Are We Better than This?

A controversy has been raging lately in the juvenile book world—or at least a flurry has been flurrying—based on an article written by Ruth Graham and published in Slate. In it she says, “Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children.” And she follows it by saying, “Fellow grown-ups, at the risk of sounding snobbish and joyless and old, we are better than this.”

(I couldn’t help but wonder how old got categorized with snobbish and joyless. But as someone who does...