The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business

[Pennies]

What is the point of this story?

[Desiderata]

It's fabulous !!!

The point of the story is that kids love poo, in all its forms. If you want to make a stroppy kid laugh, get him to watch an elephant taking a dump!

It's one of my favourite kids' books. And I like that the mole gets the ultimate revenge by shitting on the dog's head .. even though it's tiny

[Themasterandmargaritas]

I hate it, I hate it, I hate this book. So much so that I am going to go and look for it now and give it away.

[YouLukaBeautiful]

It is gross !!!!

[Desiderata]

What do you hate about it, out of interest?

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Weeeelll, I can see, as you say, the toilet humour side of things, but there is no storyline (assuming a 3 year old can't understand the premise of, 'if you shit on someone, eventually they will shit back on you' ) Also I don't think it's terribly well written.

[ThingOne]

We love this book! We were given it when DS1 was teeny, before he got to the "poo stage" but he still loved it. So funny.

[Desiderata]

But three year olds can't follow story lines. They just hone in on certain aspects of a story.

It was the only book that my (then) three year old took in the round.

There isn't much point to loads of kids' stories, if you think about it.

What's the purpose of Humpty Dumpty, for instance? Don't sit on a wall if you're an egg?

[LostGirl]

It's a wonderful book. You can look at it from an educational perspective if you really feel it needs to have a point . I took dd to see stage version of it last year and it was sooooooooo funny!

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Maybe the three year olds don't get the storyline, but they are not the ones who have to read the bloody thing over and over again.

Humpty Dumpty isn't a story though is it? Isn't it some kind of tale related back in the annals of history to some wrongdoing done to a knight by a king (who was more than likely French)

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz there is a STAGE version?

[Desiderata]

I had a huge problem with Noddy. So dull it makes you wince.

I like the Mr Men books, though. They scan really well, and don't take an age to read.

[LostGirl]

Yes, complete with various objects representing different kinds of turds and songs

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Noddy, dull as feck. I even let ds1 rip his Noddy books up. Mr Men books, hmmmm, let me see, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Do you prefer the oldies or the newies?

[Themasterandmargaritas]

What Lostgirl, so it's not really a pile of crap?

That was bad wasn't it? It's my bedtime.

[Desiderata]

Very funny, margaritas .. and very clever

The older Mr Men are a bit quicker, so if I'm knackered, I prefer those. The newer ones are just as good, though.

[Pennies]

Well I got this from the pre-school library today and read it to my DDs (aged 4 and 3). They didn't laugh once and DD1 asked why were we reading about animals pooing. I told her that she had asked a very good question but I didn't know the answer to it.

Desi - I'm not sure I agree. Most stories have some kind of point (good versus evil, rhyme, rhythm, how sitting on a potty isn't a bad thing, hide and seek, loyalty, etc etc).

Here a mole gets crapped on (we have to assume it's by accident) so he finds out who did it and shits on their head as revenge. OK I will admit that some of the Brothers Grimm tales in their original forms were a bit and scary but this is literally a moral that if you shit on me I'll shit on you. eerrrrrr... pre-school story..... eeerrr again....

Three year old can follow story lines. Very much so.

Humpty Dumpty et al are not a good comparison as they were rhymes made up in times when illiteracy was more common than literacy and it was an easy way to spread news and tell children about what was going on at the time. So Ring-a-ring of roses is about the plague and Humpty Dumpty is about a large cannon - a WMD of its time (which was actually called Humpty Dumpty) - which fell off the ramparts and they were unable to fix it.

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Where do you stand then on Richard Scarry Desi? Ds1 who is 5 is obsessed. I remember enjoying them so much as a child that I quite like all the bonkers characters and all the fun things going on in the background, especially Wild Bill Hiccup.

How on earth do you go from a canon to an egg? It's a mystery.

[Desiderata]

Yes, I know that Pennies.

I was just trying to be humorous, but it sounds like it's in short supply in the Pennies' household.

Go read them Black Beauty. They'll love that.

[Pennies]

Humpty Dumpty was a name called to obese people and because this cannon was so large it got called HD. Lewis Carroll was the first to depict HD as an egg.

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Have you been googling extra-fast Pennies or are you just very clever? Can I borrow you tomorrow night for the PTA quiz night?

[Desiderata]

I am rather a fan of Richard, Margo, but ds isn't quite old enough for him yet!

He definately favours the gross In fact, he's not into stories at all at the moment. We look at pictures of exposed Egyptian mummies before he goes to bed!

Oh! And Otzi the Ice-man. He loves him

[bran]

DS loves this book, we have the plop-up (sic) version. I don't mind reading it, but there will always be a book that a parent hates reading. It's a different book for every parent, I can't stand Elmer and his sodding Friends for instance.

We have a lot of poo based books as DS took forever to toilet train. We wanted him to be comfortable with pooing (he still sometimes says "Mummy I don't like pooing" while he's on the loo) and make it seem normal and fun. However my sense of humour is very juvenile and I really do think poo and farting stories are hilarious.

[Pennies]

Well, that's a bit below the belt isn't it?

Just because I'm bemused at a really odd story (which others also find strange too judging by this thread) it doesn't make me humourless. Nor does it give me a right to insult anyone.

[Pennies]

TMAM - I did an essay about the origins and depictions of nursery rhymes as part of my degree (English) about a gazzilion years ago. It's the only fact that stayed with me!