AIBU to think that Tintin books are not suitable reading material for a 4 yo?

[bubbleymummy]

BIL bought them for DS1 for his 4th bday. DS absolutely loves them and reads them over and over and looks out for ones he hasn't read every time we go to the library. I didn't read Tintin books when I was younger so I really didn't know much about them but DH said they were fine. I then found out that there is lots of shooting and blowing things up in them! It just seems very violent for a 4 year old. :( DS does read other books as well (nice ones usually but he does love Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes as well - what is it about little boys??!) but I would feel really bad stopping him from reading what seem to be his favourite books at the moment. DH thinks IABU and that we grew up with Tom and Jerry and Warner Bros cartoon violence and that this is no worse than that. So what do you think? AIBU or should I take them away ASAP? :)

Does your child regularly watch the equivalents of Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, The Incredibles movie? TinTin is no more violent than any of those.
But the plots are a bit complicated for a 4yo, my 4yo DS2 could not have followed them.

He has watched The Incredibles - did they shoot people in that? He hasn't seen any Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny although he did watch some Road Runner. That all seems a bit more cartoony though. I think it's the guns mainly that I don't like... He's fine with following the plots but I don't think he understands the concept of using guns to kill people. I think he just thinks they make people fall down or something.

YABU

It's fiction. And comic fiction at that.

My DS is obsessed with Tintin and started reading them at 4. To ban them would make an issue out of it.

And you are right, at that age he won't understand the concept of guns. To him it is all just make-believe.

Tintin is harmless. Wonderfully un-PC too!

YABU. Tintin is fab, as is Asterix. DS (7) and DS (6) are obsessed

Thanks OMDB. To be fair I wasn't planning on banning them - just gently nudging him towards other books iykwim :) The "should I take them away ASAP? was a bit tongue in cheek.

How did your son react to the shooting etc? DS has started pretending that things are guns and 'shooting' at things which I really don't like. Maybe I can work on the "that's ok in books but not nice in real life angle" ?

A actually saw some Asterix books in the library. I must take a look at them next time I'm in. Are they similar to Tintin? Is he a Viking or something? I suppose I should be grateful that he's enjoying reading - it does make bedtimes easier! :)

Asterix much better than Tintin. He's a Gaul - from Brittany/Normandy. V funny. DH has been reading them with dd (4) for weeks, and she adores them.

There's definitely violent explosions, guns being pointed, missiles and severe danger to life and limb in The Incredibles.

I don't like guns either, and if you know he's still quite innocent I can understand you wanting to shelter him from that for a bit longer.

It's about Romans times, when they were invading right, left and centre.

Asterix completely fab - you will love the puns in the names even if DC doesn't get them...great stuff

Thanks Tiggi, Habbi and Pinty, I will check them out next week. :)

ragged, I think it might be too late now :( If I'd known what they were like I don't think I would have let him read them right now but because he already has, I think that's it! At least he's still innocent in the sense that he doesn't really understand death or killing people yet. Sigh...I hope that lasts a while!

Slightly unrelated but for those of you whose DSs are into Asterix if you are ever in France near Paris then its worth knowing there is a fab theme park there called Parc Asterix which I visited when I was young and was a great day out! There is a website for those of you that are interested. Just google Parc Asterix Paris

DS started on Asterix at 4 (now 5) and LOVES him. His best friend is somewhat like Obelix in real life. Not so interested in Tintin yet although DH was a Tintin man. I've always been a Getafix girl

Tin tin is fab!

I agree with you bubbleymummy - but too late; we've been reading tintin with ds for a couple of years now, since dh started him on them. They are too violent IMO for this age group, but like you I didn't know them that well. Now that ds is 6 I feel more relaxed about it. I'll admit also to changing quite a lot of stuff when I read it to ds - I don't mention Haddock's pipe, soft-pedal the drunkneness, and just avoided Tintin In America completely after my first horrified look at it. I also think Haddock's hallucinations in the desert (poss Tintin and the Black Gold?) are horrific for virtually any age group...

Asterix - I loved Asterix all my childhood but I draw the line at reading them aloud, they are exhausting - I did Asterix the Legionary with ds twice before giving up. The puns, wordplay and running jokes, not to mention the Latin and background detail, are so complicated you have to spend all your time either explaining them or rearranging the text in your head so you don't have to. Buy a couple some time and keep them on the shelf so they can discover them for themselves when they can read.

Oh yes: Tintin in Tibet gave ds nightmares and he still prefers not to go upstairs on his own ever since we were idiotic enough to read it to him. Beware.

I only have ONE issue with tintin. My 8 year old son has loved it since he was 5. And that is becuase it caused him to BEG for whiskey to taste.

Oh mine love tin tin in tibet!

Maktaitai. That's one of the ones he's read! It doesn't seem to have traumatised him thankfully. Well it's the last time I'll take DH's opinion on books! :)

DS reads them himself - sometimes DH will read them to him. (he does different voices for each character :)DS always picks different books for me to read to him - clearly my voices aren't up to Tintin standard :)

so does ds franca, so does ds

they are great, don't get me wrong, but IMO 6 is young enough

Yes, 6 is the right age (mine weren't even reading at 4... they were still easily entertained by watching Maisy )

I'd say 4 is young for some of the Tintins - the picture of the mummy coming through the window in the '7 balls of crystal' (I think) still freaks me out to this day! But I was obsessed by both Tintin and Asterix as a child and read them probably from age 6 on into teenage years and beyond! Asterix especially is the gift that keeps on giving - most of them are lost in translation, but the wordplays in the original french text are actually pretty adult stuff ( - I am actually french:) ) - I'm certainly not cultured enough to 'get' even a fraction of them.

Yes there's violence in Tintin, but there's also humour, adventure and great drawings. Be grateful that he wants to read.

OOOO Herges Adventures of Tin Tin, I remember it well. Used to read them when I was a child, oh Asterix too. YABU