What do you wish you saw more of in children's books?

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Easterncrane@reddit

I want more books that rhyme in a northern British accent! I want Bath to rhyme with Path not Half! 😆

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Positive stories about adoption. Not ones where the child is separated and battles to be reunited with birth family (ice age/nemo etc etc), but genuine adoption ones where the child couldn’t stay with birth family because it wasn’t safe so a new family was found for them, and off they go happily ever after. You very rarely see positive portrayal of adoption and adopted kids already feel othered. It would be great to see it more.

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themuddypuddle@reddit

I think "and off they go happily ever after" would be a problem here, as often that's not the case at all. Many adopted children really struggle even with super supportive adoptive parents. I dont think happily ever after would be relatable for adopted kids.

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raincloudrabbit@reddit (OP)

I bet that's a pretty difficult topic to cover with sensitivity so most authors avoid it. But it would be great if some of the books already out there got more popularity, since adoption isn't that rare.

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pussy_hoarder@reddit

Cool or beautiful art. Content that makes it good enough to be a keepsake, good for memories and also as gifts.

My latest fave is The Garden Witch by Kyle Beaudette. The illustrations are so cool, kind of Quentin Blake-y, and a fun dark fairytale story, which I genuinely cackled at the end of.

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

One thing I wish I saw less of in children’s books is body shaming. The amount of books that refer to people as ‘fat’ or variations that, or their name is something that defines them as such is really upsetting, and contradicts all the things I’m trying teach my son about how we look at people, or describe or define them.

Same with features like noses, ears etc.

Personally, I think it’s lazy anyway but I do think that a quiet undercurrent of malice is not the way to teach kids to interact with the world.

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NaomiOnions@reddit

What word would you teach your son to use instead?

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

It’s not about the descriptive use of the word. It’s about the connotations of the character it’s attached to, and the consistency of those characters…

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-Intrepid-Path-@reddit

So what would you prefer? Overweight? Obese?

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

I’m not getting into a conversation with someone who is looking to get a reaction.

I’ve studied literature. I work as a librarian. All of the points I’ve made are valid.

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-Intrepid-Path-@reddit

I'm not looking to get a reaction, I'm asking you which word you would prefer to see, since you haven't actually given a solution to the points you have made.

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

Yes I have. I’ve said many times that it’s the fact that the way these characters are represented needs to be changed. The characters who are fat are never heroic or useful. They’re mocked.

So instead of body shaming characters who are given negative connotations, which contribute to an overall perception of individuals in reality, if the characters are overweight, but actually contribute to the outcome of the story, then that is the solution I’ve mentioned several times in many responses.

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-Intrepid-Path-@reddit

Yes, that's all very fair and valid, but what's your solution to the word "fat"?

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itsnotmyreddit@reddit

You’re being obtuse.

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-Intrepid-Path-@reddit

You're not answering my question.

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SissaSays@reddit

Agree… it’s like trying to explain that fat is something all bodies have… … it doesn’t immediately mean that a person is unfit, lazy, ugly or any of the other things normally ‘inferred’ by the word fat if someone happens to have more than someone else… how much fat someone is carrying is not the most important or most interesting thing about them!

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Hunter037@reddit

"fat" is fine as a neutral descriptor. It's when fat characters are consistently shown to be the "bad guy" or are also shown as lazy or gluttonous or made fun of.

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

This is exactly my point!

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Zal_17@reddit

I'm a fan of portly and rotund. But there's plenty of options.

"Mum, did you see that dog?"

"No dear, which dog?"

"The one with the corpulent gentleman and the voluptuous lady"

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bluepizzabooks@reddit

At the end of the day, the word ‘fat’ is just a descriptor, like the word ‘tall’ or ‘short’ or ‘thin’. If we get rid of the word ‘fat’, people will start complaining about the lack of fat representation in children’s books. Fat people exist. I should know. I am one.

