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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if your child has any books?

115 replies

RabidEchidna · 04/02/2012 20:13

As was just watching something on T.V about children not having access to books and DP (grown man top of his field and very very intelligent) pipes up with this little gem.... Children do not need books as there is internet and that most teenagers read at least a books worth of emails and social network stuff a day Shock

Am I living with an Idiot, OK his field is programming and he reads everything online or via kindle but come on the man's being a loon right

OP posts:
lurkerspeaks · 04/02/2012 20:13

Indeed.

All children but esp. small children need books. My most common presents to kids are books/ book tokens.

nancy75 · 04/02/2012 20:14

dd is 6, i would say she has about 150 books ( ilove books and started buying them for her as soon as I knew i was pregnant)

Original poster
RabidEchidna · 04/02/2012 20:16

Well first hub and I brought DS the entire works of C.S Lewis, Lewis Carrol, and Charles Dickens before he was even a month old, and he has always been a massive reader with a reading age years above his age.

OP posts:
JustHecate · 04/02/2012 20:16

They've got 2 shelves piled high with books.

And we recently got rid of about 100 that we had stored that are just too babyish for them.

My youngest loves books. He doesn't read a book, he climbs into it and lives the story! Grin My eldest wouldn't read a book if you threatened him with torture Hmm

cocoachannel · 04/02/2012 20:17

DD is 11 months and has about fifty.

squeakytoy · 04/02/2012 20:17

He is being an idiot... but I am a bookworm and always have been. Learning to read was something I took to very easily as a child.. (only child, so plenty of time to read)... and my weekly treat every saturday was a new Enid Blyton book... Noddy etc from the age of 5, then Famous Five, Secret Seven, upto Mallory Towers... and we were also at the library once a week too where I grabbed as many books as I was allowed.

OlympicEater · 04/02/2012 20:17

I guess teens do read a lot on the internet, but by and large it's crappy facebook updates, stupid comments on photos etc.

Books fire the imagination, transport the reader to another world, invoke emotions etc etc - they are not going to get that from twitter / fb / msn

iseenodust · 04/02/2012 20:17

They need books to have a whole story not just a headline & to not be assaulted by advertising for a start.

Original poster
RabidEchidna · 04/02/2012 20:18

Same with DS2 we brought books, books and more books, read to both our children and encouraged their love of reading

OP posts:
JugsMcGee · 04/02/2012 20:18

DS is 11mo and has a lot of books. Although it's only recently that he's stopped trying to eat them and actually lets us read to him.

OP was your latest post serious?

Abcinthia · 04/02/2012 20:18

DD is 4 and must have at least 100+ books.

faintpinkline · 04/02/2012 20:19

dd probably has 100-150 anging from very basic board books through to childrens encyclopedias and astronomy books Some of them are too old for her but she likes looking at the pictures and reading what she can where she can. I see books as being pretty high up the list of essentials for children to be honest and somehow never feel quite right in a book free house

coccyx · 04/02/2012 20:19

We have loads of books, but 2 youngest will insist on same 3 stories most nights!

DontCallMeBaby · 04/02/2012 20:19

DD is 7, has loads of books.

Interesting point your DH makes though. A teenager who reads a book's worth of email and social network stuff IS at least literate. And I would never just say that someone who never reads fiction is an idiot - my brother doesn't, and while my DH does, he ONLY reads science fiction, which some would think doesn't make him very cultured. But a child who's never read fiction would miss out on a great deal, I think.

So ... while I think a lot of children who have no books in the home ARE missing out, it's not the be-all-and-end-all. Some children may have access to books and yet it's just not their 'thing'.

usualsuspect · 04/02/2012 20:19

My ds has always been an above average reader , but he never reads books for pleasure

MollyBroom · 04/02/2012 20:20

Lots of books and a kindle.

OddBoots · 04/02/2012 20:22

They do and they love them. They have a computer and an ipod touch each but we don't have tech in bedrooms here so they enjoy reading in bed (as well as in the car and when out and about).

mumbilical · 04/02/2012 20:22

I know you say your DH is very very intelligent, but that is such an unintelligent comment. Books have to achieve a standard to be published. The internet is full of any old thing anyone wants to stick on there.

LisaD1 · 04/02/2012 20:23

DD2 is 4 and has a huge amount of books, she loves everything about books. DD1 is almost 12, she has probably around 20 or so books, she does gain a lot of info from the internet (for school work etc) but she does also enjoy reading before bed although would much prefer to play on the damnd DS

bebejones · 04/02/2012 20:23

Books are a total must have! DD is 3.6 and I think she has more books than me! You can't get the same feel for things by reading online. Especially when reading with a small child, it's a tactile experience for them as much as a visual one.

LadySybilDeChocolate · 04/02/2012 20:23

Ds is 12. The last time I counted he had a few hundred but that was years ago. Blush

Original poster
RabidEchidna · 04/02/2012 20:24

Dontcallme, it is my DP who has said this EXdH is a big reader, took 3 books on honeymoon with us (and read them) should have seen the signs Grin
EXdH and I have always brought our DSs books, I think maybe because DP is very in to the new tech he has no time for paper books,

I read and I like paper books, have offered both boys a kindle and both said no

OP posts:
troisgarcons · 04/02/2012 20:27

Bookish house - I like books, I read voraciously - youngest son (11) reads books ...Middle son (15) would hold the OPs DHs opinon that books are outdated and cant underststand why everything isnt down loaded and on a kindle or googled.

Eldest son (LD) (16) reads poorly Sad but likes comics, magazines because they are pictoral.

mandyporter · 04/02/2012 20:28

DS is 12 and has all his books on a kindle. We have hardly any books in the house, just kindles and ipad now. I used to read lots as a child but I never read anything on paper now and I get far more up-to-date information online, so I can understand your DP's point.

squeakytoy · 04/02/2012 20:29

A teenager who reads a book's worth of email and social network stuff IS at least literate

I would say that is debatable. The level of literacy on most social networking sites is dire, and it would serve kids better to read books first and see how words and sentences are meant to be written.