An awful lot of childrens books are utterly crap aren't they?

[WideWebWitch]

Honestly, we got 15 books from the libary last week and another 20 this and about 2 of them are ok and the rest are utter drivel.

Anyone agree?

Oh yes, of course a lot of adult books are crap too. It's just when every word counts, as it does with childrens books, it's a shame when inappropriate or over complicated words are used. There's a lot of that in the books I've read in the past 2 weeks, that's all.

Agree re Bernard and Tiger who came to tea.

the tiger who cam to tea - I have bought that for ds1's birthday. i read it and thought - "sausage and chips in a cafe - what's not for a 4 year old to like! How exciting to have that for your tea!"

Do you know what I HATE?

WARNING - RANT COMING ON

Those bloody girly books for girls, like Petunia the Princess or the Unicorn books or some such trash, they are the Mills and Boon of children's literature. All the characters are stupid poncy girls who are forever flicking back their 'long glossy ringlet curls' and they wear boob tubes etc. There is nothing good about these books, they are just shite shite SHITE!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I think also it's knowing that the books you read as a child can stay with you forever - makes me want it to be quality.

really dislike Fox in Socks......so many better Seuss books out there

Agree, Rhubarb, I am fed up of stereotypes for girls too. Good on Lauren Child and Roald Dahl (the "whipped a pistol from her knickers" in Revolting Rhymes as mentioned on the other thread) for some decent girl characters.

Another Dr Suess fan here, I love Too Many Daves, always makes me LOL

I agree that reading aloud the Mr Men books is crap but I used to love them when I was little.

DS1 was given a Thomas the Tank book and a Little Red Tractor and I feel like crying whenever he wants me to read them to him, I think you can tell that whoever wrote them never tried reading them aloud, it's just painful

And my mum still winces if you mention Gumdrop t her and it must be at least 20 years since she had to read one!

agree Rhubarb! dd is drawn to those books in the library ( bit old for her though, she's only 5) but they are forever in the top 10 books in the weekend papers.......
we are currently reading 'My Naughty Little Sister' books, lovely and sweet, and just finished Charlotte's Web. wholesome stuff

Gawd Thomas and Red Tractor, bleurgh, I AM SO GLAD ds is too old to want those, they're AWFUL.

My Naughty Little Sister...best books ever

There are some great books too. We are reading The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo. We got it at the dreaded school book fair, but it is really enjoyable. DH and I compete to read it at bedtime and my Mum loved it when she read a chapter. It is all about childhood, the second world war, families, caring about those you love etc. It's great!!

WWW - I have exactly the same experience with library books. So often I get to the end and think "Somebody actually TOOK MONEY for writing this drivel. How does they sleep at night?"

Goddam they make me cross.

Mine has just finished Charlotte's web too, although I had to translate all the Americanisms.

Someone gave her a pile of Unicorn books for her birthday, I didn't even read a page out of them for her, biggest pile of shite I've ever seen! Usual crap, beautiful golden haired child into fashion and talking Anglo-American and her adventures with her stupid pony and equally irksome friends. Bloody awful!

I don't like Not Now Bernard. Made me and ds feel very sad. He refuses to even look at it now.
Love The Tiger Who Came To Tea. Very cosy and enjoyable and great fun to read.
Like the Mole Who Knew - educational too!
Mr Men stories are rubbish for adults, but my ds adores them, and they were written for him, not me.

Has anyone had any experience of Madonna's offerings?

I started reading a book called 'Being sad' I think, by Quentin thingy, the chap who illustrated the Roald Dahl books, I thought it was just exploring feelings and stuff and telling kids it was ok to be sad every now and then, but then I got to the line "I am sad because my son died" I didn't know whether to finish reading it or leave it and let dd forever wonder about it.

In the end I finished it, very quickly!

Lovely book but not quite right for kiddies I don't think.

Thomas stuff is just dire. Most of the Mr Men books are awful (the later it was written the poorer is it). But I get more wound-up by all the one-offs that the library abounds in - I mean it's not as though librarians don't have time to read the pre-school books is it? Can they really not tell what utter sh**e they are spending a lot of their money on?

Agree with Marina, there has been an increase in number of quality picture books but also massive increase in really bad ones.
So many stories are really poor with slapdash illustrations.
Production costs can be so cheap now with many printed in China that they can afford to churn out any old rubish.
My current pet hate is a Felicity Wishes one-such a terrible story about shopping and beauty salons.

Can you tell I am fresh from a bedtime library-book experience with DS1?

Rhubarb the unicorn stuff sounds dire. Shall I ban it when the time comes? Is banning bad books a good idea?

You taking the piss?

Shall I write to Amazon for you withdrawing your membership?

Yes I really agree. I spend ages flipping through book after book and it is a struggle to find half a dozen really good ones. It depresses me.

Rhubarb I think you mean Michael Rosen's Sad Book which is totally blinding, but not suitable for young children IMO.