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  • Charlie Strosscstross@wandering.shop
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:37 AM

    #WritersCoffeeClub 02 April: International Children’s Book Day! What makes for a good book for children?

    I dunno!

    I'm 60 and childless. Don't write for kids, either. But …

    Kids are resilient readers and will ignore stuff that icks them out or they don't understand. It's the parents and other gatekeepers you need to pay attention to: people who'll stop kids reading "inappropriate" stuff. (Usually because they didn't read widely enough when *they* were kids.)

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Replies

  • Christian Praetoriussnaefell@mastodon.social
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:43 AM

    @cstross It probably depends a bit on the age, but generally I agree. I never saw a reason to restrict some books to my kids, especially when thinking back, what I read as a teen (basically any book in the thriller section of my library). And such much dull stuff. But still, it was entertaining and I don't think I took any serious damage.

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  • Charlie Strosscstross@wandering.shop
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:46 AM

    @snaefell I *did* bounce off "Crash" by J. G. Ballard when I was 12, but it didn't damage me in any way and I got a lot of belly laughs out of it when I was 24.

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  • Christian Praetoriussnaefell@mastodon.social
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:51 AM

    @cstross I think the worst thing that could happen is that kids don't understand a book or put it aside bored.
    I would worry much more about the stuff readily available on Youtube or TikTok.

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  • Veronica Olsen 🏳️‍🌈🇳🇴🌻veronica@mastodon.online
    Apr 2, 2025, 2:10 PM

    @snaefell @cstross I ran out of YA books I waned to read at our local library fairly quickly. Even if I read a bunch of them twice, so I moved on to adult books when I was still in my early teens. I read a lot of crime, war and thrillers. I turned out mostly OK. 😁

    My dad also had a decent collection of books in those categories. I didn't start ready SFF until I was an adult and could read English well enough. I think all I found in Norwegian was Narnia.

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  • Christian Praetoriussnaefell@mastodon.social
    Apr 2, 2025, 3:53 PM

    @veronica I had exactly the same. Also I changed from the local library a few streets away to the central library of the city. Much more books to read. First translated stuff, later also the english books.

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  • Janne Morenjannem@fosstodon.org
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:48 AM

    @cstross
    So much science fiction especially that I read as a kid really doesn't hold up as an adult. Not in the "this isn't good literature" sense, but in the "this is really sexist/fascist/racist" one.

    Was it *good* that I read it as a kid? I had to encounter this stuff at some point anyhow, and I did pick up an "off" vibe from at least some of it, especially in comparison to books from authors without those opinions.

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  • Joel Pomalesjoelpomales@mastodon.social
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:48 AM

    @cstross I did not restrict my daughter to read any types of books. She's grown up to be a ravenous reader.

    I'm proud. 😎

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  • Skjeggtrollskjeggtroll@mastodon.online
    Apr 2, 2025, 11:50 AM

    @cstross

    What makes for a good book for children? Well, to quote William Goldman: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True Love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest Ladies. Snakes. Spiders... Pain. Death. Brave men. Cowardly men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."

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  • jornyjorny@mastodon.social
    Apr 2, 2025, 12:07 PM

    @cstross
    Iv'e been rereading some of the stuff I read when I was 10-14 (It is hard to match how much fiction you can read that age). Mostly fantasy. What you say is very true. Both that disturbing scenes are more disturbing to me as an adult. Also as a kid you read the story, while the larger themes might escape you.

    Otherwise it is fascinating to reread, books you loved as a kid are dross, while others are even better as a grown up. In my case David Eddings and Robin Hobb.

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  • Tito Swineflutito_swineflu@sfba.social
    Apr 2, 2025, 2:22 PM

    @cstross my son is 9 and would read 5 books a day if he didn't have school. The only things that makes him put down a book are if its boring or the characterizations are too unrealistic.

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  • Jeanjeanv@mastodon.gamedev.place
    Apr 2, 2025, 4:54 PM

    @cstross Big text, self-contained story, and available at the library.

    · Big text means no straining eyes to read
    · Self-contained story means they can follow the whole plot from any single volume
    · Available at the library means that reading will feel accessible to them

    The content of the book does matter but its being a book doesn't make the information much different from would it would be if it were instead a movie, so I'm not interested in answering that aspect of the question.

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  • Complexity of systemsaddressforbots@apcn.nz
    Apr 3, 2025, 10:51 AM

    @cstross I read (or more accurately listened to the audiobook of) Accelerando when I was 13 there was definitely a bunch of weird stuff that I didn't understand at the time which I just ignored and the me of today definitely would not have give an a 13 year old that book

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  • Complexity of systemsaddressforbots@apcn.nz
    Apr 3, 2025, 11:09 AM

    @cstross I'd bet. it probably came up in my sci-fi recommendation thing on Goodreads at the time and at the time my parents just oked any book I wanted to read or listen to because at least it meant I wasn't watching TV or playing video games or "mindlessly" browsing the internet (I was actually teaching myself python and basic Linux skills but my mum didn't really know the difference)

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