History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / Literature

* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' shows that this trope is OlderThanTheyThink. Largely regarded as a children's tale with many, many {{Bowdlerise}}d versions of it out there, it was successful among children even when it was first published in the 18th century... despite the fact that the unaltered text is, in fact, a ''heavily'' satirical and most definitely an ''adult'' book, being among the most preeminent satirical works of the English language. This book is definitely not for children for two reasons. First, the high-minded satire that would go over children’s heads, such as a satire of the Catholic-Protestant wars of the time in the form of a war waged over which end one should crack a boiled egg on. Second, the frequent rude humour, such as a character called [[ADateWithRosiePalms Master]] [[PunnyName Bates]]. In the unabridged versions, when Gulliver is in the land of the Brobdingnag, he's placed across one young woman's ''nipple'' as a type of play. The following stories get worse; people forget Jonathan Swift wrote satires, not kids' stories. There's a ''reason'' only Lilliput is usually adapted, and they still leave out Gulliver's "when you gotta go" fire-fighting techniques.

* The original Franchise/{{Zorro}} stories by Creator/JohnstonMcCulley qualify. Apart from the obvious ValuesDissonance, they are also rather bloody, with Zorro carving his [[{{ZorroMark}} trademark "Z"]] into his foes' flesh, rather than their clothing, as in the [[{{Series/Zorro1957}} Disney adaptation]]. Most of the film adaptations are less violent than the source material too.

'''Both''': [[CriticalResearchFailure (laugh)]]

* Don't let the cute cats on the cover of ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' fool you. It's a serious, adult-geared fantasy novel that just happens to star cats. The mythology and LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters would turn off most younger readers but the violence, especially in the latter portion of the book, can get graphic (as in, "cats are torn to pieces" graphic).

* In the world of ''Literature/HarryPotter'', this trope held true of ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard''. However, Wizarding children rejected Mrs. Beatrix Bloxam's [[TastesLikeDiabetes attempts to sanitize]] them.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''! A science fiction series about HumongousMecha, just like in the cartoons right? Well... let's see. Graphic depictions of war, mutilation, and many varieties of horrible screaming death. (PPC hit to the cockpit, anyone? What about a person having their head split open with a katana? [[{{Gorn}} Disturbingly detailed, in-depth depiction]] of [[BoomHeadshot an assassination by sniper?]] Anyone?) Implied sexual situations, outright BrotherSisterIncest / {{Squick}} with the [[ProudWarriorRace Clan]] [[DesignerBabies trueborn warrior caste]] depending on your take on their antics. Brutal betrayals and teaching lessons such as "The sneakiest, most ruthless bastard wins when his (or her) competition is dead." Fun series, but still loaded down with enough to scar unprepared young minds.

* Most [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek and Roman myths]] in their classical form. Creator/{{Ovid}}'s [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Metamorphoses]] have copious amounts of rape, gore, and cruelty, which can easily take people off guard who are more familiar with the kid-friendly adaptations of the myths like Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''.

%%* ''Literature/TheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryOfAPartTimeIndian'' is a humorous diary illustrated with cartoons that may remind you of ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid''. Not only does it deals with the serious issue of a poor Native American who has birth defects and attends an almost all-white school off his reservation, it has strong profanity, slurs, content some people may find explicit, alcoholism as a main theme, and plenty of violence and death.

* ''Literature/TheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryOfAPartTimeIndian'': A diary illustrated with cartoons and filled with humor, looks like ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', huh? Not only does it deals with the serious issue of an impaired Native American attending an all-white school off his reservation, it has strong profanity, references to sexual acts, alcoholism as a main theme, and plenty of violence and death.

* Some teachers in Germany have seventh-graders (so children who can be as young as 12) read ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'' by Patrick Süßkind. The book features a sociopathic serial killer as the protagonist, scenes of graphic violence, a mass orgy [[spoiler:induced by the titular perfume]] and ends with [[spoiler:the protagonist committing suicide by letting himself be cannibalized]]. Those teachers probably let themselves be fooled by the fact that TheMovie is rated 12, despite featuring scenes that could very well disturb a 12- or 13-year-old, such as the bloody and painful portrayal of the birth of the protagonist.[[note]]In Austria it was given the rating 14, which does not exist in Germany[[/note]]. The book and movie are recommended by the ministry of education, but for grade 10, not only due to its portrayal of sex and violence, but also because most of the philosophical references and undertones, the reason it got a recommendation in the first place, would go right over a 7th grader's head.

