Children's books not just for kids anymore

Saturday July 9, 2011

North Adams Transcript

You may have heard of a parody children?s book that has been lighting the Amazon pre-order charts on fire. It?s captured people?s imagination largely through its use of a vulgarity and mixing it with the time-honored lullaby trope ? it?s called ?Go the F*** to Sleep.?

Recently I joked that I wanted to write an answer book called ?Shut The F*** up Dad and Quit Whining, You got Mom Pregnant, now put Down Your iPhone and just Accept Your Parental Responsibilities with some Dignity.?

It?s a hard book to review, but that answer book title may qualify as mine. The real question when writing a review of the book, though, is whether it would stand out from the crowd without the F word? I don?t think it would. In fact, you take the F word out of it and the one thing that obscures the true tone is revealed ? this is a whiny book.

The book does address some real concerns, but not the ones everyone talks about ? I?m speaking of publishing concerns. The leaking of the PDF and the massive sales indicate that the official line in regard to so-called piracy is once again taken to task ? big sales can still happen. and imagine if these guys were self publishing. An author gets around 5 percent of the cover price with a publisher, but depending on the circumstance, can get much more as a self-publisher.

The book also addresses a stale quality that has infected the children?s publishing industry, in which edginess appears in the form of fart jokes, not ideas. bad behavior is still punished, lessons must still be learned and the entire scene has turned into a clubhouse for slumming celebrities with little to say beyond whatever pleases the marketing guys who control the industry. ?What the F? answers that with the idea that there are other corners of family life that can be addressed, while still pushing the same old conformity that the industry celebrates.

Combine that with the burgeoning culture of kid ridicule ? there?s certainly an audience for kid hostility, at least on some level, as the popular websites like bad Kids Art and Sh** my Kids Ruined reveal ? and you?ve got the recipe for a hit.

From my perspective the non-sleeping kid in the book is a culture jammer, a trickster, a wake-up call in more ways than the obvious one, trying to pull the parents outside their comfort zone, outside the cozy little life that they?ve managed to build, and challenge them to adapt, survive and, most importantly, do something different.

One of the biggest reasons some people fear having children is that they change your life ? your big picture life and your daily life ? after all the work you?ve done to get it where you want it so you could afford to have a kid. But that?s the strength of having a kid, that?s a major reason to have a kid ? it shakes things up, it keeps you on your toes, it challenges you and offers reinvention based on options you never considered because life was too safe.

?What the F? is a line in the sand, really ? you can rise to the challenge, or you can just whine. You can laugh as part of the little club that complains about children have ruined their life, or you can embrace the chaos.

Sure, getting a chuckle out of ?What The F? is harmless, and definitely not dangerous. Danger is in the book that empowers the kid to take that attitude towards the parent, and I don?t know of any publisher, big or small, who?s quite willing to go there right now.

John seven is the Transcript?s arts and entertainment editor.

what can i do with a lot of nice kids art work,drawing ,paintings,sculpture.suggestions please?

i work with kids for 14 years now ,i have nummbers of nice kids art work,different materials & different age .Did some exhibitions ,art contest &festivals ,still see that i meed to do some more with that fine art but do not know how or what or who can help me with this

You could put it on display at a local children's clinic....

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3. I want to write a kids book/books but don't know how to get them published. Does any body know how. cheers
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5. The Book Bench: Ideas We Like: Books for Low-Income Kids : The New Yorker

Source: http://www.kids-kingdom.net/childrens-books-not-just-for-kids-anymore/

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