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Cariad_rae@reddit

Adjectives can also become slurs. As can medical terms. The word sp*stic was a medical term until it was used in a derogatory manner, it then needed to be changed. Calling someone fat is offensive. While you might be OK being called fat, most people aren't

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

As am I.

This is part of the reason why I find it difficult to accept. Because the ‘fat’ characters aren’t clever, or heroic or anything other than negative stereotypes. Fat people can be clever, attractive, helpful and just generally useful, but you’ll be hard pressed to find that in children’s literature.

I’m a librarian, so I see it all the time.

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raincloudrabbit@reddit (OP)

Do you think this is something the illustrations could help with? Like having fat characters where no one comments on it, that's just the character design.

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

Yes, this is a good idea. Especially if that character then ends up being valuable in some way.

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hamstertoybox@reddit

Have you seen Bodies Are Cool?

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Silhouette_Sneezes@reddit

I haven’t! Is it worth looking into?

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banwe11@reddit

Your point about body shaming is fair enough but I think there's a balance because books with pictures are a good way to teach kids simple relatable words like body parts. Kids will always find more interest in funny or unusual examples like big/small/funny colour etc

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raincloudrabbit@reddit (OP)

I've noticed some books include characters mocking other characters for their features and then being wrong in the end about their judgement, but I wonder if it does some harm to show that kind of teasing in the first place. I notice most kids really don't even think about what the other kids look like.

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ResplendentBear@reddit

Roald Dahl really did not like fat people. And, more problematically, also Jews.

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Hunter037@reddit

I think these do tend to be older books. The Mr and Mrs Large books, for example, or Roald Dahl

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Sad_Cardiologist5388@reddit

I dont see this much at all in children's books these days.

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Sad_Cardiologist5388@reddit

Complex pop ups and lift the flap stuff. I feel like the art of pop ups is a bit of a lost art these days.

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OwlAviator@reddit

I have a 'grown ups' pop-up book on the history and functions of CERN, it's one of my most treasured possessions!

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Ambivalent-Axolotl@reddit

OMG, I was obsessed with pop-up books as a kid and had some really amazing general science and astronomy ones that I'll never forget.
I think there's maybe a bigger gap between picture books and books for older children than when I was little and amazing complex pop-ups for older kids who won't immediately rip them off don't seem to be as available any more? The only ones I've seen recently when buying for niblings are very simple and sturdy.

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ACharredCell@reddit

Upvoted for use of term "niblings"

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raincloudrabbit@reddit (OP)

Definitely. The kids really gravitate towards those and its a great way to make them all feel included. That, and different textures like in "That's not my dragon" type books.

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chahu@reddit

Go back to stories telling everyday events. I grew up on Topsy and Tim (the originals, not the awful cartoon series).

Topsy and Tim did things like go to the doctor, go shopping, see the dentist. All things that kids have to do. They always had positive experiences and it was realistic. They'd have their friend Tansy come for tea and play games with the dog.

No fantasy, just normality and introducing kids to experiences without making it fantasy.

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pussy_hoarder@reddit

Upvoting because this would be really helpful! One around why it's good to brush your teeth would be good - there's YouTube videos on it but nice to have a book.

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sarberanne1@reddit

The works do their 10 for £10 books and a lot of them are nice basic stories, I have a few books like this- “I can brush my teeth” and “I can go to sleep” “ I can use my potty” My kid loooves them but I find them so boring to read 😂

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TyburnLil@reddit

Not more, LESS.

As a mum to a six year old, she loves her bedtime books.

But pictures wake her brain up, she wants to look at them rather than use her imagination if she knows they're there.

I struggle to find good stories for her age without pictures, publishers now seem to believe every page needs to be covered in graffiti

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pandabearrose@reddit

Real diversity.... heartbroken that Fijian girls were asking their mums to paint their hair yellow.... Blonde girls in the preschool books...

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sneakylithops@reddit

Animals with pronouns other than he/him! Human representation in kids books is so much more diverse than it used to be, but I don’t know why almost all animals are still male!

