Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

MSNBC - Not Just for Children

An article on the appeal of children's material for grown ups filled with some great insights into why the crossover is happening now.

"Or maybe grown-ups like children's entertainment simply because it's better than their own. Since writers can't fall back on sex, romance or profanity, the storytelling has to be dramatic and clear. Critic Francis Spufford, who reread all his childhood favorites while writing his memoir, "The Child That Books Built," believes that kids' books fill a need for compelling stories currently missing in adult fiction. He blames modernism for encouraging experimentation at the expense of a sound narrative. "What's happening now is a return to the story in its strongest sense, to the primal excitement of wanting to know what happens next," he says. Furthermore, children's stories are more sophisticated and nuanced than they used to be, addressing adult themes like darkness, loss, sorrow and moral ambiguity."

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