On a social media site, someone asked what parents
had tired of seeing in children’s books, and the response was overwhelming!
Since parents are the primary book-buyers and readers of books for kids, their
voices need to be heard and heeded by those of us who write for young readers.
Here’s what parents consistently dislike:
Rhyming books with no sense of rhythm or musicality
Text and illustrations created by AI
Dark pictures and dark-on-dark text
Books about eliminating body wastes
Text scattered around the page instead of moving left to right
Glittery books without interesting content
Fantasy stories with no depth of characters
Didactic stories that lecture
Books that are hard to read aloud
Dialogue that identifies speakers at the end, instead of up front
Formulaic books that follow the same story patterns
Stereotypes i.e., boys hating school, girls loving it
Stories that bad-mouth parents, teachers, or anyone!
Books that condescend
Books with incorrect information
Books intending to be playful but only confuse a child
Stories spreading fear of wildlife or...
Stories showing wild animals as cuddly friends
Characters with disabilities who have magic powers to compensate
Stories that are boring, sarcastic, unrealistic, or weird
Stories that put-down anything from veggies to ethnic groups
Books written by celebrities who don’t really know kids
Children’s classics retold with changes in the story or characters
Did this list include your pet peeves? If not, feel free to add what you don't like to see in books for children in the Comments Section below this post. Thanks.
Mary Harwell Sayler, lover of kids and books for children
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