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Original poster

politically correct reading books

35 replies

alexsCURSEDMUMMY · 02/10/2006 20:58

Just been having a little giggle about the reading book ds has got this week. Now please don't flame me-if you think i'm being un pc to point this out then don't post to shout at me -please.

it's a book that has been produced in association with haringey council called "letang and julie"

it's about a new girl joining a school after moving to the uk from botswana. Her teacher is Ms miller( note the ms rather than miss !). she calls her mum ' mma' . she then makes friends with Julie who uses a wheelchair in school and they go to play in the snow and build a "snowmum".
i'm really surprised they don't all sit and sing 'baa baa green sheep' together.
it's so 1980's "loony left" it's funny.

OP posts:
Controlfreak · 02/10/2006 21:55

I was driven mad when all of my son's reading books were about every religion you can imagine apart from Christianity.

themoon666 · 02/10/2006 22:54

My DD was addicted to old fashioned totally un-PC Enid Blyton's Famous Five after buyint one in an Oxfam shop with her pocket money, aged 8.

We then had to collect the whole set and read them as bedtime stories. I'd forgotten just how sexist they were.... girls make the gingerbeer and sarnies. Boys get on with digging tunnels and building boats.

It's not affected DD though. She is the strongest, most opinionated 20 year old female I know now. No man walks on my DD!!!

Cappuccino · 02/10/2006 22:57

ahem

a wheelchair and a black girl

as someone who calls myself 'Ms', and has a mixed race daughter with cerebral palsy, I don't actually see a problem here.

Or am I just 'so loony left it's funny'?

alexsCURSEDMUMMY · 02/10/2006 22:57

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Gobbledispook · 02/10/2006 22:57

Some of the names in ds's reading books are very difficult to pronounce! Mind you, I guess that the smaller the world gets, so to speak, it's not really such a bad thing to realise not everyone is called Thomas or Emily [grin}

Original poster
alexsCURSEDMUMMY · 02/10/2006 22:58

do you build snowmen or snowmums?

OP posts:
Original poster
alexsCURSEDMUMMY · 02/10/2006 22:59

not getting into any arguments here-if i've offended -i'nm sorry.

OP posts:
Cappuccino · 02/10/2006 23:00

I think the fact that all these things in one book has made you react so strongly is a good argument for having diversity more accurately reflected in books for children

I'm not saying I'm offended - I'm just saying I don't get why it's such a big deal

themoon666 · 02/10/2006 23:00

Nah, don't worry. It just made me realise how much things have moved on since the old Enid Blyton Famous Five days.

Blu · 02/10/2006 23:08

Another one here who thinks that the book sounds more like a normal reflection of life in my family - didn't realise it was loony!

moondog · 02/10/2006 23:10

Doesn't sound 'wacky' to me either.

We don't all live in the Shires and mix exclusively with white CofE nuclear families y'know......

Cappuccino · 02/10/2006 23:12

ooh moondog

are you slagging off my almost exclusively white regional c of e school now?

moondog · 02/10/2006 23:14

Erm.....probably.

Blu · 02/10/2006 23:16

Why, is it hard to pronounce or something?

Cappuccino · 02/10/2006 23:16

I'm just so 1950's anachronism it's funny

TenaLady · 03/10/2006 11:03

We have had a couple of books which use the words 'stupid' and 'hate' two words that are not allowed in our house.
How do you get out of that?

curlew · 03/10/2006 12:02

It's political incorrectness gone mad..........!

School is suposed to be about widening their horizons - it seems to me that in an "excusively white C of E school it's even more important that the books reflect other cultures, religions and ways of life.

ScareyCaligulaCorday · 03/10/2006 12:04

Well it doesn't reflect my school. All the teachers there are either fiercely Miss or Mrs, no such thing as Ms, and no-one seems to be able to cope with the fact that I have a different surname to my children.

anniediv · 03/10/2006 12:06

Same here scareycaligulacorday. They still refer to me as mrs [dh and dds surname] and occasionally as 'mrs anniediv'. I think 'ms' is just too much for them!

Bozza · 03/10/2006 12:20

Well DS's book last week was about Auntie Sharron getting married and Matt being a pageboy so fairly white CofE.... But an improvement on the one he got yesterday about a hamburger. Hopefully DH has sent it back because it was too easy.

willowcatkin · 03/10/2006 19:32

The oxford Reading tree ones are fun too - Anneena and Nadim, Wilma and Wilf, plus lots of stuff about don't build a motorway in the coutryside, or children stopping polluters - reminds me of Scooby Doo!

ScareyCaligulaCorday · 03/10/2006 19:34

It irritates me that Aneena and Nadim are allowed to have real names, but Biff, Chip and Kipper aren't.

It has taken me two and a half years to remember which is which, because they are such idiotic names.

FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 03/10/2006 19:37

yep, another one not seeing whats so odd about this.

my kids build snowmums, and dads and snowbabies and snowbigbrothers and little sister and snow rabbits and etc.

they have have friends who were not actually born in the UK

Some of them have "hard to pronounce" names

Some have disabilities

Thank god.

If I had to live in an all-white CoE enclave I would shoot myself rather than expire slowly from the boredom.

NannyStar · 03/10/2006 19:41

i think the book sounds cool. its teaching about diversity.

NannyStar · 03/10/2006 19:42

biff, chip and kipper were around in my day caligula!