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Books you would NOT SUGGEST to your kids. Why? At what age would you recommend it?

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh

New Member
Ok, I was reading the thread of "Books you'd never let your kids read" and that thread was beyond too long and seemed too harsh and had reached a point far too controversial in my pov. So I started this one, hopefully this one gets less emphatic.

So, let's start with something easy.

The book I would not suggest to my kids is: The Thief by Magan Whalen Turner. Too many "Damn"s. If I ever see my kids reading it, I would just discuss and advise to have better self control when they're upset, and I don't condone the word being blurted out in the house. And of course, they are allowed to finish the book.
 
Gilgamesh said:
Ok,Books you would NOT SUGGEST to your kids. Why? At what age would you recommend it?
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presumably you mean which book you would suggest at some point, but not to a kid?

I wouldn't suggest Animal Farm until they have acquired some Russian revolutionary history.
 
I would not suggest reading Peter Pan for a kid (also for an adult it might be a waist of time). Too weird and cruel. I read it only as a grown up, and I was rather shocked at the cruelty.

"Max and Moritz", also very cruel.

But it makes more sense to suggest than not to suggest something to read. Eventually you will come to a bookshelf in a bookstore, and say, "Oh, here is "Peter Pan". I heard something about it. Probably it was good" - you never remember what you heard where, and the memory plays funny tricks on you.
 
What the hell are you all talking about? So what if a book is cruel or full of obscenities. I was reading adult literature by the time I was ten, and I'm no worse off for it. If anything, it's made me more wise to the world. Let your kids read what they want, and let them decide for themselves if it's not good for them. They have minds of their own.

Letting them read about cruelty in books, will not in turn make your kids cruel. It will make them more aware of it. They would understand the world. I know children are supposed to be naive and innocent, but is there any point hiding it from them in a book, when they see it in the real world all the time anyway? Fiction will always be better than reality. It cannot hurt you.
 
fleuretta said:
What the hell are you all talking about? So what if a book is cruel or full of obscenities. I was reading adult literature by the time I was ten, and I'm no worse off for it. If anything, it's made me more wise to the world. Let your kids read what they want, and let them decide for themselves if it's not good for them. They have minds of their own.

Letting them read about cruelty in books, will not in turn make your kids cruel. It will make them more aware of it. They would understand the world. I know children are supposed to be naive and innocent, but is there any point hiding it from them in a book, when they see it in the real world all the time anyway? Fiction will always be better than reality. It cannot hurt you.
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I agree with everything you said. Parents tend to keep the nasty world out of their lives for as long as possible and when they get to a certain age, the kids are shocked to hell with what's going on around them.
 
As long as you teach the child to understand that fiction is not reality, I say let them read what they want. Depending on the age of the child and the book they're reading, most of the stuff will probably be over their heads anyways. I know I've re-read books I read when I was younger, and I was amazed at the stuff I didn't catch the first time around.
 
Lady Reader said:
As long as you teach the child to understand that fiction is not reality, I say let them read what they want. Depending on the age of the child and the book they're reading, most of the stuff will probably be over their heads anyways. I know I've re-read books I read when I was younger, and I was amazed at the stuff I didn't catch the first time around.
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That is exactly what has happened with me many times. Reading adult fiction as a child, I skipped over things I didn't understand. Having re-read a few of them, with more understanding, I have very often amazed myself that I didn't understand before. Children will not take in anything they don't understand. Therefore, is there any point hiding 'bad' books from them? I say let them read.
 
The only kind of books I took away from my kids were adult books with sexual content that had been misshelved at the library. (They'd been donated and the librarian was not familiar with the books, thought the covers looked like sweet Little House on the Prairie fair and set them in the children's section). Those I took back without a lot of fuss and showed to the librarian. The only other 'censoring' I've done is to note what they're reading and ask what they think of it..if there's something I know I don't like about a book, I'll say what I think. I've read all the HP books myself and seen all the films so I can join in the discussions about them..Of course, I can't read everything that they might possibly bring home(there are a lot more kids here than adults), but I I do try to stay in tune with what they're reading. I'd rather do that than waste my life trying to filter out every possible bad thought or deed they might read. Besides, books for kids doesn't have to be all sugar and sweetness..in fact, writers would do kids a grave misservice if that's all that was available. Kids encounter terrible things at young ages sometimes, and I think books are a valuable way to help them cope...just like for big people.
 
I remember reading some Rudyard Kipling stories as a child and being upset by the casual cruelty of Indian life. Later, my daughter at about age 10 read Charlotte's Web and wept because the spider died.

I don't think either of us were the worse for these experiences. It made us more aware, more sympathetic - even toward spiders.
 
silverseason said:
I remember reading some Rudyard Kipling stories as a child and being upset by the casual cruelty of Indian life. Later, my daughter at about age 10 read Charlotte's Web and wept because the spider died.

