The Case for Good Taste in Children's Books

A friend once commented to me that rejoicing over your children reading comic books simply because they were reading was like feeding them candy and rejoicing because they were finally eating something.  Neither should be our goal for our kids. 

Understanding that some have extenuating circumstances in teaching reading to their children, I would still encourage everyone to press on toward the goal of reading better materials.  No matter where you are on the reading spectrum, there is always room for improvement.  At a young age, my children could not read primary sources or the great classics themselves.  However, that was my ultimate goal, so we read non-fiction books that contained quotes from primary sources whenever possible and fiction books that were adaptations of the great books I hoped they would read some day. 

So  I was pleasantly surprised to see this month's Imprimis (publication of Hillsdale College) titled, "The Case for Good Taste in Children's Books."  It was adapted from a speech given by Meghan Cox Gurdon, a children's book reviewer. 

Ms. Gurdon laments the "increasingly dark current" running through young adult fiction.  She says that this category of books has become "increasingly lurid, grotesque, profane, sexual, and ugly."  She believes that adults ought to discriminate between good and bad books for their children, just as we make judgements about what is good, healthy, and beautiful in every other area of our lives.  She encourages parents to steer our children toward books "that make aesthetic and moral claims."  She talks about the rare few books that are "filled with wisdom and beauty and answers to important questions.  These are the books that have lasted because generation after generation has seen in them something transcendent, and has passed them on." 

As you choose books for your children to read this year (or better yet, books to read aloud with them), I would encourage you to think about the kinds of books you would like them to choose for themselves when they become adults.  You can do much to steer them towards that now by choosing books for them that have good character development, that challenge them to think about truth and beauty, that are adaptations of the great books that have withstood the test of time.  Ms. Gurdon puts it this way, "Let me close with Saint Paul the Apostle in Philippians 4:8: 'Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.' ...And let us think about these words when we go shopping for books for our children."

If you would like to read all of the article, you can do so at www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp  Happy reading!