Why write for kids
Isaac Bashevis Singer, when accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature, said:
“There are five hundred reasons why I began to write for children, but to save time, I’ll mention only ten of them.
- Children read books, not reviews. They don’t give a hoot for the critics.
- Chidren don’t read to find their identity.
- They don’t read to free themselves of guilt, to quench their thirst for rebellion, or to get rid of alienation.
- They have no use for psychology.
- They detest sociology.
- They don’t try to understand Kafka or Finnegan’s Wake.
- They still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff.
- They love interesting stories, not commentary, guides or footnotes.
- When a book is boring, they yawn openly, without shame or fear of authority.
- They don’t expect their beloved writer to redeem humanity. Young as they are, they know that is not in his power. Only the adults have such childish illusions.”
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