** This was also {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' where [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters some prison guards]] saw Beast reading.

* Pierre Dubois's ''La Grande Encyclopédie des lutins''. It's a book about fairies, gnomes, elves, pixies and the like. Surely it must be a great gift for any child! Yep, especially the occasional nudity (for example, the faun, who is outright depicted with a prominent erect penis.) Or the (admittedly more or less subtle) sexual references (such as the Hosenteufel, a demon who is, quite literally, a personification of the male organ.) Or the explicit and terror-inducing descriptions of just what these fairies can sometimes do to you. (This fairy world is definitely not a SugarBowl.)
* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' shows that this trope is OlderThanTheyThink. Largely regarded as a children's tale with many, many {{Bowdlerise}}ed versions of it out there, it was successful among children even when it was first published in the 18th century... despite the fact that the unaltered text is, in fact, a ''heavily'' satirical and most definitely an ''adult'' book, being among the most preeminent satirical works of the English language. This book is definitely not for children for two reasons. First, the high-minded satire that would go over children’s heads, such as a satire of the Catholic-Protestant wars of the time in the form of a war waged over which end one should crack a boiled egg on. Second, the frequent rude humour, such as a character called [[ADateWithRosiePalms Master]] [[PunnyName Bates]]. In the unabridged versions, when Gulliver is in the land of the Brobdingnag, he's placed across one young woman's ''nipple'' as a type of play. The following stories get worse; people forget Jonathan Swift wrote satires, not kids' stories. There's a ''reason'' only Lilliput is usually adapted, and they still leave out Gulliver's "when you gotta go" fire-fighting techniques.

* A book published in the Soviet Union titled "[[Creator/FyodorDostoevsky Dostoevsky]] to children". You know, Dostoevsky has never written books for children, but he did write ''about'' children, what was a principle to select fragments for this anthology.

* Creator/JKRowling's ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy'', which features such kid un-friendly topics as domestic abuse, adultery, drug use, rape and internet porn to name a few, seems to be suffering this. [[ContractualPurity Many people fail to realize]] that just because it's by the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' lady doesn't mean it's for kids. This is speculated to be the reason why Rowling's subsequent adult novels in the ''[[Literature/CormoranStrikeSeries Cormoran Strike]]'' series were released under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

* Given the number of children's stories Creator/RoaldDahl has written, some libraries will put any of his works in the children's section. This is ''not'' a good idea — his [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Uncle-Oswald-Roald-Dahl/dp/0140055770/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247010383&sr=1-2 early work]] might best be described as "O. Henry [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}''."
** His WWII-fiction book ''Over to You''. DeathOfAChild in [[{{Gorn}} hideously]] ways, {{Nightmare Sequence}}s, a close-up view of a bomber pilot's death, two men drinking themselves into madness, and [[MaleGaze a random page-long scene where the main character discusses an Egyptian dancer's breasts.]]

* Creator/JKRowling's ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy'', which features such kid un-friendly topics as domestic abuse, adultery, drug use, rape and internet porn to name a few, seems to be suffering this. [[ContractualPurity Many people fail to realize]] that just because it's by the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' lady doesn't mean it's for kids. This is speculated to be the reason why Rowling's second adult novel, ''Literature/TheCuckoosCalling'', was released under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

* The ''Sky Fall'' series by Shannon Messenger has a number of low ratings on Amazon from parents who were disappointed to learn that unlike the author's other series ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'', which is for children, ''Sky Fall'' is young adult.

* The ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'' series is described as "young adult" fantasy and is often found in the teen section in bookstores and libraries. However, the sexual content is a ''lot'' more {{explicit|content}} than the average young adult novel, to the point that some printings come with {{content warnings}} advising reader discretion on the cover. From ''A Court of Silver Flames'' onwards the series is now marketed more as "New Adult" fiction (typically aimed at readers aged 18-30 rather than younger teens) for this reason.

