Would you let your 5 year old read Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes for HOURS EVERY DAY?

[Halcyon]

Hours. HOURS, I tell you. :banghead::banghead:

[Snickerdoodle]

Reminds me of the Asterix fix my kids had at one point.

 

Why don't you buy Horrible Science Box Set? It will turn one fixation to another, I promise.

 

Tee Hee.

[SailorMom]

Yep - we did, actually. The vocabulary in Calvin and Hobbs can actually be challenging :)

[Rivka]

Would and have. She found my old stack of Calvin & Hobbes books right when spring break started, and spent the entire week reading them.

 

Just think, you could be reading them aloud. And explaining them to someone who is too young to really get them. I've done that.

[coffeegal]

Hours. HOURS, I tell you. :banghead::banghead:

 

Yep - we did, actually. The vocabulary in Calvin and Hobbs can actually be challenging :)

 

:iagree: And how in the world do you stop them? My bunch still reads Lulu, Calvin and Hobbes, Asterix, and a host of others constantly. :lol: I simply insist they have 'proper' reading material they're making headway with as well. Ie: A chapter book they're reading for fun. :D

[fairfarmhand]

your five year old is reading that?

 

WONDERFUL!

[Halcyon]

Glad to hear I'm not alone. This has been going on for about a year now. He has 4 books of Calvin and Hobbes and seriously, he's read them all about 10 times each. He also reads chapter books, but I wish his fixation would switch!

[Halcyon]

your five year old is reading that?

 

WONDERFUL!

 

 

Probably 2-3 hours a day. His brother is annoyed beyond belief as younger will never play with him. "He reads Calvin ALL DAY MOM!!!!" :glare:

[Karen in CO]

:iagree:

Yep - we did, actually. The vocabulary in Calvin and Hobbs can actually be challenging :)

 

My baby brother did (he's now a high school math teacher), my ds did (he's almost a senior in college in Japan), and my older dd did (oops still does along with Asterix). We have a set of the C&H that has been passed from my ds and will go through to the youngest. They are terrific for reading practice and haven't harmed anyone in my family, yet.

[Alphabetika]

I would and did! My oldest dd did this. So did my middle, just not at 5. And both have done it with Tintin comics, too.

[AuntieM]

Yep - we did, actually. The vocabulary in Calvin and Hobbs can actually be challenging :)

 

Oh yes. An evaluator once commented on ds#1's (then 5yo) advanced vocabulary. I could only attribute it to hours and hours of C&H. Throw in a few Tintin volumes and you've got yourself a first grade level PSAT vocabulary prep class!

[Halcyon]

Oh yes. An evaluator once commented on ds#1's (then 5yo) advanced vocabulary. I could only attribute it to hours and hours of C&H. Throw in a few Tintin volumes and you've got yourself a first grade level PSAT vocabulary prep class!

 

 

:lol::lol: Thanks for easing my worries. I am off to look up Asterix now...spread the obsession around at least...

[sparrow]

I would check out all the Peanuts books our small-town library had and read them for hours the whole time they were checked out. Then I'd check them out again.

 

I turned out OK, if I say so myself :001_smile:.

[Beth in OH]

I did. My dds have turned out to be young women with a wonderful, brainy sense of humor! Read on, my friend!

[MeghanL]

Mine reads Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, Peanuts, & Bone. He's read them for hours a day for years. It makes for very interesting conversations when he uses phrases from the books in regular conversation. Like when we are at a friend's house playing outside and he climbs on top of their playhouse in the backyard and starts screaming "Curse you Red Baron!" Let me tell you, that reference is lost on most 4 & 5 year olds. LOL!

 

The Bone books are a little dark toward the end, but they have a better storyline than some of the other ones. I'm going to go look up Asterix too. I also saw that Veritas Press makes Shakespeare into comic books, so those are on my wish list as well.

[JudoMom]

Thanks for the reminder. My ds7 discovered Garfield comics and reads them like crazy--I've been meaning to pick up a Calvin & Hobbes for him :001_smile:.

 

If your boy likes Greek Myths, he'll probably really enjoy this book.

