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Children's books

Join in for children's book recommendations.

Original poster

the most overrated childrens books

163 replies

swottybetty · 21/11/2009 14:01

two thomas tank books have somehow made their way into our house. pre-kids i really had no idea just how shite they are. even the bloody drawings are awful. why does my otherwise discerning dd love them so much?

and that feckin beatrix potter? were there no other kids books published at the time thus they achieved popularity simply by existing? seeing as there are loads and loads of kids books now, surely publishers can just write BP off as a unseemly blot on the otherwise wonderful world of childrens books

OP posts:
chestnutblue · 22/11/2009 00:05

Down with Thomas

Hoorah for Wild Things, it helped my ds overcome his fear of monsters (Be Still!!)

elkiedee · 22/11/2009 01:44

I hated the Mr Men books - I once went on a Brownie pack holiday which was awful in all sorts of ways and they read us one of these stories each night - I was 7 and there were older girls there - zzzzzz, sooo boring.

Love Where the Wild Things Are, Julia Donaldson though I don't like Smartest Giant as much as DS1 (2.5) for whom that and Stickman are real favourites and Laura Ingallas Wilder - I like those details in Little House in the Big Woods. Also like Dr Seuss.

I was disappointed when I bought a box set of Miffy books that they're not actually that great to read aloud.

MrsBadger · 22/11/2009 08:46

the troubkle with Miffy is that it was fab in th eoriginal Dutch, but the translations (esp where they have treid to rpeserve the rhyme) are generally ghastly

There is a special place of hatred in my heart for Miffy And The New Baby

BrokenArm · 22/11/2009 09:48

Ruddy Gruffalo, boring & obvious.
Mr. Men.
DS-5yo loves Beatrix Potter, mind.

Aranea · 22/11/2009 12:38

Yes yes what have they done to Miffy? It's awful. I still have some of the 1970s Miffy books from when I was a child, and they are lovely. Sparse text and no attempt at rhyme. Beautiful. But when I looked at the new versions in the bookshop I couldn't bear them. The rhyming text is so twee and badly done. It's such a shame.

Ronaldinhio · 22/11/2009 12:46

we love Bear Hunt and Little Beaver and the Echo...lay off them vipers

we hate the hungry caterpillar and guess how much i love you
boak

beatrix potter is an odd one in our house as dd1 just keeps saying "and then we will eat him, won't we mummy" "all up in our tummies" during it so i've given up tbh

MargaretLockwood · 22/11/2009 13:03

Bear Hunt is so hard to read...I can't get the rhythm at all. I like the pictures.

Mr Men are fucking boring to read - it's all about the visuals.

My DH hates a book called Hey Tiger What About Your Tail? Which is basically a Tiger trying to be lots of different things like an astronaut or a chef but held back by his dullard middle class 'family' and forced to conform which is the ultimate moral - don't try and have any ambition!

We may be over-reading that one I think...

Also GHMILUVU is cute to own but tedious as hell to read.

mimsum · 22/11/2009 22:10

how can anyone say Winnie the Pooh is overrated - the books are works of comic genius - and if you doubt me, listen to Alan Bennett reading them on CD

sanfairyann · 22/11/2009 22:18

so true mimsum, we all pee ourselves at eyeore when he falls in the river - our favourite moment . such dry wit. tbh it's a bit hard to read aloud though - one chapter goes on a fair amount of time. i tend to precis.

pet hates are the usual suspects - anything thomas or mr men (they're off to the charity shops this year) and anything off the telly (dora/bob the builder etc) - generally poorly written and boring. obv the kids love them

inveteratenamechanger · 22/11/2009 22:19

Loathe Guess How Much I Love You and particularly loathe Tiger Who Came To Tea - so much so that I wouldn't have a copy in the house. Sexist tripe, esp. the bit where the dad has to come and rescue them and take them out for tea.

onlytheone · 24/11/2009 21:35

Charlie and Lola are soo difficult to get into the rhythm of reading out aloud.
Guess How Much I Love You is boring and any Teddy Bear compendium stories are a no no. My DD would not let me read any of them to her!! Percy the Park Keep Stories were hidden by my daughter at the age of 4 and at 5 1/2 she won't let me read them to her!!
Also love Where the Wild Things Are!

pointydogg · 24/11/2009 21:38

dick king-smith

cocolepew · 24/11/2009 21:39

Mr Men and Little Miss = shite.

CitizenPrecious · 24/11/2009 21:42

The Fucking Gruffallo

Praminthehall · 26/11/2009 11:50

Another vote for the Gruffalo. Yawn, yawn, yawn.

And 'That's not my ...' In fact I'll extend that to all Usborne picture books which are IMO just parodies and pale imitations of what a good book should be.

I'm a teacher and I refuse to read Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle after having overdosed on it. Despite liking Hungry Caterpillar I do think he is a bit of a one trick pony and I'm convinced he did some of them with his eyes closed (or got an assitant to do them).

I refuse to read Mr Men books or Thomas books. There is in fact a household ban on Thomas books. DD does get some crap out of the library but I think I have prefected the art of reading on auto pilot. I can read deadly boring stuff but think about what I'm going to cook for dinner etc. Comes in mighty handy.

DownyEmerald · 26/11/2009 12:45

Onlytheone - so right about how difficult it is to read Charlie and Lola aloud.

Thomas is dire - only dh "allowed" to read them (they are his from when he was small and loved them) he will admit the language is difficult and the plotting difficult to follow.

Mr Men - some ok, some bad, especially the modern ones.

Winnie-the-pooh - I used to precis but found that hard work cos I'd often leave out something I later relied on in evidence! Now (dd 3.5) can read the whole thing. If she's really tired though she can't cope with a whole chapter, but she does make me smile with how she latches on to phrases and brings them out - from really very small, and she doesn't do that with other books the same way.

I know we are getting a set of BP for Christmas - never had them as a child, awaiting with trepidation!

Pippadippa · 27/11/2009 20:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

elkiedee · 30/11/2009 10:50

Pippadippa, if you'd bothered to read the thread (or even the title), you might have realised this isn't the best place to post a plug for a book.

Also, I'd have been more inclined to believe this was a recommendation of something your own kids enjoyed without the quotes from the website.

vesela · 30/11/2009 11:35

Given that this is spammed all over the children's book threads, can we report it for deletion?

elkiedee · 30/11/2009 23:01

Yes, I think we should!

elkiedee · 30/11/2009 23:02

Aah, it's been done already

sticktoyourgins · 04/12/2009 19:36

Princess bloody Poppy.

WilfSell · 04/12/2009 19:43

God yes Thomas is shit to read. Good on telly though. And I hate Mog too - so badly written.

All the Winnie the Pooh stuff is dull dull dull too. i'm sure it was wonderful when there wasn't much competition...

NotaStepfordWife · 04/12/2009 19:46

oh yes styg - princess poppy. DD got given a box set last christmas, and I know them all by heart. My brain is wasted on this stuff!

TheRedQueen · 04/12/2009 20:04

The Elephant and the Bad Baby
The Avocado Baby

I want to weep just thinking about them ...

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