What popular or classic book/s can you not stand? And which do you adore?

[Eos]

On 10/5/2022 at 3:58 PM, Ellie said:

And it's weird and hinky. I don't know anything about the author's life, but he must have had issues with his mother, because he made odd comments, multiple times, about mothers. Also, Peter lied to the Lost Boys all.the.time., and sometimes when he reappeared after a long absence, he was bloated with blood. WTH?

I can't stand Peter Pan - I just sat through another high school play version and thought I would be content to never see another reference to it.   This version was literally called Peter Pan - The Boy Who Hated Mothers.  Just ugh.

I tried and tried to like Swallows and Amazons and just do not.

I love and have so many classics it's hard to choose a favorite.  I didn't let my kids read books like the goosebumps or similar. I think of those kinds of books (and told this to my kids at the time) as mental fritos - junk food for the mind. I didn't learn the word twaddle until I was homeschooling, but prefer mental fritos as a more relatable description 🙂  I don't agree that anything that gets kids to read is better than nothing.

OK, here goes: growing up I think my favorites were Little Women and All Of A Kind Family, plus the D'aulaires books,  as a mom it might be Farmer Boy, The Phantom Tollbooth, and the D'aulaires.

We also read so many fairy tales from every culture. I have four anthologies of fairy tales on the coffee table in front of me that dd18 is currently re-reading.

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Eos

[Eos]

On 9/2/2022 at 10:04 PM, AnneGG said:

The Bernstein Bears.

I can't stand these, but dh liked them and read them to the kids.  Mental fritos.

Another childhood favorite was Harriet the Spy but my kids never liked her.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Eos

[Eos]

On 9/4/2022 at 4:49 PM, knitgrl said:

I did not like Pippi Longstocking. She came off to me as manipulative. 

Funny - I liked these books as a kid but not as a mom.  

Dated but favorite: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.  Curative.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Eos

[Garga]

I loved A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid but hated it when I read it aloud as an adult to my kids. Meg is soooo whiny. 

 

[GoodnightMoogle]

13 hours ago, Eos said:

Funny - I liked these books as a kid but not as a mom.  

Dated but favorite: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.  Curative.

Oh I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as a child! I wonder how she holds up; I’ll have to reread. Can you believe I still haven’t read Little Women?? It’s so hyped up now I’m almost afraid to read it!

I like the term mental Fritos. Though one can argue a bag of Fritos every now and again isn’t a bad thing 😉 I always say Captain Underpants inspired child-me to make little comics!

[Garga]

48 minutes ago, GoodnightMoogle said:

Oh I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as a child! I wonder how she holds up; I’ll have to reread. Can you believe I still haven’t read Little Women?? It’s so hyped up now I’m almost afraid to read it!

I like the term mental Fritos. Though one can argue a bag of Fritos every now and again isn’t a bad thing 😉 I always say Captain Underpants inspired child-me to make little comics!

I read Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to the kids a few years ago and I think it held up very well. In fact, I sort of liked it better as a parent because I could feel for the parents dealing with their children’s odd foibles.

[MagistraKennedy]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:35 PM, fairfarmhand said:

 

I did not care for Ramona as a kid, but then I had a kid who was Just. Like. Ramona. And I loved the books then. I've read them more as an adult than I ever did as a kid. I love how Beverly Cleary steps into the brain of a kid, even an annoying, impulsive little kid who constantly gets into trouble.

 

100% --- I love the Ramona series because my youngest daughter is JUST like her. And in the older books, I appreciate the relationship of the family. They may not always get along, but they are fiercely devoted to each other. 

[GoodnightMoogle]

Just finished up the first “Boxcar Children” book in the series. As far as books with the theme of “poor siblings who love each other, have jolly spirits, and survive grim circumstances but magically end up adopted by an estranged wealthy relative” go (how’s that for a run on sentence?) I preferred this one to “Five Little Peppers.” It didn’t drag, it was succinct, it maintained the love of the siblings and still felt believable without getting too overly-sweet. The boxcar was so charming. I think I would have loved this book if I had read it as a child.

I haven’t thrown Peppers in the compost just yet; I will continue reading more of those books. I’m gonna drop Boxcar, though, as I read they become mystery novels after the first one. I will definitely have my children read this book at some point. Even if that opening is so randomly horrific!

 I also read “The Hundred Dresses.” I noticed it was featured in a lot of homeschool reading lists and it was so quick I blew through it while watching my toddler play in the sandbox today. Wow. What can I even say? What a powerful little story. The ending is particularly wrenching and I wouldn’t change it even though I longed for a more satisfying conclusion. This one is going to stick with me for a while. What a great story for character-building.

Ugh. The way the character Maddie was imagining saving the polish girl in various ways to make herself feel better…it felt so real. That’s so how my brain is, and feels like one of those little shower thoughts…those details in our lives no one talks much about but we all share. 

[Ellie]

On 4/18/2023 at 8:12 PM, Garga said:

I read Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to the kids a few years ago and I think it held up very well. In fact, I sort of liked it better as a parent because I could feel for the parents dealing with their children’s odd foibles.

My dc and I also enjoyed Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle..

[fostermom]

I remember absolutely hating having to read Charlotte's Web as a child. I didn't care about pigs and much less about spiders. Honestly anything that had to do with farms just bored me to death. Maybe because I'm a city person. As a consequence my kid hasn't read any farm books either. Sorry kid, maybe I should fix that. Maybe he likes farms...

[ScoutTN]

Detested Mary Poppins. Love the Disney movie.

[shawthorne44]

21 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

Detested Mary Poppins. Love the Disney movie.

I do often prefer the Disney-ified version.    I remember reading that they couldn't have whats-her-face that played Mary Poppins be horrible, like she is in the books.   Hercules being being Hera's child instead of child of rape is better too.   

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by shawthorne44

[Ellie]

22 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

Detested Mary Poppins. Love the Disney movie.

I don't usually prefer movie over book, but I'm ok with this one. Ditto Wizard of Oz. I like both of the books, but I'm not mad over the movie adaptations. Lord of the Rings, now: I'll fight you over that, lol.

[Lilaclady]

One of my best books for

middle school is A view from Saturday- love, love that book. It’s a new berry winnner but I’m not sure if it’s a classic. Another newer one is Wonder. Love it 

[Dianthus]

On 6/4/2023 at 8:30 AM, fostermom said:

I remember absolutely hating having to read Charlotte's Web as a child. I didn't care about pigs and much less about spiders. Honestly anything that had to do with farms just bored me to death. Maybe because I'm a city person. As a consequence my kid hasn't read any farm books either. Sorry kid, maybe I should fix that. Maybe he likes farms...

Understood Betsy is about a city girl moving to a farm. It's a lovely book.

[Carol in Cal.]

I absolutely hated David Copperfield.  I was encouraged to read it after I finished Little Women, which I loved, in fourth grade.  It was so dark and depressing.  People said, “Oh, that’s a real classic!” So I decided to avoid classics from then on, which I pretty much did until I read The House Of The Seven Gables at 21 after visiting Salem for the first time.  

I loved:

The Diamond In The Window

Little Women

My Side of the Mountain

The Egypt Game

Black and Blue Magic

Half Magic

Tom Sawyer

An Old Fashioned Girl

In Place of Katya

Number the Stars

The Chronicles of Prydain

LOTR

The Golden Goblet

Mara, Daughter of the Nile

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Anything by Howard Pease—so intense!

Series books I enjoyed:

Judy Bolton mysteries (less formulaic than others)

My BookHouse

Black Stallion books

My Friend Flicka and following

The ‘twins’ books (historical fiction)

Nancy Drew mysteries

 

I hated:

David Copperfield

Oliver Twist

I thought that the Little House books were fairly boring.  

Ditto most poetry and poetic books like those by Joan Walsh Anglund.  

Ditto the old Cherry Ames books

The racism in the old Boppsey Twins books bugged me a lot as a kid.

[GoodnightMoogle]

On 6/4/2023 at 2:07 PM, ScoutTN said:

Detested Mary Poppins. Love the Disney movie.

I wonder if it has to be one or the other. I don’t care much for the movie (at least, I always dislikes the cartoon-world scenes as a kid) but really enjoyed the book! However, having watched “Saving Mr Banks,” I really don’t see what the author’s point was about saving the father. The father is hardly mentioned in the book at all! I rather like that theme in the movie. I wonder if that comes into play in other books in the series?

[GoodnightMoogle]

15 hours ago, Dianthus said:

Understood Betsy is about a city girl moving to a farm. It's a lovely book.

I really need to read this one. I think I’m bumping it to the next children’s book on my list. 

[GoodnightMoogle]

I lied, the next book I finished was Pollyanna.

Adding this to my list of good classics. I teared up a little at the end when, no spoilers, but everyone was coming to visit her. In some ways this book weirdly reminded me of the ending of It’s a Wonderful Life. Does anyone else get that sort of theme/vibe? Like you were this light in the community, and then when you need help, everyone comes around to be that light for you because of how you helped them.

I could see how some people in this day and age might call the Glad Game an unhealthy coping mechanism. There are times when we need to grieve. But I think the spirit of this book is beautiful.

My one gripe - her constantly calling her freckles ugly. I have freckles, my children probably will too. I know this is just a time and place idea of beauty that was in the past, but I still don’t even want it in my children’s minds that their freckles are ugly 😕 

 

Ok, Understood Betsy is next for real this time. 

[madteaparty]

Hate: Wind in the Willows

love: Count of Monte Cristo

[GoodnightMoogle]

22 hours ago, madteaparty said:

Hate: Wind in the Willows

love: Count of Monte Cristo

I’m surprised that I’ve seen a lot of dislike for Wind in the Willows. All I know about it is “Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disney so I figured it must be well loved. 

[madteaparty]

2 hours ago, GoodnightMoogle said:

I’m surprised that I’ve seen a lot of dislike for Wind in the Willows. All I know about it is “Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disney so I figured it must be well loved. 

This book seems to inspire only absolute devotion or outright hate, nothing in the middle.

I’m not aware of the Disney thing. 

[happypamama]

On 9/10/2022 at 9:50 PM, GoodnightMoogle said:

Catcher in the Rye has to be the most contentious book ever. A lot of people in my high school class couldn’t stand Holden. I loved him though, and reading it again as an adult I loved him more and felt so sad for him.

So, I had never read Catcher in the Rye; somehow, my many advanced English classes skipped that particular one.  I read it recently when my teenage son was reading it.  He liked it.  I am not sure I would have related well to Holden and liked the book, had I read it as a teenager.  He isn't someone I can relate well to at all; I was a rule-following, non-rebellious teen, and I just think I would not have gotten it at all.  But somehow I (even though my own teen boys are rule-following, non-rebellious teens) felt differently, viewing it from the lens of a parent.  I felt sad for him too.

 

[happypamama]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar -- I adore (and Carle's works in general).  Having loved it when I worked in daycare, I purchased it when my oldest was a baby.  After losing DS#5 at three weeks old, packing our well-worn copy of Caterpillar in my hospital bag and reading it to DS#6 as his first bedtime story, the day he was born, was a very precious healing moment.

 

I adore The Little Princess too.  And Little House on the Prairie.  And Betsy-Tacy.  And All-of-a-Kind Family.  And Little Women, Meg being my favorite.  And Winnie the Pooh.  (I read the first chapter of Winnie the Pooh to DS#5 the night before he died, because I wanted him to have something that all of the other kids had loved.  Gotta read it to DS#6 soon if I can manage.)

 

I read The Wind in the Willows to my boys this year.  They looooooved it.  I. . . tolerated it, lol.  To be fair, they love love love Redwall too, so animals having adventures sat pretty well with them.  It's not an easy book to read out loud.  My kids got me to read and enjoy Redwall, The Chronicles of Prydain, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson too.

 

Book I truly cannot stand: The Giver.  I will never require my kids to read it.  The scene where Jonas watches the release of the infant made me feel ill as a teen, and it's making me feel ill just thinking about it now.  Maybe it hits too close?  Maybe God was making sure I wouldn't insist on it for my kids because it would hit too close for them too?  It's just that one; I thought Number the Stars was lovely, and I was a big fan of Anastasia Krupnik as a tween. 

 

Honorable mention for no thanks: The Lottery.
 

[wordshaker]

Love: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Jungle Book, first 3 Oz books, Wrinkle in Time, A Separate Peace, Jane Eyre

Love-hate: Alice in Wonderland… the disturbing elements of story and author. In reading it to my kids the Queen kept saying, “Off with them!” instead of “Off with their heads!” We’re sensitive types.

Not good: Of Mice and Men, Peter Pan (so much editing while reading to my kids I could barely read 😂). It was more than the violence, just really outdated stuff. 
Also the short story classic I’ll mention— the one where the guy is hunting disoriented humans on his estate.

Responding to happypamama, as a kid I liked The Lottery as good-horror because the feeling of alienation and humans failing without knowing was so, um, relatable?? Omg, homeschooling is so therapeutic… I’ve missed all the daily insights! Well, we are happily back in the fold.

Edited June 18, 2023 by wordshaker

[wordshaker]

12 hours ago, happypamama said:

So, I had never read Catcher in the Rye; somehow, my many advanced English classes skipped that particular one.  I read it recently when my teenage son was reading it.  He liked it.  I am not sure I would have related well to Holden and liked the book, had I read it as a teenager.  He isn't someone I can relate well to at all; I was a rule-following, non-rebellious teen, and I just think I would not have gotten it at all.  But somehow I (even though my own teen boys are rule-following, non-rebellious teens) felt differently, viewing it from the lens of a parent.  I felt sad for him too.

 

I didn’t like Holden’s superiority, mainly. Boring. I got so much more from the *beautifully complex,* A Separate Peace, excellent male-focus coming of age story that this girl loved!

Edited June 18, 2023 by wordshaker

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Edited September 10, 2023 by Petrova Fossil
added some titles

[GoodnightMoogle]

On 6/18/2023 at 12:25 PM, wordshaker said:

I didn’t like Holden’s superiority, mainly. Boring. I got so much more from the *beautifully complex,* A Separate Peace, excellent male-focus coming of age story that this girl loved!

Holden is a very subtle character, and I think on the surface he comes off as annoying and pretentious to most people, but I could see how deeply he was hurting and how outraged he was that the world was moving on without his brother. Even his parents and sister didn’t seem to get it. The book is him processing this loss without directly talking to the reader about it. 
 

Ahh everyone always hates on Holden so I gotta show up every once in a while to defend him 😂 I’ll check out the other book you mentioned, too!

[GoodnightMoogle]

On 6/20/2023 at 11:18 PM, Petrova Fossil said:

Loved:

Noel Streatfeild’s books

Madeleine L’Engle’s books

Wizard of Oz and its sequels

Tolkien’s books

 

Loathed:

The Cat of Bubastes (not sure if it’s technically “a classic”, but I hated it)

Anne of Green Gables—Anne was too flighty and girly for me, and I hated that she had to fall in love with Gilbert. I pictured them better as good friends, with some healthy competition.

Little Women—love/hate. I loved Jo, but Amy was a brat and Meg and Beth were dull and homely. Also, Jo and Bhaer seemed like a hastily written, poorly paired couple. Again, they would have done better as good friends…

and my teenage self hated anything written for girls, LOL. (But Noel Streatfeild will always be an exception!)

Everyone seems to love Anne of Green Gables and Little Women, so it’s interesting to see another take! I’m hoping to read Anne soon. My own friend, to her horror as a teacher, just didn’t like her and couldn’t suspend her disbelief while reading. 

[GoodnightMoogle]

Understood Betsy! Of course I loved it. However, I feel like this book is almost more for parents than for children…I wonder what ages children usually enjoy this one? I think it may have bored me a bit as a kid🤣.

Man, it just made me wish I could give a life like that to my children. We certainly live in a world that restricts the independence of children. 

[Kassia]

On 6/13/2023 at 9:39 AM, Dianthus said:

Understood Betsy is about a city girl moving to a farm. It's a lovely book.

 

On 6/14/2023 at 12:47 AM, GoodnightMoogle said:

I really need to read this one. I think I’m bumping it to the next children’s book on my list. 

I just read it for the first time because of this thread.  Loved it!  Thanks so much to everyone who recommended it.  ❤️ 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Kassia

[freesia]

3 hours ago, Kassia said:

 

I just read it for the first time because of this thread.  Loved it!  Thanks so much for everyone who recommended it.  ❤️ 

It’s wonderful! I read it to ds when he was 7. When it ended, he sighed and said, “That was a good book.” I agree!

[Dianthus]

I'm going to read it again soon. Ds8 doesn't remember these books that I already read to the older kids.

[Ellie]

On 4/18/2023 at 5:51 AM, Eos said:

I think of those kinds of books (and told this to my kids at the time) as mental fritos - junk food for the mind.

 

I'm not totally opposed to junk food for the mind. In fact, that's what I usually read when I go to bed at night; I'm on the second of the Dragonriders of Pern original trilogy, for the umpteenth time. 🙂

[Kassia]

I told DH about Understood Betsy and he just read it (and enjoyed it) too!  I can't believe neither of us ever heard about it until now!  

[Jean in Newcastle]

I am probably going to have tomatoes lobbed at me, but I felt like Understood Betsy was a bit didactic to the point where the message it was trying to get across hit you in the face instead of being just a natural part of the story.  This doesn't mean that I didn't like it at all or that I don't agree somewhat with it's message but I did feel like the author was a bit heavy-handed. 

[Eos]

5 hours ago, Ellie said:

I'm not totally opposed to junk food for the mind. In fact, that's what I usually read when I go to bed at night; I'm on the second of the Dragonriders of Pern original trilogy, for the umpteenth time. 🙂

Every night for the last maybe 37 years I've reread Agatha Christie - it's not junk food but it's like chamomile tea for me. I tell my kids it makes my brain turn off.

[Ellie]

6 hours ago, Kassia said:

I told DH about Understood Betsy and he just read it (and enjoyed it) too!  I can't believe neither of us ever heard about it until now!  

See? I don't understand why more people haven't heard of it!

[Ellie]

6 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am probably going to have tomatoes lobbed at me, but I felt like Understood Betsy was a bit didactic to the point where the message it was trying to get across hit you in the face instead of being just a natural part of the story.  This doesn't mean that I didn't like it at all or that I don't agree somewhat with it's message but I did feel like the author was a bit heavy-handed. 

I'm getting my tomatoes ready...

[Ellie]

19 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am probably going to have tomatoes lobbed at me, but I felt like Understood Betsy was a bit didactic to the point where the message it was trying to get across hit you in the face instead of being just a natural part of the story.  This doesn't mean that I didn't like it at all or that I don't agree somewhat with it's message but I did feel like the author was a bit heavy-handed. 

I used to enjoy Alcott's "Rose in Bloom" and its prequel, the name of which I can't remember. Something about Cousins. And then I read it as an adult, and holy cow. Sooo preachy. She'd say that Rose went to this place and a good time was had by all, then spent pages of the characters being preachy/judgy. GAH.

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 minute ago, Ellie said:

I used to enjoy Alcott's "Rose in Bloom" and its prequel, the name of which I can't remember. Something about Cousins. And then I read it as an adult, and holy cow. Sooo preachy. She'd say that Rose went to this place and a good time was had by all, then spent pages of the characters being preachy/judgy. GAH.

Eight Cousins 

[Nichola]

21 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am probably going to have tomatoes lobbed at me, but I felt like Understood Betsy was a bit didactic to the point where the message it was trying to get across hit you in the face instead of being just a natural part of the story.  This doesn't mean that I didn't like it at all or that I don't agree somewhat with it's message but I did feel like the author was a bit heavy-handed. 

I am glad to know I’m not alone in thinking this. My kids loved this book, but I didn’t enjoy it very much because the parts about morality and educational philosophy felt so heavy-handed. There were aspects that I thought were well-done, but it’s not one that I want to read again.
 

**ducking tomatoes**

[Acorn]

On 6/30/2023 at 3:47 AM, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am probably going to have tomatoes lobbed at me, but I felt like Understood Betsy was a bit didactic to the point where the message it was trying to get across hit you in the face instead of being just a natural part of the story.  This doesn't mean that I didn't like it at all or that I don't agree somewhat with it's message but I did feel like the author was a bit heavy-handed. 

I read Understood Betsy yesterday for the first time, and I agree with you. Maybe if I read it as a child, I would have enjoyed it more. It just seems like a pale imitation of Eight Cousins by LM Alcott, which I did like as a child.

[Eos]

15 hours ago, Ellie said:

I used to enjoy Alcott's "Rose in Bloom" and its prequel, the name of which I can't remember. Something about Cousins. And then I read it as an adult, and holy cow. Sooo preachy. She'd say that Rose went to this place and a good time was had by all, then spent pages of the characters being preachy/judgy. GAH.

This is how I feel about Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place - loved it as a kid, felt like it was more of a tract than a true story when I read it again as an adult.

[Ellie]

On 7/1/2023 at 6:24 AM, Acorn said:

I read Understood Betsy yesterday for the first time, and I agree with you. Maybe if I read it as a child, I would have enjoyed it more. It just seems like a pale imitation of Eight Cousins by LM Alcott, which I did like as a child.

I don't think it's even a little bit like Eight Cousins. o_0 And I refer to it in my head frequently, especially when Aunt Frances is taking Elizabeth Ann for a walk and they see the big dog, and Aunt Frances causes Elizabeth Ann to be afraid of all big dogs because of her own phobia. And I big pink puffy heart the part where Betsy is confused about what grade she is. I want to read that to many hsers who are determined to refer their homeschooled children by grade levels instead of ages and are hung up on what they "should" be teaching for "4th grade."

[Red Dove]

Mr. Popper’s Penguins was actually the reason I started pre-reading books that I was going to use as read-alouds. I started reading it aloud to my children and hated it, but since I already started reading it, I had to finish it (my daughter wanted to keep reading it). 

Books I loved:

Farmer Boy

Little Princess/ Secret Garden

Ordinary Princess

Heidi

Little Britches series

Anne of Green Gables

Tom Sawyer / Huck Finn

Narnia series

Wee Sir Gibbie

A Christmas Carol

 

Books I hated:

Mary Poppins

Winnie the Pooh

Incredible Journey

Wind in the Willows (I dislike animals that talk like humans. No reason, they’re just tiring for me.)

Pippi Longstocking 

 

I love too many older teen- adult classics to list, but here are the ones I hated:

Tale of Two Cities (I have read many Dickens’ and loved them, but I tried to read this one 3 times and quit every time.)

Picture of Dorian Gray

Gulliver’s Travels

Edited July 24, 2023 by Red Dove
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