[Impish]

As long as he doesn't start acting like Calvin, I'd say its fine! :lol:

[meggie]

yes, my fie year old loves them. i'm worried about him picking up on some of calvin's rudeness (especially at the dinner table and making up stories) but it hasn't been too bad. now, my 1 year old? i won't ever let him read it, he's already a miniature calvin in training, i don't think he needs to get any new ideas:lol:

[missmoe]

A hardcover C&H is currently sitting on the floor in the bathroom. I assume some kid has been reading it.

 

My oldest who is graduating this year read C&H constantly through several years. He even decided to be like C&H in the wardrove department and had 5 pairs of the same pants and 5 of the same shirts so he would look the same every day! Thankfully, he grew out of phase, but he still loves C&H.

[justasque]

It's a critical stage in reading development, IMHO! To understand the joke in some of those comics you really have to have a good vocabulary and be good at inferring meaning when it's not spelled out for you. My kids read them again and again as they gained better skills and saw more in them than on the first read.

 

Also popular here are Tintin and (though not as much) Asterix. And for later on, Doonesbury is pretty much a later-20th-Century US History class. Snoopy, Garfield, etc. are great, but not as high a level, from a developing higher level reading skills perspective, as C+H.

 

Warning from a mom who has BTDT - This sort of thing can lead to being a creative writing minor and having to purchase Batman comics for college reading assignments. The upside is that they're cheaper than most textbooks!

[Dana]

My son was almost 6 when he basically taught himself to read from Calvin. I ended up crocheting him a Hobbes for his 6th birthday. I definitely prefer C&H to Captain Underpants (shudder).

 

He's moved on to Garfield, Peanuts, Get Fuzzy, For Better or For Worse, and any graphic novels I let him read (I have said some are off limits... don't want him reading Sandman or V for Vendetta yet).

 

Last year I did have to ban him from reading before we started school for the day and we do have to say no comics during school (or at least ask before starting them).

 

Before having our son, my husband did say he wanted to be Calvin's dad... :lol:

[Rivka]

So is Tintin appropriate for a 6-year-old? I never read them myself...

[JudoMom]

It's a critical stage in reading development, IMHO! To understand the joke in some of those comics you really have to have a good vocabulary and be good at inferring meaning when it's not spelled out for you. My kids read them again and again as they gained better skills and saw more in them than on the first read.

 

Also popular here are Tintin and (though not as much) Asterix. And for later on, Doonesbury is pretty much a later-20th-Century US History class. Snoopy, Garfield, etc. are great, but not as high a level, from a developing higher level reading skills perspective, as C+H.

 

Warning from a mom who has BTDT - This sort of thing can lead to being a creative writing minor and having to purchase Batman comics for college reading assignments. The upside is that they're cheaper than most textbooks!

 

:iagree:

[rieshy]

My son was almost 6 when he basically taught himself to read from Calvin.

 

Funny to see this thread. My 4 yo (he doesn't read yet) LOVES Calvin and Hobbes books. Last night at 10 p.m. I caught him reading one in bed by his night light. Sure would be nice if he taught himself to read.

 

After 5 older siblings I'm getting tired of 100 easy lessons:)

[jelbe5]

I did not read all the posts but my oldest learned to read with Calvin and Hobbs. Phonics programs resulted in tears for both of us. She had an uncanny knack for asking me to read C and H to her when I was trying to cook or do housework. One time she did this I just looked at her and said "I can't right this minute . . . You need to try to learn to read yourself.". She did. 'Nuff said.:lol:

 

ETA This dd has been a constant challenge to homeschool. Fights me on everything; readily learns what she wants to. Loves to read what she wants to. Likes Peanuts and Far Side, too. Oh, and Calvin definitely should have been homeschooled . . .

Edited April 26, 2011 by jelbe5

[Pretty in Pink]

Sure. My kids have free reading time before bed every night, and they can pretty much read whatever they want.

[Starr]

Only if you want Calvin quoted to you for the next 10 years. :lol:

[prairiebird]

Just from reading Peanuts, my boys started doing research on their own on both the development of the interstate highway system (because Snoopy's doghouse was in the way) and WW1.

 

I am not familliar with C and H, but clearly I must look them up! I see Calvin taking a wizz stickers on the back of pickup trucks around here though quite a bit :lol:.

