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Children's books

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Original poster

You just can't beat the Mr Men Books!!!

42 replies

Sparkler · 27/03/2008 00:35

I read a few of these to DDs 1 and 2 at bedtime tonight. Absolutely fantastic. I read them as a kid myself and think I probably enjoyed them just as much, if not more than, as my girls tonight. [smle]

OP posts:
hedonia · 27/03/2008 00:36

I hate reading them!! But the kids love..sorry but they are crap.

hedonia · 27/03/2008 00:38

Beatrix Potter good - esp squirrel nutkin - again - a little violent and ireverrant.

Lucifera · 27/03/2008 08:29

My grandson had "Mr Bump loses his memory" read to him approximately 6 times at the weekend. I can see the appeal to a three yo ... I am irritated by the female character books being "Little Miss ....".

SheherazadetheGoat · 27/03/2008 08:42

i think they are dull and misogynist. little miss my arse...

throckenholt · 27/03/2008 08:43

I find them a bit tedious (along with Beatrix Potter and Thomas the Tank etc).

DH however loves them all - as do the kid s- so I try and wangle it so dh reads those and I read something better more to my taste.

Slouchy · 27/03/2008 08:46

I wish I could beat them. Into a pulp with a heavy, spiked implement. Or better still, run over them with a steam-roller, then concrete them into the road.

They are shite.

VictorianSqualor · 27/03/2008 08:49

Little Miss Lucky scared the life out of me as a child, I couldn't read it when the tree came to life and chased her.

Notyummy · 27/03/2008 08:50

There are other books I prefer to read dd, but she LOVES them, and at 20 months can point and name nearly all of them, so I don't think I will be escaping for a while yet. Don't think they are any more misogynist than any of the other children's books that were written around the time, and I am not erasing decades of literature because it doesn't fit with my current world view. DD only needs to see the balance of power in the ny house to realise the world may have changed...

Oh, and the other thing is that because they are so little they are ideal for stuffing in a handbag/overnight bag for entertainment on the move.

meemar · 27/03/2008 08:52

DS1 (age 4) has just started to really enjoy them. I find them really tedious to read though.

berolina · 27/03/2008 08:56

ds1 enjoys them. Some I find tedious and sone I find rather unpleasant (the whole-town bullying of Mr Nosey is a case in point), an isolated one or two I enjoy.

berolina · 27/03/2008 08:56

Oh, but if I get to choose, give me Julia Donaldson or the Ahlbergs any day.

Bluestocking · 27/03/2008 09:06

If you and your DDs enjoy them, then fine - but they are crap, and there are lots of far better books out there. Notyummy, Beatrix Potters fit into a handbag and are better written and illustrated.

Taweret · 27/03/2008 09:09

There are millions of lovely books for children.

The Mr Men books are not amongst them.

Notyummy · 27/03/2008 09:16

Blustocking, we will get round to Miss Potter, but the only ones we have so far comes as a compilation, so it is HUGE. At the mo, dd gets bored after about half a Potter story anyway. She loves most Jez Alborough and Hairy Mclary, and we go the library most weeks, so she also has 10/12 books on the go from there.

Mr Men are just a convenient addition, so I am happy that she likes something lightweight at the moment!

Original poster
Sparkler · 27/03/2008 09:33

LOL Ok just me then!
We read a HUGE selection of books not just Mr Men. I just enjoyed a bit of light reading with them, that's all!

OP posts:
Taweret · 27/03/2008 09:36

Poor old Mr Bump has been given a bit of a kicking on this thread, hasn't he?

Glad you and your DCs enjoy the books though.

ingles2 · 27/03/2008 09:40

ds2 LOVES the Mr Men books, ds1 and I can't stand them.
Luckily for me, now he's 6 he can read them himself, and he takes great pleasure from sorting them out, putting them in order...strange little boy

MilaMae · 28/03/2008 19:03

I agree Sparkler I think they're fantastic. My lot 4 and 3 read masses of lovely quality books (I was a literacy co-ordinator in my pre-kids life so I'm kind of addicted to kids books).

I think if all you read are Mr Men books then yes your dc would miss out on all the other diff types of illustrations, text etc. However if you read a varied amount of literature to your dc they are brilliant.

My kids love the humour, characterisation and the simple illustrations. When they're stroppy they say " I'm being Mr Grumpy aren't I". Their latest thing is to play with language like Mr Topsy Turvy and have made up some phrases of their own. Considering how young they are I'm mighty impressed a tiny book like that can encourage such a complex play with language.

One of my twins is collecting them with his money box money. I bought him Mr Muddle as a suprise and the joy on his face was a picture!!!!!!!

They are a lovely size and price and any literature that gets kids excited and is affordable is fab in my opinion. I'm detecting perhaps a tiny bit of snobbery in some of the other posts. I do have to agree however that reading more than 2 in 1 sitting can be a tad tedious for the grown up doing the reading. I think this is due to there being soooooooo many of them and they are all quite similar in layout and content.

needtoasksomething · 28/03/2008 19:11

Wow, i'm surprised they are so disliked! I havent got them but was thinking of getting some to read to DS (he is 2)... he is my first child so all i am going on is things i remember from when i was young..
Any other recommendations instead??
We already have hungry caterpillar, grufallo, miffy books etc

robinpud · 28/03/2008 19:11

I hate them .. I always remember Victoria Wood saying that you could walk past and bump a keyboard with your arse and find you'd accidentally written a Mr Men book.

mrsgboring · 05/04/2008 21:54

We like the Mr Men books fine enough. They are jolly, albeit samey. I think the concept is great and they look lovely.

Later ones are far less good though and "Little Miss" sticks in my throat.

We read plenty of other finer things too.

GrinningSoul · 05/04/2008 22:03

I have always loathed Beatrix Potter, as a kid and as an adult. Bizarre, non-sensical stories, though so tempting to look at and so beautifully illustrated. I'm not a duffer though, promise. i loved Mr Men books and TV as a kid, (am over 40) but my dd(4) has the little miss series and it literally seems as though SOME of them have been scribbled off by the recalcitrant child of a daily mail writer.

southeastastra · 05/04/2008 22:05

oh you snobs, they're great. my son now knows not to behave like mr uppity

ViolentFemme · 05/04/2008 22:06

Blimey when I clicked on this link I had no idea how bad the reaction would be to Mr Men books. I loved them as a child and i look forward to reading them to my ds.

But then I would read anything when I was wee. Back of shampoo bottles, Yellow Pages, my gran's People's Friend.

southeastastra · 05/04/2008 22:08

and it is the one book he will attempt to read so i am eternally grateful.