OnTheBrink Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I have lists of NON twaddle; but I need some examples of twaddle. I'm doing a presentation tomorrow on reading aloud to children to a group of moms with preschool kids and I want to show them the difference between a twaddle book and a quality book. Quality, I have. I just need twaddle! Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Captain Underpants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 (edited) Most of the early chapter books, especially that Disney fairy series. Goosebumps. Elsie Dinsmore. The Hardy Boys. ETA: I just realized this is for preschoolers, not chapter book readers. How CM-ish are you judging your twaddle? If precisely CM, Tomie DePaola's Three Bears and Other Tales, or any other fairy tale with the danger left out. I am inclined to question whether, in the interest of carrying out a system, the charming Kindergartnerin is not in danger sometimes of greatly undervaluing the intelligence of her children. I know a person of three who happened to be found by a caller alone in the drawing room. It was spring, and the caller thought to make himself entertaining with talk about the pretty ‘baa-lambs.’ But a pair of big blue eyes were fixed upon him and a solemn person made this solemn remark, “Isn’t it a dwefful howid thing to see a pig killed!” We hope she had never seen or even heard of the killing of a pig, but she made as effective a protest against twaddle as would any woman of Society. Boers and kopjes, Russians and Japs, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday, the fight of Thermopylae, Ulysses and the Suitors––these are the sorts of things that children play at by the month together; even the toddlers of three and four will hold their own manfully with their brothers and sisters. And, if the little people were in the habit of telling how they feel, we should learn perhaps that they are a good deal bored by the nice little games in which they frisk like lambs, flap their fins, and twiddle their fingers like butterflies. - Charlotte Mason Edited November 7, 2008 by dragons in the flower bed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I think Magic Treehouse books are pretty twaddle-y. The do have some redeaming qualities (make history entertaining- my kids wanted to know what "really happened" after reading some of them.) But they are repetitive, predictable, and the writing leaves something to be desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Louis Sachar — Wayside School Book Series I don't know if those qualify for "twaddle" or not, but they're very easy to read, funny & use a lot of "play on words" My ds8 got through them very quickly, and actually laughed out loud while reading them. I think developing a sense of humor is important, so I'm not sure I'd classify them as what I think twaddle is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Don't forget the Babysitter's Club Series. I rather liked The Magic Tree House for first graders. I guess it depends how long they continue to read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Anything with Seasame Street, Blues Clues or the like. Graphic Novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I think Magic Treehouse books are pretty twaddle-y. The do have some redeaming qualities (make history entertaining- my kids wanted to know what "really happened" after reading some of them.) But they are repetitive, predictable, and the writing leaves something to be desired. They can be good for getting the reluctant reader going, but mine tired of them after 5 or 6 books. I agree Twaddly, but with redeeming qualities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 By the way- I do let my kids read some twaddle. I avoid purchasing it though. After all, I read some twaddle myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 (edited) Rugrats. I saw one of those books once & it had all sorts of incorrect grammar, misspellings, etc.... Plus, the kids who are characters are spoiled, rude, and so on. Edited November 7, 2008 by Stacia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 By the way- I do let my kids read some twaddle. I avoid purchasing it though. After all, I read some twaddle myself! Yes, I'm not advocating NO "mind candy" at all. Just wanting to show the differences between twaddle and quality books, with an emphasis on exposing the child to the good stuff more than the garbage stuff. I'm equating it to the differences between fruits and veggies and M&M's in the ever day diet. Thanks for all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 By the way- I do let my kids read some twaddle.<snip>After all, I read some twaddle myself! Don't tell Once, but I love graphic novels. It took me a long time to get used to reading images, studying them with my eyes and extracting the meaning. I still can't read pages with too little text. But when I have made the effort, the story has usually been rewarding. Actually, I think we probably all read or allow some books others here would consider twaddle. I suspect we all judge it differently and I hope this thread doesn't deteriorate into the flame war any mention of twaddle can sometimes ignite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 To me, anything with a product tie-in is twaddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkTulip Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I hate the improper grammar, spelling, and bad attitudes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Most of the beginning readers you can buy at Target and Walmart are Twaddle. They are called Step Into Reading books. They are designed to teach word recognition for whole language learning. There is no content in the books. They use Disney or Nickelodeon characters to spark interest in a dc. Preschool books should be rich in vocabulary and language with good art as illustrations. Preschoolers who are read these kinds of books will not developed a rich vocabulary or learn how to follow a story line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Anything with Seasame Street, Blues Clues or the like. Graphic Novels. Hey Trina? You should check this book out from your library. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyboys Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Most of the beginning readers you can buy at Target and Walmart are Twaddle. They are called Step Into Reading books. They are designed to teach word recognition for whole language learning. There is no content in the books. They use Disney or Nickelodeon characters to spark interest in a dc. Yes. They use all the movie characters or cartoon characters in sappy little stories. Definitely twaddle -- popular twaddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Anything with a TV or movie tie-in, with the exception of those books written long before the movie based on them was made. Long before. Therefore, 3/4ths of the contents of my local Barnes & Noble children's dept. is. twaddle. I spoke with the buyer for the children's dept of an independent bookseller, and she was in pain over the amount of tv show twaddle she had to buy, even in her store. We all suffer along. Anything about which educators dismiss criticism by saying, "Well, at least they're reading!" A sure sign of twaddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I have to agree that graphic novels, as a genre, shouldn't be heedlessly tossed in the corner with the rest of the twaddle. I don't read the genre myself, but I'm familiar enough with it that I know it isn't all twaddle by any means. They share an ancestry with comic books, true, but they can have some pretty complex story lines. Are you possibly referring to novelizations? Novelizations are books based on movies, sometimes with photos from the movie and sometimes not. I think my Scholastic catalog once referred to a novelization as a graphic novel, but they are two very different animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Don't tell Once, but I love graphic novels. It took me a long time to get used to reading images, studying them with my eyes and extracting the meaning. I still can't read pages with too little text. But when I have made the effort, the story has usually been rewarding.We have them here too: Tintin, Astroboy, Bone, Asterix, Jellaby, Robot Dreams, Clan Apex and The Sandwalk Adventures (written by a scientist), Jim Ottaviani (numerous graphic novels about the history of science), Cartoon History of... books by Larry Gonick Jr., the Little Lit books, P. Craig Russell's Opera adaptations, The Moomins, The Legend of Hong Kil Dong (Korean Robin Hood), and these are just for the kids. :) I think it's a mistake to make blanket condemnations of any format. For the OP: There are few things I would consider to be twaddle without further investigation. One of these are books that are little more than product, like Baby Einstein. The first one I opened used the pronoun 'he' to identify a cow. No love or thought went into that book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Junie B. Jones (also highlight the disrespect and name-calling!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Our hose rule is no books with any tv characters in them. Yes, I realize the Disney movies are made from real works - but you know - the trash they market to little kids. Dora, Cars, etc. Eeeewwww. Nothing abridged (we call it " the A word..."). Most books with computer generated graphics over artful illustrations. I can't articulate that well - but I think you know what I mean. Most books that rhyme - and again - not real poetry but inane sappy insulting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Most of the early chapter books, especially that Disney fairy series. Goosebumps. Elsie Dinsmore. Ooh, I don't consider Elsie Dinsmore to be twaddle...now the revised versions I do not recommend, but the original series written in the 1860's is definitely not twaddle by today's standards.. Twaddle in my book: Harry Potter Goosebumps (as mentioned above) Series of Unfortunate Events Junie B. Jones Hank The Cowdog (but it is so funny) American Girl series books That's enough to at least make them aware. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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