Children's books that inadvertently teach terrible life lessons

[*****]

10 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

 

I think you're gonna have to name names here, because I don't know of many books for kids with "no hope in them".

 

When I went to the Scholastic Book Fairs put on in our school district (homeschoolers were allowed to go as well, so mom of course was there), I remember browsing.  Maybe it was the illustrations on the covers that made them appear dark.  A lot of black, creepy type illustrations.  Wish I could name some, but can't.  I'm sure I thumbed through them, read a few pages.  But nothing impressed me as something that was a 'must have'. There didn't seem to be any of that held anything like a beloved classic.  I never bought any and quit going after a year or 2. 

[rebcoola]

I know part of the reason I immediately found Love You Forever, so creepy.  MIL who has no boundaries and no concept of letting go gave it to us.  She also gave us the giving tree I'm pretty sure she thinks she is the tree. 

Scholastic books just follow trends they were dark because monsters and vampires were cool.  My kids bought what they wanted because we could use our charter school funds and always had lots.  They were never dark like Neil gaimnan or something they don't have enough depth to be dark.  Scholastic is like beach reads for kids. 

[livetoread]

I picked up The Runaway Bunny as a launching young adult and was horrified. Thought it was a really creepy message that no matter how hard the little bunny tried to get away, the mother would shapeshift and snare him/her back. Then, as the mother of littles, we all loved it. What’s reassuring to littles is creepy to olders as their needs change. They are now launching young adults - maybe I’ll have them read it again just to listen to them freak out 😄.

[katilac]

From the Rainbow Fish fix-it: 

"I bet that starfish sent you here, didn't she? . . . And did you notice that starfish was all by herself? That girl has no friends, because she is shady."  😄

[Terabith]

13 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I thought of a couple more that we find odd.  George and Martha.  The hippo books. In one of the short stories George has a bad habit of peeking in windows and he peeks at Martha in the bathtub.  Dh and I were like WTF?? Of course George learned his lesson, but still, eww.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but Blueberries for Sal. Does this make anyone else worry about being safe around bears. This book terrified my 4 year old.  We had a bear at our house last year and she became terrified of bears and when we read this, she lost it.  She was not ok will little Sal being so close to mother bear.  Like dang lady, keep up with your kid, kwim?  Like I said, a bit of a stretch, but I'm bored and this post has challenged me to think of more. Feel free to ignore me. 😂 So yeah, not really good life lessons I guess.  She got her blueberries to can for winter though. 😄

 

I loved George and Martha.  I mean, George is very inappropriate, but he's kind of innocent.  He reminded me more of how four year olds are trying to learn social skills and what is and is not appropriate.  I feel like all the characters around George make it very clear what precisely he has done wrong.  

I loved Blueberries for Sal, but I also never had small children in an area where bears were a real concern.  If we had, I could see it would be much scarier!

[Kareni]

We also liked George and Martha at my house. I was pleasantly surprised recently when I saw it on the ideal bookshelf that my adult daughter shared in this thread: 

 What would be on your 'Ideal Bookshelf'?

Regards,

Kareni

[Condessa]

16 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I thought of a couple more that we find odd.  George and Martha.  The hippo books. In one of the short stories George has a bad habit of peeking in windows and he peeks at Martha in the bathtub.  Dh and I were like WTF?? Of course George learned his lesson, but still, eww.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but Blueberries for Sal. Does this make anyone else worry about being safe around bears. This book terrified my 4 year old.  We had a bear at our house last year and she became terrified of bears and when we read this, she lost it.  She was not ok will little Sal being so close to mother bear.  Like dang lady, keep up with your kid, kwim?  Like I said, a bit of a stretch, but I'm bored and this post has challenged me to think of more. Feel free to ignore me. 😂 So yeah, not really good life lessons I guess.  She got her blueberries to can for winter though. 😄

 

 

Oh, we love Blueberries for Sal!  And One Morning in Maine, and Time of Wonder as well.  And really everything by Robert McCloskey.  My super-sensitive little girl found bears less scary after reading Sal, because after all, Mother Bear is every bit as afraid of Little Sal as her mother is nervous of Little Bear.

[Lady Florida.]

On 8/1/2020 at 8:03 PM, Robin M said:

My kiddo took everything literally so that prayer went quietly away.   Okay, let's make up our own.  

 Even Rock a Bye baby became a problem. I never learned the last two verses so all I remember was 

Rock-a-bye, baby, in the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
Down will come baby, cradle and all.

Um, no. 

I sang Rock-a-bye baby to ds but changed the last line to Mommy will catch you, cradle and all. I grew up hearing the original and thought it was terrible.

[Frosch]

On 8/1/2020 at 8:29 PM, Heartwood said:

There was an ABC that we discussed in my Children's Literature class in college called The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey. Check it out 😳.

ETA: This book doesn't fit into the category of inadvertently teaching children bad life lessons. It just scares them from making bad choices, ha ha.

 

I come from a family of dark humor and sarcasm.  We learn it very young.  

My sister (much older than I has owned a copy of that since it's printing.  Her children and I grew up with it and always laughed about the poor pitiful children.   My sons loved it too.  It's far superior to The Uncle Shelby's ABZ book.  (Though that one is rather devious.)