Comments on: In Defense of Meghan Cox Gurdon, Children’s Book Reviewer http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/ Janice Harayda Reviews Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry for Adults and Children Wed, 20 Aug 2014 03:07:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Doit-on censurer la violence dans la littérature pour ados ? | Envie d http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-9942 Fri, 20 Jun 2014 17:13:48 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-9942 […] topic »). Certains, comme l’écrivaine et journaliste Janice Harayda, n’ont pas hésité à voler au secours de Meghan Cox Gurdon. « Les experts nous expliquent aujourd’hui que les parents doivent protéger leurs enfants […]

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By: Dan Kleinman http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-9278 Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:53:08 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-9278 “The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Books,” by Meghan Cox Gurdon, Imprimis, July/August 2013.

http://www.hillsdale.edu/images/userImages/mvanderwei/Page_6907/Imprimis_July-August13.pdf

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By: Patricia Bourgeois-Finley http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-9275 Fri, 23 Aug 2013 12:09:53 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-9275 It is sad that in our current society Gurdon needs defending by anyone. She made a point and on our sheeple society it is much easier to participate in the immature arena of name calling then to logically discern that there might be some credence to her critique. Rather than to look at the possibility that we might be doing more harm, we become bullies of critics. Interesting that liberals appear to want to embrace everything really are people who choose to wear blinders as to the reality of their actions. This reminds me of the Emperor’s New Clothes, in which everyone takes the low road and goes along with the scenario rather than take the high road and point out the obvious. Cheers for Gurdon for taking the high road.

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By: #YAsaves » Gentle Wit http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-9263 Thu, 18 Jul 2013 11:33:46 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-9263 […] course, are those who agree with the article and while I don’t fault them for their opinion, there is some misguided understanding of the purpose of books like Rage. Kessler says herself on her Twitter […]

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By: Where is Sonya Hartnett when you need her? « http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8307 Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:48:57 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8307 [...] http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-… [...]

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By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8305 Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:06:54 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8305 Thanks, Brooke. That’s a great quote from your professor. I wish I could say that I don’t believe it. But after having taught at good colleges, I do believe it.

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By: Brooke Ashley Kolcow http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8304 Sat, 11 Jun 2011 03:17:32 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8304 Regarding protecting or not protecting your kids. I think a lot of my peers (I’m 21) have been hurt by overprotective parents. They don’t know how to function in the real world because their parents never let them experience the consequences of the real world; they never had to take responsibility for themselves. It’s so awful that several of my (upper-level, *college*) professors have had to clarify when explaining their attendance policies, “I don’t want a call from your parents.”

It’s perfectly reasonable to want to protect your children. And it’s also reasonable to monitor the entertainment and ideas their exposed to. Monitoring, however, is a little different from completely shielding. I think we can agree that at a certain age children are (and should be) encountering ideas, cultures, lifestyles, beliefs, and philosophies different from their parents’. And eventually, they need to be allowed to grow (and grow up) as people and as readers. Instead of blanketing all darker teen fiction as potentially dangerous or harmful, parents should open up discussion with their children.

Read the books they show an interest in (it’s great that they’re showing any interest at all) and ask them questions about it. If they seem to be reading only books about self harm, ask them why- do they know someone who does this? Or, goodness forbid, have they been considering this? If parents want to be our shepherds and guides between childhood and adulthood, they have to put a lot more work into it beyond “I forbid you to read books of this nature.” It takes patience, effort, bravery (it can be scary talking about scary things with your kids I’m sure, but if you want to protect them you have to be brave enough to talk to them about it), and maybe some research- there are a ton of valuable online resources that give detailed recommendations for kids of all ages.

[I don't think Cox Gurdon was entirely wrong, but I think her article could have articulated her points much much better. A lot of the books she mentioned didn't deserve the portrayal she seemed to be giving them. She wasn't expressly clear on who should be protected from what and although she gave two sides to the argument, the negative side was much more fleshed out.]

