The Terrible Treatment of "Flat Stanley" (Kids' books)

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watergirl

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 9:45 am

mfb wrote:

What was wrong with I love you forever?

It’s creepy. The mom goes into her grown son’s own house, into his bedroom at night. Boundaries!!

imasinger

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 9:45 am

I have a lifetime of working with young children. Trust me, there is a sizable percentage to whom sharing even a toy they hardly ever touch feels like giving away a piece of skin!

zaq

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 9:50 am

Just read the Topher Payne Fix--utterly brilliant! Talk about Tikkun Olam...or at least tikkun sifrei yeladim.

zaq

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 9:54 am

watergirl wrote:

It’s creepy. The mom goes into her grown son’s own house, into his bedroom at night. Boundaries!!

Such a relief to know others feel the same way. I thought that scene was a little perverted.

theoneandonly

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 10:13 am

Omg I thought I was the only one who found "I'll love you forever" creepy!! Worst kids book ever!

theoneandonly

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 10:15 am

And who mentioned diary of a wimpy kid? I agree, he's a terrible role model.

Ema of 5

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 10:45 am

zaq wrote:

Such a relief to know others feel the same way. I thought that scene was a little perverted.

Same, and I have never read it to my kids. So super creepy.

#BestBubby

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:20 pm

double post

Last edited by #BestBubby on Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

#BestBubby

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:21 pm

chanatron1000 wrote:

"Give away your skin" should probably win the award for worst message in a children's book. Some of the others are pretty bad too, but The Rainbow Fish belongs in the horror genre.

It is part of the woke philosophy.

Those who are born with "rainbow supremacy" must be punished and their gifts taken away and given to the oppressed. That is equity.

SixOfWands

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:29 pm

watergirl wrote:

I have no real issue with Flat Stanley, but I'm the preschool teacher/mother who is adamant against Rainbow Fish. The TL:DR version - Rainbow Fish has beautiful scales and goes around all day being a jerk and bragging about it. He has no friends because of how he brags about his beautiful scales. He is told to go to the wise old fish, who tells him that he must share his scales so people will like him. There are entire preschool curriculum units on this book. I think there was a teachable moment lost here. Rather than teach Rainbow Fish to stop being a jerk and to stop bragging and to just be nice, he is told to disfigure himself and "share", a word that is really misused in the preschool world. He can't help that he was born with these scales, but he can change his attitude. I really hate the book.

And the Giving Tree... don't even get me started on that one. That poor tree needed to learn some boundaries and the boy is narcissistic and selfish. Why is it so famous?

I have found my people.

I HATE The Rainbow Fish. The lesson appears to be that you cannot be special. You have to give up whatever it is that makes you different, or special, in order to appease others.

watergirl

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:32 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

Right! The lesson should really be “don’t be a jerk and people will like you”.

asmileaday

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:33 pm

Wow this thread is so validating.
Diary of a Wimpy kid is stupid and crass but it reads easily and it turned my anti reading son into a reader. So there is a silver lining. I did put my foot down with buying it though. I explained there's no substance to it, bad behavior etc... and I don't care if they read it but I don't want to own it.
Captain underpants is just so gross. Again, I allowed my kids to borrow and read it but I don't buy it.
Anyway, yeah a lot of these kids books are so shockingly crass. But my kids enjoy it so I tolerate it. But I don't buy it.

watergirl

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:33 pm

#BestBubby wrote:

It is part of the woke philosophy.

Those who are born with "rainbow supremacy" must be punished and their gifts taken away and given to the oppressed. That is equity.

It was published in 1992. Way before woke was a thing.

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:36 pm

watergirl wrote:

It’s creepy. The mom goes into her grown son’s own house, into his bedroom at night. Boundaries!!

My mother despises this book and I totally get it. But for some reason, she had it, and I do too because it was a gift, and my daughter loves it. Mostly because of the rocking 'back and forth, back and forth.'

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:37 pm

asmileaday wrote:

I grew up on Captain Underpants and Junie B. Jones. I hear the complaints but I loved them!

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:39 pm

imasinger wrote:

I have a lifetime of working with young children. Trust me, there is a sizable percentage to whom sharing even a toy they hardly ever touch feels like giving away a piece of skin!

Kids don't like being told to give away stuff. The way we talk about 'sharing' to little kids is not real sharing and not something adults are expected to do.

https://visiblechild.com/2014/.....ring/

PinkFridge

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:39 pm

theoneandonly wrote:

Omg I thought I was the only one who found "I'll love you forever" creepy!! Worst kids book ever!

But Robert Munsch in general is a LOT of fun.

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:41 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

But Robert Munsch in general is a LOT of fun.

Agreed. We had a film of a couple of his stories. Part of the 'Bunch of Munsch' series. :- )

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 1:53 pm

I'm glad "Love You Forever" got fixed but let's be real, it was weird before her son moved out. She held a teenage boy and he kept sleeping? And she wasn't concerned that maybe for example, he had decided to sleep naked, or he was awake and doing something private?

keym

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 2:01 pm

BrisketBoss wrote:

And it's funny.
I loved I Love You Forever because of it's craziness. Yeah it was creepy and weird.
But it felt like the first REAL I love you book
The kid is acting "normal". Makes a mess, destructive, driving the parent crazy, yet the parent always loves the kid.
I don't know. So many of the live you books seemed to me that the parent loved the clean, quiet, happy child who made no trouble.

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