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ApK · 05-05-2011, 08:44 PM

I found out here on MR that Amazon has "Hailey Twitch Is Not a Snitch" as a free ebook today.

Very nice, always looking for free kid's books for my second-grader, and this is aimed at readers in grades 2-4, it says.

So I start reading to see what's what. In the first few pages, I find:

“Me and you will be partners.”

And then:

"Then Miss Stephanie says that me and Addie Jokobeck will be doing the country of France."

And then two different characters:

“Only me and Antonio say it like this—Meh-i-co. I might even take a trip there with him.”
“Me and Hailey say France like France,” Addie says.

Now, OK, the characters are grade school kids, and grade schoolers aren't always spot on with grammar.
But it's not like the rest of the narrative is filled with grade school grammar and idiom. It's mostly clear, standard English.

Isn't one of the reasons -- one of the MAIN reasons -- we encourage kids to read to improve their language skills?

Sure we want to stimulate their imaginations, and teach them story form, and have them learn life lessons from the plot, and blah blah blah.

But would it have seriously damaged the story somehow to have the kids say "You and I," "Antonio and I, " "Hailey and I..."?

Is any one with me here?

ApK

05-05-2011, 08:44 PM	#1
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,392 Karma: 68715774 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Kid's books and grammar I found out here on MR that Amazon has "Hailey Twitch Is Not a Snitch" as a free ebook today. Very nice, always looking for free kid's books for my second-grader, and this is aimed at readers in grades 2-4, it says. So I start reading to see what's what. In the first few pages, I find: “Me and you will be partners.” And then: "Then Miss Stephanie says that me and Addie Jokobeck will be doing the country of France." And then two different characters: “Only me and Antonio say it like this—Meh-i-co. I might even take a trip there with him.” “Me and Hailey say France like France,” Addie says. Now, OK, the characters are grade school kids, and grade schoolers aren't always spot on with grammar. But it's not like the rest of the narrative is filled with grade school grammar and idiom. It's mostly clear, standard English. Isn't one of the reasons -- one of the MAIN reasons -- we encourage kids to read to improve their language skills? Sure we want to stimulate their imaginations, and teach them story form, and have them learn life lessons from the plot, and blah blah blah. But would it have seriously damaged the story somehow to have the kids say "You and I," "Antonio and I, " "Hailey and I..."? Is any one with me here? ApK Last edited by ApK; 05-05-2011 at 08:47 PM.