to think that Spot books are just really really badly written?

[emkana]

I have to make up my own words to them.

And don't even get me started on the Mr.Men books. Hate them.

And as for Thomas the Tank Engine... they make me lose the will to live.

Dissension among MN ranks but we like Mr Men - but not Little Miss which are terrible, were those actually written by him? Also have to confess to having a Mr Happy original drawing by the man himself saying 'hello Heated' - in the downstairs loo

Astroboressaurs, Steve Cole... kill me now if I have to read another one!

I read Bear Hunt to whole classes of infants and they love it because they can all join in.

That's why I like Bear Hunt because the repitition means they join in and it's interactive rather than me just reading to DS.

Very often books that appeal to adults are not the ones that appeal to DCs.

I find it best to let them use the library and have a free choice.

Loving this thread, as I've just started serious amounts of reading with a suddenly book-obsessed 13mo DS, and I'm discovering how dreadful some books are (but fortunately many wonderful ones too).

I loathe That's Not My... Why is it that the one at the end, which should be the best in the book as it is 'mine' is invariably crap? I'm particularly thinking the puppy one where there is a fabulous shaggy-eared puppy on about page 3 which is rejected for one with a not-very-squashy squashy nose. Sigh.

I already can't bear tv tie-ins like INTG which are clearly just about making as much money as possible. Books should be about learning to read and love literature but they seem to increasingly be used as a relatively cheap way of getting kids obsessed with a character so that parents/family/friends then go out and spend a tonne of money on the more expensive toys, DVDs etc. Aaaargh!

Ah, HQ, but the underlying message of the That's Not My... books is hence that you don't need to be the best/prettiest/most attractive to be loved and valued. That puppy may not have shaggy ears or a rough tongue, but he and his squashy nose are loved and valued for themselves. The implications of this are probably terribly good for building a child's self-esteem and knowing they won't get traded in for a child with curlier hair or less of a propensity for getting poo on the curtains.

[just possibly overanalysing this a trifle emoticon]

portandlemon: poo on curtains? it sounds likes you may have experience of this.

to overanalyse even more, I think my problem is not the relative merits of a squashy nose versus shaggy ears per se, just that the nose wasn't very squashy, whereas the other puppy's ears were spectacularly shaggy. The not-so-squashy-nosed puppy probably had other attributes that were far more lovable and endearing but the author decided not to highlight these, or had already used them earlier in the book, so the poor puppy at the end is completely short-changed and the child then thinks "gah! i want the shaggy-eared one actually"

Or maybe it's just me wanting a shaggy-eared puppy and my DS couldn't give two hoots.

PortandLemon poo on the curtains

Luckily mine never liked the Disney books or TV tie ins-I didn't refuse to read them, but they are difficult to read aloud and consequently quite boring to the DC.
I much prefer something like Bear Hunt where you can have fun with it, use lots of expression and get them to join in. I used to read to my younger brother when I was about 9 or 10 and I realised from that that they love lots of repetition, and he liked the same book over and over again and you couldn't miss out a single word or he put it in! My DCs were similar.
I love Winnie the Pooh but I think that you have to be older to appreciate the humour.
If you want your DC to love books I think you have to go with what they like and not what you think they should like. I actually hate The Elephant and the Bad Baby, mentioned earlier, but my DSs loved it.

We hate Spot Mr Men and TTE but they do put kids to sleep - maybe that is why they made them so boring. Our only spot book accidentally slipped down the back of the bookcase our of reach. It was about a picnic. I can't remember why i hated it so much now.

There are some vile books about the Little Terrors, kids at a primary school, they succeed in being complicated with thousands of characters AND mind-numbingly dull. I have just given the ones we have to a jumble sale so some poor other sucker well-meaning parent will have to endure them.

Love, love, love the Babar stories though some of them are virtually novel length. And Shirley Hughes is a genius

Thomas - boring, boring, shite. As for TTTE 2009 annual, it makes me want to slip into a coma - the stories are sooo tedious! Luckily DS now into Gruffalo so the Thomas book has disappeared!

I bought level one of the ORT and was shocked to discover there were no words! I should have done more research but figured any learning to read scheme would involve, um, reading!

Spot is dull but my pet hate when DD was young were the Topsy and Tim books. These are so incredibly boring. The only levity we got from them was when DD got one from the library called "Topsy and Tim get itchy heads" (i.e. they caught nits) and DH and I had fun making uo similar titles for horrible things that might happen to the wretched T+T

Mrs Dinky and SomeGuy: I think the Oxford Reading Tree books are v good actually. Plenty of humour in them even for kids who can only read a few words. When DD was in reception they had the ORT series and another series with a king, queen, baby, big guard and little guard. Now they were stupefyingly dull. No wonder I have fonder memories of Biff and Chip when contrasted with those.

For those who ahve said you should read whatever your children want you to read....

Once DS can read he can chose his own books, whilst I have to sit and read to him at night he gets an edited selection!
I can veto 2 of his 3 choices if I don't like/feel up to that book tonight, if his third choice is something I hate I grit my teeth and read it. Mind you books I really loathe get disposed of pretty quickly.

I've no problem with simple or repetative prose but there are sme books out there written for kids which are just plain bad! badly written, bad messages, badly illustrated, boring etc etc. Why would I expose me and poor DS to them?

It is very easy to edit out the bad-they are difficult to read with any expression or enthusiasm and DCs can work it out for themselves. Good books are a pleasure for all-they don't really know it is a good book until they experience the bad. I all for free choice which turns into natural selection.

It is very easy to edit out the bad-they are difficult to read with any expression or enthusiasm and DCs can work it out for themselves. Good books are a pleasure for all-they don't really know it is a good book until they experience the bad. I all for free choice which turns into natural selection.

Mine actually wants to choose a book, then look at the pictures and make up her OWN stories. Is that bad or good?

Karabadangbaraka, I had to laugh at

I'm with everyone on the scary Beatrix Potter with the roly poly pudding - my auntie used to do a terrifying Samuel Whiskers saying 'Anna Maria, Anna Maria' that still makes me feel funny...