to really dislike it when picture books are just wrong?

[mousyfledermaus]

for example "a squash and a squeeze" the house from the outside does not match (windows/doors) the inside.
not to mention funny proportions.

Slightly off topic, but Charlie and Lola grrrrrrr: Lola never ever gets punished for all the havoc she wreaks. She breaks Charlie's special rocket, and all he does is say "Ah well, at least you owned up, I've mended it now so let's forget about it." Lola is a little princess spoiled brat and she sets a bad example!

Same with Spud in Bob the Builder. He breaks expensive equipment, ruins Farmer Pickles' harvest, and all he gets is a "Now now."

We have a picture book of the Three Little Pigs which completely misses out the rhyme "little pig, little pig, let me come in. Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin". I never quite understood the line when I was a kid but always liked it and duly insert it whenever I've been encouraged to read this volume.

One of the "It's The Bear" books, maybe the first one, features Timmy and his mummy having a picnic before being scared off by the bear. My three year old daughter spotted that mummy's hat disappears in one picture before reappearing in the next.

On the plus side, I do like the end of Peace At Last when Daddy finally has had no sleep and baby brings in the post, including a letter from the tax office (if you remember the old style HMRC franking on them).

It bothers me not one bit, but I sometimes imagine other MNers reading 'Monkey and Me'.

Monkey and me,
monkey and me,
monkey and me.

We went to see,
we went to see some...

Penguins!

and even worse, at the end,

... We went
Home for tea. (which was clearly either lunch or dinner and in no way involved a hot drink)

I imagine you spitting nails over the poor grammar and blatant working class status of the girl and her monkey.

Aaargh books with songs in.

Try as I might I can't get a tune to go with Tabby McTat!

I have to agree that although I love the Mog books, the mum should really be quite cross with Mrs Thomas for not looking after her baby. (I can excuse the lack of seatbelts, though - perhaps written at a time when seatbelts weren't compulsory in the back seat?)

Here's another one that I could never stand once my DH had pointed out the error. It's called something like The Polar Bear and the Snowman. Every day the polar bear builds a snowman, and every morning he wakes up and finds it's melted. Except that none of the other snow has melted, just the snowman. So it doesn't make sense. You wonder why the copy editor didn't spot it.

ITNG annoys me with just one thing.

'Looking up, looking down, here and there and all....

about' ??????

Around! Why isn't it around? It sounds so much nicer. And it catches me out each and every time.

Back on this fab thread and glad to see it has gained new fans since I left it last night.

JanePumpkin, apologies for my juxtaposition of 'veg' and 'a gaping hole'. In my defence I was able to drag my mind out of the gutter less perceptive than you and did not spot the potential for offensiveness here.

SmethWitchBelle, thank you for your interest in the plot of Meg's Veg. At the start of the book, Mog plants peas and carrots, Owl plants a pumpkin and Meg plants some seeds she finds in her cauldron - clearly these are destined to grow into something fabulous - I can hardly bear the suspense!! Then on the last page they harvest peas, carrots and a pumpkin. No further mention of Meg's seeds. Bitter disappointment (mine, not my DCs who have not noticed this.)

Agree about squeaking rabbits (that's MICE you're thinking of) and the water in the tap.

We had a CD of the Smartest Giant, so I knew how the song went. And it was sung by Mr Carson, the butler in Downton Abbey!

Also, apropos of nothing in particular, I think The very hungry caterpillar is one of the most over-rated children's books of all time.

I have noticed this quite a few times, not just with children's books, eg on The Lovely Bones, the picture on the front is of the girl wearing a wooly hat, whereas it says in the story that she hates the hat and never wears it, but carries it in her pocket. Can't remember which other ones now but will have a think.

On the subject of seatbelts, in Charlie and Lola the children are clearly not sitting in approved car seats. All they have is an adult seatbelt.

Agree with Psammead re: the butterfly wings in the VHC- that seemed so obvious to me!

My shoulders are shaking whilst I sit at my desk laughing at all the bunny song re-writes!

ablative- I actually like the gruffalo fish, sorry but the 'squeaking' rabbit, yes

smartypants I love making up tunes to singing bits- they are a permanent feature in our household, particularly the one in 'smartest giant', but also bits of tabby mctat (the brass band), and tiger who came to tea ('Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye').

psychicsatsuma - your name is fantastic! Snail and the whale is a little worthy, but I like the tale of the snails trying to better themselves... puts me in mind of ordinary working people in the late 19th/early 20th who were always marvellously well-read and accomplished in Art, performing arts, horticulture, or artisanal woodwork, despite having to work 10-12 hours a day, and not having a spare farthing, but always trying to improve themselves.

In my house the songs for all JD books are the same,no messing with tunefulness here

Oh and psammead- I just flap the book anyway!

Monkey Puzzle.

'Mum's not black, and hairy and fat...'

What if she is??

That description must fit thousand upon thousands of mothers of slightly confused children.

CaptainNancy me too, but it looks as though the butterfly has a broken wing.

It really really bugs me that Maisie, Charlie, Cyril et al appear to live on their own in their houses yet they are clearly minors. They attend nursery, play games and for god's sake Cyril wets his trousers in the sandpit as he is having so much fun he forgets to go to the loo. Yet there Maisie is with panda baking stuff in a hot oven with no appropriate adult present.
I think someone should tell ss.

I just imagine a poor kindergarten teacher reading Monkey Puzzle and getting to that bit and some little child piping up 'mine is'. Disruption!

The lack of consistency in clothing requirements in the Little Bear stories annoyed me. Even DD cottoned on quite early that despite needing a coat (sometimes), Little Bear never had any pants on.
Mother Bear, on the other hand, is always fully dressed.

She also worked out that Winnie the Pooh is a flasher - he wears that red t-shirt and nothing else. Even more confusing is the fact that he doesn't wear any clothes at all in the original illustrations.

Psammead I always think that as well - I am 2 out of 3 there and it's a bit close to the bone even for me!

"That's not my Monkey..."

that's because in a minimum of two of the pictures the "monkey" is clearly an ape.

I dont know if anyone has read Oliver Donnington Rimmington Sneep the boy who wouldnt sleep it rhymes on every page apart from 1 and it really bugs me and strikes me as lazy they couldnt come up with a rhyme for that page

Here's how to sing the Smartest Giant song...

But it is clear that this chap isn't confident with the Tabby McTat song either...