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kristinannie
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| Posted: July 23 2012 at 2:23pm | IP Logged
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The Dahl post got me thinking. I usually get recommendations before picking read alouds and almost all of them have been excellent. I would love to hear the books that you didn't like reading with your kids. Not the obvious ones, but the ones that were recommended to you. Of course, everyone has different taste, but there are so many wonderful books and I don't really want to waste my time on books we won't love!
The only book I can think of that I didn't like (although my kids did) was Because of Winn Dixie.
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kristacecilia
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Pinocchio. I couldn't wait to get through that book.
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Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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pumpkinmom
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Two Little Savages by Seton was a disappointment for me. Didn't get very far in it before I found out it was not for us. Oh, but it looked so good and came highly recommended.
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Cassie
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Betsy
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 3:42pm | IP Logged
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kristacecilia wrote:
| Pinocchio. I couldn't wait to get through that book. |
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We didn't even finish it! 
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When handcrafting my work, I always pray that it will raise your heart to all that is true, modest, just, holy, lovely and good fame!
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
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kristacecilia wrote:
| Pinocchio. I couldn't wait to get through that book. |
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Not a fan here, either 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 6:07pm | IP Logged
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Betsy wrote:
kristacecilia wrote:
| Pinocchio. I couldn't wait to get through that book. |
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We didn't even finish it! |
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It was our first read-aloud a million years ago and I didn't think I was 'allowed' to stop! 
I've learned since then.
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Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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knowloveserve
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| Posted: July 25 2012 at 1:19pm | IP Logged
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How funny. My young boys ate up Pinocchio! We all loved it.
However, I still feel guilty that we abandoned Moomintrolls, the Borrowers, and (forgive me) even The Wind in the Willows. It just felt so slow and we were itchy to move forward...
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kristinannie
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| Posted: July 25 2012 at 1:23pm | IP Logged
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knowloveserve wrote:
How funny. My young boys ate up Pinocchio! We all loved it.
However, I still feel guilty that we abandoned Moomintrolls, the Borrowers, and (forgive me) even The Wind in the Willows. It just felt so slow and we were itchy to move forward... |
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I was going to start reading The Borrowers today!!! Maybe I should pre-read a little first!!!! 
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knowloveserve
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I think The Borrowers would make for fine independent reading; it was just tedious to read aloud for some reason...
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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SallyT
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Some of my kids adored The Borrowers, and some didn't. The ones who didn't I think could sense that disaster was going to befall the Borrowers and couldn't bear the sense of impending doom. They do get away, but the book ends on something of an ambiguous note, as I recall -- the whole series is really quite bittersweet, but I really like it. However, opinion in my house is divided. My olders particularly loved an audiotape of it that we had in England, so it can be fine as a "heard" book, depending on reader and listeners.
I can't think of too many that we've really disliked. My youngers, especially my 10yo (see "negative first reaction"), often react badly when I pull out a new book to read, but I make the deal that if they still hate it by the end of the first chapter, we'll stop. I can't think of a time that I've lost that deal, though I can think of books that it wasn't the right time for, and we came back to them later -- Captains Courageous, for one. Kids HATED it the first time we started it, but a year or so later, they were hooked.
We adore LM Boston's The Children of Green Knowe, but have not liked subsequent books in that series nearly so much.
Sally
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Amber-v
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We enjoyed the Borrowers for the most part, although there are a few parts that got slow and I admit that I didn't read all the dialect and bad grammar as printed.
Couldn't stand Pinnochio at all, and the only Dahl books I like are the two Charlie ones. Even as I kid I thought they were too creepy and weird. And the adults are generally so mean!! I guess it is supposed to be funny, but I always found it scary and sad.
I also didn't like Water Babies, although when my kids listened to it (from libervox) they liked it, especially my 10 yo daughter. I thought the book was a little too heavy handed and long winded... It was an excellent soporific though when I was pre-reading it!
Amber
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Willa
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I loved The Borrowers as a child, but found it difficult to read aloud.
Loved Pinocchio, my son went on to read it himself again and again! It is a bit weird, though.
