Really weird kids’ books from the past

[aweebitlost]

I was reading the DC The Elephant & the Bad Baby tonight and it struck me how very odd it is.

An elephant takes a baby for a joyride to nick a load of food and then everyone is cross with the baby for not saying please?!

Then there’s the Long Slide with the 3 stuffed animals that climb a giant slide, vomit, meet some witches etc and don’t seem to get any pleasure out of the experience.

AIBU or were some kids’ books from the past plain bizarre?! Any other good ones people can think of?

So many of my favourite children’s books on this thread!

We’re Going On a Bear Hunt is weird, particularly the last page of poor friendless bear trudging back to his cave. DD makes me reenact the whole thing but she changes the ending to invite the bear in and have a party: “But a nice party bear, you don’t eat me”

I looked up The Elephant and the Bad Baby as I’d never heard of it. There is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek review of it on the Amazon page, here: www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B01ESELZNY?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Reckless Ruby (was my fav for obvious reasons growing up lol)

Basically a little girl doing all sorts of dangerous things like hanging off a sky scraper.

The babysitters club books. Loved them as a child but why on earth would Mr and Mrs pike let their 11 year old and her friend babysit their other 7 children including 10 year-old triplets! And don't get me started on Kristy who thought she could cure a little girl's autism.

Mog and the Baby. The mum's neglect and dad's driving almost result in the baby being killed but Mrs Clutterbuck, who was clearly reluctant to leave the baby in the first place, is expected to be grateful. Once the shock wears off I hope she goes and has it out with the mum who is clearly on valium.

One of our favourites is Shy Charles but the mum tells him she should spank him for being shy which is not a great message.

Love Little Rabbit Foo Foo but it has been responsible for quite a few head injuries in this household.

Frog and Duck. Oh and Uncle Steeple, which might be communist era east European and is absolutely bonkers.

Moth in the dark reads like Judith Kerr was on acid. I’d read others and picked it out or the shelf to read to my class. I was trying not to laugh in disbelief at how bizarre it is and how mogg looks high. She hallucinates about cat birds and has an existential crisis. I actually Googled it after to check if it was a real book by the same author.
My fav book as a child was Barty’s ketchup catastrophe which revolves around a sheep so addicted to ketchup he puts it on weetabix then has an epiphany when he can’t put it on his grass pizza.

@Stopsnowing

Z for zachariah!

Came on the thread to say this. Fucking terrifying.

Has Flowers in the Attic been mentioned yet? That one always comes up on these threads. I’ve never read it.

Sammy Streetsinger. Supposedly a kid's book. It had scary psychedelic illustrations that looked quite dodgy.

My son was given some Edward Gorey books and enjoyed them but I’m not sure if they were meant for children or not!

Oh is that Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf? Loved that!

@stuntbubbles

We’re Going On a Bear Hunt is weird, particularly the last page of poor friendless bear trudging back to his cave. DD makes me reenact the whole thing but she changes the ending to invite the bear in and have a party: “But a nice party bear, you don’t eat me”

It makes me so sad that I have to tell my 10 month old that the bear has to walk a long way back to his friends.

I also have a little tune for singing the “we’re going on a bear hunt…” bit.

I am BVVVVVU.

[quote Catabogus]I looked up The Elephant and the Bad Baby as I’d never heard of it. There is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek review of it on the Amazon page, here: www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B01ESELZNY?tag=mumsnetforu03-21[/quote]
What a fantastic review 🤣

I remember reading a book the basic plot of which went as follows:

A boy is at boarding school. His parents move house and apparently forget to tell him. He returns home and finds the house empty. Neighbours, seeing an unaccompanied child on the doorstep, call the police and a social worker comes but he runs away. I can't remember what happens after that but ultimately he unexpectedly finds his parents, sitting in a cafe crying for him.

It's entirely possible that I misunderstood the plot. I only wish I could remember what the book was called so I could find if the parents really were that awful!

@EmmaPaella

The Three Robbers. So good. So weird.

Yes! With the blunderbus!

[quote MasterBeth]@Earthrocknroll Conrad, the factory-made boy movie:

[/quote] Thank you!

@ESGdance

Una and Grubstreet by Prudence Andrews

About a very young girl who kidnaps a neighbours baby and hides out in another neighbours empty house. I actually bought it and re read it recently - it was v compelling with loads of layers that I missed when I was 8.

Was that the ‘My best Fiend’ series?

[quote SydneyCarton]@Earthrocknroll If I remember correctly Outside Over There was the inspiration for Labyrinth

I also loved the Elephant and the Bad Baby, and thought Changes was bizarre [/quote]
Yes, I think it was, they are very similar though the book is creepier!

I also have a little tune for singing the “we’re going on a bear hunt…” bit.

Bear hunt is supposed to have a song. I had it on cassette in the early 80's. A fave car banger.

@Earthrocknroll - no it was a later book 1972 - I think you are thinking about the “Ginger” series? Where a boy talks about all his friends of different backgrounds and ethnic origin - apparently this was the first children’s book to have characters of different race and colour as friends and equals.

@liveforsummer

I also have a little tune for singing the “we’re going on a bear hunt…” bit.

Bear hunt is supposed to have a song. I had it on cassette in the early 80's. A fave car banger.

Yes - bear hunt was an old folk song (call and response type) way before Michael Rosen created the well known book. I remember learning it in the early 80s.

@errnerrcallnernnernnern

Has Flowers in the Attic been mentioned yet? That one always comes up on these threads. I’ve never read it.

That's NOT a kids' book!

@HolidayNanny

It would be so frustrating to be an author who writes an innocent story about a friendly tiger coming to tea and eating all the food because, well, he's hungry, and have it misconstrued as being about paedophiles or Nazis! It reminds me of an autobiography I read once where the guy wrote a poem about a flower he happened to notice, and everyone was analysing it as being about spousal abuse or the dying planet or 'life itself' - it was literally just about a flower!! I swear these people don't really believe the writing is about the bizarre themes they come up with, they just want the attention they draw by suggesting it.

Innocent author of toddler book: 'A is for Apple'

Someone Somewhere: 'Oh my God, there's cyanide in apple pips! What does this MEAN?! It must be that this person is secretly influencing our children to self-harm by ingesting poison! Let's write lengthy articles and have TV debates about that!

Anyway, back to the question! I can't think of any at the mo but my parents are going to get my old childhood picture books out at some point so I'll have to revisit this thread then!

Brilliant! 😂

Couldn't agree more!