Reading books to your kids, grandkids, or just the kids in your life is an important ritual. In our house, we read a story every night as part of the bedtime routine and it is a calm and precious part of my day.
After a story emerged this week about teachers and parents on TikTok cancelling 90s kids' book The Rainbow Fish, it got me thinking about the other kids' books parents would like to shelve for good.
Maybe because of problematic messaging (as per The Rainbow Fish critics), repetitive story lines, or simply because reading the same book every night for years is boring.
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I reached out to the Mamamia community to ask what kids' books they wish to never read to their kids again. This is what they had to say.
1. Any Peppa Pig stories.
"I hate all the Peppa Pig books. Daddy Pig is a bloody idiot in them, and George is a little brat. Peppa is annoying. I LOATHE them." - Pip.
2. Any Roblox themed stories.
"The only thing worse than when your kid wants you to watch them play Roblox, is them wanting you to read them the stories from Roblox." - Claire.
3. Spot The Dog.
"I was so excited and purchased a whole heap of Spot The Dog books when pregnant only to be really underwhelmed when I went to read them with their very basic sentences and plotlines. 'Spot bounces the ball. Watch out spot!' I remembered them so fondly?!" - Arlie.
4. The Wonky Donkey.
"The Wonky Donkey is so annoying to read. It repeats the same thing over and over and over. Not for me." - Asten.
5. Mr Tickle.
"Mr Tickle's long creepy arms tickling people when they are unaware... it just makes me feel yuck." - Nic.
6. The whole Dr. Seuss series.
"Dr. Seuss... I got given the whole series and I HATE reading them with a passion! I know that's the point, but it makes NO sense, and all the made-up words are so annoying! English is not my first language and I find them excruciating to read. Of course my kids love them so I have to make deals with them to change the story. I’d take reading three Julia Donaldson books over one Dr. Seuss any day!" - Tiiffany.
7. There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake.
"The mum is on 'a diet' and eats a salad while everyone else eats cake. I have amended that part!"- Nikki.
8. The Tiger Who Came To Tea.
"I have crossed out the bit where Mummy has to fetch Daddy’s beer and wrote 'mummy’s beer' instead." - Nikki.
9. Any Marvel superhero books.
"As a mother with a super hero obsessed three-year-old, the Marvel books are legitimately terrible. It’s torture reading them! Not only are there grammatical errors, they’re misogynistic, boring, too wordy, and confusing." - Nicolle.
10. Peter Rabbit.
"For me it's the original Peter Rabbit books by Beatrix Potter. Language has evolved so much since they were written, I'm not sure they make any sense to a three-year-old!" - Amy.
11. The Rainbow Fairy series.
"If you want to read literally the same storyline 50 times over, changing nothing except the name of the fairy, the type of magic, and the three magical objects that are stolen and inexplicably cannot possibly be rescued by anyone other than two human children with no magical powers, read these books. Wade into that series with your child at your own risk. Or you could also watch paint dry. It's probably just as fun." - Emma.
12. Room On The Broom.
"It is a fabulous book - but I must have read it over 100 times!" - Bree.
13. The Colour Kittens.
"I am pretty sure I loved this book as a child but when I read it to my own children (who also loved it) I thought the author must have been tripping on something crazy! I still had to read it a zillion times though." - Rosalind.
14. There's a House Inside My Mummy.
"It’s a book about a brother excited for his new sibling. It mentions the baby being a boy or a girl, then continues the story using male pronouns. It makes reference to the baby’s exit 'being tight' and ends with it saying something like, 'Until she makes another one!' It just made me feel sick!" - Isabel.
15. The Giving Tree.
"The gist of the book is that the child is a brat who ends up taking, taking, taking from the mother and she literally has nothing left. I can't think of a worse message for motherhood. Boundaries, parents. Healthy boundaries are a must!" - Angela.
16. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
"I read Snow White to my unborn baby and promptly decided to never read it again. These old fairytales are actually terrifying! It’s literally a story about a girl who is taken away to be slaughtered, but because she is too pretty, the dude instead decides to leave her alone deep in the woods. She is eventually poisoned and her dead body is kept in a glass box until a 'Prince' kisses her, revives her, and takes her away!" - Rebecca.
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17. Frozen.
"Special mention goes to Frozen: The Audiobook. I know, let’s manage screen time by introducing an audiobook version! Surely nothing can be worse than the 1000th viewing of Frozen? It's the actual worst. Frozen plus 100 per cent more treacle." - Leila.
18. The Book with No Pictures and The Dead Bird.
"My kids love The Book with No Pictures and find it hilarious but honestly most nights I just want them in bed and am not in the mood to read a funny book! I would read all the Julia Donaldson books over and over. The strangest book my daughter brought home was The Dead Bird where these kids find a dead bird and kept it and it was cold because it was a dead bird, etc." - Briony.
19. The Rainbow Fish.
"The Rainbow Fish is one my mum threw out because I made her read it again and again. She also thought it was stupid in general and she wanted me to read actual books!" - Shannen.
20. Little Miss Bossy.
"Little Miss Bossy in the Little Miss books has terrible messaging. She is not bossy; she’s mean! No signs of being a 'boss' or 'leadership'. She just walks around calling people 'fatty' and making up stories so they punch each other out. Have promptly moved this book on!" - Michelle.
21. Rosie's Hat.
"My husband is sick of Rosie's Hat by Julia Donaldson as he had to read it every second night when he had to put our two-year-old to bed. She would always be upset and somehow Rosie's Hat calmed her down and made her excited to have her dad put her to bed." - Caroline.
22. The Berenstain Bears series.
"The Berenstain Bears. We have some at the grandparents' house and they are so old-fashioned!" - Krystal.
23. Any Disney Princess stories.
"Disney stories - specifically The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Ariel gets married at 16, and the Beast’s magic rose will time out when he turns 21! Now my son tells me how silly the stories are!" - Claire.
24. Where Is The Green Sheep?
"'Here is the blue sheep, and here is the red sheep, here is the bath sheep, and here is the bed sheep.' I don’t need to read the pages anymore because I know it off by heart!" - Annika.
25. Celeste The Giraffe Loves To Laugh.
"I actively hide the Celeste The Giraffe Loves To Laugh book that someone gave us. It’s written by comedian Celeste Barber and the central message seems to be, 'I’m not like the other girls'. It’s cringe and I think I should donate it!" - Anon.
26. Flit the Fantail and the Flying Flop.
"Flit the Fantail books have been quietly removed. They are so long and boooring!" - Donelle.
27. Dear Zoo.
"I can’t stand Dear Zoo. I know it’s a children’s book but the plot line drives me mad! I just dread it every time." - Alyshia.
28. Fat Ferdie.
"I recently borrowed a book from the library by Pamela Allen who I normally love. It was called Fat Ferdie. I obviously wasn't paying attention when we borrowed it and when my daughter chose it to read, I had to explain to her that we don't call people 'fat' and that this book is a bit silly!" - Elise.
Do you have any kids' books you would secretly like to never read again? Tell us in the comments below!
Feature Image: TikTok.
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