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

@Margo34 totally agree! I dislike all the large family books as an adult actually (but I remember loving them as a child!). There’s one where mum puts the whole family on a diet?! I have to change the words to that one when it’s pulled off the bookshelf as the chosen book for the night

Same! Can't get a natural rhythm reading it like I can her others.

The Ugly Five. My god it drags...

Or strategically useless Dad when poor Mum is sick.

The tiger who came to tea.

Princess mirror belle by Julia Donaldson - 4 year old I were quite excited to find one in the library recently that we hadn't read. It was hard going and really dull which surprised me as we adore JD and DS can quote from them at length.

Generally I'm quite easy going with reading material as I'm a firm believer in letting them read what they want to encourage a love of books.

Oh and ones where the rhyme is a bit naff, because they've just shoved in any old rhyming word.

Also not a fan of the hairy mclary books, but they don't make me clench like the ones above.

My main gripe is the amount of ballerina books aimed at girls but no fiction for younger ones about boys doing ballet that I can find :(

Oh gosh and the large family books. They've not aged well. Incompetent man + woman who isn't supposed to eat cake 😵‍💫 I hid them all then sold them sharpish.

My DS loved ‘Owl Babies’ and ‘Guess how much I love you?’
I couldn’t bear reading the ‘Mr Men’ books or ‘Babar the Elephant’ My real dread was him choosing ‘’Run Rabbit Run’ a manky very battered old book that was given to him… I used to try and miss out pages but he knew the story so well that he always made me go back to the proper page!😁

Mr Men and Winnie the Pooh books are so boring. DD also went through a phase of liking Where’s Wally style books which I absolutely hated. She couldn’t find creatures/objects half the time and it drove me insane.

The You Choose book is well loved in this house, but at one point it seemed like we were doing it every night.

All of the mister men books. They are unreadable trash and I refuse to read them. My blood is boiling at the thought of how shit they are.

Agreed!
Utter rubbish.
How they got the status they have I've no idea.

i love not now Bernard- basically because I can totally see how it happened, I get fed up of responding to my DC too.

don’t like Peter Rabbit too- all those books are so twee and bland

Came on specifically to say You Choose. What a pile of crap. It's not even a proper book!!!! I've tried hiding it, it gets found, I tried sending it to the North Pole with the sodding elf, but no, tears and sadness.

Next step, burning the bastard.

I love Tabby McTat! Try reading it in time to a beat, tap your foot as you're reading to keep the rhythm. Flows really nicely.

Two irritated me when mine were young.

1. DD was fascinated by a construction site next to her nursery. Got her a book about diggers... didn't notice until I got it home the cover said "perfect for boys who like dig dig digging". Seriously, in these days... boys only?

1. Other DD bought home a reading book which was basically a mouse father trying to force an arranged marriage on the mouse daughter. DH had to stop me writing a snooty message in the reading record. I told the teacher at a social event instead (it was a small village, we went to a sports club together) she agreed with me it was a stupid story.

This, this, this! My dh especially loathed it. I remember after the first bed time he read it. “That Nut brown hare is a bit of a cock.”
Fucking Mr Men. Extraordinarily, especially, amazingly overly verbose.

I agree, I can get a good rhyme and rhythm with both Tabby McT and tiddler

I do get fed up with endless rhyming books generally though, even though I know they are good for chidkren, sometimes it’s such a relief when you have a book that isn’t a rhyming one

Also What The Ladybird Heard! "Nee-nah" and "panda car" do not rhyme 😂
I do have a soft spot for JD books though, Smeds and the Smoos is my favourite!

I think it really is because children's literature is one of those things that has come on hugely in a relatively short space of time, generation-wise.

When I was little my granddad still had all my dad and aunt's children's books in his house - vintage early 50s. And they were shit. So shit! Endlessly pointless, plotless stories. So when my dad buys things for our DD, he looks as stuff like Mr Men and thinks it's pretty ok - hey, at least you're allowed to imagine something funny that isn't laughing at black people/the servants/ girls.

There's been a huge outpouring of really well-written, well-made books for children since then.

Another one here with a lot of love for Not Now Bernard! It’s hilarious.

I really dislike Sugarlump and the Unicorn. It’s creepy and the logic is questionable.

I also HATE Dear Zoo,
My daughter likes Pip and Posy books by Axel Scheffler... they are so boring I can't stand them!

I love Oliver Jeffers but it's so tricky to read in anything other than bright daylight so us impossible ad a bedtime story. Who puts brown writing on a black background?

I find the Mr Men book boring too and so long. I think kids books were longer in the past as I open books from my childhood and feel like each page contains a mini essay. That's why I like Julia Donaldson as it's one sentence a page and after only a few reads I've got it memorized so can read with my eyes closed.

DP is looking at me funny now, as I try to work out how 'nah' and 'car' don't rhyme!

I agree though that the Smeds and the Smoos is far preferable.

Ha! Never occurred to me but you're right! For some reason I dislike poppy and Sam from the usborne books. No reason, enjoy the books themselves, but they annoy me for some reason. Totally irrational I know!!!

A Fucking kitten Called Fucking Moonlight. I hate it, it's a complete lack of talent in the writing, proof reading, editorial process. It should never been printed.

Any books based on TV programmes.

I used to loathe Richard Scarry books such as ‘What Do People Do All Day’.

My dh on the other hand could happily spend an hour poring over them in great, imaginative detail with 2 rapt little boys. Those 2 boys are grown now but still talk about them fondly.