Again, it's been forever since I've posted...I've been in Florida, my Grandpop has been sick, life is in full swing! alas.
I think I've missed a few in between, but the next book I read and did a review for was called "Willie's Dad", by Stanley Williams. This is a childrens book. As always, my full review of it is at www.frontstreetreviews.com if you are interested! But by reading this, you get my uncensored opinion here! muahahah. just kidding. well, not really.
As I said in my review, this book is an innappropriate subject matter for children. In my opinion. i don't want to be harsh, and I hate giving out criticism to authors who work so damn hard on their books, but hey, I'm a reviewer, it's what i must do; respectfully.
I was watching CSPAN yesterday and it had Steven King, his wife Tabitha and there kid Owen (I think it was there kid!). A question they were asked was about what they think of criticism to their book. Suprisingly, Steven King stated that he HATED it when reviewers criticised his book. He said that it hurt, made him feel like crap, etc. It really put things into perspective. At the same time though, how are you gonna learn and be able to make your novels the best they can be without an honest review?
Back to the book! This short childrens book is about a young child who's father is in jail. We're not told why, but we are told that it is for a looooong time. This child visits his father in jail with his mother and her boyfriend. The father hugs the kid and tells him thathe loves him and doesn't want him to make the same mistakes he did, and that he wants this new man (mom's boyfriend), to be his new father. Then he walks away. Mom gets married to this new man. End of story.
Now I understand Stanley Williams' point about how some kids go through the situation of their father being in jail, but I think that maybe this should have been geared towards kids in like 5th-6th grade. a young, young child in my opinion will not understand this, and this book will definitly not put a smile on their young, innocent face. Books are meant to be read and enjoyed, not to sober you up and make you sad (this is for kids i'm talking).
So I have to give lots of kudos to Stanley Williams for taking this step, and I think he does have potential, and his writing isn't all that bad, but the subject matter is just way too innapropriate. I would never let my children read a book like that.
What do you think? would you read this to your children?
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2 comments:
I wouldn't mind reading this to my children (though they had absolutely no interest in it at all), but my problem was that Williams missed all of the opportunities to explain things on an adolescent level. For instance, Willie gets upset going through the metal detectors, but no one ever explains to him why they have to do it (to protect everyone). He has good intentions and I think kids facing the issue of having parents in jail need something like this, but it really needs work if it's going to fly.
i agree that it is good to have a book out there that can explain if a child is in a situation with a parent in jail..but I really really didn't like the ending where the father gives up his kid and just walks away, with the kid not really understanding. I think that whether or not his father "gave him up" and "allowed" the other man to become is father should be left out. I think that it may make kids who read it worry that their father is not only in jail, but would stop loving them. I think, like you said, he should have found a way to explain it on a more adolescent level.
I hope that makes sense. I'm so damn tired right now. haha.
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