Find Your Child’s Next Charming Must-Read
Last week I had the incredible opportunity to interview Alyssa Rosenberg. She wrote an extensive list of the best children’s books on the market today with recommendations from people who have experienced all walks of life. The article came out in the Washington Post on December 6th, 2022. You can read it here.
Interview with Alyssa Rosenberg, an Opinion Columnist at the Washington Post
As parents, no matter your experiences or views, we all have something in common. We want the best for our kids. This is even true when picking out books for them to read. Children’s books are magical. They can transport you to another dimension, give you someone to relate to, or even understand a different perspective better. That is why I was so excited to interview Alyssa about her new article on the best children’s books. This article took recommendations from many different people all across the board. There is a children’s book for everyone on this list.
The Best Children’s Books on the Market Today
I had the privilege of interviewing Alyssa Rosenberg, an opinion columnist who works for the Washington Post, about her most recent article, “To build a delightful library for kids, start with these 99 books” Alyssa has been writing for the Washington Post since 2014. Her area of focus is on parenting, mass culture, and gender. You can read more on Alyssa and her recent posts here.
Below is our interview. You can also listen to our discussion at the top of this post.
Interview with Alyssa Rosenberg on her article:
Jenna
Yes, hi, Alyssa.
Alyssa
So nice to meet you. Thank you so much for taking the time to write about the project.
Jenna
Oh, no problem. I’m excited about it. Excited to hear all about it.
Alyssa
Sure. What can I tell you?
Jenna
Yeah. So basically, I wanted to ask you, first of all, what inspired this project, this article?
Alyssa
Sure. And if you want to record this or anything, that’s fine with me. Whatever is easiest for you.
Jenna
OK, thank you.
Alyssa
So, you know, I have covered the intersection of culture and politics for a long time, and part of that has always been writing about children’s books, which are a particular interest of mine. My mother collects children’s books. I grew up in a house that… this one room that has floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves that’s all children’s books.
And my first job as a critic was actually when I was eight years old, writing children’s book reviews for the kids’ page of my local newspaper. So, even as I was writing about Marvel movies and indie television and music videos, Kids’ books were always something that were on my mind. And, of course, that interest only got stronger when I became a parent.
And over the last couple of years, there have been a bunch of these culture war flare-ups about children’s books. There are books that have gotten banned, books that have gotten challenged in curricula. Pan-America has seen higher rates of books getting challenged than ever before. You also have dustups over the Doctor Seuss Foundation, letting some stuff go out of print on the grounds that it no longer reflects values that the organization is comfortable being associated with.
And these conversations are often just really bitter and negative. I wanted to just hit pause for a second and say, look, parents across the political spectrum may choose different books for their kids. But litigating that sort of title by title, litigating that classroom by classroom. Kind of takes away from the bigger picture, which is that all of us love books. All of us think that our kids will gain tremendously from learning to love to read. And so, what are the books that we would recommend to each other? What are the books that we would say are essential?
And so, I just started reaching out to parents, people I follow on Instagram. People I know in real life. Columnists whose work I admire. People in policy spaces. Even children’s musicians and I laid out this idea for people and said look, you’re going to be on the list with people you disagree with. There may be books on the list that you would never in a million years choose for your family. But would you participate, recommend a couple of things to us that you think are great? And the response was overwhelming. Nobody objected to the premise of the project.
People came up with wonderful solutions. It was fun to see in particular, which books got recommended for different reasons or by recommenders with totally different perspectives. So, you know you have one black dad who recommends The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, in part because it was really one of the first children’s books that he ever saw himself in. And historically, it’s one of the first children’s book with a black protagonist, but then you have another writer, a white mom, recommends it, in part because it’s the rare book about city children. There are so many stories that are just set on farms. That… or in the country or in nature, that’s wonderful, but there aren’t that many books about city kids. There aren’t that many books about city kids being off on their own. To see people come into books like that from totally different directions. I think it really reaffirmed the value of the project, which is not just that people love books, but that people bring different things to these books and get different things out of these books. And that’s why it’s so wonderful to share them.
