• An indispensable manifesto for parents, teachers, librarians, writers, booksellers, and anyone who would like to discover children's literature.
• Support and encouragement for those who defend the right of children to read and love the books that they like, not the books that adults like.
• The author of the book is a children's writer, National Ambassador of Children's Literature of the USA (2025–2026), winner of numerous awards, whose books have been translated into thirty languages and published in five million copies.
What is children's literature? What should it or shouldn't it be? Should a children's book teach something, reflect reality, please adults, only talk about safe topics, have pictures, and always have a happy ending?
A serious and at the same time ironic reflection on the potential of children's literature, the importance of children's books and respect for your reader from Mac Barnett, one of the most important American authors for children and adolescents.
For those who write, illustrate, publish, sell and promote children's literature and for everyone who wants our children to have good books.
Quotes
“…there should be as much variety in children’s books as there is in the lives of the children who read them. If a child’s personal experiences and emotions – even (and especially) fears, sadness, and anger – are not reflected in his books, he will either realize that there is something wrong with books and will seek out other forms of art that better reflect his life; or he will decide that there is something wrong with himself and will begin to feel ashamed of his own feelings, which have no place in literature.”
"...children are real. They are people here and now, with their hopes, fears, and rich inner lives, with joys and tragedies. They deserve compelling stories and meaningful art."
"Anyone who doesn't think of children's books as real books is, in a sense, not thinking of children as real people."
“That’s why some adults start to think that it’s easy to write a children’s book, although in fact it’s only easy to write a bad children’s book.”
"Since the invention of the printing press, children's literature has been and remains a battleground between those who want to tell children what to do and how to do it, and those who want to tell children stories."
"A good book of fiction does not impose a moral, but invites the reader to co-create meaning."
Author: Mac Barnett
Year of issue: 2025
Translation: Natalya Kaloshina
Publisher: Alpina
Pages: 104
Cover type: hardcover
Dimensions: 216 x 146 x 10 mm
ISBN: 978-5-0063-0215-0