From: Nell Fleming <nell.fleming_at_wsd.k12.wi.us>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:10:25 -0500

Dear All,

I can see the interest in non-fiction for most middle school kids, but in elementary we need a balance of true stories that are uplifting, like Dewey the library cat and Koko the Gorilla.

One of the reasons my daughter who is going on 10 turned away from non-fiction is that it is often traumatic, harsh or unpleasant to think about. My daughter refuses to even listen to stories about anyone who is being mistreated.

Movies, books, or stories about racism, physical trauma, emotional trauma, war, bad weather like tornadoes, or any other of lifes cruelties are "off limits" she has told me unless she is required at school to read or hear about them.

I try to bring home books like "how things work" and "How it is made" and books about inventions and anything I think she would be interested in that isn't viewed as "negative. She likes pop up books like Castle.

It would be nice if there were books about children where the child doesn't get beaten, die, lose their parents, have a disability or other challenge to overcome, or get called names or shot at by the KKK. Surely there are inspiring stories about children out there that involve more pleasant themes. I'm not sure if I'm the only one noticing this. Am I overlooking a huge chunk of non-fiction somewhere?

I personally was an avid reader of the non-pleasant as a child, the Holocaust, Apartheid, the Civil war, Stephen King, you name it I read it. But some kids are different. We do have to recognize they all develop in their own time-frame and with their own person likes and dislikes. My daughter thinks I'm horrible for reading cozy murder mysteries and questions her father for watching law and order. lol

We don't necessarily give birth to clones of ourselves. :) It does provide a nice alternative perspective at times.

Nell Fleming Librarian WSD Library 309 Walworth Ave Delavan, WI 53115 (262) 728-7133 v/tty
Received on Tue 20 Mar 2012 06:10:25 PM CDT