The Press SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1963. Children’s Book Week

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30218, 24 August 1963, Page 10

The Press SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1963. Children’s Book Week

The now well-established Children’s Book Week is an exciting occasion for many youngsters during the August school holidays. Free from the routine of school, and able for a few days to go beyond the necessarily restricted list of books they read in common with their fellows, children have the opportunity to look over the wide field of reading available to them. For many the occasion is stimulating —which is the purpose that inspires librarians, committees, education and church authorities, and booksellers to devote so much time and skill to the displays and story-telling sessions they arrange. This year, children will find again that publishers give much attention to books for young readers. Among all classes of books, indeed, those for children are most notable for careful design and production. There are, and probably always will be, divided opinions about books for children. The attention that child psychologists have given to children’s reading has created a danger that adults, in stocking libraries, will go too far in choosing books they think children should read instead of books children want to read. The world a child lives

in is not easily accessible to adults; in rapidly changing times one generation has interests that earlier generations cannot understand. Children's reading should not be indiscriminate; nor should it be unsupervised. But wholesome stories that encourage children to read serve a valuable purpose and should not be too readily dismissed by adults as trash. On the other hand, books that adults think children should read can bore the child and deter him from venturing far into the world of enchantment that is open to him. Happily, this year’s books are evidence that publishers appreciate the overriding importance of writing that communicates with young readers. This is particularly true of books giving attention to the space age. Older people may regret the passing of the world of fantasy as they knew it; but if the modern child finds his fantasy in space, that is logical enough. It should be added that Children’s Book Week is an occasion for parents as well as children. Those who can attend displays and keep abreast of what is happening in children’s literature will be better parents for the experience.