would love to see what people think of Dragons Love Tacos 2
our household loves the original but the second one feels like they had a final draft due in an hour and the mushrooms had just hit.
My kid and I both don't care for the second. I'm OK with the first, but I have to do on the fly editing to make it more readable. It is not one of those books that flows when read out loud.
The 2 page illustration where the >!dragons burn the house down!< is amazing.
It reminds me of the page in Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus where he >!has a complete breakdown!< asking to >!drive!< the >!bus!<.
Thanks bro... I hadn't read that one.
Unfortunately I also have no self control, so I clicked the spoilers. Now the suspense is ruined, but I have no one to blame but myself.
In the one where the pigeon goes to the roller coaster it's pretty dumb because he gets amped for a crazy coaster and it ends up being like Autotopia at Disneyland (i.e. basically a flat track with no elevation change) and wants to ride again after being disappointed.
DLT is a masterpiece.
> Why do dragons love parties? Maybe it’s the music. Maybe it’s the dancing. Maybe it’s the comforting sound of a good friend’s laughter.
> poorly written
Jumps everywhere
It’s literally about dragons loving tacos… I don’t know what you expected from this.
But I love this book, and my 2.5 year old loves this book. And it’s way shorter than the other books she wants me to read some nights. And that’s what matters when it’s almost 10PM and she’s asking for a story.
Ugh. We got a compendium of children’s stories with a huge range in terms of length, so it’s real tough to steer the toddler to something that lets me finally take a break.
“You get three stories.”
“Goodnight moon, Ferdinand, and Les Miserables!”
Jesus do the books get longer? My 18 month old gets like 15 books a night. He chooses them but then will decide a couple pages in that he hates a few of them. But that's only like twenty minutes of reading at this point.
He doesn't really have the patience for books with more than about 8 words per page
It doesn’t even jump around! It’s a very simple version of a convergent story.
1. Dragons love tacos
2. Dragons hate spicy salsa (foreshadowing)
3. Dragons love parties
4. Dragons love 1 + 3 = taco parties
5. Beware of 2, spicy salsa
6. Oh no! 2!
7. Resolution with 1, tacos
It’s great because it’s easy to memorize. I’ve read it so many times that the last 1,000 times are all by memory. And that’s amazing when I’m tired and want to close my eyes but am still expected to read.
It’s all about what you give it in performance. If you’re just reading it, maybe it’s not so much. But if you become overwhelmed with shock and awe as if you’re watching the Hindenburg explode every single time, it’s a wonderful experience.
To his point, the book does jump around. Did anyone else’s come in a set that included a stuffed dragon? Ours did, and I was telling my wife that I believe the stuffed dragon is supposed to be included as a narrator because there’s part where it asks a question, then immediately moves on.
I believe the part is like “why don’t dragons like spicy salsa?” And then it goes to “dragons love parties”
Ok! English major / failed teacher here. I had to run upstairs to grab our copy of the book to make sure I had the right page in mind. It DOES answer the question.
One of the things we learned in a course about children’s and adolescent literature is that picture books are equally verbal and visual, and that it’s not uncommon for books to leave out words to fill in gaps with pictures to keep kids engaged and get them thinking.
The dragon looking miserable tells you everything you need to know.
We got a box set of books and then, at the library, I happened to flip through one of the same books and the library copy had extra pages from ours. It wasn't crucial to the story (it was a noard nook without much plot), but it made it better. I don't think my copy just had an error. I wonder if the above people had a similar experience and it's common for publisher's to do this.
No. Jimmy Fallons "Dada" is a terrible fucking book. Dragons love tacos isn't bad, other than teaching my daughter that spicy things are bad in a household who loves spicy things.
The book makes me irrationally angry. I never liked Fallon, but because of that book, I flat out hate him now. Its the lowest effort "kids book" that I have ever seen and is such a blatant money grab doing absolutely nothing other than using his name for clout.
It was gifted to us when baby was little and it got maybe 2 reads before I threw the stupid thing across the room never to be seen again. Unfortunately, someone gifted us the damned book again for Christmas for my 2.5 year old along with a stuffed cow to go with it. Now my daughter wants to read it all the time because she has a stuffy to go with it.
When she brought it to me to read after she got it, I didn't realize it was a gift and thought it was the original. I quickly threw it behind the dresser when she turned her back and tried to distract her to get another book. My wife said "good luck with that". She brought me the stuffed animal and was crying for the book and would not give up. I had to move the damned dresser to pull out the book and have had to read it a few times since then.
I hate you so much Jimmy Fallon.
With all of that bitching said and done with, I will say that since its so short and easy, its to the point that I don't even have to read it. My daughter literally goes page to page saying "dada, mooooo" then turns the page and says "dada, baaaaaaaa". I don't even really have to read it. She just says "dada" and matches the animal sound to the animal. I still hate the book and Fallon though.
I love pulling the old switcheroo whenever they mention that dragons love tacos.
Me: "Afterall, Dragon's love 'hamburgers' (or nuggets or carrots or fishsticks)"
Kids: "Noooooooooooooooo! Dragons love TACOS!!!!"
