wild Bill Hiccup and Rudolph Strudel and Co, the Counting Book is actually a bit shit. Willy Bunny counting 60 frogs on a beach. Noooooooooooooooo!

harpomarx · 04/12/2008 22:18

and had great taste in books, Merrylegs.

the Great Pie Robbery is indeed fab, it left me with a lifelong craving for cherry pie that I am only occasionally able to satisfy.