About the library book

[HobnailsandTaffeta]

DD aged 7 has brought home a school library book, it's banded as KS1 and called "The Diary of a young soldier in world war 1".

A scan through has shown me text such as:

"Now their bodies were draped over barbed wire"

"I stabbed at him and heard a sort of gurgle...that was perhaps a bit of revenge"

"Put the barrel of the rifle in his mouth and pulled the trigger with his toe"

Now maybe she "needs" to understand bad crap happens but at 7? In such detail? I just want to protect her, she has long enough in this world to learn all the horrors.

I want to send it back unread and ask them to swap it, am I being precious?

I work in an infant school. i think it's highly unlikely they've realised the content and that they'd remove it if they did. Yes, you should say something.

Young DC don't seem to get upset by these things in the way they "should" though. I read War Horse to DS2 at about 7yo. There were pages I could barely get through without crying but he seemed completely unmoved.

Thanks potential!

I think it's the detail that got me, DD has read a couple of pages and doesn't seem bothered but I'm determined she shall remain a snowflake and will return it

I agree that is totally age inappropriate so should be raised with the school but I agree that small children often do not pick up on the enormity of things as we adults do...

having said that I remember really upsetting my younger sister (she was 7, I was 9) by recounting the bloodthirsty exploits of Roland/Charlemagne with some relish (also in a book in the primary school library)

kids don't think of that kind of thing like we do, that its 'real' to them its no different than watching a cartoon of wiley coyote falling off a cliff (or whatever the 21st century equivilant of him is!). I honestly wouldn't be concerned at all.