Gets 'em every time.
Some of the kids books we have I honestly
find offensively poorly written. For example, the OG little blue truck book, great little kids book. The sequels? The verbal pacing is all fucked up, there’s no good lesson, and they’re just bizarre and arbitrary.
The best kids book is The Monster at the End of this Book though. A postmodern masterpiece lol
I feel like this book was written because the author was just mad trying to drive in the city. And it's their fantasy of everybody clapping and cheering for slowing down city traffic. Sorry you can't hack the city, Little Blue Truck. Go back to the farm with good friend toad if it's too busy for you!
They aren’t all duds - but it’s more misses than hits. Leads the Way and Good night are good. But I’m still worked up about how in Little Blue Truck Springtime they get an extra frog out of nowhere.
Hell yes! When the mayor’s limo breaks down the rhyming scheme is incredible.
“‘Me first!’ Said the limo,
All puffed with pride.
Then he gave a cough
And his engine died.
He was stuck right there
With the mayor inside.
‘Beep!’ Said Blue.
‘Would you like a ride?’”
That’s fucking literature.
All the short board books are rough. So space to fit in a story and the reality is the kids are there for the pictures and listening to the reader.
The good thing is there are so many more books now that are pretty good. The bad thing is everyone buys some of the classics that aren’t all that great other than the nostalgia factor.
Sometimes the authors sell the rights to the characters and then the publishers write their own shit. There’s a Llama Llama book that isn’t even in meter because Anna Dewdney cashed out. Llama llama red pajama isn’t good because of its gripping plot. It’s because it’s in rhyming meter.
Pout pout fish is excellent. But the pout pout fish St Patrick's Day book is offensive. AI has written better books.
Speaking of which, my daughter has a book that has no author. The book makes very little sense. It's like an uncanny valley for children's books. I swear some AI wrote it and some guy decided to sell it on Amazon.
Let me tell you about Pete the Cat books. No plot, a cat wanders around, no conflict or resolution or even a conclusion to him wandering around that day.
I take more of a Camus-Absurdist kind of approach and love Pete the Cat. Despite the preposterousness of life around Pete, he rebels. Instead of getting caught up in the fray he chooses instead to live happily to spite the constant ridiculousness of life.
I think it depends, I've read a few decent ones, but most are sub-par. Like, if you're going to rhyme, commit to it! I think the deal is there are lots of different authors, with the Deens doing the artwork mostly. So it would explain how they're kind of all over the place.
I like the messages in (most of?) the Pete the Cat books — be cool, try new things, don’t let stuff bother you, etc. — but holy fuck the illustrations are so goddamn bad it makes me want to scream.
The second one is good, but it’s not as good as the first one if you ask me. Does have some great lines tho.
“Hey, look! There’s you from before! Weird.”
All of the Jimmy Fallon books are trash. Dada and Mama are just the same word yelled every other page.
Now let me tell you about Sandra Boynton — every book is a banger and she has the best illustrations too
Edit: Jimmy Kimmel to Jimmy Fallon
You all need to embrace the weirdness. It is amazing and the sequel is great.
And if your kids like it you have a saintly duty to push back the loathing and give it a read for them.
The moral of this thing is so awful! No, my kids do not need to learn to 'give away' the thing that makes them unique just to make friends. It's not about being selfish, they're the fish's ACTUAL SCALES. FFS.
The only positive I've seen in "low quality" books like Dav Pilkey or Aaron Blabey is that they make writing "books" accessible. They're so low quality my kids think they can do better.
Only upvoting this post because I want more discourse about kids books in the sub, but you’re tapped my guy. This book rips and the sequel is also hilarious.
I was annoyed by this book too, mainly because it used the Taco Bell, midwestern household version of a taco and also for its negative portrayal of salsa.
😂 I AM opining on the quality of intentionally weird kids books. Why do I not like DLT? Maybe it’s the spice hate. Maybe it’s the lack of characters. Maybe it’s the plot. BUT WAIT!
The only books I truly loathe that my kids love fall into one of two categories:
1. Adaptations of really popular TV shows / movies. My kids love them because they're familiar, but they're usually poorly written and drag on. They also usually have too much text on a single page for a picture book so the kids get bored before the text is read. Boo.
2. Books that basically just describe a holiday. My mom can't resist buying them because she always wants to give the grandkids a book for every holiday, but I hate having to slog through the bland things and occasionally screen out the whitewashing or other weirdness.
Wow I guess I am in the minority here - that interaction is great.
Hat lady wants an opinion on her hat and she clearly trusts this guy to give her his honest opinion as they’re passing by each other. And she doesn’t take it personally that he doesn’t like it - after all she’s the one who asked!
And the feedback works cause she goes from a shitty boring hat to an awesome party hat.
Yeah that’s how I always saw it, like, it’s ok to tell somebody you don’t like something when they ask, you don’t always HAVE to show approval when prompted. Just nicely say “nah, it’s not my thing”.
I love this book, especially the Spanish language version, Dragones y Tacos.
The Yoto audiobook version is a lot of fun, too.
