Weirdest book you have found your child reading?

[Mandylubug]

SO what is the weirdest book your child has shown interest in that just doesn't seem to be "normal" read for a kid their age?

 

I just went to turn the boys' room light off since they had once again fallen asleep while reading. The book my oldest was reading (9yr old boy): Mastering The Art of French cooking by Julia Child. Maybe he will become a chef in adulthood?! I should have snatched a pic of this!

[mrsrevmeg]

When I went to tuck my middle son (age 11) a few nights ago, I found Eats, Shoots and Leaves in his room. I asked why it was there and first he mumbled, "I dunno." Then he told me he was reading it.

[Mrs Mungo]

My ten year old son read a biography of Admiral Halsey that I had recently read.

[sewingmama]

My kids are notorius for choosing books from the adults non-fiction section :lol:

 

On our last trip to the library my 2yo insisted I borrow

 

The History of Electric Guitars

Car Science

 

 

My DD chose a book called Vitamins and Our Bodies and there were no pictures :001_huh: It was an encyclopedia and she wanted me to read the whole thing to her :lol: Didn't happen - I read parts and she listened intently. DH and I call her our granola girl because she is always asking about saving animal habitats, nature studies and wholistic medicine. Two weeks ago she asked me if she could make a sign that said "Don't throw rubbish in the ocean" and then I could take her to the beach so she could post it up :lol:

[LillyMama]

Not my kid, but my mom caught me reading The Scarlet Letter in 4th grade- I was 8. I then I proceeded through Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and Jane Eyre. When I came to school after Christmas break with my book reports done on Frankenstein and The Count of Monte Cristo, my teacher finally called my mom in and gave her a book list. So I did finally read Little Women that year, too.

 

Needless to say, I've packed my house with Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean and Nancy Drew, and keep my classics on my iPad, away from my 5 year old daughter.

[Pink Fairy]

Not super weird, but my 7th grader is reading Gone With the Wind and also Mansfield Park. Her brothers are super impressed because GWTW is so fat. She still reads Nancy Drew and American Girl books, so it's not like lots of pages and big words are a requirement for her.

[Alte Veste Academy]

When he was 6, DS9 started reading Silas Marner. :confused: I have never read it myself and took it away because I didn't know if it was inappropriate. He was upset and insisted he wanted to finish it. :001_huh: I still have not read it. :lol:

 

ETA: I also have a super cute picture of him "reading" The Happiest Baby on the Block when he was about 19 months old and I was 8 months along with DD. :001_wub:

Edited May 15, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy

[LillyMama]

ETA: I also have a super cute picture of him "reading" The Happiest Baby on the Block when he was about 19 months old and I was 8 months along with DD. :001_wub:

 

I have a funny picture of my then 18 month old terror child trying to grab "How to Discipline Your Child" from a bookshelf in the Focus on the Family bookshop. Maybe you had to be there, but my sister and I had chased him through the store, me wearing his two month old sister in a sling, only to find him about to destroy a display on how to tame a wayward child. It makes me laugh every time I see the picture.

[nukeswife]

When my dd was about 3 she obviously wasn't reading it, but was obsessed with my dh's Quantum Mechanics textbook from college. Anytime we couldn't find her playing it was because she'd have pulled the book out and was paging through it .

[Isabella]

My then 8yo with a 3inch thick Encyclopaedia of Australian Cattle Breeds. She was an animal fan, and had her own flock of sheep, but I was still surprised to see her with a book on cattle!

[joannqn]

My 10 year old was excited to find and buy a 1964 world atlas. He studies it regularly.

[DaffodilDreams]

My 8 yr old dd has been seen reading The Complete Wilderness Training Manual. Consequently, we now have a rule stating that any attempts at starting a fire in the backyard must be supervised by an adult.

[Rosie_0801]

I used to read the Childcraft Guide for Parents. I wanted insight into the other half of the species :tongue_smilie: I learned that parents were very concerned about measles, mumps and chicken pox.

 

Rosie

[*Lulu*]

DD7 when 4 brought home a guide to diamonds that she insisted on having read to her.

 

DS9 has enjoyed a few odd choices over the years himself. At age 7 he was reading books about baskalisks and chupicabras (sp?). Last year he kept bringing home books on tanks and weaponry though the centuries from the adult non-fiction section. This year he has been found reading DH's JQuery manual and an article about data mining.

[Annabel Lee]

Last summer I was watching my friend's daughter while she was out. This little girl was a newly-turned 3, and insisted I read aloud a big, fat guide to rocks & minerals (this was not the little Usborne guide, it was a higher level meant for high school at least). When it was time to leave, she cried when her mom was buckling her into her carseat, so I handed her the book (it had color pictures... of rocks) and my friend said she "read" it the whole way home. At her 4th birthday recently, her dad said she still reads it all the time.

[Onceuponatime]

I have one child that used to take the Kingfisher book of World History to bed with him every night when he was 4, before he could read at all. I swear he absorbed the history through osmosis.

 

This same child read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by 8, and started Moby Dick at 10. He still refuses to read books written for his age level, unless I assign them for school work. Then he acts like I'm killing him. I had to teach him reading using Harry Potter and the Sorceror's stone as his primer, lol.