* [[Myth/KingArthur The Arthurian Legends]]: rape, incest, marital infidelity, and a [[NiceJobBreakingItHerod massacre of the innocents]]. That's before we even get onto the battles and the chivalrous bloodletting. As for TH White's version, it has a description of a cat being boiled alive. Plus, if you have the original, standalone version of his ''The Sword in the Stone'', well, Madam Mim owns a lithograph entitled "The Virgin's Choise" — would you be able to explain ''that'' to your kids? [[labelnote:FYI]]White doesn't explain this rather obscure reference either, but presumably it's the same as in ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''' "The Wife of Bath's Prologue", where she refers to her "chose", (literally, her "thing") meaning her pudenda. Basically, Madam Mim has a historic porn pic of a virgin displaying her maidenhead or hymen.[[/labelnote]]
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''! A science fiction series about HumongousMecha, just like in the cartoons right? Well... let's see. Graphic depictions of war, mutilation, and many varieties of horrible screaming death. (PPC hit to the cockpit, anyone? What about a person having their head split open with a katana? [[{{Gorn}} Disturbingly detailed, in-depth depiction]] of [[BoomHeadshot an assassination by sniper?]] Anyone?) Implied sexual situations, outright BrotherSisterIncest / {{Squick}} with the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Clan]] [[DesignerBabies trueborn warrior caste]] depending on your take on their antics. Brutal betrayals and teaching lessons such as "The sneakiest, most ruthless bastard wins when his (or her) competition is dead." Fun series, but still loaded down with enough to scar unprepared young minds.

* Creator/RosemaryWells, who is well-known as the creator behind ''Literature/MaxAndRuby'', ''Literature/TimothyGoesToSchool'', the Yoko series, and Yoko & Friends, always makes children's books that star anthropomorphic animals. She has also created other books without her signature animal illustrations such as "Red Moon" (which is set during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar) and "Through The Hidden Door", which are geared towards older readers. Which explains why she doesn't do illustrations for those books along with "Helping Children Cope With Divorce" and "Helping Children Cope With Grief". Probably to avoid the situation Creator/RaymondBriggs did by [[ArtStyleDissonance using the same illustration style]] he used in ComicBook/TheSnowman for his graphic novel ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows''.

* The ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'' series is described as "young adult" fantasy and is often found in the teen section in bookstores and libraries. However, the sexual content is a ''lot'' more {{explicit|content}} than the average young adult novel, to the point that some printings come with {{content warnings}} advising reader discrection on the cover.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' was a kid's movie, complete with a source-tribute opening song about "Arabian nights". But parents whose kids pester them for more of the same shouldn't touch ''[[Literature/ArabianNights A Thousand and One Nights]]'' with a ten foot pole, unless they want their children reading about forced marriage, infidelity, serial uxoricide, and explicit descriptions of human anatomy ... and that's just in the ''frame story!'' Hopefully they'll catch on before Scheherazade starts rambling on about corpse-tearing ghouls, bestiality, or [[GagPenis penis humor]]. There's a lot of racist content and inherent ValuesDissonance in it, too.

** Benard Evslin's Greek Mythology series was more toned down, but still quite graphic, especially with just-offscreen sex and violence. It was explicitly marketed to young adults and up, but too often found its way into kids' sections. It might have been the pretty pictures, which were nearly all famous paintings based on Greek myths. Including very sexual and graphically violent ones, such as Polyphemus enjoying his feast of Odysseus' men.

* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' shows that this trope is OlderThanTheyThink. Largely regarded as a children's tale with many, many {{Bowdlerise}}ed versions of it out there, it was successful among children even when it was first published in the 18th century... despite the fact that the unaltered text is, in fact, a ''heavily'' satirical and most definitely an ''adult'' book, being among the most preeminent satirical works of the English language. This book is definitely not for children for two reasons. First, the high-minded satire that would go over children’s heads, such as a satire of the Catholic-Protestant wars of the time in the form of a war waged over which end one should crack a boiled egg on. Second, the frequent rude humour, such as a character called [[ADateWithRosiePalms Master]] [[PunnyName Bates]].

* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfThePrincessAndMrWhiffle'', when it warns you that it's not for kids. The work page says: "The Princess will eat kittens and friendly, sapient monsters alive, and is shown in the sequel to make a game out of torture''. Under ''EvenEvilHasStandards''.

* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfThePrincessAndMrWhiffle'', when it warns you that it's not for kids.