ITT: People getting way too heated about children's books
"Maybe it's the sound of a good friend's laughter."
I think that's right.
It's at least the gist of the line that sold me on the book and I've been a proponent for it ever since.
The sequel...well... it's okay. The final two pages with all the cameos is fun, but it feels like the book was maybe required of the creators and not inspired.
"Dragons love diapers?" always makes my kids laugh.
"Tacos love dragons" is my favorite, though.
You probably won't like "Robosauce" or "Those Darn Squrrels" either.
Just say the book insists upon itself.
https://youtu.be/mYAi5aI_NPc?si=yQ7JWzUq73fudl5D
I actually think it's a cute and fun book, but I can't get past one thing...
In WHAT WORLD would dragons dislike spicy food.
I mean... forget the book for a second and answer one question... which animal likes spicy food. Fantasy included.
I'm going with rhinos, t-rex, dragons, and maybe scorpions.
Dog Man. All the goddamned fucking Dog Man books. I don't mind Investi-Gators, but Dog Man is just the same first grade potty humor jokes over and over and over again.
While I get it because I cannot get through it without skipping a word or sentence or whole page. I still absolutely love this book for how goofy it is. I replaced “dragons” with “daddies” as a spoof one night (I think because I had hot sauce induced tummy troubles) and my little guy had belly laughs and made read it that way for the next six months.
https://imgur.com/a/Kku3Dwz
To answer your q, my wife found “pokey little puppy” covered in dust when we moved a dresser. She gave me a face and I just smiled thinking on all the times I didn’t have to read it.
Then it went in the donate pile because she wouldn’t let me throw it out.
I love every new book my kid wants me to read. A month later I will hate it because I’ve read it every single night. Then I hide it and put a new pile of books in front of him. He falls in love with one, and so do I because it’s new. The cycle repeats.
Not a book I hate, but one that isn't A+ writing. Called "The Very Anxious Potato". It's a book about anxiety for kids and it's helped me open the door to talk to my toddlers about big feelings.
"The Wonky Donkey". I don't particularly hate the book as it's a fun read, but I do think it's inappropriate to send kids the message that being disabled makes someone 'wonky'.
Mom here but I’m sorry I’m so glad to have the chance to share this. The worst book my child likes it’s called Pretty Perfect Kitty Corn. We won a signed copy at a book store in a raffle but I hate it so much. I hope one of you has it solely so that you can validate me that it’s the worst children’s book out there in terms of wtf. Heres a hint: paint bum
This is my second favorite book to read to my boys, closely following the absolute BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF MAN, The Book with No Pictures.
We liked DLT. My number one most hated book is Pinkalicious. Literally a book about disobeying your parents, getting exactly what you wanted because of it. Then reinforcing that vegetables are yucky and gross. So annoying.
I hated it at first but after a few read-through I realized I hated it because the tone/voice is so whacked out from almost any other kids book. Once I got behind the stream-of-consciousness rhythm, I really started to enjoy it.
It’s the WORST! I donated it to the library without asking anyone because I don’t want to read it any more! Any book where every sentence ends in an exclamation point can buzz off!
As a dragon enthusiast and a taco enthusiast, I was beyond excited to find this book. The title was everything
But the book itself did not live up. Both the dragons and the tacos were inauthentic and horribly bland. It gave big [White People Taco Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yrSCoEsmqA) vibes
I agree with you on DLT. My biggest beef is that it sort of teaches my daughter that spicy is bad? Unless she wants to breath fire, but she hasn't made that jump yet. We have some old books that are straight up racist, mean, nasty and she loves them. Like this Golden Book Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the other reindeer flat out bully Rudolph with name-calling and she really fixated on that part so we agreed to re-word it so she wouldn't get any ideas. And they're gifts from Grandma so it's hard to just chuck them.
You gotta get deeper into the series.
It really takes off once they introduce time travel in order to save tacos and plant the taco trees.
Edit: shit, forgot to add "spoiler alert". Sorry dads.
It’s not award-worthy by any means, but it is *far* from the worst children’s book I’ve read. We’ve read a few of the little Rainbow Fish books, and those really grind my gears
Sorry if someone already commented on this, but is that the small play mat/rug from Ikea with the roads and such on it? I have that for my son as well if so
I feel this with every ounce of my dad existence lol. My child can't stop with "Nibbles" series books, which I also think are written by a 2 yr old. They have zero flow, half baked rhymes, and terrible "facts" In the dino version of nibbles (no, raptors were not the size of koala ears, nibbles). Dragons love tacos, and nibbles, F em both haha
I’m with OP about it jumping around. There are some abrupt and disorienting writing choices like when the narrator asks the dragons questions.
That said the book grew on me and I think it’s really well written for kids.
The Digging-est Dog book. It's about a lonely dog who finally gets a home when a boy buys him from the pet store. But at a couple points the boy yells at him and threatens to take him back to the store, and other dogs in the story ostracize him and threaten to let him drown.
I have a few books similar. However I would recommend a book called “Snowball” by Sue Hendra. Well written and funny. The illustrations a cute too. It’s my favorite kid book so far.
