November 6, 2009

The Defiant Ones

Big thanks to the reader who pointed me towards “The Defiant Ones: Children’s books, parents and discipline” in The New Yorker. What do books including Ian Falconer’s Olivia Series, David Shannon’s No David, and Mem Fox’s Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild tell us about the current state of child-rearing? That apparently, parents are powerless, and kids are adorably manipulative. Admittedly, I think, this is a limited prism through which to view these books, but the article is still pretty fascinating. Recapped here, in blog form, with a slide show, oh my!

Oh, and Olivia. I really desperately admire that pig, and think that any little girl would do well to take on more than a few of her personality traits, except for any little girl that I’d have to live with, of course.