Loved reading Outlaws of Ravenhurst with my first set of kids, but it was a fail with my youngest son.
Haven't been able to get very far reading Swallows and Amazons aloud, not sure why.
I find most Bethlehem Books Living History series difficult as read-alouds for some reason, though my kids read them fine on their own.
I think tastes vary so much in this type of thing, though. Even within a family, different children vary. When a book just isn't working during a particular season I put it aside. My daughter couldn't sit still for Peter Pan, but several years later she read it herself and really liked it.
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Willa
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guitarnan
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When child #1 (video game fanatic) does not want me to read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy aloud, but child #2 does, provided I skip all the songs and poems, I know they're both mine.
As a Catholic girls' high school student, I joined in a revolt against The Last of the Mohicans in our American Lit class. (Mind you, I'd survived Silas Marner, lots of Shakespeare, and much more...)
My son did not like the Narnia books after Prince Caspian, so I read the remainder aloud to Dancing Daughter. Same with the Betsy-Tacy books. They both know I have print copies of my favorite series here...maybe I will be reading to grandchildren ten years from now!
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JuliaT
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I have learned through the years that when there is a thread like this one, I will usually like the books that others hate. I always seem to be the odd man out.
I love Roald Dahl books (as I said in that thread) and I absolutely love Pinocchio! I think that book gives my children a good sense of the nature of sin.
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TracyFD
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I did not enjoy reading The Tale of Despereaux or Milly Molly Mandy!
Finally, over halfway through Swallows and Amazons, I am enjoying reading it aloud. A little. The kids love it, but I think it's a bit tedious, especially the first several chapters. If I try a British accent it seems to go better, but mostly I just feel guilty that our kids don't have such exciting real life adventures. In this day & age we just don't let kids camp on an island by themselves with knives, matches, and their own sailboat without life jackets. Mine are camping in the backyard this weekend and being encouraged to pretend all they want.
I enjoyed the Betsy-Tacy books and we even visited Mankato to see the houses. But after reading these, my girls started pining for a best friend their own age, instead of being happy and content with one another. That was unexpected. At least the Swallows were happy being a family team.
I have one book worm who reads about 100 books a year. The only book she did not enjoy was My Friend Flicka. But neither of my girls seem to like the stack of animal stories I put on the shelf. Maybe my son will be different?
I also wonder sometimes if I'm the only mom who is willing to read the first book of a series, but encourage the kids read the rest on their own if they want to. I think the only series I continued to read aloud is Little House.
In my plans for next year, I am trying to discern which books may go over better with Libravox recordings. This would also free my hands for little sewing projects! Are there any threads on this topic?
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Tracy
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We didn't enjoy Peter Pan as a read aloud. At all. The latest movie, so-so.
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DianaC
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We couldn't get through Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. It seems to be on so many reading lists that I expected it to be great. Would it have gotten any better if we continued?
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organiclilac
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Okay, I just FINALLY read the Betsy-Tacy books, and after all the hype, I have to say that I was kind of disappointed! I was expecting to love them like the Little House and Anne of Green Gables series: another girl to watch grow up, fall in love, etc. However, while I thought the "younger years" books were very sweet, I just wanted to scold Betsy in most of the other ones! I felt like she just kept frittering away her time in frivolity, and I wanted to shout at her to quit wasting her life! It seemed that after every year of high school, she'd realize that she'd made mistakes, resolve to do better, and then do it all over again the next year.
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Aingeal
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Ok, you know what? I have always hated The Catcher in the Rye. Everyone freaks out over how awesome it is, but really? Holden was such a whiner, such a bratty child. I knew that when I WAS a child, and I won't ask my kids to read that one, either:)
Whew. Glad that's off my chest;)
Angela
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Angela
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Erin
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DianaC wrote:
| We couldn't get through Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. It seems to be on so many reading lists that I expected it to be great. Would it have gotten any better if we continued? |
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Don't know, I just began it with my girls and dd8 rebelled, dd10 was happy to keep going however.... we've started another book.
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Erin
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Books you didn't like
