The Purpose of Children’s Books: The Bigger Picture

The other day I had the pleasure of sitting down to brunch with my editor. It was a rainy day in New York and we had no agenda other than to wait out the downpour. As we sat there beneath the drab Brooklyn sky, we talked about our favorite thing: children’s books.

My editor shared some of the reactions she gets to her job. She let me know that many times people are impressed when they hear that she's an editor—until they ask what she edits. “Oh…children’s books,” they say, as if suddenly they think her work isn’t quite as serious. And this made me think…what utter baloney, because the silliness of children’s books is very serious business.

Let’s talk turkey: a picture book in its basic format is a story that helps children find solutions to their questions and navigate their feelings. Sure it sounds juvenile. After all, I’m talking about books for kids. But to the same extent, I’m also talking about books that speak to the grown ups who read them out loud. It’s a package deal, because kid’s books are ageless.

In today’s world, where workplace wellness and stress reduction are major topics, we forget that many of these life lessons start in childhood. And children’s books? They’re the tiny rectangular tool boxes filled with those lessons, all carefully crammed into a very neat package - i.e. a children’s book. Every word counts. Every color and every brush stroke is carefully labored over in order to create a space where magic, safety, and growth can coexist. That’s a lot!

That’s a children’s book.

I recently watched the wonderful documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor and was struck by the brilliance and guts that Fred Rogers had in order to take on subjects that were generally thought to be too problematic to discuss with children – and openly talk about them on public television. He talked about death, divorce and war. He channeled these complicated questions and feelings that kids had through simple conversation, imagination and puppetry. As puppet master, he had his character Daniel the Tiger ask the earth shattering question, “Am I a mistake?” As an adult, hearing this raggedy puppet say those words hit me to my core, and maybe that’s because these so-called “childish” questions are universal: why am I sad, do I belong, is it even worth it? And it was his bold passion for fostering love and wellbeing among all children that secured the much-needed $20 million for public television during his famous speech before the Senate subcommittee in 1969.

When it comes down to it, children’s book creators are wild grown-up people who aren’t afraid to tap into childlike wonder, crafting magic on 32 colorful pages. Pages that teach some very hard life lessons. They’re the maestros that provide a setting for children to feel comfortable enough to ask the hard questions, and get the hard answers right back. They’re the facilitators of magical worlds to help children make sense of the world around them. I know this for a fact  - because I was that kid.

A picture book has so much power:

• It sparks imagination.

• It tackles tough questions (and helps us, as adults, answer those questions for our kids).

• It fosters language development (as an American kid with a Brazilian mom, my portuguese language children’s books helped tremendously when I visited my South American family).

• It builds the foundation of education—introducing history, science, math, engineering, and so much more!

• It creates the building blocks for literacy.

• It teaches the basics of communication and relationships by the simple act of reading together.

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a children’s book? The glossy pages, the magical stories, and the sophistication tucked away within all that simplicity. Whenever I wander through a bookstore, I inevitably end up in the children’s section, flipping through the books that helped shape me as a child. It’s a sweet link to the past and a reminder of warmth and wonder. It’s a simple thing that needs to be shared, read and reread over and over again.

What are the children’s books that you find yourself returning to again and again?