Ug. Ugugugugugug is all I can say!
We went to the library today and I looked for an Alphabet book for Fritter. He's sick again, this time a stomach bug and all the yuckiness that goes along with that, so since we will be spending quite a bit of time at home, I wanted to pick up some new books for him. I grabbed an alphabet book not looking at the front cover or reading the back. Why would I? It's an alphabet book, how much harm could there be in it? Right?
Once home, I put Fritter down for his afternoon nap, and I settled on the couch to go through the books I checked out. The first one I read was wonderful. It's called Tony's Bread by Tomie dePaola. The story is cute, there are nuns and a bishop in it, the man goes to Mass on Sunday, and the author received the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal. The second one was cute as well, with very fun pictures in it. It's called The Lion and the Little Red Bird by Elisa Kleven.
And then, feeling like I'd had a very successful library run today, I picked up this book. A Family Alphabet Book. From the first page I knew something was not right. The picture shows two people in bed waking up to a little girl with a tuba. Harmless until you look closer. The two people are both women! The next page says "B is for book. Our moms read our favorite book to us at bedtime." And so on. I think you can guess what kind of a "family" this book is trying to portray to our innocent children.
Ugugugugugug!
From the back cover:
Have fun with the kids, moms, dads and pets in this delightful book that celebrates alternative families as it teaches young children the alphabet.
My heart hurts thinking I almost read this book to my son. So warning about this book. If you want to protect your children from the yuckiness in the world, DO NOT GET THIS BOOK! I REPEAT, DO NOT GET THIS BOOK! I will be sure from now on to preview all books before reading them to my son. It's very sad that I have to do that with books meant for very small children.
Note: I'm not linking to this book for obvious reasons. If a link appears here for it, it's because of a widget from amazon. Please let me know if one shows up so I can remove it. I am NOT promoting this book.
2 comments:
See if your library has a copy of A Landscape With Dragons by Michael O'Brien. I loaned my copy out, so I can't check, but I'm pretty sure his excellent book list at the back includes books for toddlers.
Although I hate hate hate them (due to the mess), my oldest really learned his letters well by playing with refrigerator letters while I cooked and talked to him.
Thank you for letting me know about the Michael O'Brien book. I'm going to check it out next time I make it to the library.
I've thought about the refrigerator letters before, too. I know that Fritter would like them, he already plays with the other magnets on the fridge.
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