A is for annoying books

I bought some new children's books last weekend and made some unfortunate choices it seems.

First up - Curious George. I know it's a classic, but does anyone else think the man in the yellow hat is just a wee bit creepy? Why does Curious George hang out with him?  Doesn't it remind you of Michael Jackson and Bubbles? Every time I read this book and George gets in the car with the man in the yellow hat, I want to reach out and help him. Poor George.

The other one is a seemingly safe ABC book. But, it pisses me off every time I read it. Who writes an ABC board book for BABIES with words a mom with an English degree has never seen? Every time I read it I stumble over these two:

"Do Vicunas eat their veggies?"
"Does the swishy-tailed Xerus play her xylophone in slippers?"

Luckily my son is only 5 months old so I have some time to look these up and learn how to pronounce them, but what were the authors thinking? Anyone want to tell me what a vicuna or xerus is? (I just had to rewrite that sentence because I have no idea how to pluralize xerus - xeruses? - and I'm too annoyed at the book to go look it up in the dictionary.)

Comments

[Abby]

Lily has an alphabet puzzle that is, well, puzzling. The letter "N" is made out of nutmeg pods.... something that _I_ only know because I TiVo way too much Alton Brown on Food Network. And the "Q" is a quail.... for all those toddlers who are small-game aficionados.

[b]

I think Curious George hangs out with that guy because the yellow get-up makes the guy look like a banana. If you were a monkey, wouldn't that be enough?

And I have no idea what to say about the alphabet book. It reminds me of a book that Rick Moranis's character would buy for his kid in the movie "Parenthood" (he was all about the flashcards -- education and culture 24x7 for his little girl).

I hope you can find some other books that are more fun, less snooty! There are so many children's books out there... I would think it's tough to know which to choose.