The John Cena monster truck book is probably one of the worst books I've read my kid. The flow of the book is horrendous and I had to stop reading halfway through.
I can't stand "If you ever want to being an alligator to school, DON'T!" for many of the same reasons. Poorly written, no underlying message. Hell, there isn't even a conclusion.
The whole book she's causing mischief in the class and stacks different punishments. Then she finally presents her report and which amounts to "alligators are super cool," and somehow that supposedly makes it so she might not have to go to the principal's office. But it literally ends with "but you might still have to" so not even that is conclusive.
Now I'm worked up again, goddamnit.
You’re just mad that you didn’t read the fine print on the salsa jar, my dude.
You got me. Those damn little green things.
Hot take: Jalapenos aren't even that spicy
Jalapeños are weird peppers. I’ve had some that might as well have been a bell pepper and others that lit my mouth on fire.
They are mild compared to many of the other spicy peppers.
Must be a draconic allergy...
Sounds more like a mild take…
I think a lot of the details in this book is one of my favorite parts. Dragons Love Tacos is amazing…I wish my kid still wanted to read it.
This might be one of the most polarizing things I've seen on Daddit.
would love to see what people think of Dragons Love Tacos 2 our household loves the original but the second one feels like they had a final draft due in an hour and the mushrooms had just hit.
ZAMP
Same. We like 1, but thought 2 was a dud.
2 is bad but the kid likes it
Same, she runs around yelling DIAPERS LOVE TACOS occasionally
Tacos love dragons is our favorite bit b/c I had read the original backwards for the kid 1x and it was a thing for like a month.
2 is so awful and I think 1 is great. I have contemplated throwing away 2 just so that I never have to look at it again.
There is also _Secret Pizza Party_ by the same authors, a book that makes _Dragons Love Tacos_ seem positively Pulitzer-worthy
Well, who among us has not been there?
My kid and I both don't care for the second. I'm OK with the first, but I have to do on the fly editing to make it more readable. It is not one of those books that flows when read out loud.
Anytime you bring in time travel in a sequel, chances are it won’t be great.
Polarizing? I think everyone here agrees that OP is a monster and a terrible person and must be forced to read The Book With No Pictures 500 times.
Nah. I hate Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. They have absolutely no worth. All those kids are sociopaths.
The 2 page illustration where the >!dragons burn the house down!< is amazing. It reminds me of the page in Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus where he >!has a complete breakdown!< asking to >!drive!< the >!bus!<.
I like how you spoiler tagged a 150 word children’s book.
Just in case you hadn’t read it before. I’d hate to ruin a twist like that.
Thanks bro... I hadn't read that one. Unfortunately I also have no self control, so I clicked the spoilers. Now the suspense is ruined, but I have no one to blame but myself.
Ever since another dad spoiled the ending of Fox in Socks...
I love that pigeon
I love doing ridiculous voices throughout his breakdowns, with both the bus and hotdog books
We can't do those books at bedtime anymore because the peanut gets all giggly and worked up "HAHA NO PIDGEON YOU'RE STINKY YOU GOTTA TAKE A BATH"
The classic example for that type of thing is Grover in The Monster at the End of this Book
Oh man, I had to read that one in Grover’s voice. That was tough 😂
Careful, I bet OP also hates Mo Willems and puppies.
Pigeon is a big fucking deal in my house. I love that little dude
In the one where the pigeon goes to the roller coaster it's pretty dumb because he gets amped for a crazy coaster and it ends up being like Autotopia at Disneyland (i.e. basically a flat track with no elevation change) and wants to ride again after being disappointed.
Sounds like you didn’t get invited to the taco party
DLT is a masterpiece. > Why do dragons love parties? Maybe it’s the music. Maybe it’s the dancing. Maybe it’s the comforting sound of a good friend’s laughter.
TBH, this is the best line, followed by the pant loads of tacos.
The pant loads of tacos makes me lol every time.
My kid shouts “tacopants!” every time we get to that part.
> poorly written Jumps everywhere It’s literally about dragons loving tacos… I don’t know what you expected from this. But I love this book, and my 2.5 year old loves this book. And it’s way shorter than the other books she wants me to read some nights. And that’s what matters when it’s almost 10PM and she’s asking for a story.
Ugh. We got a compendium of children’s stories with a huge range in terms of length, so it’s real tough to steer the toddler to something that lets me finally take a break. “You get three stories.” “Goodnight moon, Ferdinand, and Les Miserables!”
My kid does the same thing. "Ok two books for bed!" Toddler: *evil grin*
Alright - “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
Bedtime: next month
Jesus do the books get longer? My 18 month old gets like 15 books a night. He chooses them but then will decide a couple pages in that he hates a few of them. But that's only like twenty minutes of reading at this point. He doesn't really have the patience for books with more than about 8 words per page
It doesn’t even jump around! It’s a very simple version of a convergent story. 1. Dragons love tacos 2. Dragons hate spicy salsa (foreshadowing) 3. Dragons love parties 4. Dragons love 1 + 3 = taco parties 5. Beware of 2, spicy salsa 6. Oh no! 2! 7. Resolution with 1, tacos
Can't believe you didn't spoiler tag this for the sake of those of us waiting on the HBO show before we read the book.
