Author of The Bad Book is in the bad books

Cyberpunk Librarian says:

I’m sorry, but I like it

This kinda book is right up my alley. It’s funny. It’s marginally inappropriate for children, but then again, so is almost all good children’s literature. I can’t think of a really good kid’s book that doesn’t have at least something in it that makes stuffy adults cringe. Whether it be the word “nigger” in Mark Twain or how the lead character misbehaves in Matilda. There’s always something for everyone to complain about. But this book is Edward Gorey for kids. Oh wait, most of Edward Gorey was for kids.

Besides, this book is about as likely to do harm to children as are Road Runner and Wylie Coyote cartoons. Kids have watched those things for decades and you know, I just don’t see a lot of kids dropping anvils on each other, shoving each other off cliffs, tying themselves to gigantic catapults made by ACME, or anything else like that. And remember, TV is supposed to be even more influential than books. Kids aren’t going to eat poo because a poem talks about an old lady eating poo. But you’re damn right they’re going to laugh about it.

Part of the fun in being young is that you get to do those secret things that adults don’t want you to do. We all did something like that. I read smutty 60s sleaze paperback erotica when I was ten years old. My friend wasn’t supposed to play video games because his parents thought they were “bad for you.” Yeah, he had the high score on Quartet II and Rastan. The parents of one of my ex-girlfriends from high school forbade her to watch horror movies. She’s the one who introduced me to Japanese horror.

You’ll never stop it, and as a parent I know that the quickest way to make a child want something is to tell them they can’t have it. It works for my son and he’s not even two.