Parenting Lesson of The Day: Even Books Can be Wrong

I just purchased a new book for my daughter titled, “The Story of Peter Rabbit.” I loved this exciting tale as a child and, as a mother, I find it to be a great story to teach children the importance of listening to their parents’ words of advice. This particular copy of “The Story of Peter Rabbit” was published by Reader’s Digest and sold for $10.99.

To my dismay, I immediately noticed a grammatical error on the first page. “Once upon a time there were four little rabbits and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter,” the story started. This sentence is clearly two independent clauses. The author should’ve either used two sentences or separated the two clauses with a punctuation.  It could have been written as once upon a time there were four little rabbits named … to be grammatically correct. It could’ve also been written as once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were… to be grammatically correct.

I continued reading. Anyone can make a mistake, even Reader’s Digest. Again, to my dismay, the second page contained yet another grammatical error. “Your father had an accident there and he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor,” the story continued. Again, two independent clauses that should’ve either been two sentences or separated by a punctuation mark. “But, round the end of a cucumber frame, who should he meet, but Mr. McGregor” led the third page. Obviously, a comma isn’t needed after meet, and who should be replaced by whom.

The entire book read with at least one grammatical error per page. It’s quite a shame that Reader’s Digest would be so careless in their editing and publishing. Millions of children will read this book, and as they do so, many may use the text as a grammar lesson or a reason to doubt the grammar lessons they’ve previously been taught by family and teachers.

I’m trying to instill a love for and respect of the written word within my daughter. I limit movies and electronic gizmos. I try to make literature an adventure and ultimate learning experience – grammar;  moral, ethical, social, and cautionary lessons; a tool to spark imagination and creativity; and create an appreciation for history and that which she doesn’t experience firsthand. Maybe I should have vetted the book a little better. However, Reader’s Digest isn’t exactly an entity that I’d expect such poor standards.

In closing, this event brought up a memory of a story my mother told me. According to the story, my mother was in middle school and had been given a math homework assignment. The teacher graded the assignment and checked a particular math problem as wrong. My mother, feeling as though the problem had been solved correctly, questioned the teacher on why it was wrong. The teacher flipped to the answer key in her lesson book to show my mother the correct answer. My mother, still feeling as though the math problem was solved correctly, carried the problem to my grandmother. Grandmother came to the same answer as my mother and immediately called the teacher. The teacher insisted the answer was wrong, citing the book’s answer key as her only evidence. My grandmother asked for the publisher’s information and wrote them. The publisher sent back a letter of appreciation and apology. It turned out that the answer in the teacher key had indeed been wrong.  
 
So, parenting lesson of the day is that even books can be wrong.