 

On the other hand, my brainy, mathematically inclined, oldest son read every children's series he could get his hands on when he was young. He read his way through the whole boxcar children series, the happy hollisters, the hardy boys, etc.

 

My current 8yo checks out books on cockroaches and scorpions.

 

It sounds trite, but it is true that all children are different. Some are just more different than others. ;-)

Edited May 15, 2012 by Onceuponatime

[I talk to the trees]

When dd was 8, dh took her to the library to look for astronomy books. She came home with a book called Astrophysics is Easy. I'm not sure exactly how much she actually read, or how much she understood of what she read, but she really seemed to enjoy it.

[Lizzie in Ma]

The thesaurus. :D

[Mommyfaithe]

Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman:D. Ummmmmm.......:001_huh:

 

I have gone to say goodnight to ds, and he was curled up with a Physics text....or a non fiction encyclopedia of some sort.

 

One time....he came all excited into the door with a Lord Byron collection....ran straight up to his room.....he came down 3 hours later and summed up Lord Byron..." I love you, I love you, "I love you!"........." I don't love you anymore:tongue_smilie:". Hahahahaha!!!!

[Mommyfaithe]

I have one child that used to take the Kingfisher book of World History to bed with him every night when he was 4, before he could read at all. I swear he absorbed the history through osmosis.

 

This same child read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by 8, and started Moby Dick at 10. He still refuses to read books written for his age level, unless I assign them for school work. Then he acts like I'm killing him. I had to teach him reading using Harry Potter and the Sorceror's stone as his primer, lol.

 

On the other hand, my brainy, mathematically inclined, oldest son read every children's series he could get his hands on when he was young. He read his way through the whole boxcar children series, the happy hollisters, the hardy boys, etc.

 

My current 8yo checks out books on cockroaches and scorpions.

 

It sounds trite, but it is true that all children are different. Some are just more different than others. ;-)

 

Totally my experience as well. I have one now who reads every Beverly Cleary, Bobbsey Twin, Hardy Boys in the house. His little brother reads Poptropica manuals and Lego Magazines....:tongue_smilie:

[stripe]

When my dd was about 3 she obviously wasn't reading it, but was obsessed with my dh's Quantum Mechanics textbook from college. Anytime we couldn't find her playing it was because she'd have pulled the book out and was paging through it .

My (6 year old) daughter is obsessed with my copy of Wuthering Heights. If I have it anywhere in the house, it is promptly moved back to the shelf in her room. My son shrieked in delight every time he saw Hans Brinker. But when I recently borrowed it on CD, no one wanted to listen to it!

 

Both of them have a similar relationship with Take Your Pediatrician With You.

[Mommyfaithe]

I have a funny picture of my then 18 month old terror child trying to grab "How to Discipline Your Child" from a bookshelf in the Focus on the Family bookshop. Maybe you had to be there, but my sister and I had chased him through the store, me wearing his two month old sister in a sling, only to find him about to destroy a display on how to tame a wayward child. It makes me laugh every time I see the picture.

 

:lol::lol::lol:

THAT is hysterical!!! Thanks for the giggle. Gotta love them boys!!!:lol::lol:

[TheReader]

When my oldest was a toddler (18 months or so?) he used to always pull DH's chemistry textbooks off the shelf and just pour over the diagrams of molecules. Not the cute, colorful ball-stick diagrams, the strings of letters all connected. He loved them.

 

When my 2nd son was around 2 we went to a library book sale and he found a children's (but older children) Astronomy book. Not one full of pictures, mind you; no, it was almost completely text with a very few black & white photos. He insisted on it and would have me read it to him over and over again.

 

My youngest has had a fascination with the Flip Flap Body Book since it arrived in our home a few years ago. The funniest was when my then 8 or 9 yr old was reading to the then 4 yr old from the reproduction section. The 9 yr old would read the bold topic headings (questions) and have the 4 yr old repeat the question back before he'd go on and read the text below. So I walked into the room and saw/heard "So, what happens when the sp-rm reach the egg?" from the mouth of my 4 yr old.....they just kept reading, both completely oblivious to what they were really discussing. Hilarious!

[The Girls' Mom]

Well, my niece and dd were reading an algebra book in the back of the van last night. And it was of their own free will...:lol: And it wasn't LOF.

[Dmmetler]

My DD took an algebra book with her as one of her "fun reading" books on vacation. At the time, she was in Singapore 4b.

[Aunty Social]

.

[JudoMom]

My 8 yr old dd has been seen reading The Complete Wilderness Training Manual. Consequently, we now have a rule stating that any attempts at starting a fire in the backyard must be supervised by an adult.

 

:lol:

 

My 9 yo loves that book. His other favorite is Native American Crafts and Skills. And science encyclopedias :lol:.

[Alphabetika]

My dd13 dips in and out of a college cognitive psychology textbook and an airplane flight manual. :D

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

When my dd was about 3 she obviously wasn't reading it, but was obsessed with my dh's Quantum Mechanics textbook from college. Anytime we couldn't find her playing it was because she'd have pulled the book out and was paging through it .

