kate_nepveu: cartoon drawing of frowning person with caption, "clean _all_ the things?" (clean all the things?)Kate ([personal profile] kate_nepveu) wrote,
@ 2010-10-29 08:35 pm UTC
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Entry tags:books, parenting, steelykid

SteelyKid is on a big Dr. Seuss kick at the moment, so, some observations:

  • The Cat in the Hat is way better than The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.
  • "We saw ALL the things fall" now makes me think of Hyperbole and a Half, per the icon, in a joke that will probably be forgotten by the time SteelyKid is old enough to understand it.
  • Green Eggs and Ham is not a good model for personal relationships.
  • It is, to my surprise, possible to do the nod-off-snap-awake whiplash thing while actually reading aloud.

    Good night (moon, room, cow jumping over the moon, light and the red balloon), everybody.


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mkozlows: (idol)


[personal profile] mkozlows
2010-10-30 01:14 am UTC (link)
Cat in the Hat: No question. The sequel is like one of those Disney direct-to-DVD things where clearly it was farmed out to the B-team.

Green Eggs: So as I sort of said elsewhere, obviously with the incessant pestering, right. But once you account for the fact that kidbooks are pretty much built on repetition and comical exaggeration, the real message is "hey, when someone says that something is good, you should at least give it a try even if you don't think it sounds good. Like drugs." Which is a great wholesome message for picky children, except wait how did those last two words get in there.

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redbird: profile photo of me (profile)


[personal profile] redbird
2010-10-30 12:53 pm UTC (link)
Like drugs. Or letting them touch you whether you want it or not.

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mkozlows: (idol)


[personal profile] mkozlows
2010-10-30 03:27 pm UTC (link)
It's probably best to just limit the "lessons learned" part of GE&H to "don't be a picky eater," on the whole.

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kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (wood cat)


[personal profile] kate_nepveu
2010-10-30 03:40 pm UTC (link)
Yeah.

(Also, it's not until the end that the unnamed protag even makes it clear that he hasn't tried them before. At first you'd be justified in thinking that he had and knew he didn't like it, in which case Sam I Am ought to bugger off already.)

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mkozlows: (idol)


[personal profile] mkozlows
2010-10-30 03:59 pm UTC (link)
Also, I am probably incapable of thinking objectively about this book, because even now I am smiling at remembering 3-year-old Pip "reading" (he'd memorized it from us reading it to him) the book to himself at night, and hearing "Say, I LIKE green eggs and ham!" come from the bedroom in the most adorable toddler voice.

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kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (wood cat)


[personal profile] kate_nepveu
2010-10-31 12:28 pm UTC (link)
That is adorable.

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adrian_turtle: stubborn little quilted turtle (Dracomir)


[personal profile] adrian_turtle
2010-10-30 06:55 pm UTC (link)
I'm not sure it's a good idea to limit the "lessons learned" so as to exclude such an obvious "No Means No." When I was reading it to one of the local little girls, I suggested the possibility that Sam-I-Am was being mean. (After all, a given child is at risk of concluding "If I'm more and more dramatic about being a pest, then people will eventually stop saying "no" and "go away!" and do what I want," as well as being at risk of thinking stalking is cute and harmless.)

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kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (wood cat)


[personal profile] kate_nepveu
2010-10-31 12:29 pm UTC (link)
Yes, but that's a lesson learned that's actually diametrically opposed to the text. The text apparently sees it as a good thing that Sam-I-Am is a harassing jerk who won't take no for an answer.

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adrian_turtle: stubborn little quilted turtle (Dracomir)


[personal profile] adrian_turtle
2010-10-31 04:11 pm UTC (link)
I believe it's never too early to start learning to read critically, even at the "read to" stage.

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kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (wood cat)


[personal profile] kate_nepveu
2010-10-31 04:15 pm UTC (link)
I agree! It's just annoying to have to end every reading (multiple times a day, even) contradicting the story I've just spent ages reading out loud, you know?

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(Anonymous)
2010-10-31 05:42 pm UTC (link)
While authorial intent doesn't necessarily count for much, I recall reading somewhere that Geisel hated the interpretation of GE&H to mean "you should try everything once"; he seemed to regard it as a silly story with no moral. Which is interesting since so many of his books had explicit morals.

(Obviously the real message is that we should be indifferent to train-on-ship accidents.)

Matt

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