My thoughts: Curse words in children's books

We read lots of books at our house.  We've been reading to our boy since he was in the womb actually and have gone to the library most weeks of his life to check out a bag of books.  As he has grown up and learned to read on his own, of course his interests changed as has his reading level.   Last year as a third grader he read over three million words as part of the Accelerated Reader Program.  He has enjoyed mysteries since I introduced him to the Boxcar Children and then he became interested in the Hardy Boys.  I have wondered what series will be next for him and how we will keep his love of reading as he advances. 

As a Mom it is important for me to monitor what he is reading.  When he finds a new author, I like to check it out and see if I can find any reviews.  I was happy for him when he came home from a library trip (to a public library) with some new spy books.  They were two books from the same series, and he had started one of them.  One was Spy School and the other Spy Camp by Stuart Gibbs.  I checked on the AR site to find out the level and then did a search for reviews of the books.  Reviews for Spy School came up that said this book has curse words.  The age level does say 8 and up as well as grades 3-7.

I continued on and did a search of the author and found a blog post he wrote on his blog title "Bad Words" (I've linked to the article if you wish to read it; it does contain curse words in it) where he basically says he didn't know people would be offended with the words he used in his books. (This particular post he is referring to words in a different book actually, also geared to the same age range.)  And in response to his question "could a few words change the number of stars I give a book in a review".....YES it can and does!  And YES I change my opinion of movies because of the language too.   

This is disturbing to me on so many levels and brought up a host of questions in my mind.  Are curse words really necessary in children's fiction?  What is the point?  Do other parents allow their children to read books they know to have curse words, or do they even care?  Do they even monitor what their children read, or are they too busy with life to pay attention, thinking "at least they are reading" (which I totally disagree with this idea)?

To me this is one of those things that a parent needs to take a stand and tell the child why they are not allowed to read the book.  (In this case I told my son and he didn't pick up the book again and it is in the bag to be returned to the library.)   Now I know some may be of the viewpoint that a curse word here and there is not going to hurt a child or make them start saying those words.  However, I think we have to take a stand as Christians to say "NO this is unacceptable and I will not be supporting your writing." Period.  If more people did this instead of just letting it slide and say "a few words doesn't matter," then maybe authors (and Hollywood as well) would get the message that we don't want our children growing up reading or hearing these words. 

I realize that many kids these days  say curse words because they hear their parents saying them and hear them on TV constantly (something else I monitor closely for my son because there is too much garbage out there, but that's a different post). 

I also know that I can't shelter my son from ever hearing curse words, and he may come across one in a book he reads.  But I feel I can do my part to keep them unnecessarily out of his life.  I do not read books with curse words in them so why would I want to let my child read such? 

You may think you can skip over it and no harm will be done; and that may be so.  But why even plant that seed?  Repeated exposure to these words causes people to become numb to their usage and therefore these words become acceptable when 20 years ago they were not.  I realize that things in this time have changed from when I was a kid. I remember when I was a child it bothered me to see "shut up," "stupid," and "dumb" in books.  I mean it really bothered me; I wasn't allowed to say those words and so to see them in books offended me.  And now we find books for 4th graders with curse words in them?  Words that I don't even say and won't type here?  It may be a good story, but if an author chooses to use that language in a book for children then I find that totally unacceptable.    

So what do you think?  Is it a big deal to monitor the words in the books we allow our children to read?  Do you care if your child reads books with curse words?

Interestingly, my husband received a publication called Imprimis from Hillsdale College with an article called "The Case for Good Taste in Children's Books" by Meghan Cox Gurdon.  I read the article and was shocked at some of the things being printed in young adult fiction.  I thought it was an excellent article and wanted to mention it here. Do parents even know their children are reading this?

Have a day of blessings!

2010 Book #31: The Book Whisperer

I have finished reading an interesting book called The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. I chose to read this book for my yearly book to count towards my continuing education credits. Sometimes I am disappointed with the book I chose to use; this year I really enjoyed reading the book and agree with the author's opinions about reading.

Donalyn Miller is a teacher who loves reading and shares her love of reading with each of her students. In this book she shares her techniques and advice for how to teach reading. Students are not given much time to just read in today's classrooms. Teachers say they don't have time for that. Instead they are forced to read a book assigned to the class by a teacher, prepare for a standardized test, and do worksheet after worksheet. This is not effective. Mrs. Miller has a totally different approach. The kids in her class actually read. They take ownership of their reading through selecting their own books and sharing favorite books/authors with classmates as well as their teacher. She writes that the average each student reads is 40-50 books per year. It was interesting to read about the different types of readers she has in her class each year and how she gets all of them to read.

