Holy smokes, have I just endorsed book censorship? Yes– and no!
Steve Himmer, in his lovely essay “Making Room for Readers” on the fab TheMillions, advocates aggressively encouraging children to read, and removing any barriers that can be seen as “rarifying” the book.
I disagree. Huh???
OK. I agree with the first part: a book-encouraging environment is necessary to raise readers—but I’m not so sure I buy the negative interpretation of the obstacles Mr. Himmer found in his way.
Because I’m all for obstacles in book publishing and constraints on reading—if those obstacles and constraints reinforce the essential value… [Read more…]