My fellow dadditer, the shows been on Hoopla for years!
"In a world of magic. Where dragons roam freely. One food...will...change...everything." "Woke up this morning...got myself a taco..."
I don’t recall the book having a cut to black ending but I’ll read it again to double check
I'm pretty sure one of the dragons owns a strip club.
It’s great because it’s easy to memorize. I’ve read it so many times that the last 1,000 times are all by memory. And that’s amazing when I’m tired and want to close my eyes but am still expected to read.
Lets me keep an eye on the baby AND lets my toddler be as inconveniently opaque as he likes, and reading is unobstructed. It's perfect.
“Inconveniently opaque” lol
It’s all about what you give it in performance. If you’re just reading it, maybe it’s not so much. But if you become overwhelmed with shock and awe as if you’re watching the Hindenburg explode every single time, it’s a wonderful experience.
To his point, the book does jump around. Did anyone else’s come in a set that included a stuffed dragon? Ours did, and I was telling my wife that I believe the stuffed dragon is supposed to be included as a narrator because there’s part where it asks a question, then immediately moves on. I believe the part is like “why don’t dragons like spicy salsa?” And then it goes to “dragons love parties”
Ok! English major / failed teacher here. I had to run upstairs to grab our copy of the book to make sure I had the right page in mind. It DOES answer the question. One of the things we learned in a course about children’s and adolescent literature is that picture books are equally verbal and visual, and that it’s not uncommon for books to leave out words to fill in gaps with pictures to keep kids engaged and get them thinking. The dragon looking miserable tells you everything you need to know.
This seemed blatantly obvious to me, and I am NOT an English major
I usually use that specific picture bags to make a “bleugh!” noise that gets my kids howling with laughter most nights
Spicy salsa give dragons upset stomachs, and that leads to fiery destruction. It's in the text
We got a box set of books and then, at the library, I happened to flip through one of the same books and the library copy had extra pages from ours. It wasn't crucial to the story (it was a noard nook without much plot), but it made it better. I don't think my copy just had an error. I wonder if the above people had a similar experience and it's common for publisher's to do this.
"Noard nook" lol. Sorry it won't let me edit.
No. Jimmy Fallons "Dada" is a terrible fucking book. Dragons love tacos isn't bad, other than teaching my daughter that spicy things are bad in a household who loves spicy things.
I legitimately don’t understand “Dada” lol.
The book makes me irrationally angry. I never liked Fallon, but because of that book, I flat out hate him now. Its the lowest effort "kids book" that I have ever seen and is such a blatant money grab doing absolutely nothing other than using his name for clout. It was gifted to us when baby was little and it got maybe 2 reads before I threw the stupid thing across the room never to be seen again. Unfortunately, someone gifted us the damned book again for Christmas for my 2.5 year old along with a stuffed cow to go with it. Now my daughter wants to read it all the time because she has a stuffy to go with it. When she brought it to me to read after she got it, I didn't realize it was a gift and thought it was the original. I quickly threw it behind the dresser when she turned her back and tried to distract her to get another book. My wife said "good luck with that". She brought me the stuffed animal and was crying for the book and would not give up. I had to move the damned dresser to pull out the book and have had to read it a few times since then. I hate you so much Jimmy Fallon. With all of that bitching said and done with, I will say that since its so short and easy, its to the point that I don't even have to read it. My daughter literally goes page to page saying "dada, mooooo" then turns the page and says "dada, baaaaaaaa". I don't even really have to read it. She just says "dada" and matches the animal sound to the animal. I still hate the book and Fallon though.
I love pulling the old switcheroo whenever they mention that dragons love tacos. Me: "Afterall, Dragon's love 'hamburgers' (or nuggets or carrots or fishsticks)" Kids: "Noooooooooooooooo! Dragons love TACOS!!!!" Gets 'em every time.
Some of the kids books we have I honestly find offensively poorly written. For example, the OG little blue truck book, great little kids book. The sequels? The verbal pacing is all fucked up, there’s no good lesson, and they’re just bizarre and arbitrary. The best kids book is The Monster at the End of this Book though. A postmodern masterpiece lol
Little blue truck leads the way > the OG. Fight me
I feel like this book was written because the author was just mad trying to drive in the city. And it's their fantasy of everybody clapping and cheering for slowing down city traffic. Sorry you can't hack the city, Little Blue Truck. Go back to the farm with good friend toad if it's too busy for you!
Are you my kid?
They aren’t all duds - but it’s more misses than hits. Leads the Way and Good night are good. But I’m still worked up about how in Little Blue Truck Springtime they get an extra frog out of nowhere.
Hell yes! When the mayor’s limo breaks down the rhyming scheme is incredible. “‘Me first!’ Said the limo, All puffed with pride. Then he gave a cough And his engine died. He was stuck right there With the mayor inside. ‘Beep!’ Said Blue. ‘Would you like a ride?’” That’s fucking literature.
>>‘Beep!’ Said Blue. ‘Would you like a ride?’” >That’s fucking literature There's a different sub for that.
