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But who was talking about 'censorship'?
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From: drabkin <arcanis>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 07:59:44 -0700
Maia: Just as you are weary of accusations of censorship, I am weary of the glorification of victimhood, and even more weary of the very Puritan notion that if a book is enjoyable, there must be something deeply harmful about it.
It is tiresome to read the accusations against "Little House" coming from the same sources that wanted to ban "Cinderella" on the dubious grounds that it taught little girls bad lessons. It is tiresome to read adults making the assumption that because a teacher has made a book available it means that the teacher has forced the book on the children. And it's most tiresome of all to keep on hearing that children have no sense and no awareness of the world and will be shaped, like so many sheep, by the latest book they are reading.That's not what books do, and it's certainly not what they're for.
Please, let's get back to the idea that books are fun, that children will only read them if they enjoy them, that "lessons" and bibliotherapy and that whole nest of grownup shibboleths is completely irrelevant to the world in which children live and want to continue living, not to mention has well-nigh destroyed the enjoyment of books for many people of all ages.
Many of us are not teachers. We are librarians. The wonderful thing about being a librarian is that you are free to explore the world of books with children (rather than being hemmed in by a curriculum and the constraints of curriculum) and you are also free to find out what children love and choose to read. We don't have to restrict ourselves to what is "worthy", and certainly not to what will please certain adults who appear to believe that the entire world of children ought to be continually existing inside a moral lesson -- Jonathan Edwards is long gone, and very few of us miss his spirit.
Reading is FUN. Books are FUN. Fiction is fiction. Fantasy is fantasy. Have a little perspective. God knows, children do. They can tell the difference. Trust them.
Marian
Received on Wed 20 Oct 1999 09:59:44 AM CDT
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 07:59:44 -0700
Maia: Just as you are weary of accusations of censorship, I am weary of the glorification of victimhood, and even more weary of the very Puritan notion that if a book is enjoyable, there must be something deeply harmful about it.
It is tiresome to read the accusations against "Little House" coming from the same sources that wanted to ban "Cinderella" on the dubious grounds that it taught little girls bad lessons. It is tiresome to read adults making the assumption that because a teacher has made a book available it means that the teacher has forced the book on the children. And it's most tiresome of all to keep on hearing that children have no sense and no awareness of the world and will be shaped, like so many sheep, by the latest book they are reading.That's not what books do, and it's certainly not what they're for.
Please, let's get back to the idea that books are fun, that children will only read them if they enjoy them, that "lessons" and bibliotherapy and that whole nest of grownup shibboleths is completely irrelevant to the world in which children live and want to continue living, not to mention has well-nigh destroyed the enjoyment of books for many people of all ages.
Many of us are not teachers. We are librarians. The wonderful thing about being a librarian is that you are free to explore the world of books with children (rather than being hemmed in by a curriculum and the constraints of curriculum) and you are also free to find out what children love and choose to read. We don't have to restrict ourselves to what is "worthy", and certainly not to what will please certain adults who appear to believe that the entire world of children ought to be continually existing inside a moral lesson -- Jonathan Edwards is long gone, and very few of us miss his spirit.
Reading is FUN. Books are FUN. Fiction is fiction. Fantasy is fantasy. Have a little perspective. God knows, children do. They can tell the difference. Trust them.
Marian
Received on Wed 20 Oct 1999 09:59:44 AM CDT
