Yes, David.
A couple of years ago, someone gave us No David
It’s really interesting to see the feedback on the book. On some of the European sites, it garners near perfect reviews. In the US, the feedback is more mixed: people either loved it or hated it. Those that hated it tend to focus on the perception that the book is “too negative.” As you can probably surmise from the title, the book largely revolves around David not behaving as he should. My humble opinion? Those parents are reading waaay too much into it. Katie loves it because she, too, has a wild streak. She breaks things. She doesn’t always sit still when she should. She gets herself into trouble a lot because, well, that’s what four year olds do. And I think she can relate to David. She giggles at his behavior and tells me solemnly what he should be doing. And in the end, she knows, like David, that misbehaving doesn’t mean that you’re not loved. So when David’s mom tells him, “Yes, David, I love you” - no matter how badly he’s acting - Katie understands that, similarly, while I may not always love her behavior, I love her. I don’t see the negativity in that at all.
I know that there are a lot of parents who have difficulty telling their children “no” because it’s somehow perceived as bad parenting. I happen to think that those parents are wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with setting boundaries and creating ground rules (and if you knew how wildly liberal my own parents think I am in this respect, you’d be amazed) for children. And that’s the reason why this book is a hit with me, too. As a parent, it gives me a great springboard for discussion with my girls about David’s behavior - such as why he shouldn’t play with the bat and the ball inside the house - that they can relate to and talk about.
So say “yes” to No, David. I think you’ll be glad that you did.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:39 am
I hate saying ‘no’ myself because it looks like the kids can’t really do anything in our apartment at all and it has a lot to do with the limitations that we have as we live in a big city.
I don’t blame the kids for being naughty but I say ‘no’ far too much. I’ll say yes to this book though!