No more ‘nice’ books: Jackie French’s Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture
In her 2014 Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture, Australian Children’s Laureate Jackie French argues that children are turning away from reading because they are bored by many of the books on offer. Here is an edited extract from her speech.
Each time I visit schools I ask the teachers to please close their eyes while the children raise their hands when asked, ‘Hands up, who hates reading?’ At least 30 per cent of the students put up their hands.
Why?
Because they are being given children’s books. Nice books. And, quite rightly, they are very bored indeed.
Most kids’ books are not suitable for children, because they are simply written, so that beginners can read them. We have confused the books that a child would be interested in, with the ones that they are able to read.
We have set the bar far too low with the material we give our kids.
No, I am not advocating graphic sex and violence for seven year olds—but they are getting it anyway, not from books, but from TV. Not only that, they passionately want to discuss the moral implications of the rape scene or a beheading. The job of being a kid is to understand the world. They WANT to understand how to make moral decisions. We are giving our kids far too much kids’ stuff—and most of them hate it.
A truly great kids’ book is also an adult book, and the most popular adult literature is also loved by kids. A hundred years ago small children flocked to Charles Dickens’ readings of his works or to hear read-aloud performances. The whole concept of books just for kids is a recent one. Before that kids were given adult work, cut up into child-size pieces like you cut up their baked potato.
A child of five to 10 can read simple books, but is unlikely to be able to read the kind of complex material they are interested in. They need adults to read it to them or to help them by reading a chapter, so they learn the more difficult words like characters’ names and are not intimidated by the size of the book.
How can we encourage kids to read?
Be very clear about which books are ‘readers’—to teach kids how to read—and please, please, get them written by the best authors possible.
Keep reading to kids until they ask you to stop, even if you are still reading to them when they are 75. So many parents stop reading to their children once those children learn to read. But while they may be able to read Green Eggs and Ham they can’t read ‘Lord of the Rings’—that may be what their souls long for.
To teachers: don’t put any book in front of kids unless plot, theme or humour is compelling. Never think that just because a book is ‘nice’ it’s suitable for kids.
Forget the phrase “a kid’s book”. Throw away the preconceptions and work out what the child in your life loves and is interested in … and if there are parts that literally do need adult guidance, give it to them. Though, perhaps, don’t give them too much gore at bedtime, in case of nightmares. But then I give the same reading advice to adults, too.
The theme of my Laureateship is ‘share a story’. If you love a book, try sharing it, not just with other adults, but with a child. Censor the sex and violence if you must … though in doing so you will probably be more likely to encourage them to find the uncensored version.
Kids are particularly shortchanged with nonfiction. The way to turn kids into readers is to give them books about aspects of life they are fascinated by. And also to give them permission to taste a book and put it down if it bores them. Or you can read a chapter of a large book to them every day, so they are tempted to keep reading.
But the great divide between adult and children’s books is crumbling. It began perhaps with ‘Lord of the Rings’; advanced with Heinlein and Terry Pratchett; slid into an avalanche with the Harry Potter series; gained armoured vehicles with ‘The Twilight Saga’ and ‘The Hunger Games’. Young adult books increasingly become any age books. Or, rather, the good ones do.
Jackie French delivered the Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture in May 2014. To read her full speech, visit the Australian Society of Authors website here.
Category: Features
