https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:10:22 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714757 Thu, 23 Mar 2017 08:37:27 +0000 Mrs. Blue 2714757@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our boys LOVE The Book with No Pictures, but it says "butt" and we choose not to use that. When we read it, we just change the line to "My best friend is a hippo named Boo Boo Bottom."</p> <p>If it's something like a character says, "I hate you," we would just talk about how that isn't a very nice thing to say, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714697 Thu, 23 Mar 2017 07:42:25 +0000 Bao 2714697@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JerricaBenton: @erinbaderin: those are good points about the word hate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714688 Thu, 23 Mar 2017 07:33:51 +0000 erinbaderin 2714688@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JerricaBenton: I agree - I don't have a problem with the word hate! Are kids not allowed to hate things? I'm totally fine teaching that you shouldn't hate people (although even that....I hare people. I hate Donald Trump, I hate Ted Cruz, I feel ok with that) but hate is a feeling that it's fine to feel. I actually also don't have a problem with stupid as long as you're not calling a person stupid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714684 Thu, 23 Mar 2017 07:31:01 +0000 JerricaBenton 2714684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I only sensor stuff that might be scary or give lo nightmares. If something seems really out of place I might replace a word like stupid or hate but most of the time I just say 'oh that's a naughty thing to say!' because the kid in the story is being naughty. I don't mind hate when it's about an inanimate object though, so saying dragons hate spicy salsa doesn't bother me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714636 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:41:54 +0000 PinkElephant 2714636@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been surprised by how many books for small children use words like hate and stupid. A lot of them are "old" or "classic" stories, but still....I try to edit as I go (and warn DH, but he has a harder time with that). But occasionally I'll find myself knee deep in a really awful library book I didn't preview carefully enough, and then I just stop to discuss why the way a character is talking or acting isn't right. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714632 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:23:28 +0000 Pollywog 2714632@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Depends on the age. Right now I regularly correct books grammar or improve cadence when reading to my 13 month old, but when he's old enough to follow along I'll read verbatim so he can learn words. We will also discuss why we don't use words like dumb. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714611 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 20:23:30 +0000 maddyz 2714611@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: I change most he/she's to they whenever possible especially books where the he/she is a train or truck or letter. It just feels better. I hate that the "me" is so many books is a blond haired blue eyed boy.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714576 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:04:36 +0000 Silva 2714576@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@fancyfunction: it is so bad!!! The first time we read it I was like..."wtf?!" My husband and I had to go over our edits together so my daughter wouldn't catch us 😂 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714568 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 18:58:08 +0000 Bao 2714568@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Silva: @fancyfunction: We got a Junie B. Jones book and the title has "stupid" in it, but I tried reading it to her anyway, all the character did was whine/complain/show sass. I've tucked that one away for a while. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714566 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 18:55:47 +0000 fancyfunction 2714566@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Silva: Glad I'm not the only one! Someone gave us Purplicious and I was so surprised by its content. M loves all the Pinkicious books so I thought this one was very out of character with the series. It's sitting at the back of a shelf in her closet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714564 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 18:47:06 +0000 Silva 2714564@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We usually don't do much editing. My daughter is, for some reason, really interested in Martin Luther king jr- we check out books about him all the time, and they definitely have some heavy concepts and words. We just talk about it a lot.</p> <p>However, she picked out purplicious one day and that book is terrible. I don't like the other ones at all either, but purplicious had the word "sissy" in it, and made fun of boys for liking pink. The counter message wasn't even all that strong to balance it out. It's so weird. We did a ton of editing on that one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714507 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 16:15:11 +0000 JenGirl 2714507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been trying to get away from using ableist terms like stupid but recognize I can't shield my son forever. If you really like the book, otherwise, I might get it, and discuss the word and why it's not a good word to use. Then you can sub a different word when reading aloud and reinforce why you're doing that as time goes on. Maybe it could actually be a good educational opportunity? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714493 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:37:28 +0000 kiddosc 2714493@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This isn't something that I worry about. I've read E books that have name calling and the word hate, and concepts like running away and I've yet to see any detrimental impact at nearly 5. We've had conversations about not calling names, and that's reinforced at daycare. I don't think hate is a dirty word either, you can not like something enough that you hate it. We have the Little Critter book where he runs away and a Barenstain Bears book where they form clubs to exclude opposite gender cubs. We just talk about the lessons that those books are trying to convey. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714485 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:27:02 +0000 PurplePeony 2714485@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I edit books that use words or concepts I don't like. For example, my DD likes Little Critter but some of the books (especially the older ones that were around when I was a kid) have toy guns, talk about running away etc. I just leave out or change the words to something that makes sense but is more acceptable to me (i.e. "I'm going to go spend some time by myself" instead of "I'm going to run away" or subbing "don't like" for "hate"). When she learns to read, she'll probably realize that the story is different, but by then I think she will be old enough to talk about and understand why.</p> <p>She also has some books that I love except that ALL the characters are male and it serves no purpose in the storyline (Dear Zoo and A Sick Day for Amos McGee are the ones that come to mind right now). I regularly change up the genders because I see it as unconscious but insidious bias...but I might be a little on the fringes with this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714484 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:26:49 +0000 honeybear 2714484@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If I had a book that I liked enough despite a word selection, I'd change it when reading out loud. I don't mind ugly words/characters/events in books for older children if they're there to serve a purpose, but in a picture book that's aimed at little kids, it feels sloppy to me. We don't need to teach toddlers and kindergartners to be crass. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/books-with-not-nice-words#post-2714473 Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:11:45 +0000 Bao 2714473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm on a book kick because we are swapping out some screen time for extra book time, so I'm adding a few more books to our library in the coming weeks. I liked to look at sample pages of books/reviews before purchasing, since I usually shop online for them and not in store. </p> <p>I have a wish list going of books I've thrown on there here and there. One of them is The Day the Crayons Came Home", my girls love the first one but looking at some pages the word stupid shows up, and I'm not a fan of that but don't know if it's silly not to get a book because of a few words, I could always skip them? </p> <p>We have Dragons Love Tacos and it uses the word hate, we love the book though so I just change the word. </p> <p>What are your views on kids books like this? With words like stupid, hate, etc or not nice comments in general in them. </p>