I don't think either of us were the worse for these experiences. It made us more aware, more sympathetic - even toward spiders.
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I cried when I read Charlotte's Web to the kids..and I knew what was coming! I had the same reaction when I read them Susanna of the Alamo by John Jakes. I don't think that's such a bad thing at all. Life isn't always pretty..
 
I had this book given to me Raptor-by Gary Jennings, my son wanted a new book to read, and me having my own pile to finish I gave him Raptor.

He started it and really wasn't into it but he did finish and he told me his opinion. I think that anything they read gives them their own pov about the story. I would not tell him what to read or not to read, but I am trying to get him into more genres (it's not working)
 
Gilgamesh said:
Ok, I was reading the thread of "Books you'd never let your kids read" and that thread was beyond too long and seemed too harsh and had reached a point far too controversial in my pov. So I started this one, hopefully this one gets less emphatic.

So, let's start with something easy.

The book I would not suggest to my kids is: The Thief by Magan Whalen Turner. Too many "Damn"s. If I ever see my kids reading it, I would just discuss and advise to have better self control when they're upset, and I don't condone the word being blurted out in the house. And of course, they are allowed to finish the book.
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The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and the King of Attolia are excellent books. I would recommend them to anyone. I would especially recommend them to children that are just starting to read the longer fantasy books.

Too many damns? People swear, get over it. Damn is not the worst word either. You shouldn't not recommend the books for kids just because of a word - by all means discuss it with them, put it into their heads that they shouldn't swear, that they should have better self control, but to not suggest it to them is just crazy. If they don't read it, they'll hear it, and if they hear it a lot (which they probably would, especially in the world we live in now) they are much more prone to saying it. I would have expected someone to not recommend those particular books because of, I dunno, the religion or something, but 'too many "damn"s'? Kids are a lot less innocent than we give them credit for.
 
EnglishArtist said:
The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and the King of Attolia are excellent books. I would recommend them to anyone. I would especially recommend them to children that are just starting to read the longer fantasy books.

Too many damns? People swear, get over it. Damn is not the worst word either. You shouldn't not recommend the books for kids just because of a word - by all means discuss it with them, put it into their heads that they shouldn't swear, that they should have better self control, but to not suggest it to them is just crazy. If they don't read it, they'll hear it, and if they hear it a lot (which they probably would, especially in the world we live in now) they are much more prone to saying it. I would have expected someone to not recommend those particular books because of, I dunno, the religion or something, but 'too many "damn"s'? Kids are a lot less innocent than we give them credit for.
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Please reread my post. To reiterate: I don't recommend them, nor do I ban them. But, I am not going to give it to them when it is used blatantly without purpose over and over again. It is my opinion. To state further of my opinion, there are throngs of books out there that do not say "God's damn!" and are interesting. You feed the seeds of words into young childrens growing mind and you give books with word that are inappropriate, such as 'bitch' to describe a female dog, it would be best to explain it as I have stated in the first thread. Yes, my kid read the book with 'bitch' in it (at 2nd grade); and they know what a true 'bastard' is, because I explained it.

To reply to, "...get over it"? "Kids are lot less innocent than..," that is a beyond the scope of this thread.
 
My kids are allowed to read anything I have in my house, except my adult horror. They're just not ready for some of that stuff yet (they're 7, 8, 10)

I've let them know that they're welcome to read anything that they like, but I would like them to check with me first. That way I'm aware of what they're reading and I'm ready when they come to me with questions.

My 10 year old just started Watership Down and he had a few questions for me.

I also try to make it a practice to read what they are reading, that way I'm informed. I let them make their own choices about what they read and I'm constantly challenging them to try harder books. So, I guess about the only books I WOULDN'T recommend are the books that I think are too easy for them ;)
 
I would not stop my kids from reading anything they chose: but of course if a 12 yr old picked up American Psycho, I'd stop them. Re children's books generally, the only ones I would hesitate and hold back would be a couple of Melvyn Burgess's - Lady: My Life as a Bitch and Doing It. I think the books show promiscuity in a favourable light and focus crudely on the sexualisation of girls; teens are very impressionable.
 
Well, when I was a kid, I had easy access to the library and a library card. I was very self-sufficient. Like a lot of kids, I was also very interested in sex. My parents didn't know though. They thought I was reading books like Tom Sawyer. Little did they know I was reading about what Tom Sawyer was doing to Becky Thatcher, so to speak.

The reason why I bring this up is, kids will be curious and they'll do whatever they need to do to satisfy their curiosity. Parents can't stand in their way, just like my parents could not hold me back. I think by age 10, I read Mario Puzo's "The Godfather," a very sexually explicit (and HOT!!) book. Oh my...

But to address the original query of this thread, one should not suggest "The Godfather" to kids.
 
personally I wouldn't "not" reccomend any books to children; judging from expeirience it just makes them more inclined to read them. To see "whats sooo forbbiden" about them. ^_^
 
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