6 Things to know about Children’s Lit

I have always loved reading children’s books so taking an entire semester to read them and explore them a little more in depth was a lot of fun for me. During this course I discovered 6 things that everyone should know about children’s literature:

1. Children’s literature is not just for children –more often than not kids books teach a lesson or moral that is relevant for everyone. It’s amazing how reading a simple story about sharing and being kind can be a reminder for even us adults.
2. Children’s literature is a cat lover’s paradise –so. many. books. about. cats.!!!
3. Reading to children is extremely important- reading to our children is the first step in facilitating their lives as readers themselves. Even reading to middle schoolers and high schoolers is beneficial to their reading levels and comprehension of the literature.
4. The Children’s literature community is awesome- the online community for children’s lit is such an inviting and fun place to hang out. Yes, serious topics about literature do get discussed, but it’s a lot less controversial and confrontational than some other lit discussions… YA lit…
5. Reading children’s literature can transform you as a reader- some of us fall out love love with reading or some of us have never been in love with reading in the first place (crazies as I call them). Nevertheless, reading children’s books is a great way to get (back) into reading again!
6. Children’s literature book awards are valid- these books are winners for a reason and I think that it is with while to read them all.