I've been reading the book Matilda with one of the kids.
It's a dark book in a lot of ways - there's an adult who goes around beating up little kids, emotionally abusive parents, child neglect, mentions of murder, etc. (As I may have mentioned, I have a theory that all the best children's entertainment - books, movies, poetry, etc - is pretty dark when you think about it.)
I was a little nervous about the particularly dark section we were reading tonight, where Miss Honey tells the story of her father's suicide-that-was-probably-murder, her abusive childhood growing up with Miss Trunchbull as a guardian, and how she's being forced to hand over most of her salary to Miss Trunchbull and live in abject poverty.
My (7-year-old) child's reaction to the concept of suicide: "What, so he did like this *puts hands in shape of gun, points in mouth* and just 'pow'?"
Me: *horrified* Umm... it may have been like that, the book doesn't say.
Child: *nods wisely* That's what [child's friend] does in class when it's really boring.
Good lord, where do they get these things.... (OK, the friend in question has an older brother in middle school, so I have a fair idea of where).
My child's reaction to the thought of Miss Trunchbull stealing all of Miss Honey's money:
"You know what I would do? I would give her money so she thinks it's real money, but really it's fake money. I would say *smiles cheerfully* 'here you go' and she'd think she had all my money and then I'd call the police and say 'she's using fake money' and she'd go to jail."
(OK, that one seems to have come straight out of my child's own active imagination. And I'm a little scared now.)
By the way, we previously had trouble getting through some parts of the story because she would get so mad that she would slap pictures of Matilda's father or Miss Trunchbull and we'd lose our place. I suppose it's good that her righteous indignation is being vented on books.
It's a dark book in a lot of ways - there's an adult who goes around beating up little kids, emotionally abusive parents, child neglect, mentions of murder, etc. (As I may have mentioned, I have a theory that all the best children's entertainment - books, movies, poetry, etc - is pretty dark when you think about it.)
I was a little nervous about the particularly dark section we were reading tonight, where Miss Honey tells the story of her father's suicide-that-was-probably-murder, her abusive childhood growing up with Miss Trunchbull as a guardian, and how she's being forced to hand over most of her salary to Miss Trunchbull and live in abject poverty.
My (7-year-old) child's reaction to the concept of suicide: "What, so he did like this *puts hands in shape of gun, points in mouth* and just 'pow'?"
Me: *horrified* Umm... it may have been like that, the book doesn't say.
Child: *nods wisely* That's what [child's friend] does in class when it's really boring.
Good lord, where do they get these things.... (OK, the friend in question has an older brother in middle school, so I have a fair idea of where).
My child's reaction to the thought of Miss Trunchbull stealing all of Miss Honey's money:
"You know what I would do? I would give her money so she thinks it's real money, but really it's fake money. I would say *smiles cheerfully* 'here you go' and she'd think she had all my money and then I'd call the police and say 'she's using fake money' and she'd go to jail."
(OK, that one seems to have come straight out of my child's own active imagination. And I'm a little scared now.)
By the way, we previously had trouble getting through some parts of the story because she would get so mad that she would slap pictures of Matilda's father or Miss Trunchbull and we'd lose our place. I suppose it's good that her righteous indignation is being vented on books.
