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Original poster

To ban all things Jacqueline Wilson in my house

239 replies

Normalisavariantofcrazy · 05/12/2013 18:09

Off the back of the shit that is Tracey Beaker?

I've yet to hear positive things said about her books by any parent.

I'm happy to be convinced otherwise (although the kids are non plussed about her books)

OP posts:
DumSpiroSperHoHoHo · 05/12/2013 19:42

I can't stand Tracey Beaker but her historical surveys - Queenie and the Hetty Feather series are absolutely brilliant.

LaQueenAnd3KingsOfOrientAre · 05/12/2013 19:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DavidHarewoodsFloozy · 05/12/2013 19:44

Once dd has truly mastered reading, I intend to ban everything.
I,m hoping she,ll follow Jeanette Winterson, who when "banned" from reading, said " I thought fuck it,
I'll write my own".Grin

I remember reading the utter shite that is Flowers in the attic, as a yong teenager.No harm done . never married my brother.

Banning books, all a bit much IMHO.

firefly78 · 05/12/2013 19:45

My six year old has just discovered the sodding rainbow fairies. I would read her anything but those!

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 05/12/2013 19:49

I actually think JW writes rather well, especially when compared with the dreaded JK Rowling, whom DD1 is currently obsessed with

We really enjoyed reading Queenie together, and I find that the difficult issues are dealt with pretty sensitively.

FrauMoose · 05/12/2013 19:53

I find it a bit odd that (some of the) parents who criticise Jacqueline Wilson's literary style are using terms like 'crap' and 'shit'.

I'd say that she wrote gripping narratives, described female strength and vulnerability and had a very good grasp of what children are worried about. Her books are also fundamentally very moral. If children don't take the advice of the reliable figures in their lives - and there are always good friends, caring teachers, a sensible relative around - there is usually some difficult consequence. She shows children growing and learning. The adventures aren't artificial Enid Blyton ones. Their about the difficulties of growing up in an uncertain world. And even if you come from a very 'secure' home, you still know that the world out there is an uncertain place...

YouTheCat · 05/12/2013 19:53

What do you expect? Shakespeare?

Ffs these are children's authors.

If you can do better, why don't you use your imagination and write a children's book?

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 05/12/2013 19:53

No I didn't read Forever :( I don't think I read any books with sex scenes until I was much older!

RainbowRabbit33 · 05/12/2013 19:57

Ooh Teladi you're about the first person I've ever met who has read Tamora Pierce! In the Hand of The Goddess was my favourite book for ages and in no way have I read it again recently.

Never read JW, but I don't dislike the TB tv programme.

gordyslovesheep · 05/12/2013 19:58

My daughter LOVES JW - she met her this year and JW was just lovely - DD has had a difficult life in many ways especially behaviourally (ASD, Anxiety etc) and she really relates and almost empathises (as much as she can) with the characters - I wont ban her reading anything - she can choose what to read

shouldnthavesaid · 05/12/2013 20:03

I luffs Jacqueline Wilson. The Illustrated Mum still means a lot to me and I'm 22!

CinnamonPorridge · 05/12/2013 20:05

oh, my dc can choose what they want to read, but JW only in the library please. I just don't want any of her books in the house.

We have loads of books, possibly close to 1000, a third of them children's books. I think there is enough choice and variety.

HoHolepew · 05/12/2013 20:10

DD1 loves reading and read some JW until discovering JK Rowling, who IMO is an awful writer. But she enjoyed them, she prefers escapism. DD2 hates reading but loves JW.

We all loved Tracey Beaker on the tv.

MinesAPintOfTea · 05/12/2013 20:12

Rainbow i'm a big Tamora Pierce fan: search for mark reads if you want to join a read along (we're most of the way through tricksters choice atm).

HoHolepew · 05/12/2013 20:12

DD1 wnt to a Q&A with JW and afterwards she did a book signing. She was lovely and had a lot of time for the children.

RaRa1988 · 05/12/2013 20:12

A different perspective perhaps: I'm 25 now so this was a good while ago, but when I was an older child/young teen, I had all the Girls In Love etc books and I loved them. I was severely anorexic at the time, but reading about the main character's (Ellie??) struggle with food, weight, and body image really helped me to understand what was happening to me. It was good to know someone else was going through the same thing, even if she wasn't real.

LaQueenAnd3KingsOfOrientAre · 05/12/2013 20:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sparklymommy · 05/12/2013 20:23

The thing is, books are a way of broaching issues and widening our understanding and knowledge.

When your children are older, studying for GCSEs and the likes, how do you think you'll cope when they come home with provocative titles such as "junk" by Melvin Burgess (a book my whole GCSE English class covere and which caused some very interesting conversations) and there was another, the handmaidens tale I think it was called that really stretched an examination class.

Jacqueline Wilson is slightly trashy, easily accessible to young-ish children and does cover issues that you would hope weren't something your own children would have to deal with. However, learning about these issues, even if they don't apply to your own circumstances, make for compassionate, informed individuals.

And surely, if you ban something it just makes it more coveted? Or is that just in my house???

CinnamonPorridge · 05/12/2013 20:27

Sparkly, did you just compare Margaret Atwood with JW?

I read the handmaid's tale as a teen. I've still got the book, I loved it.

Thants · 05/12/2013 20:32

What's wrong with her books?
I really enjoyed them as a child.

Sparklymommy · 05/12/2013 20:34

It's stuck in my head. And had an immense effect on me as an impressionable teen. Much in the way that the illustrated mum did on my dd. that's the reason for the comparison, not really the literary worth.

I think because we were working on exploring the subjects in it and the ideas that it presented.

Sparklymommy · 05/12/2013 20:37

Bear in mind I was 14 when I studied the hand maidens tale, dd was 8 when she read the illustrated mum. It's obviously age appropriate reading. Thought provoking for the appropriate age of the audience.

Don't think I'm making much sense! Ha!

ChaffinchOfDoom · 05/12/2013 20:46

better to encourage them to read anything and everything - to devour it..then to discuss it

I adored enid blyton, malory Towers /St Claires/ the faraway tree, Roald Dahl, but the one that stays with me was a Berlie Doherty where a boy ate a goldfish. utterly disgusting, and yet I still think about it now

saying children are 'weak' and 'easily led' for emulating behaviour/charas they see on TV or read in books is a shocking comment. I would say said children are imaginative and inspired, and internalising new concepts, hey-ho.

ChaffinchOfDoom · 05/12/2013 20:48

I reads Jilly Cooper Polo when I was 15. threesomes!! sex ed in posh horsey England. wonderful Grin
used to sneak them through in the library when mum wasn't looking

Sparklymommy · 05/12/2013 20:50

I was reading Jackie Collins at 15... My mum gave them to me! The idea of banning books just seems wrong.