Modern children’s literature seems to be a place where human beings are profoundly disrespected simply because they are small. Visit any modern children’s book section in the store, and you will find poorly illustrated books, with poorly written stories that depend on gimmicks like lifting flaps and sound playing buttons to justify their pedagogical benefit. They are not books, but rather products meant to maximise profit for minimal investment. Producers and sellers of these “products” argue that these books are developmentally targeted to babies and toddlers, but they are wrong because the implication is that babies and toddler are too stupid to notice bad writing and ugly artwork. They believe they can get away with poor writing and artwork simply because children are “too dumb to complain” about the intellectual and artistic crimes committed against them.
Babies and toddlers are capable of understanding so much more than we think. When we listen to interviews or read letters written by children from just fifty years ago, we find they had better command of language, better artistic ability and were more thoughtful in their expression. Children who are homeschooled in Classical Education methods today present similar outcomes. While genetics do play a role in intellect, nurture matters equally as much and the neglect of a child’s education begins with poor quality books that dumb down language and assault their visual world with ugly artwork. People in general have become so much more dumb today. An ordinary eighteen year old today can barely speak in a full sentence.
If you do not want your children to turn out like this, you need to understand how to discern good children’s books from bad ones…
