Children’s Literature Reviews: The Right to Not Defend our Tastes

Daniel Pennac urges us to let children read what they choose to read, suspending adult evaluations of quality and appropriateness. There are time-honored topics that children and teens return to again and again, year after year, including: subject matter that may frighten or threaten some grown-ups; goofy, gross, or slapstick humor; series fiction or nonfiction that prolongs a personal connection to characters or plot devices or information; multimedia connections or tie-ins; and perpetually popular interests, from trucks to mysteries to vampires. In addition, there are the 21st-century expectations children have for books with high visual interest and authentic representations of the experience of the modern day child in our diverse world. The books reviewed in this article, were selected because, based on our experiences working with children and their teachers, the authors believe they have genuine “kid appeal.”