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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not let DD read Dear Zoo?

81 replies

SantanaLopez · 26/01/2015 14:21

I am a hormonal and sleep deprived woman under the influence of PFB... but it's really not very nice to send animals back to the zoo, or in fact to keep them there in the first place!

OP posts:

APlaiceInTheSun · 26/01/2015 14:23

I think you are over-thinking it

You can't actually post animals either y'know.

My issue with it was that we ended up getting a puppy. But he was perfect, so we kept him.

Original poster

SantanaLopez · 26/01/2015 14:25

Oh and we are definitely not getting a puppy. No way

OP posts:

Hakluyt · 26/01/2015 14:27

My ds used to say "and sad" every time I read about the camel (I think) being too grumpy..........

happystory · 26/01/2015 14:27

Not to mention that some of the things the zoo sent them in were totally unsuitable..... A basket, a cardboard box .....

ShadowSpiral · 26/01/2015 14:32

I bet you'll hate Dear Santa if you've got problems with Dear Zoo.

Santa rejects a stack of mostly perfectly acceptable toys for spurious reasons before deciding to give the child a kitten for Christmas. There is no mention in the book of the child having even asked for a kitten, let alone his parents agreeing that they're willing to commit to the responsibility of owning a cat. Santa has evidently ignored the whole pets are for life, not for Christmas advice.

Original poster

SantanaLopez · 26/01/2015 14:36

But that's totally irresponsible!

OP posts:

elephants01 · 26/01/2015 14:42

YABcompletelyU.

It's just a book - how will it appear to your DD if her mother can't tell the difference between a story and reality?

My DCs absolutely love that book - probably the most popular bedtime story.

Your DD will really be missing out. I feel really sorry for her

Original poster

SantanaLopez · 26/01/2015 14:49

I forgot the 'lighthearted'!

OP posts:

wigglesrock · 26/01/2015 14:54

Oh God, no, hide the book. It seemed to be on repeat for about a year with dd1 - complete with appropriate animal noises

TheFairyCaravan · 26/01/2015 14:55

I can still remember Dear Zoo off by heart, my kids are 18 &20! They loved that book.

The other one was "Oh Dear!" DS2 still says "no eggs here" if I say oh dear at home!

MeanwhileHighAboveTheField · 26/01/2015 14:56

My issue with Dear Zoo is that the snake is "too scary" or something like that. Snakes are not scary! I always used to substitute "too snakey"!

PervyMuskrat · 26/01/2015 14:57

I hate that book! The child is just so bloody ungrateful. If I were the zoo I'd have told them to sod off, not send them a puppy (which to my knowledge aren't generally found in zoos)

mummypig14 · 26/01/2015 14:58

We are vegan and I should hate it in principle, but it's DS's favourite

UsuallyLurking1 · 26/01/2015 15:02

Not the first one, we don't actually get as far as the final page as I don't want a puppy! So I pinch the puppy page together with the one before (frog I think) and conclude the book with:

'To be honest the zoo isn't the best place to get pets, so we sent the Frog back and spent the money on a slide and swings for the garden'

Original poster

SantanaLopez · 26/01/2015 15:03

'To be honest the zoo isn't the best place to get pets, so we sent the Frog back and spent the money on a slide and swings for the garden'

OP posts:

Spincyclist · 26/01/2015 15:08

I know this is v PFB but I didn't want DD to get the idea snakes are scary (DH is phobic) so our snake was too slithery!

UsuallyLurking I love that, you should publish a rival version!

Thumbwitch · 26/01/2015 15:12

YAB a bit U - use it as a lesson book as to why the child is ungrateful, the zoo are naughty to use the wrong boxes, and that not everyone gets a puppy in the end just because they ask for one.

I really get angry with the Hungry Caterpillar because, to me, the fecking butterfly's wings are upside down (at the end). Annoys me every time!

Thumbwitch · 26/01/2015 15:13

Upside down!

MrsPurchase · 26/01/2015 15:16

Thumbwitch YES!!! Fucking drives. Me. Crazy.

Original poster

SantanaLopez · 26/01/2015 15:18

I've never noticed the wings but omfg that's annoying. And The Very Grumpy Ladybird is ridiculously violent

OP posts:

chillichoclove · 26/01/2015 15:19

The upside down wings are so irritating! So glad it's not just me!

SlicedAndDiced · 26/01/2015 15:19

They sent her a monkey!

A bloody monkey! And what did that ungrateful little shit do? Sent it back!

(Sob)

I always wanted a monkey.

UsuallyLurking1 · 26/01/2015 15:59

Going to work on my competing version - "dear zoo, from horrified of East anglia" although so far it ends after 3 pages, keeping an elephant and giraffe earns the family an asbo before the lion eats them all

inappropriate kids books have been around forever, as i discovered last week when we I had to console a 3 yo over the horrific demise of the Gingerbread Man. I didnt have any memory of that book as a child and was as shocked as my daughter when I turned to the final page to see our hero devoured by a fox

DilysDerwent · 26/01/2015 16:17

And what's with the That's Not My... books? Why wouldn't you want a penguin with velvety wings, or a fairy with a silky dress? Ridiculously fussy if you ask me.

morethanpotatoprints · 26/01/2015 16:20

Ah, all mine read this I think all of them.
Its a lovely book.
I'm sure if I asked them what happened they wouldn't remember at 23, 20 and 11.

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