Jenna
Yeah, absolutely. You actually touched on one of my questions I had… was the type of variety of books that you have. It sounds like you have several different…. I mean, how many books are on the list?
Alyssa
99
Jenna
Wow, that is awesome and so it sounds like you have a huge variety for all across the board. Because my readers all come from all walks of life, so that was one of my questions… like different opinions. Different… like you said, so they have different priorities for their children, and it sounds like you have a very huge variety.
Alyssa
That was important to me… if I could just say one thing. I mean, it was important to me that the parents vary not just politically but, in their kids’ experiences right so…
Jenna
Right.
Alyssa
We have parents… we have Catholic School parents on this list. We have a number of homeschooling moms. We have parents who send their kids to public schools. We have parents of kids with disabilities in some cases fairly serious ones. We’ve got LGBT parents, parents of LGBT kids. We have single moms, and so it was just really nice for me to…. I was so pleased that so many people wanted to participate because so many people have such different parenting experiences, and their kids need different things out of books. And so, being able to say this is a book that worked well for my kid who has a visual cortical impairment, and so his vision works differently than lots of other children. Or this is a book that helped me understand my autistic child’s sensory challenges. I really think that there is something there for everyone, not just in terms of their political values, but in terms of whatever parenting challenges are rising up to meet them because all of us have them.
Jenna
Yes, absolutely. I have a child with cerebral palsy. Do you have any specific books on that topic?
Alyssa
You know, I don’t know if we do. I would have to take a look again. I’ve been editing bit by bit.
Jenna
But with the children with disabilities, and…
Alyssa
Yes, those are… that’s in the mix.
Jenna
Yeah.
Alyssa
There was one graphic novel I never heard of that came in from a mom whose daughter has some hearing loss. That was about this about a girl who’s deaf, creating like an alter ego. It’s like her disability becomes the source of her superhero identity. It’s really charming.
Jenna
Oh, that’s cool. So it’s like for older kids, or preteens or…
Alyssa
It’s a graphic novel. I’d say it says 10 to 11. The list is sorted by age, so you’ll be able to find… People would be able to find whatever is age appropriate. And we also stuck with books that were in print to make… there are mid-century classics I’d love to recommend, but I’m not going to tell you to go out and spend $200.00 on the vintage book… As much as I might love that book. One thing I appreciated is one of our submitters focused on treasuries. Because as she pointed out families that are either economically strapped or especially large families, books are expensive, and getting them as a bang for your buck can be really valuable.
Jenna
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So, what kind of characteristics were you looking …You kind of touched on it a little bit… but looking for when you were choosing these books. Or talking… choosing the people who recommended these books… you kind of touched on it already.
Alyssa
Sure, yeah, I mean. Look, I was looking for people who were from a variety of political perspectives and had a variety of parenting experiences. But I was also looking for people who I knew just really loved books, right? I mean, I wasn’t going to go out and pick a bunch of super conservative or super liberal people just because they were super conservative or super liberal.
I was looking for people in those categories who I knew love books. Who were writers, who run children’s book recommendation Instagram accounts. I was looking… I was looking for sincerity, right? Because I think that it’s very easy in this political environment, in particular, for people to try and score points or dunk on each other.
You know this is…. this may sound sort of squishy. And bleeding heart. But this is about as sincere as you can possibly be. This is about just purely loving books and loving kids. One thing I’m really excited to do after the project publishes is to introduce all the participants to each other. Because I know all of them, almost all of these people are folks who I know personally, who… I follow their Instagram, who I have encountered in the course of my life and my work. But they don’t necessarily know each other, and so I am really looking forward to just letting them know there are these other parents out there who may not be like-minded in other ways but share this love of books and love of reading with them.
Jenna
Yeah, absolutely. It sounds… you’ve touched on all my questions…. It sounds like a very interesting list. I really look forward to reading it and finding some new books for my kids. My kids love books…
Alyssa
How, how old are your kids?
Jenna
I have an almost 10-year-old, and so she’s 10, almost seven, and then a seven-year-old boy and then a little… She’s not even… She’s 20 months, so she’s almost two, but wide range, three girls and a boy.
Alyssa
My daughter is 4, and my son is 13 months. So… oh man, so the almost 10-year-old…
Jenna
Those are fun ages.
