READ FROM PICTURE BOOKS AND THINK
Moonbow is a newsletter about children’s literature.
Children’s Literature Essays, Author/Illustrator Interviews, Book Reviews, and Events
Moonbow is dedicated to the art of children’s literature and discusses why adults should take the form seriously (because they often don’t). It aims to open and broaden these texts to encourage adults to think deeply about children’s books and see new things in them. Children’s books—especially picture books—are a versatile form, collecting and remixing genres and ideas from other art forms like poetry, music, theater, dance, cinema, and other books. Still, they should have one main goal: to be enjoyed by children.
Of course adults can enjoy them, too (I’m one of those adults), but the priority should be making, recommending, and reading books to children that they actually want to read, not books with adult agendas or a sentimental, wistful affection for childhood.
Finding good books isn’t easy. There is a lot of bad art made for children (the same as for adults), and that’s okay, but the more we—the adults—discover, learn, and engage with the form, the better we will be at getting good (and sometimes great!) books into the hands of children.
