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SeaStar
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Try as I might, I just cannot get my children to like "The Polar Express".
Maybe it's the dark illustrations (which are not my favorite, either), maybe it's the sort of menacing train on the cover... I just don't know. We tried again today, and they sat through it, though not with much enthusiasm.
Same with "The Five LIttle Peppers and How They Grew" and "Peter Pan".
I think we've tried three times to get through PP with no luck.
So that has got me curious: what classic books have been duds at your house? Are some just overrated- or is it truly a matter of personal preference?
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SuzanneG
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Melinda.....I believe I tried all three of these books at about the same "ages" as your kids are and all were flops and we discontinued. Waiting just 1 or 2 years will make a difference. We read all three this past year and everyone enjoyed them....my oldest daughter is about 1 year older than yours (born in '01)
Tried Wind in the Willows a couple times and no one takes to it.
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Suzanne in ID
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Maddie
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I could not get through Polar Express either, everytime I try to watch the movie I fall asleep. Don't know what it is!
I have tried to read several classics to the children and didn't get anywhere. It wasn't until I started getting them on unabridged audio that they really started to enjoy them. I guess I'm not a very good reader!
Polar Express was a dud here as was Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott. They loved Little Women and Little Men, but they didn't care for Jo's Boys.
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Mimip
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SuzanneG wrote:
| Tried Wind in the Willows a couple times and no one takes to it. |
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Including me!
We also tried Peter Pan last year and the kids could not get into it. I am going to try again this year.
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Mimi
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Paula in MN
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Mimip wrote:
SuzanneG wrote:
| Tried Wind in the Willows a couple times and no one takes to it. |
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Including me!
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Same here! I did find the movie (cartoon) version and the kids may be more receptive to the book now.
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 Paula
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stacykay
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Same experience here for "Polar Express!" I am so glad you started this thread, because I was beginning to think there must be something wrong with us! 
And here's another, that seems to be so popular that they made a movie (haven't seen) of it- "Where the Wild Things Are." Not one of my boys liked the book!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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Paula in MN
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stacykay wrote:
| And here's another, that seems to be so popular that they made a movie (haven't seen) of it- "Where the Wild Things Are." Not one of my boys liked the book! |
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Oh, forgot about this one, but we are the reverse. Love the book, hate the movie ~ too scary!
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CrunchyMom
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I think that Wind in the Willows could definitely be a boy girl thing. I think it is more of a boy book. I have this whole theory about boy books, lol. I could not stand any version of Pinocchio...until I had boys. Wow, that Carlo Collodi sure understood boys 
Obviously, this theory isn't science. My boys like Where the Wild Things Are (which is another I couldn't stand at all), but it isn't a favorite.
My number one book that everyone seems to love and I can't stand is "Frederick" by Leo Lionni. I read it and was fuming. I mean, I love the arts and all (my degree is in music!), but being a poet is no excuse for being a freeloader and not helping your family store food for winter. You can have a poet's soul AND do manual labor. Blech. I'm probably reading way too much into a picture book, but it was NOT a message I wanted to encourage!
We listened to Five Little Peppers on cd, and while my boys liked it okay, I do think they will like it better in a couple of years. I, on the other hand, was listening to it all the time while cleaning. Just lovely!
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StephanieA
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After reading aloud "Peter Pan" twice....first to 3 boys, then to 4 girls, I think it appeals more to boys....BUT, I won't read it aloud again. It's just not that great of a book. In fact, I don't like the depiction of the father AT ALL and the fact that they couldn't decide whether they could afford 2 or 3 kids. I always skipped that part anyway. We like the Walt Disney movie better than the book.
I never could get into "Polar Express" either.
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Stephanie
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Another vote for Where the Wild Things Are. I didn't even suggest seeing the movie!
My dd shares my dislike of animal books, particularly ones in which the dog dies. I promised her she'd never have to read Where the Red Fern Grows or Old Yeller.