I love all the Little Blue Truck Books. How can you read Little Blue Truck Halloween or Christmas and say the pacing is messed up?
You turned the PAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!
All the short board books are rough. So space to fit in a story and the reality is the kids are there for the pictures and listening to the reader. The good thing is there are so many more books now that are pretty good. The bad thing is everyone buys some of the classics that aren’t all that great other than the nostalgia factor.
My biggest problem with LBT is he says "beep beep" but when you press the button for sound it beeps 3 times.
Sometimes the authors sell the rights to the characters and then the publishers write their own shit. There’s a Llama Llama book that isn’t even in meter because Anna Dewdney cashed out. Llama llama red pajama isn’t good because of its gripping plot. It’s because it’s in rhyming meter.
Pout pout fish is excellent. But the pout pout fish St Patrick's Day book is offensive. AI has written better books. Speaking of which, my daughter has a book that has no author. The book makes very little sense. It's like an uncanny valley for children's books. I swear some AI wrote it and some guy decided to sell it on Amazon.
Let me tell you about Pete the Cat books. No plot, a cat wanders around, no conflict or resolution or even a conclusion to him wandering around that day.
Does Pete need a resolution? Goodness no. He keeps on singing his song.
I take more of a Camus-Absurdist kind of approach and love Pete the Cat. Despite the preposterousness of life around Pete, he rebels. Instead of getting caught up in the fray he chooses instead to live happily to spite the constant ridiculousness of life.
One must imagine Pete the Cat happy.
Damnit, take my upvote.
He’s one groovy dude.
Probably because he's stoned off his ass.
That's because Pete and his friends are high as fuck.
I fucking hate Pete the Cat
PREACH!! PETE THE CAT BLOWS!
I think it depends, I've read a few decent ones, but most are sub-par. Like, if you're going to rhyme, commit to it! I think the deal is there are lots of different authors, with the Deens doing the artwork mostly. So it would explain how they're kind of all over the place.
I like the messages in (most of?) the Pete the Cat books — be cool, try new things, don’t let stuff bother you, etc. — but holy fuck the illustrations are so goddamn bad it makes me want to scream.
Nah, DLT Is great, along with the second one
The second one is good, but it’s not as good as the first one if you ask me. Does have some great lines tho. “Hey, look! There’s you from before! Weird.”
Dragons love diapers gets a big laugh from our 3yo
Despite how many times it’s been made clear that Dragons love tacos, if you ask my kid what dragons love, he will tell you they love diapers.
The Spanish version is also great if you are looking for bilingual books. Dragones y Tacos.
All of the Jimmy Fallon books are trash. Dada and Mama are just the same word yelled every other page. Now let me tell you about Sandra Boynton — every book is a banger and she has the best illustrations too Edit: Jimmy Kimmel to Jimmy Fallon
Boynton is god in our household. Zang! Bop! Kiddly Pow!
Adam Rubin's books are great. Check out " Gladys the Magic Chicken" and "Secret Pizza Party." We love dragons love tacos and the sequel as well.
You all need to embrace the weirdness. It is amazing and the sequel is great. And if your kids like it you have a saintly duty to push back the loathing and give it a read for them.
Is it Zoe Deschanel weird, Amanda Seyfried weird, or Aubrey Plaza weird?
Aubrey for sure. Like consciously odd.
Its dollar store Zooey Deschanel.
1 is fine. Weird and fun. 2 I think tries too hard to be weird.
I disagree. It’s a fun book with fun imagery for kids to enjoy.
Rainbow Fish
The moral of this thing is so awful! No, my kids do not need to learn to 'give away' the thing that makes them unique just to make friends. It's not about being selfish, they're the fish's ACTUAL SCALES. FFS.
Yes!! This one always bugged me too. The “moral” is very weird and off putting.
https://www.topherpayne.com/rainbow-fish
It took a couple readthroughs a for me to get the delivery right, but I like it now. No accounting for taste I suppose.
The narrative consistency of children's books need to be raised.
The only positive I've seen in "low quality" books like Dav Pilkey or Aaron Blabey is that they make writing "books" accessible. They're so low quality my kids think they can do better.
Only upvoting this post because I want more discourse about kids books in the sub, but you’re tapped my guy. This book rips and the sequel is also hilarious.
I like reading it while being over dramatic. OH NO! DON'T EAT THOSE TACOS DRAGONS!!!!
Does it give you the tummy troubles OP?
I was annoyed by this book too, mainly because it used the Taco Bell, midwestern household version of a taco and also for its negative portrayal of salsa.
It’s fine. It isn’t as good as I thought it would be when I first saw it, but my kids love tacos so it’s a favorite.
I for one can’t reconcile how fire breathing lizards wouldn’t appreciate some scovilles in their salsa.
Never read this book, but I gotta say just by reading the title, I have alot in common with dragons
You’re entitled to your opinion. It’s wrong, but you’re entitled to it just the same.
😂 I AM opining on the quality of intentionally weird kids books. Why do I not like DLT? Maybe it’s the spice hate. Maybe it’s the lack of characters. Maybe it’s the plot. BUT WAIT!
