As you should be. Kids books should be just as good as adult books. Maybe not for the adults, but for the kids reading them.
Having lower standards just because ‘it’s for kids,’ is ridiculous.
It’s not like disney or dreamworks to half ass their kid oriented movies. They’re often masterpieces in their own right. There’s good reason that the lion king, the land before time, the road to el dorado, etc., are all viewed fondly even today. Hell, take it out of animation, even. Secondhand lions, wizard of oz, charlie and the chocolate factory… great stuff.
Writing for kids can be just as complicated and well done in characters, setting, and ‘elements’ of a story like tension. Compare the hobbit to harry potter. The words tolkien chose may have been simple, in comparison to his the lord of the rings novels, but everything else was pretty damn good.
Brb reading Dubliners to elementary students and making fun of them when they don’t have an opinion on the themes of Irish nationalism and its implications in an ever more interconnected world.
This obviously has nothing on the complex thought presented by UP, of course. My 500 page thesis on its handling of grief (tl;Dr talking dogs heal all wounds) will shortly follow.
Compare Harry Potter with Animorphs and then see if you can still make this comparison with a straight face afterward. One of these two series treats it’s elementary student audience with respect, and is widely beloved because of it. It ain’t HP.
As you should be. Kids books should be just as good as adult books. Maybe not for the adults, but for the kids reading them.
Having lower standards just because ‘it’s for kids,’ is ridiculous.
It’s not like disney or dreamworks to half ass their kid oriented movies. They’re often masterpieces in their own right. There’s good reason that the lion king, the land before time, the road to el dorado, etc., are all viewed fondly even today. Hell, take it out of animation, even. Secondhand lions, wizard of oz, charlie and the chocolate factory… great stuff.
Writing for kids can be just as complicated and well done in characters, setting, and ‘elements’ of a story like tension. Compare the hobbit to harry potter. The words tolkien chose may have been simple, in comparison to his the lord of the rings novels, but everything else was pretty damn good.
Brb reading Dubliners to elementary students and making fun of them when they don’t have an opinion on the themes of Irish nationalism and its implications in an ever more interconnected world.
This obviously has nothing on the complex thought presented by UP, of course. My 500 page thesis on its handling of grief (tl;Dr talking dogs heal all wounds) will shortly follow.
Compare Harry Potter with Animorphs and then see if you can still make this comparison with a straight face afterward. One of these two series treats it’s elementary student audience with respect, and is widely beloved because of it. It ain’t HP.
If your books need real world themes and connections to be good, maybe you should try improving their writing instead.
Fucking lol