27/04/2026
The most important thing weâve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television setâ
Or better still, just donât install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house weâve been,
Weâve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someoneâs place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until theyâre hypnotised by it,
Until theyâre absolutely drunk
With all the shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They donât climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sinkâ
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINKâHE ONLY SEES!
âAll right!â youâll cry. âAll right!â youâll say,
âBut if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!â
Weâll answer this by asking you,
âWhat used the darling ones to do?
âHow used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?â
Have you forgotten? Donât you know?
Weâll say it very loud and slow:
THEYâŚUSEDâŚTOâŚREAD! Theyâd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic takes
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching âround the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, itâs Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. TiggyâWinkle andâ
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
Thereâs Mr. Rat and Mr. Moleâ
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticksâ
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
Theyâll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they startâoh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. Theyâll grow so keen
Theyâll wonder what theyâd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
P.S. Regarding Mike Teavee,
We very much regret that we
Shall simply have to wait and see
If we can get him back his height.
But if we canâtâit serves him right.â
