I hope I am not guilty of 'bumping' for inserting this. It just seemed appropriate to put this here, concerning the general subject of this thread being reading material for children.
Author Jeff Kinney Talks Pulp Fiction For Kids
Once upon a time, we picture good little children on a lazy summer afternoon reading “The Wind in the Willows” or “Charlotte’s Web” or maybe “Treasure Island.” Tales of derring-do and coziness and moral uplift.
Today, the fare is rougher. Less dewey-eyed. Among the biggest-sellers: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney.
His middle-school boy anti-hero is like Bart Simpson in a bad mood. Vindictive, mean, lazy. And a superstar to young readers. “He gets them to read,” parents say.
link to broadcast available for download.
I thought that this comment left by Elen7 was funny:
Quote:
|
even though i haven't read Mr. Kinney's books he sounded like an author who would not glorify anyone 'evil'. i wonder whether the good rabbi has read Macbeth recently (standard high school fare) or indeed Alice in Wonderland, with all the talk of cutting off heads and allusions to drug use. i was amused by the talk of Wind in the Willows because that was the only book we ever (and i don't say this with pride) had to take away from our child, a quarter of a century ago. at the age of 4 he could read nearly anything that he found in the house (with, of course, various degrees of understanding) but he modeled himself on Toad!
|