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Plot-3A@reddit

Honestly? I'd like there to be more stories that don't have a happy ending. Where the kid has to realise that there will always be someone out there better than you, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try. You only have twenty pages to fill, do we need Deus ex Machina to save the day?

Take a story about a kid that loves football. He can parrot off stats and results, plays in the park every weekend but when he tries to make the school football team he's just not good enough to make the cut. Parents console but basically tell him that's the way life goes.

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Positive-Mud-11@reddit

It’s a bit young to be teaching them the world sucks imo. I kept my daughters childhood happy as i could for as long as i could without sheltering too much. There’s enough bad waiting for them when they grow, might as well let them dream while they’re small!

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Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit

I don't know. I remember very clearly being told by my grandmother that life wasn't fair. I was 2 1/2 at the time, and it didn't mean the rest of my childhood was unhappy or didn't involve dreaming. If anything, it was useful because I developed an early understanding that you could do everything right but still not get what you want, which is very helpful for resilience.

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Plot-3A@reddit

It depends on the age of the child really. I'm trying to keep mine happy and relatively innocent but I will not lie to them (exceptions being Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy). I embrace their accomplishments and cheer for them even when they're down. With my potential story I would have ended it on a touching family moment of togetherness. You don't always succeed but we're here with you all the way.

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tumshy@reddit

All the potty training books are about using plastic potties, not about using the big toilet.

My 2yo has a fear of the big toilet - too high, too scary etc. but uses a potty fine.

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Paulstan67@reddit

How about so with pornagraphic pictures, that way when I'm reading a good night story that I have memorised ( because I've read it 1000 times) I can enjoy the pictures.

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nearbycat666@reddit

Why are you thinking about pornography on a post about children?

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Paulstan67@reddit

It's a joke about the repetitive nature of children's books and reading stories. But clearly you can't see that.

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ResplendentBear@reddit

I'd like to have seen a kids version of Beowulf. Get them in touch with their cultural heritage.

Might lose something if instead of all the maiming Beowulf sits down with Grendel for cakes and explains why he should stop eating people, but I'd still like to see it.

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Master_Piccolo_9178@reddit

There are quite a few children's versions of Beowulf available.

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raincloudrabbit@reddit (OP)

Wait this is actually a great idea. I bet there would be a market for classics for kids. There would also likely be a lot of complaints about the stories being watered down but still.

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Thomasinarina@reddit

The focus on bodily functions really annoys me. They’re already obsessed with that line of stuff when they’re that age, this just makes it so much worse

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Previous_Kale_4508@reddit

It's a long time since I was reading children's books to my lad, but I noticed then that the amount of pure fantasy was reducing to next to nothing; I mean the fantasy like Enid Blyton used to write with the Faraway Tree books and suck like. Potter came along, and then everything pivoted to wizards and witches. Pratchetts Trucks\Diggers\Wings trilogy was a notable exception in my mind, but that came too late for my lad who had found his niche in autobiographys.

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Miss_Type@reddit

There's so much fantasy is children's books at the moment! I read pre-teen books a lot and I choose almost purely fantasy, sometimes animals going on adventures. The amount of pure fantasy and lack of romance is the reason I read children's books :D

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Asher-D@reddit

I like story books for my kids to teach lessons (a nice bonus to help familarise themselves with stories and makes it easier to discuss it), have a fun rhyming scheme (helps keep them engaged and it helps me enjoy reading it) and/or teach inclusivity/differences (I think its important to teach my kids to accept everyone regardless of how they look or where theyre from etc. And its noce when books help aid this teaching). If it can do all three in the same book, that is a book I'll read over and over again.

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Critical-Reporter316@reddit

More of the real world. Illustrations are great and all but I wish stories were told using actual pictures.

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raincloudrabbit@reddit (OP)

Oh that's so interesting. You barely ever see that in children's books.

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