[justasque]

So is Tintin appropriate for a 6-year-old? I never read them myself...

 

Some better than others. Typical racial issues you often find from the time period - stereotypical villains, including "redskins". (These comics are OLD.) It's good-guys and bad-guys fare. If you are particularly careful about what your dc read, you may be horrified - one features an opium den, there is sometimes alcohol use, etc. However, if you are an "address it when you see it, put it in context" family, and especially if you are a family with European ties, then it could be considered a part of your cultural heritage, to be enjoyed for what it is as well as examined critically as you would with any 80-ish year old work.

 

As far as the 6-year-old - if he's anything like mine, he'll love 'em.

[BetterthanIdeserve]

My 5yoDD could easily listen to audio stories for 4 hours a day or more. I have started to limit it a bit because I want her to participate a bit more with the family. She was starting to get very grumpy with her brother and wasn't playing with him very much. She still gets to listen when she wakes up in the morning, but once breakfasts starts, I usually don't let her listen again until rest time in the afternoon. She often listens in her room for 2 hours in the afternoon while her brothers are sleeping, although I only ask that she rests quietly for about 45 minutes. She also can listen at bedtime, if she gets ready for bed on time and with a good attitude. She usually stays up 30-60 minutes listening. Although she can read easy readers, she hasn't shown any interest in reading on her own and I think that's because it is easier to listen to audio stories. Her favorites right now are the Little House series and SOTW1. I wonder too, if it's okay to let her do that for hours.....

[Tammyla]

I'm not a big fan of them (Twaddle imo..no tomatoes), but yes... I'd let him read them.

 

(I do have one policy and that is to pre-screen what makes it into our home; other than that...read what you want as long as you get your lessons done.)

 

Loving a book or series usually leads to a love of reading.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Tammyla

[aggieamy]

DD just read her first Garfield book yesterday from cover to cover. She's a good reader but I was impressed with how quickly she got through it. She wouldn't put it down all day and when we took her to the doctor's office we made quite a scene - DH, DD, and I all sitting in the waiting room with our noses in a book. I had brought our current read aloud to read to her but she just wanted to read Garfield.

 

I guess I'll pick up some Calvin and Hobbes from the library for her next. I'll have to sneak it to my room from the library to read it first though because I love C&H!

 

My 5yoDD could easily listen to audio stories for 4 hours a day or more. I have started to limit it a bit because I want her to participate a bit more with the family. She was starting to get very grumpy with her brother and wasn't playing with him very much. She still gets to listen when she wakes up in the morning, but once breakfasts starts, I usually don't let her listen again until rest time in the afternoon. She often listens in her room for 2 hours in the afternoon while her brothers are sleeping, although I only ask that she rests quietly for about 45 minutes. She also can listen at bedtime, if she gets ready for bed on time and with a good attitude. She usually stays up 30-60 minutes listening. Although she can read easy readers, she hasn't shown any interest in reading on her own and I think that's because it is easier to listen to audio stories. Her favorites right now are the Little House series and SOTW1. I wonder too, if it's okay to let her do that for hours.....

 

Wow. Are we twins? DH and I are Dave Ramsey fans, we live in Kansas, and DD will listen to audiobooks for HOURS on end. My DH has started limiting her to only before she gets up in the morning, quiet time, and right before bed because that's all she'd do. Hole up in her room with Playmobils and listen to the Secret Garden over and over again. We had to specifically tell her that she couldn't turn it on before 7 am because she would wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and then turn it on when she got back in bed. There were a few nights where I'd wake up at 2 am hearing voices in the house. Yep. She'd be laying awake listening!

Edited April 26, 2011 by aggieamy

[MBM]

I did until my son made Christmas cards at school showing a decapitated snowman that alarmed his teacher. That's when we decided to lock his Calvin and Hobbes books in an one of dh's old briefcases. Ds then moved on to the Far Side comic strips after that.

[meldamo]

Yep, we've been there, too. He goes through phases where he gets out all his comic compilations and reads them every single chance he gets for days. Then he puts them away for a while and goes on with his life.

