Am I being a killjoy about this school book?

[SenseofEntitlement]

ARGH. Apoligies for the blog link, but I have put pictures up here

My 4yo DD1 brought home a school library book where the message is explicity that the main aim is to find a man, and that there way to do that is to wear pretty dresses and not be messy.

ARGH.

I need to say something to school. How can I say something without being "that parent"? If it is relevant, me and my husband volunteer a lot with the school - we have each been in to read to the kids4 or 5 times and helped on a school trip, and she only started a few weeks ago, so it isn't like we are just there to criticize.

I realise it is likely the teacher has no idea what is in the book, how do I raise it?

That is one awful book

Wow - I think that's the worst book I've ever seen. I'm guessing the teacher just didn't realise what it was like.

Whoever wrote it can't even punctuate correctly either. On the first page: "Unlike most princesses, Poppy was a very messy, little girl" - why is there an erroneous comma between messy and little?? (I mean technically it could be saying that she is both very messy and very little, but I very much doubt this was what the author intended to say. It's just shoddy.)

And. Um. Yeah. What everyone else said!

Sorry that year are we in - 1953?

I remember a school book when I was little (in the right-on 1970's) called something like 'Billy has 2 daddys' about a boy with a gay dad and his boyfriend. How times change...

Pile of shite ! Bloody irresponsible letting kids read this. I'll go up the school and tell them if you like

Ha! My friend's dd has this book. DD and I changed the ending to 'Prince Harry was dull as dishwater and so the Princess went and kissed a frog instead. And he didn't even turn into a Prince. But it was better than Prince Dishwater and his backward ideas. The end.'

It's a depressingly awful tale.

Say something. The teacher will not know this book is in her book box- I bet it was a donation from a parent. She will be as horrified as you are, incredibly apologetic and she'll help you burn it.

This happened to me with a wildly unsuitable book ds brough home in year 1. The writer wrote books for lots of age groups and this was a teenage one that accidentalqly got in the wrong box.

Uggh, how dreadful. It's a bit hard to make out the writing on the back cover, but I think it says the book was first published in 2002 which is incredible since it would be more at home in the 1950s.

Definitely complain, and let us all know how you get on.

I would definitely ask the teacher to read it. It is beyond awful.

www.pinkstinks.co.uk have managed to stop ELC using the word 'pretty' so much in their catalogue, because as they say 'What does this tell a girl about what she?s worth?'

Awful.

Have only just looked at this. As well as being hideously sexist, it is a boring, crap story, with none of the humour or lovely anarchic twists that all the best children's stories have.

I remember a better version of this type of story in a German textbook many years ago - the prince, or whoever he was, found the princess, who was trying to be polite and ladylike, utterly boring and announced he was going out to work on his motorbike. The princess (or girl, whoever she was) jumped up with enthusiasm and asked if she could help, and it was the start of a beautiful relationship.

That is so moving.

A tale of struggle and redemption, of coming-of-age and accepting and embracing one's destiny with grace and aplomb.

The language is powerful, yet restrained. The imagery both brilliant and apt.

rofl hully.

and literally tea/ keyboard after 'have at it with a big black marker'

i'm going to be using that for everything now.

and

and i wanna read theclanger's german story.......

Well, I took it to school. The only staff member at the door was the TA, so I showed her the book, flipping through the pages as I briefly explained the plot. She said she will show it to whoever is in charge of the library.

Now what? Do I chase it up?

(I also donated four lovely books that I had hanging around - long story - so that could have possibly helped?)

The thing is, the library is in a pretty dire state, but at the parent's forum it was mentioned that they have several thousand pounds to spend on new books. Obviously we need to make sure the same kind of rubbish isn't bought, but how can I say that without being all "that reception mum with purple hair who isn't even Catholic"?

could you volunteer to be on the board for the new purchases? offer to give the librarian a hand? volunteer for the pta who are buying them? have they handed over the dosh to the librarian?

I did actually used to work as a library assistant, and my MIL is about as qualified as it gets for helping out with a children's library...

Librarianship is actually one of the options I'm looking at for my postgrad, but I'm holding out to see if there are any libraries left first.

That had never actually occured to me - volunteering in the library would not only solve this problem, but it would actually get me more experience towards a possible career...

I'm already trying to involve myself with the pta, who seem to be called the parents forum here, but they all seem to know each other very well, and we are kind of newcomers.

It's not the kind of thing that would be affected by it being a Catholic school is it? (long story - lovely, lovely school, but I wouldn't have chosen a faith school, only it was the only one out of the nearest 8 that offered us a place before the summer holidays so we had to bite the bullet)