unsuitable reading books

[princessglitter]

dd is in reception and a good reader. Recently, however, I have felt that some of the books she has been bringing home have not been written with 4 year olds in mind and have content that seems a bit too grown up.

The school use ORT books. She has brought home one called the kidnappers and which features teddy bears tied up! In the picture one of the teddy bears is crying.

She is an advanced reader (she reads ORT 8 at school but is capable of reading more challenging material at home) and clearly the school have recognised this, which is great - but surely there must be something more appropriate for little ones, these books seem aimed at older children.

From experience I think schools have a problem finding suitable books for more able readers. My dd struggled with the length of some books which were suitable for her reading age. This put her off reading them through to the end. As a 'free reader' at the age of 7 she chose a book about a boy in a coma and became concerned about was it was all about. Whilst the book is probably a very good read for an older child the content was something i didn't want her to have to worry about at her age so i returned it to school and asked them to change it for her.

When DS1 was in Yr 1 he was given a reading book where a child was so sad they tried to jump in a river to kill themselves . He not surprisingly found it rather unsettling. I spoke to his teacher about it, and from then on she did actually read the books he was given before passing them to him. Basically as a new teacher to the school she wasn't used to the books on the reading scheme they had, and he was reading way over the level expected in yr1.

seems to be a common problem - surely there must be more suitable texts available.

I always return the book to the teacher and ask them to change the book. So far we have had a vampire girl, a ghost boy and recently a photo of what looked like a badly decomposed alien.
I have found that the old-fashioned books like the Faraway tree series by Enid Blyton as well as Charlotte's Web are appropriate for her age. She's 6 by the way.

We have had this problem too, including with that very same Kidnappers ORT book in reception.

There are some ORT books designed specifically for younger but more able readers - All Stars I think they're branded. Worth a look in case your school has some. They're much more age appropriate story wise.

My 8 yo ds brought home a book with a story about a little boy who's mum had died the day after she gave birth to him. I'm 27 weeks pg and it obviously struck a chord as he startedto get very emotional half way through it. I told him je didn't have to readthe rest and signed the card so that the teacher thought he had.

I do sometimes wonder if they bother to check why they are giving out.

mind you since then we've started on the Roald Dahls and some of them aren't that great for a (now) five year old - the parents both dying in James Giant Peach etc.
I think ds is fine with this stuff now compared to reception though as he really understands that it's just a story.

Might ask -but think school just use ORT. Am worried they might try to hold her back and have her reading less challenging texts if I mention this.

Thinking of trying reading chest, although she is at the stage where she can read lots of different books and we have hundreds at home. Have got the Mr Men books, which she seems to like and are very age appropriate!

I read Snow White to my three year old, and in the version I was reading her real mum dies in childbirth, or when SW was very young. I was pregnant with DD2 at the time and DD1 kept asking if I was going to die :(

I don't think you can protect them from everything though- I used to read an older reading scheme soon after I started school and it was full of ghosts, witches and The Stump People, I was terrified but I loved it too.

Also all kids are different- I'd have been hysterically upset about a tied up teddy bear who was crying when I was 4/5 or at most of the shenanigans in Toy Story...My DD who also read The Kidnappers at 4 didn't bat an eyelid, apart from saying "Oh, poor teddy".

I second this.

One of ds1's favourite books ever is a ghastly thing where all the toys are kidnapped by a monster and taken to a castle filled with ghosts - brave teddy has to rescue them .

The same child was so terrified by Ali Barber and the 40 thieves that we had to stop reading it half-way through, and is totally indifferent to Snow White (which scared me as a child). He loves Roald Dahl.

Parents (esp. mothers) dying is a common theme in childrens' literature.

By all means edit what your child reads as you feel appropriate but accept other children will be OK with things that scare yours.

The cost of books is so prohibitive. I know that the pictures, colours etc add to the experience, but the story is key, especially if you are reading aloud.
Call me a cheapskate, but I got 20 volumes of a very old Children's Encyclopedia from a charity shop and some of the stories serve my 8 year-old very well. We even get to discuss whether the "morals" and "values" are current or not!

I remember my children bringing home Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood.
This was back in the early 80s and I objected to the school that I didn't want my children reading such books and never allowed them to read them.
I don't see the point of such literature when there are others they can read without terrifying children.

children learn how to deal with fear and demons by scary stories. A key feature (common in the ORT story where kipper rescues rupert the bear) is that children through their brains or character have it within themselves to beat the villans.

you can't and should not protect your children from these kind of stories

did you never read the gruffalo to your dcs?

We had a similar problem. My son's teacher gave him a book about a teenage girl who decided to write a diary (which, of course, included the usual concerns and interests of teenage girls). He was 5 and in Y1 at the time... When I sent it to school with a note saying I thought it wasn't appropriate, the teacher told me it was difficult to find books for his reading level that were appropriate for his age. I suggested I could select his books for him and, since then, he just selects his own books from home or the library or bookstores. His new teacher (now Y2) agreed and is happy for him to select his own books (with our guidance, of course). There are, needless to say, countless wonderful books with subject matters appropriate for young-ish children either to read alone or for adults to read to them.

I always skim read DS's books first, and either warned him if there were any scary bits, or offered to skip the pages if necessary. Usually, he wanted to carry on, but a couple of times he asked not to read them.

Mind you, at 5, he gave me a fairly graphic description of how to make a Mummy (including what they did with the left over brains.)