Thursday, May 29, 2014

Is this really what you want your kids reading?

Here's a little warning to the parents or overseers of those I'm writing for:

There's a lot of trash out there.

I spent a little time today doing book searches for "sports fiction". It's always good to know what you're up against. What I found was disturbing to say the least.

One book - and I won't mention the title here - included the "f-word" in the free one-page preview of the book. Actually, the word was used twice. On the first page.

If your kid is interested in sports and you'd like that kid to read more, this is what you're going to find in your own searches. Basically, you have a choice of books that are written for five-year-olds or books that should be described as soft porn.

Don't believe me? Give it a try. While you're there, check out the covers of the books I'm talking about. Shirtless guys dominate most of them.

If I'm erring, it's going to be on the side of the five-year-old.

You're not going to find any adult language or situations in my books. Plainly put, my books are going to be safe for your kid to read.

As parents, my wife and I have raised two extremely gifted readers. The problem with that was finding suitable reading material that would hold their interest. It was a constant struggle of reviewing books before we'd allow them to read.



1 comment:

  1. Exactly. That's what I found when I started researching young adult and middle school fantasy books. My kids are voracious readers and I decided to sit down and write stories so that they and others would have decent alternatives.

    ReplyDelete