Ashton's Book Club

Ashton has his own little library going, and one of the things that Jason and I love to joke about is the ridiculousness of some of the books. For instance, the beloved Spot series is about a small dog that hops around looking for things that are hidden behind flaps. Spot's best friend is a blue        ?         named Helen. Helen walks on her hind legs and appears to be, what, a hippo? Here they are searching for secret eggs in the nail-biter "Spot's First Easter":

I mean, what is that? Something that ate Veruca Salt? Luckily, Helen is very adept at finding eggs and the story ends happily: there is a full basket. Can't miss the symbolism.

I have lots of other examples, but the point is, children's books are full of things you would never see it real life: caroling alligators, emotional whales, bunnies that wear suits, etc. I have no problem with this, honestly. Imagination plays a very big role in childrens' lives and it is a fun part of playing and learning.

What I DO have a problem with is a particular story that looks like this:

I mentioned in a previous post that Ashton has been into this little book series on Pooh and the four seasons.   Spring, Winter, and Fall are perfectly nice stories. It's this Summer one that leaves me mystified. And not in a good way.

I thought we could make "Pooh's Very Hot Summer Day" Ashton's first book club book. Let's read it together, shall we? 5 pages doesn't take long. Here we go.

Any reactions? Here are mine. First of all, Pooh looks dead on the cover and there is a huge ominous cloud in the distance. On the first page, the chair is burning. Then, Owl snaps at Pooh with contempt (you stupid, ignorant bear!), a fatalistic Eeyore is transcribing his will, and Rabbit is trying to stay ahead of an agricultural catastrophe while calling our attention to Pooh's perspiration problem. Amazingly, the repeated insults don't faze Pooh in the least and he finds solace in a nice float under a mocking sun. The End.

What's the lesson here? Heat makes everyone cranky, we know that. But in this story, it's every man for himself. I'm surprised Pooh isn't dragged through the streets. The apocalypse is here, stand and be judged! The title should be "THE END OF DAYS". I mean, it's just hot out. Don't you think the words are a bit extreme here? This is a children's book! The funny part is, the other three seasons are nice and friendly to read. It's like the author got to Summer and said, "I'll show these kids what the world is REALLY like! HAHAHAHA!"

Discuss.