When is a children’s book an unsuitable read?

Chalk & Cheese © Tim Warnes 2012

“[A]rt is nuanced and complex, and in any artist’s life there is going to be something objectionable, but that’s not an excuse to close ourselves off from engaging with the art.”

— Emily Gowen, a literature instructor at Boston University

When is a children’s book an unsuitable read? 

Perhaps the answer should be when it’s a dissatisfying read.

In a previous article, I objected to the labelling of books, ‘for boys’ or ‘for girls’. Similarly, I’m not convinced about books being given age ratings. C.S. Lewis sums it up beautifully:

 

“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”

 

The only time I think age is a consideration is if the subject matter might cause distress (used in the same manner as advisory labelling on movies). So, for example, the picture book The Day War Came by Nicola Davies and Rebecca Cobb (Walker Books 2018), inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis, has a recommended age of five plus. In my review, I concluded that ‘a sensitive child could find the book upsetting, despite the subtlety of the incidental details (for example the tiny helicopters, flowers in the rubble, the shoes adrift). It would work equally well for much older children, too.’ On the other hand, the presence of such a rating can have a negative effect by putting off older readers from taking a book seriously - and in this particular example, from experiencing a profoundly moving story, some beautiful prose, and accomplished illustration. 

  I ask the question, When is a children’s book an unsuitable read? because I have an idea for a story about Picasso.  

I have tentatively started researching and writing it, so it is beyond the stage of a story seed (although sadly shelved until 2020 due to work commitments.) I’m not sure what form would best suit the idea. Possibly a picture book. Perhaps a longer read. But I wonder: is Picasso someone that should be promoted to young children? Undoubtedly a Great Artist, Picasso is also criticized for his treatment of women. So is that enough for my idea to be outlawed from the start and deemed unsuitable for kids?

 If so, then how do we educate our children if we try and erase ‘inappropriate’ people from the past? (Is that even possible - especially when you’re talking about someone as influential as Picasso?)

 A real-life example: on my bookshelf, I have a well-worn copy of the picture book, Little Bill: An Adventure with Captain Brainstorm! by Francesca Hyman, ill. by Robert Powers (Simon Spotlight/Nick Jr. 2001) 

Little Bill: An Adventure with Captain Brainstorm! by Francesca Hyman, ill. by Robert Powers (Simon Spotlight/Nick Jr. 2001) © Viacom International Inc.

It’s one of many tv tie-ins from the Nick Jr. series, Little Bill, created by US comedian Bill Cosby. (Charming, well written and creative, Little Bill unsurprisingly won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program.) If you’re unfamiliar with it, imagine The Cosby Show for kids: Little Bill lives with his parents, Alice the Great (his great-grandmother), older sister April and brother Bobby (not forgetting Elephant the hamster). I spent hours watching it with Noah on Nick Jr. - and on the back of that, bought the tie-in picture book.

 

Little Bill: An Adventure with Captain Brainstorm! by Francesca Hyman, ill. by Robert Powers (Simon Spotlight/Nick Jr. 2001) © Viacom International Inc.

 

Little Bill encourages children to value their family and friends, to feel good about themselves, and to learn to solve problems creatively.

- Bill Cosby

 

‘Once an “Oprah’s Book Club” selection, the American Library Association listed the [Little Bill] books among its most banned and challenged in 2016 because of the charges against Cosby. … [His] sexual-assault retrial … is an adults-only affair. Foul language and graphic descriptions of sex and drugs dominate. It’s certainly no place for children.’

 

So where does that leave Little Bill and his pet hamster, Elephant? Answer: Dropped by Nick Jnr. In 2014 after airing for 15 years due to the sexual assault allegations of Cosby. And in all probability, from many a storytime.

In contrast, some classic children’s books are considered unsuitable nowadays because of societal change. Having shared her beloved Berenstein Bears books with her own children, Sara Peterson sums the problem up eloquently:

 

‘I wonder how many harmful, gendered messages are seeping into their tender little psyches by way of seemingly innocuous children’s books.’ 

 

And it’s true - we need to be mindful of how attitudes (once considered socially acceptable) are presented, and how characters (and the sexes) are portrayed to our kids. There’s not much we can do about books from the past aside from avoiding or editing out the objectionable bits. But those of us working in the industry today have a responsibility in the way we approach these subjects, just as we do to portray diversity.

Back to my example of Cosby’s Little Bill (and my idea that features Picasso). They encourage us to approach the question, Is this book suitable for children? by looking at (and making a judgement on) the moral integrity of the book’s creators (rather than the book’s content.)

This presents a very different angle to the arguments against outdated gender roles or racist portrayals . 

(And on the question of race, isn’t it counterproductive to the diversity debate to avoid Cosby’s books or TV show because of the actions of the man, rather than his oeuvre?)

Clare Hayes-Brady, a professor of American Literature at University College Dublin, surmises:

 

“Shakespeare abandoned his family. Norman Mailer stabbed his wife. We don’t love the people we love because they’re morally virtuous.”

 

Is it really that simple? Is a book (children’s or not) an unsuitable read only if it’s a dissatisfying read?

Honestly, when you start picking away at it, it’s an absolute minefield. 

 

Little Bill: An Adventure with Captain Brainstorm! by Francesca Hyman, ill. by Robert Powers (Simon Spotlight/Nick Jr. 2001) © Viacom International Inc.

 Sources Do Works by Men Implicated by #MeToo Belong in the Classroom? by Emma Goldberg (The New York Times, 7 October 2019) Teaching Empathy through picture books by Tim Warnes (My Life in Books, 7 June 2019)Chalk & Cheese: In Memory of Maurice Sendak by Tim WarnesLittle Bill: An Adventure with Captain Brainstorm! by Francesca Hyman, ill. by Robert Powers (Simon Spotlight/Nick Jr. 2001)Wikipedia: Little Bill Cosby Makes 9-Year-Old’s ‘Little Bill’ Dream Come True by Stacy M. Brown (The Washington Informer, 18 April 2018) Mama Bear knows best: The enduring problem with children’s picture books by Sara Petersen (The Washington Post, 22 October 2018)