Through the past several years of reading lots of children’s literature, I can honestly say that the vast majority has been wholesome, uplifting, thought-provoking, and all together enjoyable. However, there have been a few more well-known read-alouds our family didn’t enjoy or didn’t end up finishing. These are totally just the opinions of our family; I know so many people who really, really love lots of these books! For whatever reason, they just didn’t connect well with us.
Matilda
I apologize in advance to all of the Roald Dahl fans out there; I’m just not one of them. We listened to this on the audio book read by Kate Winslet, and we had to stop listening halfway through. The authority figures in the book were so deranged and abusive that it was just too much for us. Every time we turned the audio book off, we would all be in bad moods because of the yelling and negativity. Sorry, Matilda.
The Wind in the Willows
Honestly, this book was just boring to all of my kids. We powered through to the end thinking that it might pick up speed, but it never really connected with any of us. We finished wondering why this has been such a long-enduring classic.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
To be fair, my oldest daughter did enjoy this whimsical story, but the rest of us weren’t particularly enthralled. The story is quite bizarre, and I suppose fantasy isn’t always my favorite genre. When my daughter asked to move on to “Through the Looking Glass,” I told her she could read that on her own time.
The Great Brain
I had heard such great things about this series, and we honestly enjoyed a lot of this book. However, in the last chapter, one boy asks another to help him commit suicide, and I felt it was so inappropriate for this age. I turned the chapter off in the middle because it seemed to make light of something that’s obviously extremely serious and potentially triggering. We haven’t continued the series.
Ginger Pye
I will be honest — this may be our least favorite book we have ever read as a family. We got through it because it was a Newbery winner (and we’re hoping to read them all!), but no one in our family enjoyed the long and meandering story. Not only was the plot very predictable and bland from the beginning, but I honestly felt the writing was just not well done throughout.
The House at Pooh Corner
I so wished I loved this book because I was a huge fan of all things Winnie the Pooh growing up. I couldn’t wait to read this to my oldest daughter, but it really didn’t appeal to either of us. It felt slow, meandering, and sometimes just boring. Maybe it’s just not our genre, but it definitely wasn’t one I will re-read with my other children.
The Little Prince
Despite being a well-loved and highly related classic, this book confused my kids and me. Though we were able to follow the storyline okay, we weren’t endeared by the characters or the (somewhat random?) philosophical ruminations. We got about halfway through and called it quits.
Stuart Little
We love E.B. White, but personally we just didn’t get into this one as much as we did Charlotte’s Web or The Trumpet of the Swan. We felt like it had a somewhat vague and unfulfilling end, and the story itself just didn’t quite connect with us as well as other E.B. White classics. I wouldn’t necessarily discourage reading it; I just probably won’t read it again with my younger kids.
Ivy and Bean
This looked like such a cute story from the cover, but we found that the characters were almost praised for being disobedient. There was so much attitude, self-centeredness, and unkindness that it just wasn’t a story I wanted my girls reading. I would skip this series for early elementary girls, but I would highly recommend these series’ for that age group.
The Last of the Really Great Whangadoodles
This had been on my “to read” list for years, and I was excited to finally find it at a thrift store. The plot looked so unique, and how can you go wrong if Julie Andrews is the author? However, after starting it with my kids, we struggled to follow the storyline and weren’t really drawn in. We’ve shelved it for now but may try again in a few years.
Even though we have tried several read-alouds our family didn’t enjoy, there are still SO many wonderful books we have loved! To see our very favorites organized by age group, check out our favorite Book Lists by Age!