Which toddler books do you loathe?

[LiverpoolMummy89]

I asked for books for DD2 for Christmas and got some lovely ones that she enjoys but there’s one I absolutely hate - Dear Zoo. I know it’s one of the more well known ones but the fact that the ungrateful little kid sends back all the animals back and gets a perfect puppy at the end grinds my gears 😂

Are there any other books to stay clear of? This is a light hearted thread btw

I feel exactly the same about this one! I've had to teach it in Reception a few times and really dislike the message.

I love most of those although I've never read Dear Zoo.

For me it's I'll Love You Forever. Utterly creepy, despite the moving story of the author.

Pretty much all Julia Donaldson books apart from Monkey Puzzle.

Any Charlie and Lola book - impossible to read at bedtime due to crazy writing layout

I really like the Tiger who came to tea so when my youngest was bought another Judith Kerr book I was expecting to like it too. But it's awful - The crocodile under the bed.

I also dislike Where the wild things are.

And my heart always sinks a bit when DD asks for one of the You Choose books. I do think they're great but they take ages to get through and she chooses the same damn things every time (but takes ages to decide!)

Yep the Mr Men and Little Miss books are all awful. Most of the characters are rude, angry, jealous or crazy and the stories aren't entertaining (to me) and don't teach anything valuable. I threw a whole gift box of them in the recycling bin.

Glad to get that off my chest

Owl Babies.
A single mum (the mummy owl) leaves her 3 small children home alone at night when she goes to work (ok...in owl = hunting).
The children are frightened and scared and the littlest one cries.
But mummy comes back again in the morning so - phew - everything is ok again.
Replace owls with humans and it would be a case for social services 😂😂😂

'You Choose' it was ok the first 500 times but I've had enough now

The Dinosaur That Pooped... series absolutely turn my stomach, my 4 year old loves them though!

I mean… if your criteria for a children’s book is it needs to be grounded in reality you’re going to be quite limited.

Tigers don’t generally pop around for tea either!

Supertato. Honestly, I'll read anything if the kids like it but that makes my heart sink.

Lol we quite like this one still but I can totally see it getting annoying and repetitive!

And my heart always sinks a bit when DD asks for one of the You Choose books. I do think they're great but they take ages to get through and she chooses the same damn things every time (but takes ages to decide

It is a lovely book but our copy had to go on holiday a couple of times for the same reason.

Oh god this is bringing back a lot of memories! I love some that those of you hate but I totally agree about you choose, it’s not a bedtime story book really, it’s too exciting and provokes too much discussion 😂
The one I loathed the most was we’re going on a bear hunt, I hated that so much. It doesn’t scan nicely and the pattern/rhythm is sort of there and then disappears.

Elmer, he needs to learn some modesty. My 3 year old never picks them for me to read.

There’s a book called “one love” based on the Bob Marley song. His family have something to do with it. Love him and the song but christ the book is irritating. There are some lines from the song but some aren’t and aren’t in the same rhyming scheme so I’m never sure if I should be singing or reading. My head always wants to sing but it just doesn’t flow and is very annoying. It’s found it’s way behind the sofa 😂

I really dislike Not Now, Bernard, and Mummy Time by Judith Kerr - a mum dares to have a conversation on the phone and her child is, of course, abducted.

We like You Choose but removed from bedtime options

Owl Babies is dull, and I also think ‘get a grip Bill, does Owl Mother not go out hunting every night? You know she will be back, she’s just getting your food.’

Also hate Dr Suess, Bears on Wheels etc. Load of nonsense.

I agree about The Smartest Giant in Town and the Mr Men books. I have a niche hatred for 'Heather Has Two Mummies' but really that's because every fucker thinks we need a copy. We don't. It is a book for children who are weirded out by other children having two mummies. IMHO, it's actually a bit rubbish to give children a book that basically says 'ooh look, little Sam has two mums/is disabled/is black' and I really thought we'd got past that, but ...

Other than that, DP's mum is always buying us short stories by Enid Blyton. We have loads of collections of them now, and I can authoritatively say that there's a reason some of her short stories fell off the radar. Shite, turgid, faintly racist witterings that betray a remarkable ignorance of any features of the natural world they pretend to describe.

Five Minutes Peace - where is Dad/Mr Large when all the kids are piling into mum's bath with their books/recorders/toys?

Peepo is annoying too! So dated but my toddler loves it 😩

OMG ... also, there is a real shocker called The Dinosaur Who Lost Her Voice, which DD got from the library.

The story goes that there was a dinosaur who lost her voice in an accident. But that's ok, because she could teach other dinosaurs to sign. It's like What Katy Did for three-year-olds.

Thomas the tank used to drive me nuts, we used to try and skip bits to make them shorter but DS always knew!

I hate Not Now Bernard and Superworm.

I have serious questions about Princess Pearl in Zog. Seems to think that you become a doctor just by declaring yourself to be one. No evidence at all of attending medical school.

My mother used to get bored when reading Postman Pat books to me. The end was always that Mrs Goggins was eaten by a sheep!

Any of the Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs books. They're so badly written! Couldn't stand it and gave them all away. 🙈