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SusanJ
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I'd been thinking of starting a thread like this but I was too nervous to admit that I or my kids didn't like books that were really popular here. But I think our list is pretty much the same as here . . .
I don't like Polar Express or Wind in the Willows and I also don't like Little Women. Is that awful? I tried to read it as a kid a few times and tried again as an adult. I do like the movie--is that even worse? 
My kids couldn't get into Peter Pan. I think we've tried it twice. It could be that they finished it this last time--dh does a lot of the chapter book reading at bedtime--but I think they set it aside.
We do love Where the Wild Things Are. But, Lindsay, I totally share your strong dislike for Leo Lionni--esp. Frederick. We owned it for awhile and purged it.
Here's a new one: none of us like the Elsa Beskow books. Maybe that's a girl thing and my dd will get into them before long?
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MarilynW
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I really dislike Polar Express - book and movie. My kids were in school when it came out and everyone made such a fuss of it that we bought them. The movie scares me and scares a couple of my kids 
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DivineMercy
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My husband gets motion sickness through much of the Polar Express movie. I told him it reminded me of one of those moving theater type of movies where you expect you chair to move with every turn and drop...but my boys LOVE it! We are reading the book for the first time tonight as our read aloud so we will see if we like it.
Michelle
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LucyP
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Mary Poppins. I bought all 3 in vintage hardback and as we started to read them, my 6yo said "but she's so horrid to the children" and in the end we abandoned them.
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SuzanneG
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It's interesting....I'm trying to think back....some of these we had a hard time with ME READING ALOUD....but once I got an audio version, it was FINE! Mary Poppins was DEF. one of them. And, now that I think about it....I'm pretty sure Peter Pan was FINALLY ENJOYED when I got an audio of it.
We listened to Five Little Peppers on audio CD, (I never tried to read it aloud) only because I/we like to hear a "professional" read a book when there are lots of kids in a book...the difference in the voices is more easily recognized and more fun for everyone.
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stefoodie
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I'm not a fan of Roald Dahl. His books/the movies are interesting, but I don't *like* them.
Wondered about Wild Things and what was so great about it... and THEN I had boys. And suddenly it made soooo much sense and I loved it.
Not a big fan of Willows the book, but I thought the movie was quaint and gives me a cozy fuzzy feeling. 
Loved Polar Express the book, hated the movie. UGH.
And always liked the short versions of Peter Pan I read (and the movies we watched) through the years -- and *then* I finally read the unabridged book to the kids a few years ago and BLECH.
I go through periods of liking and not liking Elsa Beskow.
I *love* Mary Poppins -- more and more through the years.
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Chris V
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I'm feeling encouraged knowing that all of you have one issue or another with classics, unclassics, and everything in between.
It's almost become comical, within our family, that my kiddos don't like to try anything new or unfamiliar...so that naturally begs the question "well then, how DO you get something to become familiar in the first place if your kids refuse to listen, enjoy, and get acquainted?". My solution (through trial and much, much error), has been to read the book(s) aloud, to myself, in the kitchen, on the sofa, as I puttering about doing chores, (yes, even in the bathroom), and always within ear-shot of kids running amok. Before I know it, they are asking questions, wanting to peek into the book with me, following me about the house (with book in hand), to listen, until eventually I sit, and they sit with me.
...Then we read it over, over, over and over again, until it is a favorite
Of course, there are those that they just don't care about at all (like my beloved Beatrix Potter books!) ~ but, at least I tried!
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Chari
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My two boys, 12 and 7 loved Wind in the Willows.....as did I. One of things that made it more enjoyable....was to know that CS Lewis enjoyed the same author.  It made the ride at Disneyland make more sense to them, too.
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LOL Chari - I use the phrase "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" fairly often (I live on the Other Coast, but grew up an hour from Disneyland) when I'm describing a particularly hair-raising drive/flight/transportation experience. It's easy to pick out which listeners have heard of Mr. Toad and which have not...
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Chari
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Classic UNfavorites
