Sparkle Books

Our culture fosters such massive production, distribution and systematic disposal and replacement of goods. The taking of time to value and share the many beautiful things that we already have enables calmer, richer lives (and more room at the dump)! I have a strong interest in children's books and for that reason, I recently stopped to read Penelope Mortimer's "Thoughts Concerning Children's Books, in which she discusses the reading preferences of children, and says, in part, "their interest in magic, myth and anthropomorphism of all kinds, is on the whole, slightly less than mine. They are not as sentimental as I am. They like a good laugh, particularly at other people's misfortunes; they enjoy what seems to me an immoderate amount of fear and disgust and are often, through excessive affection, very beastly to animals; they have a very strong sense of justice in regard to themselves and none whatsoever in regard to anyone else. They are the perfect public for Shakespeare and the more disreputable parts of the Bible. Where did we get the idea that, apart from variations in taste and experience, they are any different from us?" (written in 1966), pp 101-105 in Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature. OUP 1980, 2nd edition.