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Picture Books for Older Readers -Reply
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From: DEBORAH CHURCHMAN <CHURCHMAN>
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 1997 09:11:06 -0500
Well, I worry about this a lot. We have a rule at Ranger Rick that we can't introduce an environmental problem unless we can also say "There's a solution" and "People are working on it." The best case is to be able to introduce a problem and then empower kids to help solve it. An example of this is the fact that the population of songbirds is being decimated, mostly by habitat loss (something the average kid can do nothing about) but also by other factors, including domestic cats, who kill literally millions of these birds each year. So one thing any cat owner can do is to try to keep their cat indoors--something we've suggested to our readers. Our readers are very responsive and do seem to care quite a bit about their world. I don't think we should try to shield them from the facts, but they need to know that there's good news and many people are working very hard on these problems.
Debby
As a lurker and children's book author, I've enjoyed reading the views of librarians and how you use books. On the current topic, I notice that some of the books mentioned deal with some heavy subjects, even depressing subjects. Do you ever worry that you will leave children with a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness, where they are made aware of problems which they have little chance of solving, or where they may fear that something similar will happen to them? How do you combat this possibility? Just wondering.
Judy Enderle
(one of the Two Badd Babies) Judink at aol.com
Received on Thu 06 Nov 1997 08:11:06 AM CST
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 1997 09:11:06 -0500
Well, I worry about this a lot. We have a rule at Ranger Rick that we can't introduce an environmental problem unless we can also say "There's a solution" and "People are working on it." The best case is to be able to introduce a problem and then empower kids to help solve it. An example of this is the fact that the population of songbirds is being decimated, mostly by habitat loss (something the average kid can do nothing about) but also by other factors, including domestic cats, who kill literally millions of these birds each year. So one thing any cat owner can do is to try to keep their cat indoors--something we've suggested to our readers. Our readers are very responsive and do seem to care quite a bit about their world. I don't think we should try to shield them from the facts, but they need to know that there's good news and many people are working very hard on these problems.
Debby
As a lurker and children's book author, I've enjoyed reading the views of librarians and how you use books. On the current topic, I notice that some of the books mentioned deal with some heavy subjects, even depressing subjects. Do you ever worry that you will leave children with a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness, where they are made aware of problems which they have little chance of solving, or where they may fear that something similar will happen to them? How do you combat this possibility? Just wondering.
Judy Enderle
(one of the Two Badd Babies) Judink at aol.com
Received on Thu 06 Nov 1997 08:11:06 AM CST
