Grandma’s Library

Recently, after deciding against posting three more books, a friend challenged my decision. She wanted to know why I wouldn’t put the books up on Litkidz, since other people might have different opinions about the book.

I thought about her point seriously. Here’s my answer:

Litkidz.com is my library. It’s a library of children’s books that I’d be happy leaving to my grandchild, knowing that every book he found in my library was something I could completely recommend to him, long after I wasn’t there in person. If people are looking for any book, there’s always Amazon or the public library.

So I will continue to offer only books that meet my own standards.

Recently, someone described quality children’s books as those books which help the child know the world is safe and beautiful, and life is sacred. People may disagree: the world is not safe and it is not always beautiful. But at what age do children need to discover that? In my mind, there are plenty of opportunities for children to find out about difficulties. Let’s let them enjoy wonder as long as we can.

Here are the latest books which I am not leaving as my legacy to my grandson, and why.

• Thirteen Clocks- James Thurber… too dark for a young fantasy.
• All-of-a-kind Family – Sydney Taylor… nice, but very dated, with little appeal to today’s child.
• Last Unicorn – Peter Beagle… The dark is too scary, and the plot is too convoluted, and the premise is too sad.
• Into the Land of  Unicorns – Bruce Corville…I don’t like the idea of a dad encouraging his daughter to betray and kill the unicorns, and forcing the girl to choose between her father and her friends.

Thanks for reading. What are your thoughts on choosing books?