Why You Should Read Children’s Books as an Adult

photo by delgaudm at flickr

Most of the books I read are children’s books–picture books, middle grade, and teen fiction. They make up about 90% of what I read, the other 9% being writing technique books, and 1% being varied adult fiction. Why so much emphasis on children’s and teen books? Because I love them.

Children’s and teen books are often inspirational. Picture books and middle-grade books, especially, are often infused with hope, magic, and a sense of possibility. They help me dream. Gritty teen fiction can help me work through issues and know I’m not alone, make me feel, and teen fantasy reaches that part of me that wants to know that anything’s possible.

I also think children’s and teen fiction usually leave out a lot of the boring bits that can be found in adult fiction, such as long passages of setting or detail. (In children’s and teen fiction, setting and detail are often combined with action.) The voices are fresh, and the writing just speaks to me.

Jen Robinson has a fantastic post about why you should read children’s books as an adult. Among her reasons are that: “It helps to keep you young at heart, and imaginative; It’s also a great way to relate better to kids in your life; It clues you in on cultural references that you may have missed; and Children’s books are often flat-out inspirational. They make you want to be a better person. They make you believe that you can be a better person.”

I agree wholeheartedly with you, Jen. If you haven’t read her post, hop on over and check it out. Jen’s blog was declared an Adultitis Antidote Blog Winner (a blog exhibiting a childlike spirit that helps counteract the effects of Adultitis by using honesty, curiosity, passion and playfulness to encourage its readers to delight in the little things, dream big, and stress less). Congratulations, Jen.

September 15th, 2007