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By: safelibraries http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8303 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:08:30 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8303 Kerri Miller is here: http://twitter.com/KerriMPR

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By: safelibraries http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8302 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:00:12 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8302 Oh! Kerri! I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’ll go update my blog post. Thanks.

Cool that you were interviewed.

That MPR interview was really good. It had none of the hysteria you hear from so many sources piling up on Meghan as if sheer weight would make it true.

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By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8301 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:46:05 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8301 That’s an excellent interview with Meghan Cox Gurdon. I’ve been on the MPR show a couple of times, and Kerri Williams is always thoughtful and well-informed.

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By: safelibraries http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8300 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:02:14 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8300 FYI, Meghan Cox Gurdon was interviewed here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/09/midmorning3/

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By: Jeanne Devlin http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8299 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:09:27 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8299 I just had an epiphany: coming from a print world of newspapers, magazines and books I have always found the 30-second soundbite not only useless but dishonest — more likely to misrepresent and oversimplify and confuse than illuminate.
And I think my befuddlement over this whole WJR #YASaves brouhaha may well be my inherent dislike of the 140 word post — the print version of the 30 second sound bite.
I was always proud that print people took the time to deal with the nuances … the telling details … the complex … the facts, and I guess I just haven’t caught onto the fact that we’re now no better than TV.
Yes, I try to tweet — and did try on this topic. But I failed miserably.
I’m grateful to the tips that have come out on twitter … and to the help it has given depressed people needing to organize around the world … but when it comes to being a podium for reasoned discussion I am far from impressed.

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By: Jeanne Devlin http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8298 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:19:15 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8298 I guess that is the question: is there such a thing as too much, too sick, too graphic. As a former newspaper and magazine editor, I was charged with editing content so it could grace a family newspaper … and rarely was it that big of a problem: and our readers were adults we figured.
I get the arguments about how writing about tough subjects — incest, cutting, gay-bashing, AIDs — is often an attempt to broaden and inform minds and comfort those in pain or who are being marginalized.
And all those exist in the real word, so they are fair game.
But I don’t get how that argument covers a plot that involves a killing game in which kids kill kids for a crown and more vittles for their family … have I missed something? Is this a dilemma teens often face in 2011? Who is going to be comforted by this?
Again as an adult, it was a quick, what-will-she-think-of-next read — but even as I was flipping pages my conscious was asking when did killing another human being become reality TV fodder. Obviously it’s a commentary on reality TV where people serve up their kids, their families and their souls for 15 minutes of fame and a checkbook–maybe that’s as bad or worse. Yes, I got the reference to feeding Christians to the lions for sport (but then I see the same reference in the steroid-pumped American football players doomed to a twilight of pain and crippled limbs those rare times I happen to see a pro football game played before millions of people).
Maybe the WJR gal is worried about a broad trend, and I’m worried about a narrow one.

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By: librariancrafter http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8297 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:51:26 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8297 I think it seems cavalier about killing an death as a tool to point out where our reality tv culture is taking us. There was a similar episode of Dr Who (watched by lots of children in Britain) where losers of the weakest link or big brother were incinerated. It’s a theme that’s running through popular culture right now and I think it’s important. How do we know when our voyeurism is too much?

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By: kvirs http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/in-defense-of-meghan-cox-gurdon-childrens-book-reviewer/#comment-8295 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:05:29 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=21403#comment-8295 I like this response to the review. I do not think that the relentless focus on the negative is good for our kids. I say this as someone who raised a child taken from her mother because of drugs. What is necessary is to instill dreams and a sense of possibility in our kids – give them something to believe in, not just affirmation that yes, in fact, the world is a miserable place.

Not that there is no room for dealing with painful truths. But we should look at overall trends. What you feed is what grows.

I only wish someone had pointed out how hateful the stereotypes of “rednecks” (as being meth-head homophobes who go around brutally assaulting people sexually) is. Do the actual statistics support that shoving gas nozzles down the throats of gay teenagers is normal small town behavior? I thought tolerance was a virtue, but apparently slanderous use of hateful stereotypes is okay as long as the person being caricatured is only a redneck.

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