Morgan Ashleigh

“You’re an adult. Why are you reading a kid’s book?”

I’ve encountered this question often throughout my education in library sciences and as a children’s writer. It’s usually slipped in behind a left-handed compliment.

“You’re such a good writer. Why don’t you want to write real books?”

“Your research is thorough, but wouldn’t you get more if you expanded beyond children’s media?”

“You are so serious, I expected you to want to work in a real library.”

People seem to believe that any media, whether a book or an academic magazine, is less significant if it is created for children. I went through a stint of thinking this way when I was a young teenager. I scoffed my peer’s love of Twilight and only read real literature by authors who had been dead for nearly one hundred years.

When I was going through a difficult time in my late teens, I found solace in the stories I loved as a child. I returned to these works like the prodigal daughter, given a warm hug and nothing but love and understanding. That’s when I knew I only wanted to work with children’s books.

Children’s books are more whimsical in tone and structure, but that does not make them less profound. If anything, I’ve found this gentle way of tackling difficult concepts to be far more enriching than the slap of cruel reality that accompanies modern adult literature.

Children’s literature has drastically changed over the past hundred years, evolving from moral lectures to introspective discovery that encourages critical thinking and imaginative play.

While we can acknowledge that bad things happen in life, children’s stories always remain hopeful. Children are young and small and have much to learn, but they are capable of changing the world around them, as long as we give them the tools to do so.

“Since it is so likely that [children] will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” – C.S. Lewis.

So, why children’s books?

Because I believe that good can triumph over evil. I believe I am stronger than my worst days. I believe that courage and kindness go hand in hand.

This may be an optimistic view of the world, but I’d rather view people with kindness than cynicism. I hope enough children will benefit from books and learn that they do can do many great things, despite the dragons that challenge them.