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ranked #156,065 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★☆☆☆☆
Teach your children about "ugliness"
A to Z has a big problem in my opinion. It is a very simple children's book with some very cute illustrations of animals (A to Z). Each animal is engaged in an action that also begins with the first letter of it's name (e.g. Kangaroos Kissing). There are lots of made up animals, I'm assuming to account for the rarity of animals beginning with "Q" and "X" etc. The part that I don't like is the fictitious "Uglybirds" whose action is simply "Being Ugly". The illustration that goes along with this so-called ugliness is very disturbing. The "Uglybirds" have atypical bird features that seem intentional. They are green and purple, and have messed up feathers and big bulging eyes and are very "Different" from the "normal" birds in this and other books. Upon reading this, my wife and I agreed that we would never repeat this section while reading to our daughter. Although I do intend on teaching my daughter about ugliness (Racism, Violence, contempt, etc.). I think that it is a quality that shouldn't be used to describe physical appearance. When my daughter encounters a person who is physically unusual, I hope that I have instilled in her the values to disregard what others might find "Ugly". I know that some might think that I'm overanalyzing such an innocent entry in a child's book, I think that parents need to be more careful about the messages that they are sending about ugliness.
January 2000 · Books
the product in question
A to Z
4.8★ · 1,373 ratings, as of 2023