[lulubelle]

I just got my ds8 a book of Calvin and Hobbes for Easter. I think he's read the whole thing. And, he keeps wanting me to read the one's that he thinks are the funniest! "Mom, you got to read these three pages right here!" We also have been into Asterix and Tin Tin, but the one he is totally obsessed with is Uncle Scrooge McDuck!!! He gets them at the library and he has read just about all of them. We've invested in quite a bit of graphic history books. He just can't get enough of graphics.

[nmoira]

:lol: BTDT.

And Astro Boy, Bone, Tintin, Asterix, manga-fied Greek mythology, Spy vs. Spy, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others.

[Mabeline]

I just got my ds8 a book of Calvin and Hobbes for Easter. I think he's read the whole thing. And, he keeps wanting me to read the one's that he thinks are the funniest! "Mom, you got to read these three pages right here!" We also have been into Asterix and Tin Tin, but the one he is totally obsessed with is Uncle Scrooge McDuck!!! He gets them at the library and he has read just about all of them. We've invested in quite a bit of graphic history books. He just can't get enough of graphics.

 

Ooh, my ds8 would love graphic history books. Do you have a link? Thanks!

[Novafan]

Sure!

 

Granted, my 10, almost 11, year old has the entire collection practically memorized and graces us with oral renditions of the comic strip (Calvin) several times a day. Be prepared for that.

[lulubelle]

Saddleback education publishing, www.sdlback.com has a great selection.

Also, we really like Scholastic You Wouldn't want to be... and we have also gotten a few of Classical Comics, www.classicalcomics.com. We also got some great graphic battles of world war at the library by the Rosen publishing group.

[Alyeska]

my dd reads our Tundra book often. SHe also went through a Garfield stage.

 

You should introduce your son to Tundra. I bet he would love it! Oh, and The Far Side cartoons are hilarious as well.

[DarlaS]

Hours. HOURS, I tell you. :banghead::banghead:

 

I got the hardcover boxed set for my oldest for Christmas a few years back. When those books come out, little else gets done for days.

 

We've also had every Peanuts book (and Garfield) from the library at least 3-4 times each.

 

C & H is my favorite. :D

[FriedClams]

No. We did not. DS loved them. LOVED them. But, I wasn't loving the attitude and I thought it would be best for him to have a little more variety. There was also some weegee (I know - it's spelled totally wrong - think phonetically here for me please!!) board stuff I didn't want him exposed to. So, we shelved them. I do not regret it for a second. Occasionally he'll pull them down but the allure has passed. I think it's easy for kids to get in a rut - and I think it's not bad to help them pass them.

[Lizzie in Ma]

:lol::lol:

The whole collection lives in the loo.

[nmoira]

It's my firm belief that just as all big ethical questions can be introduced through an episode of Star Trek, so can all literary devices be introduced through C&H.

[Country Mouse]

My ds has learned so much from reading Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes for hours every day. For instance, when he was diagnosed with amblyopia, he already knew what it was and how it was treated because Sally had it. The dr. was floored. Peanuts has been the springboard for many, many philosophical discussions at my house as well.

Calvin has presented more of a problem. It has given ds a few less-than-desirable one-liners. :glare:

[mama2cntrykids]

My 8 y/o ds just had a phase where he read C&H for hours and hours and that's all he'd talk about. It lasted for about 6 months. He eventually moved on the chapter books, but he still likes C&H.

[FairProspects]

Attitude issues aside, if my 5 y.o. could read that, I'd be thrilled!

[Halcyon]

It's my firm belief that just as all big ethical questions can be introduced through an episode of Star Trek, so can all literary devices be introduced through C&H.

 

 

Well, both my boys are obsessed with Star Trek, so there ya go. :)

[Halcyon]

:lol: BTDT.

And Astro Boy, Bone, Tintin, Asterix, manga-fied Greek mythology, Spy vs. Spy, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others.

 

Sigh, Moira. After reading this post, we went to the library to find Bone, and younger has just devoured the first book in the series. We have another obsession on our hands! :tongue_smilie:

[Crissy]

Yes. I actually miss those days. The house would be quiet, then hysterical laughter came roaring from the bedroom. It always made me smile.

For that, I love Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes.