I know a lot of parents these days introduce their kids to reading early. And it also helps that there is a wonderful range of books for kids of every age and learning abilities. Well, but I will suggest ALWAYS read the book your child is going to read, before buying it and passing it on to him / her. The reason being you will be shocked to find weird kind of things in there.
Here are some pictures of books which are the only ones that I picked without reading. And see what I got:
This book is called 'More Moral Stories from Panchtantra'. It has a collection of stories, and there is a 'moral' at the end of each story. You can see the kind of morals this book is dishing out.
These pages are from the book called 'My Body'. It is a mini-board book for little kids who are beginning to learn about body parts. Even I did not know 'tongue' and 'ear' in that much detail! I used to hide this book from my son, but somehow he used to find this much more appealing. Now that he knows all that this book has to offer, he has thankfully moved on. But really, is this book for 1-2 year old kids?
Now this annoying page is from a mini-board book called 'Fun with ABC'. Don't you think there could have been a better way to show 'Nose'? Parents try so hard to keep their kids away from such bad habits like nose-picking, and the publishers go ahead and put it right inside the book which is supposed to teach them alphabets.
So, have you also come across such books?
Here are some pictures of books which are the only ones that I picked without reading. And see what I got:
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| (Right) Moral: Dreams can never become reality. (Left) Moral: Do good to the villain, and he'll do evil to you. |
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| Hope you know the 'Tongue' and 'Ear' better now |
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| N for Nose picking |
So, have you also come across such books?
Good advice. I've had to do some on-the-fly editing as I was reading new books to my kids. Or, when I didn't catch it in time to edit, we've had the "was that a good idea?" or "was there a better way he could have done that?" kind of conversations. It's definitely easier if you read the book first and know what you're getting into.
ReplyDeleteYes Melissa, editing is required in such books and I like your idea if somehow we haven't edited. Of course, it is best if we can read the book before passing it on. And same goes for the cartoons because you can't really trust what kind of messages our children are getting.
DeleteThank you for dropping by and taking time to comment :)
OMG.. Its a real eye opener.. I buy it books for my cousin brother who is around four years old.. Have to check everything before giving it to him..
ReplyDeleteYes, I have purchased books that were very disappointing. I don't have the examples to share because the books ended up in the garbage can.
ReplyDeletetotally agree with you...just as we take care on what movies kids should watch..books also should be kind of screened before letting them through it...
ReplyDeleteOMG! Shocking! Haven't come across such books!!
ReplyDeleteBut it is certainly a good idea to read before the child reads such books!
I have come across similar things in Panchtantra...I remember reading them out and the learnings would surprise me!
ReplyDeleteHaha look at the moral of the Panchtatra books. Certainly reading the book beforehand is the best thing to do. Most of the times I have seen a book mentioned for a age group actually never belongs to that one!
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