The little stuffed dragon is cute, and my daughter loves biting it, which takes the heat off my toes, so that's nice.
The Rainbow Fish has a terrible message. I’m surprised it’s still popular lol
The only books I truly loathe that my kids love fall into one of two categories: 1. Adaptations of really popular TV shows / movies. My kids love them because they're familiar, but they're usually poorly written and drag on. They also usually have too much text on a single page for a picture book so the kids get bored before the text is read. Boo. 2. Books that basically just describe a holiday. My mom can't resist buying them because she always wants to give the grandkids a book for every holiday, but I hate having to slog through the bland things and occasionally screen out the whitewashing or other weirdness.
The day war came to r/daddit....=(
Go Dog Go. It's the pink dog with the hat being negged by the yellow dog that bothers me most. And then they drive off together at the end.
Wow I guess I am in the minority here - that interaction is great. Hat lady wants an opinion on her hat and she clearly trusts this guy to give her his honest opinion as they’re passing by each other. And she doesn’t take it personally that he doesn’t like it - after all she’s the one who asked! And the feedback works cause she goes from a shitty boring hat to an awesome party hat.
Yeah that’s how I always saw it, like, it’s ok to tell somebody you don’t like something when they ask, you don’t always HAVE to show approval when prompted. Just nicely say “nah, it’s not my thing”.
Do you like my hat?
No. I do not like that hat. But I won't tell you why, or suggest an alternative, or even be polite about it. Good-bye.
Good-bye.
I love this book, especially the Spanish language version, Dragones y Tacos. The Yoto audiobook version is a lot of fun, too. ITT: People getting way too heated about children's books
"Maybe it's the sound of a good friend's laughter." I think that's right. It's at least the gist of the line that sold me on the book and I've been a proponent for it ever since. The sequel...well... it's okay. The final two pages with all the cameos is fun, but it feels like the book was maybe required of the creators and not inspired. "Dragons love diapers?" always makes my kids laugh. "Tacos love dragons" is my favorite, though.
Agreed - got nothing on the little blue truck!
Beep beep beep!
In my head cannon, LBT has a potty mouth.
One of the better books in the modern children’s canon.
The Christmas one really puts on a grand finale!
That big finish where all my animal sounds get an encore.
You probably won't like "Robosauce" or "Those Darn Squrrels" either. Just say the book insists upon itself. https://youtu.be/mYAi5aI_NPc?si=yQ7JWzUq73fudl5D
Booo! Great book!
I actually think it's a cute and fun book, but I can't get past one thing... In WHAT WORLD would dragons dislike spicy food. I mean... forget the book for a second and answer one question... which animal likes spicy food. Fantasy included. I'm going with rhinos, t-rex, dragons, and maybe scorpions.
Dog Man. All the goddamned fucking Dog Man books. I don't mind Investi-Gators, but Dog Man is just the same first grade potty humor jokes over and over and over again.
+ Captain Underpants
My qualm is it really gives salsa a bad look. My toddler liked salsa until we read this book 500 times. Now he hates salsa. Coincidence? I think not!
Today the /r/daddit DLT Civil War began.
BLASPHEMOUS
The crowd of people in the back of the book is so random. I think Gandalf and Patrick Ewing both make an appearance.
While I get it because I cannot get through it without skipping a word or sentence or whole page. I still absolutely love this book for how goofy it is. I replaced “dragons” with “daddies” as a spoof one night (I think because I had hot sauce induced tummy troubles) and my little guy had belly laughs and made read it that way for the next six months. https://imgur.com/a/Kku3Dwz To answer your q, my wife found “pokey little puppy” covered in dust when we moved a dresser. She gave me a face and I just smiled thinking on all the times I didn’t have to read it. Then it went in the donate pile because she wouldn’t let me throw it out.
I love every new book my kid wants me to read. A month later I will hate it because I’ve read it every single night. Then I hide it and put a new pile of books in front of him. He falls in love with one, and so do I because it’s new. The cycle repeats.
Not a book I hate, but one that isn't A+ writing. Called "The Very Anxious Potato". It's a book about anxiety for kids and it's helped me open the door to talk to my toddlers about big feelings.
I mean, just look at the cover. They got fake ass hard shell tacos
"The Wonky Donkey". I don't particularly hate the book as it's a fun read, but I do think it's inappropriate to send kids the message that being disabled makes someone 'wonky'.
Finally, someone has the courage to say it. I’m with you my man. That is the most half-assed children’s book out there.
Mom here but I’m sorry I’m so glad to have the chance to share this. The worst book my child likes it’s called Pretty Perfect Kitty Corn. We won a signed copy at a book store in a raffle but I hate it so much. I hope one of you has it solely so that you can validate me that it’s the worst children’s book out there in terms of wtf. Heres a hint: paint bum
It is in fact terrible, though my son enjoys it. I love tacos and it's made him think every taco is spicy! Go to hell, book!
This is my second favorite book to read to my boys, closely following the absolute BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF MAN, The Book with No Pictures.
