Reading Children Books.

[alik44]

So I started picking up Diary of Wimpy kid Books. It started out high school when it first came out, and I started buying the next book in the series. aand now here i am college and i still pick up the next.

But when ever I read out around (subway, bus, etc) i always get those other's looking and/or eyeing me. Is it odd that I am reading these? there for children to pre-teens students. and even i on occasion where, i seen people reading books for young age. but is it Odd thing to read Children books even though your older than it?

 

[Eamar]

Well, they're more for teenagers than young children, but I would have thought the recent popularity of The Hunger Games and Twilight would go some way to proving that it can be considered pretty normal.

Also, I'm fairly certain The Hobbit is being read by a whole new surge of adult readers at the moment, and that was definitely originally intended for young children.

Read what you like, and screw what random people around you think. If it's socially acceptable for people to read Fifty Shades of Grey on the London Underground, I'm pretty sure you're ok to read kids' books

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think Harry Potter and all the clones broke down the barrier between adult audiences and children. I think it's perfectly normal for you to read school fiction, though would it be that bad if you were caught reading something "odd"?

 

[Queen Michael]

All the kids in my family read those books. I do it and I'm 25. My brother does it and he's 23. My sister does it and she's 12. My other brother does it and he's 11.

 

[JoJo]

Don't see why not, my logic is if you enjoy doing something and no-one is harmed, why care what anyone-else thinks about it? There's definitely something to be said for the simplicity and entertainment of an well-written, imaginative children's book (not kiddy dross that gets pumped out at 10 books a year by a group of authors under a psuedonym, you know what I'm talking about), not everything has to be 'mature' or highbrow.

 

[Someone Depressing]

They're more for the 8-18 year group. Vaguely like novellas, or light novels, or something like that.

I read kids' books. Like Harry Potter, and that one British series about a fat ginger girl trying to get laid.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

They're more for the 8-18 year group. Vaguely like novellas, or light novels, or something like that.

I read kids' books. Like Harry Potter, and that one British series about a fat ginger girl trying to get laid.

Bridget Jones is ginger?

 

[SoranMBane]

If it's fine to watch children's cartoons or play children's games as an adult, I don't see why reading children's books would be any different. At almost 22-years-old, Redwall is still one of my favourite novel series, and I feel absolutely no shame about that fact. If the stories are still fun to me, then I'm not going to stop reading them just because I've moved out of their target age range.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I never feel bad about reading a book if I enjoy it (I am 23 btw). So waht if it is ment for kids does not mean I cannot enjoy it. I still reread the first 5 Artemis Foul books every now and then, I read skulduggery pleasant (at least I did, did not like 7 and 8 never griped me so I gave up half way), I still read Percy Jackson and the sequal series (even if I don't like most of the new characters). But if it bothers you what other people think then get a Kindle, that way nobody will ever know what you are reading.

 

[krazykidd]

Well, they're more for teenagers than young children, but I would have thought the recent popularity of The Hunger Games and Twilight would go some way to proving that it can be considered pretty normal.

Also, I'm fairly certain The Hobbit is being read by a whole new surge of adult readers at the moment, and that was definitely originally intended for young children.

Read what you like, and screw what random people around you think. If it's socially acceptable for people to read Fifty Shades of Grey on the London Underground, I'm pretty sure you're ok to read kids' books

Except one is intended for ( female?) adults and another is intended for children.

OT: Part of being an adult is doing what you like when you like. If people looking at you because you are reading a childrens book bonthers you, you haven't really reached adulthood yet.

 

[Blow_Pop]

As an almost 30 year old adult, no it isn't odd. People put all this stigma on books being for certain ages and once you pass said ages you shouldn't be reading them. I pay no mind. I read a mixture of children's, young adult, and adult novles. And really don't care about the looks I get.

 

[Eamar]

Except one is intended for ( female?) adults and another is intended for children.

Ummm... Yeah, Fifty Shades is intended for adults. It's also porn. The sort of thing most people who read it would have been too embarrassed to read in public before it became a household name. My whole (slightly jokey) point was that if pornographic novels have become socially acceptable, no one should have any problem with a kids' book.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I would submit that everyone should read The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster at some point, regardless of age. It's a children's novel, sure, but it's also one of the most cleverly written books I've ever come across.

 

[Kotaro]

I'm 21, and I still reread the Deltora Quest series every year or so. A good book is a good book, regardless of target audience.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Kids books can have their appeals even into adulthood. My mom still reads harry potter. Fuck I read "the phantom tollbooth" every once in a while.

 

[krazykidd]

Except one is intended for ( female?) adults and another is intended for children.

Ummm... Yeah, Fifty Shades is intended for adults. It's also porn. The sort of thing most people who read it would have been too embarrassed to read in public before it became a household name. My whole (slightly jokey) point was that if pornographic novels have become socially acceptable, no one should have any problem with a kids' book.

Porn without the pictures. The only reason nudy mags are frown upon in public is due to the pictures of naked ladies, not the content.

And people not having problems with things is not how society works. However, part of being an adult is not caring that people are judging you based on silly normes.

The reason people look at him is because it's out of the ordinary, if a child was reading fifty shades of grey , they would vet the exact same look. It's not the book but the person reading it.

TL;DR : society sucks, do what you want.

 

[FoolKiller]

Enjoyable literature is enjoyable regardless of the target demographic. I like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I hated Twilight. As long as I enjoy it, why not read it?

 

[Something Amyss]

I read almost all of my books on a Kindle. I could be reading really filthy smut for all they know, but the leather cover gives me a slight air of sophistication. But I've never really given a crap. Then again, I used to be seen in public with D&D books. If I can live that down, what's children's fantasy?

Well, they're more for teenagers than young children, but I would have thought the recent popularity of The Hunger Games and Twilight would go some way to proving that it can be considered pretty normal.

I don't know about that. People thought I was weird for reading kids books before Harry Potter, and then they thought I was weird for reading kids books that weren't Harry Potter. I think these are more insular successes. Kind of like how superhero movies haven't removed the stigmas attached to comic books.

Read what you like, and screw what random people around you think. If it's socially acceptable for people to read Fifty Shades of Grey on the London Underground, I'm pretty sure you're ok to read kids' books

I'd also point to a double standard there.

Porn without the pictures. The only reason nudy mags are frown upon in public is due to the pictures of naked ladies, not the content.

When's the last time you took a volume of erotica out in public and read from it?

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Either

a.) tell those random bystanders to mind their own damn business and to try reading a book sometime,

or

b.) get yourself a tablet or decoy book (to hide the book you are actually reading).

You shouldn't be embarrassed for enjoying/liking something that you are passionate about.

People criticize others for being interested in video games that aren't an annual $60 cash sink while still paying and playing Candy Crush on their damn smartphones; people made fun of punks for wearing skinny jeans, but as soon as three kids started sporting them and based a stupid dance around them, it's cool to wear them*; people believe that reading books makes you look nerdy or introverted, yet somehow are completely understandable to those reading books that are later translated into the big screen and are generally an all around disgrace to literature and cinematography.

Bottom line, keep reading what you like and ignore the idiots. The sad thing is that those who stare and criticize you might not be able to read or appreciate the books that you read anyway.

[sub][sub]*I really do hate those assholes; I hope they pass out due to poor circulation.[/sub][/sub]