‘It gets boring’: Fed-up bookstore owner says young schoolkids are being made to read ‘preachy’ stories about global warming, sexuality and racism instead of fun and adventure
- Childrens’ books have lost their fun and adventure, says book store owner
- Concerns about the rise of ‘preachy’ books about global warming and racism
- Kate Cooley says picture books need to remain fun to engage kids in reading
Children have fallen out of love with reading due to ‘boring’ and ‘preachy’ topics such as climate change, gay parents and racism, according to a Sydney book store owner.
Kate Cooley, who runs Better Read Than Dead in inner-city Newtown says children’s books have lost their fun and adventure and become ‘a little bit boring’.
With a growing rise in titles about ‘being different’ appearing on store shelves, she believes fun should remain the focus of children’s picture books to ensure they continue to enjoy reading.
Childrens’ books have lost their fun and adventure and become ‘a little bit boring’, says one leading bookstore owner (stock image)
‘There is still a lot of good stuff out there. But an awful lot of them do preach,’ Ms Cooley told the Daily Telegraph.
‘They preach colour, difference, they preach about (being) gay and lesbian … there is one about how not to be a racist baby.
Ms Cooley believes children can be introduced to these topics in an age-appropriate manner through other family activities instead of books.
The rise in books covering climate change, gay parents and racism has seen children fall out of love with reading (stock image)
UTS children’s literacy expert Professor Rosemary Johnson agrees many children’s books have ‘lost their depth’ in the storyline and characters.
‘The essence of a book is its story. That’s its magic. But some of the so-called ‘issues’ books are not so well written and are indeed mundane,’ she said.
The annual NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge open to all students from kindergarten to Year 9 aims to ‘encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students’.
But the official booklist for the popular government initiative is littered with global warming titles from Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and the Down-to-Earth guide to global warming to Fight for Planet A and Jane Godwin young adult fiction title When Rain Turns to Snow.
Better Read Than Dead is a popular children’s book store in Sydney’s inner-city Newtown
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