Teacher Banning 8 y.o. DS from bringing Bunny vs Monkey books to school for his friends to read

[alixpally]

First day of school, and DS, 8, has been banned by his new teacher from bringing Bunny vs Monkey books to school for his friends to read - am I being unreasonable to be a bit miffed? Last year, he developed a habit of bringing lots of his favourite books in to school to lend to his friends to read during class reading time. This included Jamie Smart books, which were very popular. Today he came home crying because his new teacher has banned him from bringing any more Jamie Smart books, deeming them "rude, violent and inappropriate". I mean, yes, there is a bit of toilet humour, but it's not exactly Marvel comics - these are award winning books and frankly pretty cute and funny actually.
I can understand she may wish to discourage anarchic behaviour (and humour, I guess) but practically every book has violence built into the plot in some way (witness Grimm bros). I feel uneasy about a teacher who would discourage children from reading and sharing books. Should I do anything?

I don’t know the books you are referring to but I would think children bringing in their own books and swapping between friends is at best a distraction. She probably doesn’t want to deal with the inevitable lost or damaged books or one child feeling excluded or whatever.

What happens if the book goes missing? Would you blame the teacher? Lend books outside of school.

Teachers making children cry over the sort of books they enjoy should not be thought of as their right and parents complaining about this sabotage of their educational and learning prospects due to being publicly shamed for their book choices should not be ‘entertainment’.

I also imagine it's less about the content of the books and more about the logistics of lending them

She's probably worried about the day when another parent storms in claiming her son is being given something inappropriate

Unless she reads every single one before it goes home with a pupil, then she's got no idea if it's a wholesome tale or a violent political manifesto or book of sex tips but it will be her that parents blame if their kids come home with something they don't agree with

Also re the issue of kids loosing, damaging etc. It's a headache waiting to happen

School libraries have clear policies, vetting and don't come storming into a teacher if something goes wrong

Just swap it with friends outside of school

If she doesn't want to deal with lost or damaged books, then she says that. She absolutely shouldn't say 'I don't approve of the books you are reading' when they are absolutely appropriate for 8 year olds.

The teacher is in charge not you. From what you've said about those books it doesn't seem like they are at all suitable for reading during class time.

I remember when my reluctant reader son was in year 4, CatKid (same author) was the first book he showed any interest in reading - it branched out into other comics and really enhanced his reading progress. He now enjoys other comics.
I have also seen Bunny Vs Monkey, and think it's a fine read for kids!
Hardly the silliest/inappropriatehumour out there on the market these days. Some are pretty awful!

I can’t believe posters are making up reasons why books shouldn’t be brought into school at all when the OP has clearly stated this teacher has banned these specific Jamie Smart books due to being in her opinion “rude, violent and inappropriate”.

She is censuring his reading choices by publicly shaming him for what he likes to read. It is totally inappropriate and potentially bullying by staff.

Bunny versus monkey is a comic book. It's not really encouraging reading. It's tricky because wimpy kid, Tom Gates, David Walliams are all fairly moronic but kids enjoy them. At least those have more words.

I let DS read lots of comic books: dog man, manga, etc he's a really good reader but unfortunately hed rather be reading twaddle and it's quite counter productive.

I'd be annoyed if my dc were reading comic books in class.

Schools also have different rules to home. Often books that schools lend have been approved by the local authorities, school admins etc

My teacher best friend let's her kids read stuff at home that is banned at school because as a parent she gets to decide, but as a teacher she has to be very uncontroversial

Hence kids in secondary schools end up watching u films or needing permission to shoe pgs whilst their parents are watching deadpool with them at the weekends

The issue is likely not about her being concerned that he is reading them but encouraging other kids to under her watch

She will have no idea if the next one he brings in is incredibly awful or just as mild

Many of us experienced the Jacqueline wilson/Judy bloom thing where we were allowed to read very adult material because our parents didn't realise they were from a different part of the collection to the kids bit.

Your kid is showing stuff to other kids that she hasn't vetted the content of

This. It doesn't matter if it's Dickens or Jamie Smart. It's encouraging opening a book.

This.
Has she specifically said there is a problem with bunny vs monkey?
I’m a teacher and would heavily discourage kids bringing stuff to school to give or swap with anyone. They get lost, broken, not given back…..
This really isn’t schools problem to deal with, he can swap them outside of school. In the playground before or after school.
We’ve had to ‘ban’ several things that kids like to swap or lend or collect over the years. It always ends in tears and arguments and accusations! I have better things to do with my time.

Seriously, he's 8. People saying they are comics and not many words in them. There is more to it than that! There is everything behind the words, the animations, the humour, all really important for encouraging them eventually to pick up a book with 'more words'. People are so short sighted and close minded!

Bunny versus monkey is a comic book. It's not really encouraging reading.

🤦‍♀️

Getting boys to read anything is a huge goal. Jamie Smart's books have words, sometimes quite tricky ones. They have in depth stories and complex themes. The are incredibly creative. He is fast becoming a national treasure for getting kids excited about both reading and drawing.

Kids might read his comic books and go onto read other comics. They might get a subscription to the Phoenix. They might decide to read his Flember novels. Of course presenting kids with reading material that they enjoy is encouraging reading.

Does he lend them to everyone indiscriminately or just to kids he likes?
Who vets them before they are shared in class for inappropriate themes?
What happens if they are damaged or lost?
How do you think it makes children who’s families can’t afford books feel?

This is crazy, the BvM books made avid readers out of a lot of reluctant readers in Ds' class in year 2. The teacher needs to learn to pick her battles!

or… allow teachers to teach

🙏🙌

My dd is a very advanced reader and I send her into school with books because she doesn't do the class reading.

She's not allowed to share them with her friends at all.

It's understandable, what I find appropriate for dd may not be deemed appropriate by other parents.

I wouldn't want the headache of complaints if I was a teacher either.

Yes, I was just going to say this. If all of them are like what came up below, then I wouldn’t consider that an appropriate use of classroom reading time for an 8 year-old. At home for recreation absolutely, but not when they should be reading something with more substance and structure that will improve their skills.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s bringing up the content as a deflection instead of outright saying to him that they aren’t considered year-appropriate reading for the classroom.

Really, this is not a thing to get hung up on. Just be positive with your son about it. 'Oh well, Ms P probably has lots of other exciting stuff lined up for you all to read!'. If he says not, then wait until parents evening and ask her for suggestions.

Save B v M for swaps with friends outside school or make it the theme of his birthday party.

I’ve had this, absolute bloody nightmare. Child A holds court over the books, you can read one but you can’t! It’s a minefield to police. Outright ban on ANYTHING brought into our school. Let his friends come round and sort it out yourself.

It’s not within a teacher’s remit to trash a child’s reading choices, ban them and send them home crying. That isn’t teaching.

I'm a year 3 teacher. I sometimes ban children from bringing things to share or swap if it's causing problems.

If the reasons your son gave are the reasons the teacher gave him, then that's very disappointing.

Bunny v Monkey books are not great children's literature. I'd want children to get to a point where they have moved past them and are enjoying better quality books.

But they are colourful, funny and very engaging. Perfect for 8 year old boys. I have used them in a reading club for reluctant readers and they were very popular.

I suggest your ds lends them to his friends outside school.

My child was only allowed to read books from the book corner that were preselected by the teacher in one year- wasn't allowed to bring anything from home. I guess it works for some kids. It forced her to read things she didn't like. I suppose its a good skill to have. But can kill the enjoyment of reading.