Ineffable: what makes a good book to yours Drewly

I would like to take some time and space on my blog to reflect on what makes a book good, especially a kids, youth or YA book to yours Drewly.

First off  Please read this New Yorker article on what makes a children's book "good"

I agree that there are two popular schools of thought on the matter. The content camp and the results camp. The Content camp is stuck with the belief that good book for children being somehow instructive or nutritive, often morally so. 

Another part of the content camp is the psychological value that the content minded people push for, while more substantially non instructive, there is still clinging to the idea that there must be some positive value gain from the content of the book.


The other camp that often has more members, is the results camp. Results” can range from book sales (“Goosebumps,” in that case, would definitely be good) to making a child laugh (any book written by Jon Scieszka would loudly ring that bell) to life impact of a story.

These two children's book quality criteria camps, like the nature side versus the nurture side of that debate are often struck and stay stubborn, remaining unmoving impervious, unchanging despite the overwhelming evidence and support for the crucial need for construction for a bridge for the nonsensical gap between the two schools of thought.

I like Gidwitz in the article linked to above, follow the prophet Walt Whitman: I contain multitudes, and I contradict myself whenever I choose to. In the case of determining quality in children’s books, I have two answers, I want to bridge that thinking gap.

 Gidwitz hits it right on with "We give children’s shoes to children because they fit children’s feet. And why would we denigrate a waltz that can only be danced to? Children, in particular, are made to dance." We all need to dance, explore, create and enjoy life more, and an easy way to do that is to read or be read to and encourage others to do the same for books that interest them, at any age.

As Gidwitz says, "Kids will like a book with a great story. But they will only love a book that makes them see the world in a new way." The impact and the change a book makes in anyones life is the best way to gauge if a book is good for anyone. 

What is important is that kids are reading, and anything we can do as adults to keep them reading is the what we are called to do. 

Who is to say the true value of a book, the true quality of a book, certainly publishers cant be, certainly authors cant be, that leaves us avid and caring readers.
But you don't ever have to take my word for it.

What makes a book worthy or worth reading for you?