Alyssa
I’m going to sit down and send you a couple of my favorite picks from the list for those ages, there’s some great stuff in there. Have you ever heard of Edward Eager?
Jenna
Not off the top of my head.
Alyssa
So, midcentury children’s book author. He wrote these very gentle fantasy stories, the best of which is called Half Magic. And it is a story about a group of siblings who find a magic coin that grants you a wish but only half of it, and so they have to be strategic and thoughtful about what they wish for and, the wishes go awry, I bet….
Jenna
Oh wow.
Alyssa
…Your 10 and your 7-year-old would really love this one.
Jenna
Oh yeah, they love fantasy novels and fantasy movies, so they would… That sounds like something they would enjoy.
Alyssa
But it’s more sort of grounded, and it’s a good thought experiment. Then he has another book called Magic by the Lake that’s also very good., and then different author. I didn’t actually include this in the list… it’s a two-book series. Gone Away Lake and Return to Gone Away Lake. Just really beautiful stories about a group of cousins who, over the summer, find the ruins of this old summer community and swamp near the house where I guess one of the adults in the family lived.
And there’s a brother and sister who, in their 80s, are still living there, and it becomes this way for them to learn more about the past and about the way that the summer community sort of ran in the Gilded Age. And then, one of the families in the second book buys one of the decrepit houses and starts renovating it. And it’s totally charming. It’s a great sort of adventure story. There’s a lot of like squelching through the mud and catching frogs. But also dressing up in great antique clothes and just as a story about intergenerational friendship. It’s really lovely and it…
Jenna
Sounds like that I’ve never…
Alyssa
…Has a lot of respect for kids intelligence.
Jenna
…Yeah, well, I like that. I like that a lot. Because I think that’s underestimated quite a bit. The intelligence of children.
Alyssa
But I think those would be right up your older kids’ alley.
Jenna
Yeah, absolutely. I’ll look for those. I haven’t heard about those, but yeah, definitely.
Alyssa
I’ll send you a few more too, but those are just…
Jenna
OK, that sounds really good, thank you.
Alyssa
…The ones going to like so. Well, if you need anything else and again thank you so much for your interest. I really appreciate it.
Jenna
Yeah, absolutely is. Is there anything else you would like to add about your list or that you want readers to know?
Alyssa
Look, I think I have read more children’s books than your average parent and I was still just surprised and delighted by recommendations for books I’d never heard of before. And that’s one of the things that’s great about pulling together a group like this. This is an area of publishing where people are just constantly doing great new creative things, and look; it’s important to have discussions about the mix of content that kids get in school. It’s important to have discussions about the value of libraries and their role in creating an expansive collection for communities, but just remembering books are great. Books for kids are particularly wonderful. I think all of us who care about these issues, even those of us who’ve got pulled into some of these culture wars debate, I think it’s just a really refreshing reminder of how great children’s books are.
Jenna
Absolutely it sounds like a really great list, and I look forward to reading it, and I think many people who are my readers, who might not read the Washington Post, will probably look forward to reading it too.
Alyssa
Well, that is great, and we may follow it up with just like a children’s books request hotline. But let me keep you posted on that because I was like, I am happy to do people’s Christmas shopping for them.
Jenna
OK, absolutely thank you so much, you too.
Books are magical, especially for children.
Books are not only excellent educational tools, but they are also great for building interpersonal skills as well. Any book can transport you into another world, make it easier to relate to someone, give you confidence, and so much more.
If you love children’s books, this list is a must-read. You may find a book you did not know you were looking for in it. It is important to remember that every person has different experiences in this life. Your struggle may not be someone else’s struggle. Your child’s needs may not be what another person’s child may need. This list has something for everyone.
Even if your opinion varies from the next person, you should still pick up this list and find something magical and excellent for your child. This list is charming and delightful. Alyssa categorized the picks by ages with summaries on why these specific picks are amazing. This list comes in time for the Holidays and can help you find the perfect pick for your child! Head to Alyssa’s list and find your child’s next loved book.
If you could recommend one children’s book, what would it be?
I hope you have a peaceful day,
Jenna Jury
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