I listened to Jake and the Kid every Sunday afternoon on CBC Radio when I was a young lad (I was 14 when the series ended). These were people that I knew. Jake, the Kid, and all the other characters could have been people in my home town. The grass, the fields, the sky, the … Continue reading Canadian Writers Should Write About Canadian Places and People
J.R.R. Tolkien
Treacle and wizards
If you have read Alice in Wonderland and other books of that era written in England, you have encountered the word treacle. It is not much used this side of the water. Treacle has a history. It was originally a Greek word meaning an antidote for a poisonous animal bite. It migrated into Latin, then … Continue reading Treacle and wizards
The abolition of sin in children’s literature
Nowadays the lead character in a highly acclaimed book for children is apt to be a lesbian who is a practicing Wiccan. Parents have been banished from children’s books for many years, but are making a comeback in situations where a child has two mothers or two fathers. But any mention of God, Christianity or … Continue reading The abolition of sin in children’s literature
What shall our children read?
What books are safe for children to read? Some Christian parents provide only books about nice people who do nice things and everything turns out nicely for them. How realistic is that? Children know that there is evil in the world. There are scary things out there, things happen that they do not understand. Other … Continue reading What shall our children read?