I am an optimist. I am also a realist. Like many of us, I would prefer the world to be a simple, predictable, and easy place in which to explore, learn, and grow. Yet inevitably the world instead reveals itself to be complex, variable, and challenging. I think that's a good thing. Complexity provides us with the invaluable opportunity to solve problems and explore enigmas. Variety gives us the chance to adapt and make the best of each new circumstance. Challenges help us to discover our strengths.
Every day children awake to a world that can be quirky, entertaining, educational, and inspiring. This same world can also be confusing, vexing, exhausting, and scary. I want to create picture books that address the fullness of what our children encounter, that provide something that might be useful to them as they confront the complexity of life.
Some adult readers contend: But picture books are for little kids; aren't they supposed to be easy and comforting? Isn't it wrong to face young children with complicated and difficult concepts - especially at the tender ages when picture books are read?
For more than fifteen years, I have been putting these questions to the many sources I encounter: articles, books, online forums, teachers, daycare workers, child psychologists, developmental psychologists, children, and parents. What I found is this:
A minority of teachers and caretakers believe that difficult, scary, and complicated themes are not appropriate for picture book age children. These adults state that storytime should always feel stable and comforting, that it is meant to simply be an entertaining way to strengthen reading and listening skills, to teach only basic concepts and visual recognition. They promote that stories which elicit difficult feelings in children should be avoided.
Yet the solid majority of the sources (including all of the child and developmental psychology experts I found), attest that storytime should go beyond the basics, that it is a critical vehicle for young children to learn about complex emotions and life challenges. In fact, these majority sources state that storytime is one of the best possible places for children to encounter such concepts. Why? Because when you read or tell a story which elicits difficult feelings, your child has you there for comfort and for guidance to a healthy resolution. During storytime, you have the immediate opportunity to reassure your child that even when the character is encountering difficulties, your child is still safe with you - safe to explore and learn about the emotions and themes involved. You can validate your child's reaction and give assurance that he or she is not alone in having such feelings, that having them is okay, that these feelings can be talked about, shared, and understood, and that you in particular are willing to listen to them.
I believe that this is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. That is why I choose to write beyond the entertaining, the basics, the stable, the simple. I am an optimist. I want to give children the opportunity to explore the beyond.