 

My dd used to look at my old chemistry textbooks from college. She was 1-2 yo at the time and would point out all of the molecules. She called them mah-cubes.

 

That same dd (7.5yo) now reads the dictionary.

[mommytobees]

SO what is the weirdest book your child has shown interest in that just doesn't seem to be "normal" read for a kid their age?

 

I just went to turn the boys' room light off since they had once again fallen asleep while reading. The book my oldest was reading (9yr old boy): Mastering The Art of French cooking by Julia Child. Maybe he will become a chef in adulthood?! I should have snatched a pic of this!

 

 

:::delurking:::

 

My 11-year old dd enjoys reading my medical journal subscriptions, as long as there are no skin diseases.

 

She keeps asking me if there is an equivalent mag for vets. I refuse to look......that's just gross.

 

Kris

[fraidycat]

Well, I wouldn't really call this weird, but rather...interesting because we are only on pg. 110 of Phonics Pathways, but in the past week, my DS6 has read "Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty"...twice, and last night started reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".

 

Did he read every word perfectly?...most likely not, but he was reading for pleasure, so I just let him do it, and walked around looking like this :D:D. I didn't even have the heart to stop him and have him do his math work before we had to leave for the day - I found him on his beanbag chair reading when I got up...then I followed "reading road" out to the LR. All the children chapter books in the house were off the shelf and lined up in a beautiful curvy path from the LR shelves down the hall to the middle of his bedroom. I think DD built the road, then DS grabbed one of the books and plopped down on his beanbag. :lol:

[Melinda in VT]

Hitler and Stalin

 

She's 12. She read the entire thing.

[Crimson Wife]

DD asked for Dante's Inferno after coming across some reference to it. I vetoed it because of the age-inappropriate content but the fact that she requested it just made me :confused:

 

DS read The Klingon-English Dictionary.

[Alphabetika]

:::delurking:::

 

My 11-year old dd enjoys reading my medical journal subscriptions, as long as there are no skin diseases.

 

She keeps asking me if there is an equivalent mag for vets. I refuse to look......that's just gross.

 

Kris

 

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books in my parents' house was called Century of a Surgeon, about the world before anasthetic was invented.

[SKL]

Not weird, but my 5yo dd likes to read the Bible during church. The text is in two columns on each page. I noticed at some point that she was reading all the way across the page rather than finishing one column and then the other. No wonder kids find the Bible challenging, LOL.

 

My dd also loves to read over adults' shoulders while they working (on computers), and she'll ask about our work projects. She used to do the same when someone was texting. It felt odd to explain to a (then) 4yo that it's not polite to eavesdrop on other people's emails and texts.

[ElizabethB]

I don't remember doing it, but my mom said that one of her child rearing books had a chart in the back with bad behaviors and the suggested punishment for each. She said that she caught me studying the chart to decide if the crime was worth the punishment or not.

 

My daughter always has interesting choices from the library, the librarians mention her choices from time to time, they are very eclectic.

[tntgoodwin]

Not my kid, but my mom caught me reading The Scarlet Letter in 4th grade- I was 8. I then I proceeded through Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and Jane Eyre. When I came to school after Christmas break with my book reports done on Frankenstein and The Count of Monte Cristo, my teacher finally called my mom in and gave her a book list. So I did finally read Little Women that year, too.

 

Needless to say, I've packed my house with Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean and Nancy Drew, and keep my classics on my iPad, away from my 5 year old daughter.

 

 

Awww, why?

[Truscifi]

My 8 yr old dd has been seen reading The Complete Wilderness Training Manual. Consequently, we now have a rule stating that any attempts at starting a fire in the backyard must be supervised by an adult.

 

Ds8 has that too! Sadly we didn't think to make that a rule until *after* he started a fire. :001_huh: Rest assured, it is a rule now!

 

I think the oddest thing he has read on his own was my copy of The Lady and The Sharks, a biography of marine biologist Eugenie Clark. He's read it 10 times now. He even picked Sarasota for his birthday trip specifically so he could visit Mote Marine Lab, which she founded. He really enjoyed the lecture on shark training.

[Kathryn]

When he was 3yo, DS burst into my room waving around "Where Did I Come From?" and demanded "WHAT IS THIS? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?" He had climbed up on a stool and then stacked books to get higher to reach a shelf of my childhood books.

[5 Hikers]

My ds11 loves Zane Grey, Westerns. He borrowed one from his Grandpa last summer and asks to use his allowance to buy more. I think it's wierd.

[WistfulRidge]

My 2 (almost 3) year old has been obsessed with my copy of Man's Search for Meaning since around his first birthday.

[TCoppock]

I have to hide school books or DS will read them all before the year starts.

 

DS read CHOW for fun before I had the chance to use it for school, and frequently reads far ahead in other books. He also read my Don Quixote in 3rd or 4th, and it was not the abridged version. :S

 

None of those sound too odd IMO.

 

What does seem odd is his obsession with the business, investment, and other financial books and magazines we have in our home.

 

DS will also read just about any book that contains facts or statistics until memorized. (Unless that book happens to be related to writing or grammar.)