I am glad I read this book and wish there were more teachers out there who valued reading as Mrs. Miller does.

Have a day of blessings!

Booked for the Holidays

Just wanted to post a reminder that today starts the book giveaway over at Mocha with Linda.

Do you see a theme here?

We have these books checked out from the library right now along with several others. Just about every time we go to check out books he wants to type in "fire fighters" in the computer to see what is available.

Hope you and your family have a great Saturday!
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"I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself." Psalm 89:2

B is for Bookworm

I read this recently over at Mocha with Linda (who also is having a book giveaway right now, go sign up!) and thought it would be fun to answer!

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading? I remember loving books my whole life, as far back as I can remember. I know I was read to as a child, and we went to the library often. I was in a book club and received books in the mail. Reading was always exciting to me.

2. What are some books you read as a child? I had favorites in the book club books. There was one I loved because of the pictures of the little girl. It was a Little Golden Book. I don't know the exact title (Maybe my Mom can help me out). I loved books by Beverly Clearly as well as the Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin. I enjoyed the Little House series. I don't think I ever finished it all though. It seems like I read the first couple of books multiple times.

3. What is your favorite genre? I enjoy children's literature (the teacher in me) and Christian fiction or Christian romance. Sometimes I like historical fiction, but I have to be in the right mood!

4. Do you have a favorite novel? As a child Charlotte's Web was always my favorite.

5. Where do you usually read? I read in the car when we are driving (anywhere...My husband teases me about always having a book with me, even for short trips). Lately I haven't been reading as much in the car, I guess that is why I haven't finished as many books! I read in bed and in the bath tub while I soak too.

6. When do you usually read? I read before bed and when I'm in my bath. Sometimes I'll read for a few minutes during the day, like when my son is napping.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Yes, almost always.

8. Do you read non-fiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? Yes. I usually have my non-fiction books that I read as part of my daily quiet time. I don't read non-fiction while traveling much.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library? I borrow them from friends or check them out at the library. My friend and I have our own little book club where we trade out books. It's fun!

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them? I keep some and share some. I've sold some at a "book barn" too. Non-fiction I like to keep as a reference.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child? We have read many books together, and I love to share my love of books with him. The book I'll Love You Forever is one I have enjoyed sharing with him. Also one we read to him even before he was born was You Are So Special Little One.

12. What are you reading now? I'm reading one book for my continuing ed. credits called 7 Keys to Comprehension. Another one I'm reading is Parents Guide to the Spiritual Growth of Children and a fiction book called A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzmann.

13. Do you keep a TBR (To Be Read) list? Yes. When I see a book in a review, in an ad, or as a blog recommendation I add it to my list.

14. What's next? I have a few in my stack that I borrowed from the library. They are just random books that looked interesting. I want to finish the "Annie's People" series by Beverly Lewis.

15. What books would you like to reread? I want to read some of the ones I read in high school and see how they are different to me now that I am older. To Kill a Mockingbird and The Awakening are two.

16. Who are your favorite authors? Karen Kingsbury, Beverly Lewis, Lori Wick

Are you a bookworm also? Answer these fun book questions on your blog!
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"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge." Proverbs 23:12

Our favorite library books (for this week at least)

There are a few books in the library bag this week that we've been reading O F T E N! I always look for books related to Caleb's interests, and he chooses a few for himself as well. We have read these three multiple times.

Biscuit's Day at the Farm by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

This is really a cute book. I have liked all the Biscuit books we've read. Caleb can tell this one back to us.

A Very Busy Firehouse by Alyses Sweeney

We've read others in this series by Scholastic, and they've all been good also. I like that it has photographs and vocabulary words.

The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski

This book was on the new shelf at the library. I could tell by the pictures and story that it had been in print a long time. It was first published in 1946!

I love reading with my boy. He has a love of books as I have always had. Last week a couple times I noticed as I was fixing supper he would be running around playing and then suddenly all was quiet. I looked over and he'd be sitting down looking at a book. That just warmed my book-loving-teacher heart! I hope this love of books always continues.

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"Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant." I Kings 8:56