From: bookslinger
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:08:34 -0500

Wow! Celeste you are so "right on". So, I agree, chidren will take what they can use and leave the rest behind... we must have some faith in their ability to monitor themselves and make their own small choices. It's a start. I beleive that students do take what they need from books. Much of the inuendos, even the overt situations of adults behaving badly, are glossed over in their heads.
 They read the story and enjoy the triumphs of the main characters. We as librarians, parents and adults who want the best for children, ALWAYS need to let children know that it is okay to NOT to finish a book. Like a pair of shoes, they don't always fit when you get them home. Bring them back and we will find one that does. How empowering is that? Two other perpendicular ideas. I believe that:
            Children see bad adult behavior as more frightening and threatening than peer behavior.
             Children need experiences. As a parent I would rather have my children, think about how they would handle a situation they read about than actually experience.

I, too confess that The Exorcist, by William Blatty, still remains as the scariest book and then movie I have ever seen. I read and viewed this movie 34 years ago and it still gives me the vapors--just to think about! It was a journey of self discovery-I found that it was not for me. Or as we say in our library, it wasn't a good fit.
Received on Fri 24 Jun 2005 10:08:34 AM CDT