Wuthering Heights: A BabyLit Weather Primer by Jennifer Adams
My rating: 3/5 cats
this book series is a cute idea – each volume uses text extracted from a specific work of classic littrature that features concepts even a toddler could understand; quotes about colors, numbers, etc, and the logic is that this is a fun and age-appropriate way to instill a love of literature at a very early stage. but let’s be honest – we both know that this exercise is more for the parents than the kids. ain’t no one reading wuthering heights for its weather scenes, and this meteorological-based reduction doesn’t give any sense of the story (which is probably for the best), or even feature any memorable lines – these sentences could be taken from any book, or have been created specifically for a board book about weather. and i don’t think that what is here would be enough to germinate interest in anyone ever reading the real book. i can’t picture a toddler growing up into its reading age and thinking – “hey, i remember that rainy board book mommy and daddy read me when i was little. i wonder what the real book is like!”
although i’m surprised that there was such a range of weather to highlight from w.h. – my overall weather-memory of it is gloom gloom gloom, but here we have: breezy, sunny, cloudy, windy, stormy, rainy, misty, snowy, and still, which sounds like a roll call of santa’s gothiest reindeer.
again, it’s a cute idea, and i like the illustrations, especially this one:
cuz it looks like something outta moominvalley or like this:
but don’t be the kind of smug parent feeding your kids carob and kale chips, thinking that exposing a toddler to this oh-so-memorable line from wuthering heights:
is the same as instilling a love of literature in them, or even doing a good job summarizing wuthering heights, unless you are also going to call attention to this detail:
and explain how later, heathcliff will hang these puppies by the neck.
or that yes, we learn about how stormy it is in the dubya-aitch
and this guy’s just wandering around in it, probably returning from sobbing over the grave of his beloved, who died after giving birth to another man’s baby whose life and family he’s gonna now destroy! also, goo goo gaa gaa.
dude, no way did heathcliff build that snowman.
but i get it – reading to a toddler has got to be boring as hell for a parent. they probably already knew all their colors and numbers before making a baby, and this is just a way to keep this dull developmental stage interesting and remind them of a time when they used to read real books with real sentences.
so get through this – wuther the storm – read your kids whatever’s going to be the least painful for you until you get them to the age when reading finally becomes fun for both of you. you can do it!
