Now that my 6 year old can read practically anything on his own, I have to be more careful about what I keep lying around the house. I also have to be vigilant at bookstores and libraries because he could casually stumble upon and start reading books like, "I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much," "It's Just a Plant" (meaning, marijuana), and "Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies?"
The blog A Whole Lot of Nothing has a hysterically snarky but spot-on bit about children's books that go terribly wrong.
Click on over to read the full post and commentary, but here's a sneak peak of some of the titles and excerpts:
I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much
“For Christmas, Daddy made me a sled. He brought it to my room on Christmas Eve. I knew it was only Daddy in a Santa Suit because he bumped into my bed twice and spilled beer on the rug.”
The House That Crack Built
“This is the street of a town in pain, this is the girl who is killing her brain”
It's Just a Plant
"One night, Jackie woke up past her bedtime. She smelled something funny in the air, so she walked down the hall to her parents' bedroom."
Would you allow your school age child to read any of these, um, I guess you'd have to call them, children's books?
Related posts:
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Kanye West is Gay?! 
Comments 28
OMG, that's horrible & kind of depressing! Why do people write that kind of stuff?
don't forget Bi-Curious George!
Wow I've never even seen them but "No" I wouldn't want them reading them. I read some books my tween son wants to read so that I know they are age appropriate before he does.
Thats horrible, what kind of author would write those as "childrens" books???
Funny, but too bad that your "Blogger" pretty much plagiarized word for word many of the books descriptions in Michael Swaim's Cracked article. [LINK] Not trying to be rude. Just give credit where credit's due. All the funniness of this is Michael Swaims doing.
I have not heard of the others, but the "Just a Plant" book is informative in my opinion. It explains what marijuana is (without the sensationalized "POT WILL KILL YOU AND MAKE YOUR GENITALS FALL OFF!" message of the media) and that it's not for children.
I work at a children's bookstore. We sell books for kids, parents and teens and also supply books to local teachers, schools and community groups.
'Cafe Cynthia''s' ignorance is very offensive and unkind.
These books are likely not about subjects that her children have to deal with. In a perfect world, no child would have to worry about crack houses or a daddy who comes home drunk. No teachers would have to help explain that to a child in a supportive way. And no parent, struggling to try and make sense of something to a child would need help explaining a difficult issue.
But we live in a world where children, parents and teachers are NOT so lucky. Many children - even kids at YOUR child's school, kids you consider to be from 'nice' families, are dealing with all these issues and more EVERY DAY. Do you really believe that it is wrong to have age-appropriate books to try and help parents explain things to a kid??
(Cont.)
In our store, these books are sheleved in a seperate section. I cannot tell you how many times these resources have proved to be invaluable to parents, teachers and counselors trying to help children who are caught in the middle of situations they did not create. So instead of criticizing the very EXSISTENCE of these books, simply because your family is fortunate enough not to need them, show some understanding and compassion and realize that not all children are so lucky.
Parenting is the responsibility of the PARENT. If your child has no need to read about these topics, and you don't consider them appropriate, then YOU keep them out of your child's hands. That's YOUR job, mom. Don't blame the books for simply exsisting because some other child needs help with an issue or problem that you don't have to deal with.
All this knee-jerk article shows is how ignorant and self-involved some people are. I sincerely hope your family never has to deal with a drug or alcohol abuse problem or bullying or any negative issue. But if you do, you might be glad for some help explaining to your kids.
I would rather have my kids wrinkle their brow and ask me a bunch of questions that I have to think about before I answer than them getting info from friends. Let's face it, kids know more about more things than when we were kids. And on a last note, Freedom of the Press . . .
I'm not really sure how I feel about these books. I am very fortunate to have an open relationship with my children and they just ask me anything they want to know. It has been a lot of hard work and I am very proud of that. I think for a child to just read these books for entertainment value is wrong, but I don't really think that is what these books are intended for. I can see where they would be helpful for a child dealing with some of these problems. Unfortunately, children do have to deal with very grown up things and there is no easy way to explain it to them. Maybe a book written on their level about these things with a character like them in the story going through the same things they are going through helps. I just don't know. I thank God every day I haven't been put into that spot with my children.