To think that some children's stories are awful to read aloud?

[VioletBam]

Enid Blyton I'm looking at you.

Also...while I love My Naughty Little Sister...the way the stories are written are terrible to read out loud.

It's a very specific style that author has....sort of child-like...Enid bloody Blyton though!

Just churned my way through 2 chapters of The Magic Faraway Tree and God! It was hard going.

Those short sentences...how she mentions everything umpteen times.

I'm afraid I totally policed all reading aloud books, and refused to buy ones I didn't like. dd learned pretty early on that if she wanted pink sparkly books she had to persuade someone other than me to buy them.

So many fantastic books to buy and read I wasn't going to support the publication of trash! We had a mix of old favourites and new books. The only old books I found I couldn't read were Narnia, just too sexist for me really. I got them on CD instead as my children really liked them (without my caustic comments!). I was really surprised to find Harry Potter hard to read, as everyone raved about them so.

Loved sharing Diana Wynne Jones, Joan Aiken and Ursula Le Guin :)

also the Elephant and the Bad Baby, rumpeter, rumpeter, rumpeter all down the road..

I'm fine with anything Enid Blyton wrote but the only books I ever actually refused to read were the Mr Men books. Soooooo stupid!

Cinderella I read My Naughty Little Sister out from when DD was about 5 or 6 but she'd still ask me to when she was ten now and then!

Agree about The Enchanted Wood etc - best money I spent was on audiobooks of the series we can listen to in the car. Kate Winslet reads so I don't have to!

We have the Walter the farting dog trilogy which reduces Grandad to hysterics but after reading it 100 times tends to lose its appeal.
I can take or leave Julia Donaldson.

Polly and the Stupid Wolf... Could hardly read bits of it at all as I was crying with laughter in some of the chapters, especially the one when the wolf is invisible (am sniggering now) Dd got vv cross with me (she didn't find it so funny)
The best bit of Enid Blyton is the short chapters. Currently ploughing thru some short stories with dd3.
Loved Hairy McClary.
I have done the bedtime stories until kids were 6/7 then dh had taken over and read out loud to me too and relevant children. Currently on Skullduggery Pleasant. It's ok. He has read HP out loud three times now, I have loved listening, but he won't do it again for dd3, so I will when she is a bit older.
The worst book I have ever listened too was Swallows and Amazons. This was 10 years ago and ds and I still berate dh for boring us with it for so long. Horrendous book.

The Last Battle complely ruined the narnia chronicles for me so I refused to have them in the house.
We loved hairy mcclary here and oliver Jeffries and the Duck in the truck books.
The little mole who knew it wasn't his business is haliarious.
William Shakespears Star wars went down really well as DH does bedtimes and is brilliant at doing voices.
DD is getting into Jacqueline Wilson now DH hates them with a passion

Pants and More Pants, both awful.

Julia Donaldson does not account for northerners with her rhymes. This pisses me right off.

DUM-da-da-DUM-da-da-DUM-da-da-DUM....those are dactyls, not iambs (which are da-DUM, da-DUM). Hairy Maclary is dactylic tetrameter, then, surely?

(I have dim memories of scanning Latin verse at A-level, so did know my stuff at one point in my life! )

Totally agree about reading Harry Potter out loud Some of the dialogue's not bad, but the worst passages are the supposedly 'romantic' ones, which read like the sort of poetry you write when you're about 13. Cringeworthy. I found anything by Vivian French utterly terrible too.

I was really disappointed trying to read Beatrix Potter . I used to love her books as a child and beautiful illustrations but they just seemed, well, old fashioned. My six year old girllost interest within a few pages. However will sit transfixed by Harry Potter. I love both but sadly I could see why Harry appealed more. I'm don't know, the language seemed more dated and I found hard to read.

God, yes. Harry Potter. Tedium.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is one of my favourite children's stories! I still own my copy today... Moose Music was another one of my favourites (it's been out of print for some time though!)

I agree about Thomas the Tank Engine. DS1 would never let me get away with reading anything less than the whole book, and would notice if I sneakily tried to leave a page out. They sent me to sleep a whole lot faster than they did him.

But I enjoy Winnie the Pooh, mostly because I amuse myself doing different voices - especially a nasal Alan Bennett type voice for Eeyore, my favourite character. And I also enjoy Harry Potter, particularly the dialogue which I find works very well read out loud.

Love Going on a Bear Hunt and The Snail and The Whale. Also The Duck in the Truck (though to me 'strain' and 'again' don't rhyme.). Any story about elephants goes down well.

Liked Hairy McClary but not Slinky Malinky.

Good night Moon and Peepo remind me of the lovely younger years!

Hated The Wind In The Willows and any Rainbow Fairies out loud. The original Thomas series is excruciating; sidings and whatnot.

We are reading the Naughtiest Girl, Noel Streatfeild, and have just finished Stig of the Dump (a surprise hit).

I've four aged 3 to 9, so we cover a wide range!

We're Going On A Bear Hunt works if you read it as blank verse and don't try to make it scan. So each little bit has a different rhythm.

Which works with the book I think, all the separate little events.

A long time ago I babysat for three kids who picked out something chronically shite in every way to have as a bedtime story, can't remember what it was now but I couldn't take it seriously. So I took the piss out of it from start to finish- bad dialogue, stupid characters making stupid choices, basically insulted the whole thing because i thought it was so crap. That backfired they thought it was hilarious and demanded a repeat performance every week.

Love reading aloud Alfie books, Kipper and, for older girls, Jacqueline Wilson, especially Hetty Feather. Peepo! Also others by the Ahlbergs, including The Jolly Postman, little letters and all! 5 year old likes reading Seuss aloud and acts out his own interpretation of Mr Bump, hilarious and guaranteed to stop baby crying.
Poems by AA Milne, Michael Rosen and Julia Donaldson also fun to read.

What in the hell is wrong with Mr Men books?! used to love them as a child, and now both mine have loved them growing up and as a bedtime story.

The Mog the forgetful cat longer stories are perfect for reading aloud. Funny and beautifully written and illustrated and not too long. Agree re Walliams and his padding out of stories with nonsense stuff, got very bored reading those aloud.

Without a shadow of doubt My Little Pony books by G M Berrow. Jesus H Christ. Not only are they duller than dishwater, but the language and composition is dire. 6yo DD still loves them

Mr Men: judgemental and not the sort of concepts we'd like to reinforce. Basically old-fashioned. The same with Thomas the tank. They are of the previous generation. Beatrix Potter and Enid Blyton are the generation before and the gender stereotyping makes me want to scream.

We had the videos of Beatrix Potter, which were lovely and soothing. I have never understood the Enid Byton love, they were terribly dated when I read them as a child and haven't improved 40 years later!

I've got Tom's Midnight Garden somewhere....I think that will be better...

I hate reading Mr Men! It's so bloody wordy and repetitive. I use to love them as a child and I'm so disappointed. Winnie the Pooh as well is difficult to read, my 4 year old loses interest.

I found Bear hunt hard until I saw a YouTube clip of it being read by Michael Rosen, now I get it.