Before I had kids, there were things I enjoyed sharing with them. Family hikes, museums, theater and of course books. Before they were born, I filled their little bookshelf with works by Mo Williams, Sandra Boynton, Anna Dewdney, Dr. Seuss, and Beatrix Potter. When they were old enough to write their names, we went to the library to get cards, and to this day we go at least once a week to bring something new home.
But just because books are overall amazing and magical, doesn’t mean there aren’t completely useless things out there. Not all children’s books are created equal, as Reddit user Caa3098 recently pointed out on the popular r/Parenting subreddit: “What’s the worst children’s book you’ve ever come across?”
“I’ve learned to read entire books before going to the store to buy them, but with books ordered online or purchased from relatives, it’s a complete gamble,” they began.
They go on to list the following examples of books that have not yet passed review. one toy story The book “results in an artificial intelligence retelling the story with some of the darkest and most grainy screenshots from the movie”; one Coco Melon A branded book that only contains the lyrics to Christmas carols; a “Twelve Days of Christmas” style book with long, unpronounceable dinosaur names that is definitely not enjoyable to read (you can try sleeping in one Time says “three-headed dragon” nine times); and “Jimmy Fallon’s terrible book where 95 percent of the words in it are ‘mom.'”
“I always think of movies Elf His dad was like, ‘We’re not going to spend $30,000 on a shower so some kid can find out what happened to a stupid puppy and a pigeon. Don’t send it with the last five pages,” they mused. “Because let’s be honest, most publishers have to have zero oversight or just don’t care.”
The original poster (OP, if you’ve been online for a long time) highlighted several trends in children’s books that are becoming increasingly popular in the industry. Chief among them: using artificial intelligence to write children’s books. There is no shortage of people producing dozens or even hundreds of children’s books in this way and using search engine optimization (SEO) to get them to the top of the Amazon algorithm. This is a scheme that sacrifices quality and is not conducive to getting rich quick. Not concerned with developing a love of reading or childhood literacy. (This problem isn’t limited to children’s books, by the way.) But even big names like Mark Zuckerberg are using artificial intelligence to create their stories.
There are also celebrity children’s books, which dominate the market even though celebrities aren’t necessarily particularly good at children’s prose (in fact, it’s a skill). Often, it’s their name, not their story, that sells copies… though, as Meghan Markle knows all too well, that’s not always the case. (I would argue that every now and then you get a great Celebrity children’s books, such as BJ Novak’s book without picturesbut these tend to be outliers.
Of course, sometimes some books, even without artificial intelligence or celebrities/publishers hoping to make a quick buck, are lazy and bad, or even seriously, unfortunately problematic.
u/Caa3098 ended their post by posing a question to the others: “So what’s the worst/laziest person you’ve ever found?”
Reddit users quickly jumped on board.
“Maybe they’re not literally the worst, but I really dislike picture books that, while not always ‘written’ by famous people, are meant to be empowering and the main thing is ‘you are amazing,’ Unique, loved, you can do whatever you want’ “No plot, nothing, just clichés. “
“I bought a book at a garage sale called don’t call me bunny“, said u/MissRiss918. “This is a German children’s book. I haven’t read it myself before reading it to others. [my 4 and 5 year olds]. The protagonist becomes angry after being called a “little bunny”. I remember turning the page and suddenly the rabbit had a gun.
“I once saw little girl dolls made by Santa’s elves and they were definitely sentient,” u/socke42 said. “Then Santa Claus would look casually under their skirts and say ‘ho-ho’, and if the doll couldn’t say ‘mama’ or wasn’t cute enough, he would throw them in the trash. That thing went straight into the trash. .
Categories of books that Reddit users disapprove of include good evening series, applied good night moon Formulas for different cities, states, or countries; storybooks advertised as “5 minutes” (Reddit users say they’re either not five minutes or bad); books based on children’s movies; and books written for adults rather than children (usually are books that promote ideologies, or as one reviewer put it, “boss baby” books: “I’m a feminist, but…some of these women are literal war criminals).
Of course, there are arguments. some people love weird donkeywhich is hated by others. As always, classic as giving tree and i will love you forever It was some good-natured back-and-forth. Because, at the end of the day, a good book is in the eyes of the reader… but, seriously, stay away from those AI-generated monsters and rabbits with guns.
If you want more counter-advice, head to the original thread.
