My Big Sister Takes Drugs

 The Book:  My Big Sister Takes Drugs

The Gist:  Paul's big sister gets busted for taking drugs.  Problems for the family ensue.

Why It's Creepy:  From Amazon.com, a quote from a reviewer:

This book is perfect if, like me, you just CANNOT talk to your kids. Plop em down in the corner with this book and you have got gold. Blammo. Try the other books in the series like "What is up with Mom and her New Friend Barbara?" and my personal favorite "How Come That Man Staring At Me?"

So there you go - why bother talking to your kids directly when a creepy book can do it for you?

Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns To Say No To Drugs

 The Book:  Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say "No" to Drugs

The Gist:  This odd/weird/creepy book teaches kids about the consumption of drugs.

Why It's Creepy:  The reviewers on Amazon say it best:

This is the tale of three African American horses (Latawnya, Latoya and Daisy), who leave the stable and get drugs from four white horses (Connie, Chrystal, Jackie and Angie). It is a timely and poignant tale that will leave you laughing, crying, and making scary noises.

It starkly and accurately presents the real dangers horses in black neighborhoods face from Caucasian equine drug pushers; when one of the horses died of a drug overdose, this reviewer wept openly. This is a lesson all children, foals, calves, chicks and cubs must learn before it is too late.

A classic of our time. Get it while you still can.

Cigarettes, Cigarettes: The dirty rotten truth about tobacco.

The Book:  Cigarettes, Cigarettes.  The Dirty Rotten Truth About Tobacco

The Gist:  An anti-smoking book for kids. 

Why It's Creepy:  Two lessons that can be derived from this book cover:

Lesson 1:  Don't smoke.  

Lesson 2:  Don't stand on a railroad track with your back to an oncoming train while blaring music into your ears from your iPod.

I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much

The Book:  I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much

Why It's Creepy:  If you were wondering what this book was about, the title says it all.

Here's a little snippet from this gem:

“For Christmas, Daddy made me a sled. He brought it to my room on Christmas Eve. I knew it was only Daddy in a Santa Suit because he bumped into my bed twice and spilled beer on the rug.”

Oh, that's classic.


Now, if I were an alcoholic, would I really read this book to my kid?  Only after downing a bottle of Grey Goose vodka!

The House That Crack Built

The Book:  The House That Crack Built

The Gist:  All about crack/cocaine, the associated problems, and the awesome stuff you can buy from selling it.

Why It's Creepy: The story of crack, from the exploited coca farmers in South America, to the inner streets.  


The book reads like a hip-hop track - rhythmically rhyming like The House That Jack Built, and teaches kids about the dangers of drugs.  


It also teaches kids that selling crack can be quite lucrative, and and can a build sweet, beachfront house like this: