From a teacher/parent viewpoint, The Spiderwick Chronicles represent a very successful approach to the reluctant reader. The first five books are one unified story, but broken down into manageable chunks. Each individual book encapsulates one conflict, which is resolved before the last page turn. However, the larger, unresolved conflict continues to rise from book to book, forcing the reader to continue. A 300 page book might be too intimidating for a struggling or reluctant reader, but these little books can't fail at drawing them in.
From a writing standpoint, one final edit would have cleaned up a couple of pesky bugs I noticed, but other than that, it was great.
For me, a book is really good when I reach the last page and realize that I didn't even notice the writing at all. (Can that be said of Kate DiCamillo's writing? Hmmm.)
Now for the dilemma.
It is always shocking to hear what parents will allow their children to read(or are completely unaware that they are reading). Just because a child is reading on a higher grade level does not mean the content is appropriate for them. But, that is a soapbox for another day. Or not.
My children make me read everything that I write to them. They are my most adoring fans and my severest critics. I tailor my stories accordingly.
That leads to two questions for discussion:
- If you have children, what guidelines do you use to determine what your children are allowed to read?
- Does an author have responsibilities to protect their young readership? If so, what are they?
*The photo is a trading card created by "Kreepy Kelli", using a hand carved rubber stamp. Isn't it amazing?