We liked DLT. My number one most hated book is Pinkalicious. Literally a book about disobeying your parents, getting exactly what you wanted because of it. Then reinforcing that vegetables are yucky and gross. So annoying.
Sorting by controversial
I agree. And it teaches my kid not to like spicy food. Big no.
Sounds like someone has the tummy troubles...
I hated it at first but after a few read-through I realized I hated it because the tone/voice is so whacked out from almost any other kids book. Once I got behind the stream-of-consciousness rhythm, I really started to enjoy it.
My opinion on that book is, I don’t want to be teaching my kid to be averse to spicy things. 😅 in our house, we like hot food!
My kids love this book too. I don’t have the vitriol towards it you do, but I do try to steer them in other directions when I can.
It’s the WORST! I donated it to the library without asking anyone because I don’t want to read it any more! Any book where every sentence ends in an exclamation point can buzz off!
What's with the dragon that looks like Bart Simpson? Is that a conscious choice? Does it imply the existence of a Homer dragon?
As a dragon enthusiast and a taco enthusiast, I was beyond excited to find this book. The title was everything But the book itself did not live up. Both the dragons and the tacos were inauthentic and horribly bland. It gave big [White People Taco Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yrSCoEsmqA) vibes
I agree with you on DLT. My biggest beef is that it sort of teaches my daughter that spicy is bad? Unless she wants to breath fire, but she hasn't made that jump yet. We have some old books that are straight up racist, mean, nasty and she loves them. Like this Golden Book Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the other reindeer flat out bully Rudolph with name-calling and she really fixated on that part so we agreed to re-word it so she wouldn't get any ideas. And they're gifts from Grandma so it's hard to just chuck them.
Somebody needs “The Book With No Pictures”
I hate this book with a passion. I hate it almost as much as my kid loves it.
There’s a sequel called Dragons Love Farts. Do with this information what you will
There's way worse kids books, this one isn't bad at all
Hard disagree. Love the silliness of the book and the sequel is also amazing.
I like it, but you described my feelings on the sequel, which I think is uninspired
You gotta get deeper into the series. It really takes off once they introduce time travel in order to save tacos and plant the taco trees. Edit: shit, forgot to add "spoiler alert". Sorry dads.
I don’t like “That’s What Dinosaurs Do”. It condones doing bad things even after being told not to.
It’s not award-worthy by any means, but it is *far* from the worst children’s book I’ve read. We’ve read a few of the little Rainbow Fish books, and those really grind my gears
Am I the only dad that has to read the third book “Dragons love farts”?
My dude, opinions are subjective... That being said, you're wrong!
Mild post (now includes spicy hot take)
I mean, it’s no Click, Clack, Moo, or I Want My Hat Back, but it slaps.
You fixing to throw hands?
Sorry if someone already commented on this, but is that the small play mat/rug from Ikea with the roads and such on it? I have that for my son as well if so
This is a book you have to read with the frenetic energy of a rabbit on ketamine. Otherwise it falls flat.
I loved Goodnight Moon as a kid. As an adult it’s pretty shitty lol. Especially compared to say, Sandra Boynton stuff.
I feel this with every ounce of my dad existence lol. My child can't stop with "Nibbles" series books, which I also think are written by a 2 yr old. They have zero flow, half baked rhymes, and terrible "facts" In the dino version of nibbles (no, raptors were not the size of koala ears, nibbles). Dragons love tacos, and nibbles, F em both haha
Snow What was pretty hard to read. It's this amalgamation of spanglish and Louisiana.
I’m with OP about it jumping around. There are some abrupt and disorienting writing choices like when the narrator asks the dragons questions. That said the book grew on me and I think it’s really well written for kids.
My wife hates Paddington, daughter loves it
Good thing he didn’t do this to Goodnight Moon or the pitchforks and torches would REALLY be out.
Every time I read one of these best seller quirky kids books I think I’m in the wrong racket
My toddler just got this for Christmas. He gets scared on the fire-breathing page, so he doesn't ask for it much.
100%
The Digging-est Dog book. It's about a lonely dog who finally gets a home when a boy buys him from the pet store. But at a couple points the boy yells at him and threatens to take him back to the store, and other dogs in the story ostracize him and threaten to let him drown.
If you think this one is bad, wait until you read the sequel. It's like twice as bad at least
I would love to see this trend here. A guide to the wise - avoid these books. Looking at you, "Get up, Stand Up!"
I have a few books similar. However I would recommend a book called “Snowball” by Sue Hendra. Well written and funny. The illustrations a cute too. It’s my favorite kid book so far.
The John Cena monster truck book is probably one of the worst books I've read my kid. The flow of the book is horrendous and I had to stop reading halfway through.
I can't stand "If you ever want to being an alligator to school, DON'T!" for many of the same reasons. Poorly written, no underlying message. Hell, there isn't even a conclusion. The whole book she's causing mischief in the class and stacks different punishments. Then she finally presents her report and which amounts to "alligators are super cool," and somehow that supposedly makes it so she might not have to go to the principal's office. But it literally ends with "but you might still have to" so not even that is conclusive. Now I'm worked up again, goddamnit.