Recently I planted myself on the floor of the children’s section of our little Appomattox Public Library. I spend most of my time reading books written long ago for children that are no longer in circulation and I wanted to balance that out by reading what’s offered to children today. So I started with the A’s and read the first 150 books. Here’s what I found.
Out of those 150 books, there were two that had a traditional family of mother, father and children represented. There wasn’t a single reference to God or faith. I specifically looked for a value or principle that was taught. A handful of the books taught lessons in kindness. But far and away, the overriding purpose of creating the books seemed to be sheer entertainment.Which shouldn’t surprise me. I’ve noticed in many guidelines for parents written by educators and school librarians, their #1 suggestion is to look for books that entertain. And the publishing industry is satisfying that demand. As I’ve read what children’s books publishers are looking for, their #1 criteria is also entertainment. Their reasoning is that if a book isn’t entertaining, a child won’t read it. So they add more glitter and more color and even more shock. Lately when I walk into the children’s section of a book store, I feel like I’m walking into a big Saturday morning commercial. And I ask myself , seriously, how many more dilemmas can the Disney princesses find themselves in?
In fact, one time I specifically asked a sales person if she could help me find a book that taught a moral or a value for my little granddaughters. She took me to the wall of children’s books where we stood scanning the titles. She shifted from one foot to the other, scratched her chin, and finally reached over and handed me If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, adding that she was pretty sure it had a moral in it.
Now I love If You Give Mouse a Cookie and my children loved it and my grandchildren love it. But I somehow don’t think it’s going to be enough.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking.
If I hold out a stalk of broccoli in one hand and a candy bar in the other and ask my five-year-old granddaughter to choose, I’ll tell you which one she’ll choose every single time. But what responsible parent would ever fill up their children’s dinner plates with candy because that’s what they like? We teach them, rather, to acquire a taste for broccoli and we limit the amount of candy we give them. Candy is enjoyable as a snack but hardly works as the main course.
We’re starving our children’s souls when we don’t help them to love the literature that demonstrates the how’s and why’s of happy living.
Why do we see a breakdown in the family? Why the exodus away from God? Why the moral vacuum in our society?
To answer those questions, for starters I suggest spending a few hours on the floor of your own public library, starting with the letter ‘A’.
