5 Reasons Why Adults Should Read Kid Books – Forest Park Public Library

5 Reasons Why Adults Should Read Kid Books

Whether you are a child, teen, or adult, reading is an essential skill to have in your life. We all have a book from our childhood that gives us fond memories and reminds us why we have a love for reading in the first place. Think back to that first book that you were excited to read. Did the story make you feel like you were in another world? Were there any characters that you loved and inspired you? What did that book teach you? The books that we read as children brought us so much love. It also provided us with life experiences and lessons. For instance, many children’s books taught us about kindness, courage, friendship, and family. These characters felt like real friends and reminded us that we were not alone.

Even as we read books that are more “age-appropriate” we will always have fond memories of the books we read as kids. It is important to remember that even though we are older, adults should sometimes take the time to reread their childhood books. Let’s give kid books another chance.

Here are five reasons why adults should sometimes take the time to read kids’ books.

1. It strengthens your imagination

Kids’ books can improve our imagination while having no boundaries. There are characters like wizards, monster hunters, talking animals, and demigods. When we read about characters that are different from us, it gives us something to think about? Children’s books demonstrate a creative side of their ideas and thoughts. Goosebumps is an excellent example of using your imagination and giving us an outlet to acknowledge our fears in a safe space. What would you do if you had a haunted mask stuck on your face forever?

2. It reminds you what it’s like being a kid again

Close your eyes and go back to when you were 11 years old. Can you remember what books were your favorite and how they brought you joy while combining other types of emotions? Kids’ books can also be compared to photo albums. Pictures will remind a person of an important event or memory just like a book could.  Whenever you scroll through a kids’ book, it feels like you are revisiting an old friend. Do you remember books such as Chronicles of Narnia and how you were able to hold the key to a majestic world with the palm of your hands?

3. It helps you connect with the kids that are in your life.

Do you have any nieces, nephews, or children of your own? Many children become super excited when they are reading their favorite books. They start talking about their favorite characters and likes and dislikes about certain turns of a story. When you take the chance to read one of their favorite books, you can have a conversation and connect with them personally. Kids know when you are genuinely interested in a specific book that they are speaking about. For example, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a popular kids’ series that conveys friendship and loyalty. Many kids at our library become excited while discussing Percy Jackson and why they recommend it to other individuals.

4. Mood lifter

We all sometimes have a tiring and hard day. Kids’ books are a good mood booster for these types of moments. Kids’ books provide us with an opportunity to feel carefree and put a smile on our faces. Occasionally, we need the simplicity and wholesomeness of a book written for a younger audience. Furthermore, kids’ books bring us hope that even when there are problems, there is still a chance of a happy ending at the end of the book. Kids’ books remind us to validate our feelings in positive ways and will give coping strategies regarding our emotions. For instance, Sam’s Super Seats is a picture book about a girl who has cerebral palsy and who goes school shopping with her mom and best friends. The main protagonist has self-love and friends who care about her. Her experience is universal, because it reminds us of all the excitement we once had when we were ready to reunite with friends for a new school year.

5. It Teaches Us About Problem Solving

Kids’ books will make you want to be a better person. For instance, The Boxcar Children books taught kids to be a better sibling to one another and work together to solve mysteries. Although, children’s books tend to have several happy moments, there are children’s books that show a realistic world, where kids have serious problems. For instance, Matilda from Ronald Dahl’s Matilda had parents that ignored her and a principal who bullied the kids. However, Matilda taught us to stand up for ourselves against bullies.

Check out the YS department to take a trip down memory lane and reread your favorite kid’s book!

“Pioneer researcher and activist Susan Linn shows that we have been passive as our children were shaped into the selves that tech companies wanted them to be; adults have not met their duty of care. Who’s Raising the Kids? is a call to arms and a core text for a necessary national conversation.”

—Sherry Turkle, professor, MIT, and author of Alone Together, Reclaiming Conversation, and The Empathy Diaries

“Who’s Raising the Kids? is a book about a dangerous divergence—between the profit-maximizing strategies of companies that market toys, apps, and social media to children, on the one hand, and the actual needs of children, on the other. Drawing from an impressive collection of studies and stories, Linn illuminates the harms of what she aptly calls ‘a corporate takeover of childhood’ and shows us what we can do to protect all our kids.”

—Alfie Kohn, author of The Schools Our Children Deserve and Punished by Rewards

“Brava to Susan Linn! This is a timely and profoundly important book. Children are being transformed into passive consumers by advertisers and social media companies who view them as easy targets for their attention and desires. More often than not, parents are allowing this to happen without thinking about the consequences to their children’s development. Who’s Raising the Kids? is a reminder to parents and all who care, that children are vulnerable and can be easily preyed upon by profiteering businesses who see them only as consumers. If we truly cherish and value our children we must heed Linn’s warning, not allow our kids to be exploited, and keep a close eye on how they grow, develop and are influenced on their way to adulthood.”

—Pedro Noguera, dean, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

“Susan Linn is every parent’s hero. Her work calls out the manipulative marketing tactics that Big Tech and big business direct toward our children, strategies designed to exploit their vulnerabilities and ours as parents. Who’s Raising the Kids? explores the pervasive and often covert commercialism in digital child culture and the negative influences corporate profiteers have on our children’s values, learning, emotional health, and relationships. This is an eye-opening, at times unnerving read and a hopeful call to action with practical advice for weakening the forces of consumerist culture in our families and how we can advocate for a freer childhood for our kids.”

—Janet Lansbury, bestselling author of No Bad Kids and Elevating Child Care

“A must-read for any parent.”

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A guide on changing course both individually and as a society, by an experienced activist; a must-read.”

—Library Journal (starred review)

“An invaluable response for parents at an impossible moment—and for those of us whose kids are already grown, a great guide to resisting the platforms and apps that are constricting the life of our society in ever more painful ways.”

—Bill McKibben, author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened

“Every child needs an advocate like Susan Linn; every parent—a wise friend like her; every politician and corporate leader—a bold challenger like her. And every reader needs this book—a passionate and supremely practical reckoning with one of the great dilemmas of the age.”

—James Carroll, author of The Truth at the Heart of the Lie

“In this unsparing account of what it means to raise children in a commercial society, Susan Linn issues a clarion call to governments, schools, and parents to push back—against the relentless marketing, the false promises, the saturation of tech into our most intimate and private moments. With practical advice on how parents can navigate this morass, her expertise and research-backed conclusions also serve as a real source of comfort: children, she rightly insists, are born with all the skills they need to succeed in life—no toy, app, or flashy screen required.”

—Sophie Brickman, author of Baby, Unplugged

“Today’s kids are tomorrow’s adults. If you love children and care about the future (and who doesn’t?), Susan Linn’s Who’s Raising the Kids? is a terrifying book. The digital conquest of our progeny’s hearts and minds is nearly complete, and if she’s right, it’s almost too late to take back what’s been surrendered. This book is a much-needed call to arms.”

—Russell Banks, author of Rule of the Bone, Continental Drift, and other works of fiction

“A stunning examination of how marketing, technology, and consumer capitalism impact the well-being of children. . . . This is a must-read for parents and educators.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An impassioned indictment of tech companies making big money off exploiting the minds of our children.”

—New York Post