Sydney bookseller says books about diversity becoming too alike

Imagination and stories in children’s literature have been replaced by “boring” preaching about climate change and racism, says a leading Sydney bookseller.

A litany of “preachy” titles with agendas spanning global warming to gay parents are failing to engross Australian children in reading.

That’s the message from Sydney booksellers who say kids now believe books are boring.

“Every second book is about enjoying being different. It gets a little bit boring,” Kate Cooley, the owner of Bloomin Books, said.

“Sometimes I just sit there and say, that’s just another book about ‘being different’. There is still a lot of good stuff out there. But an awful lot of them do preach.

“They preach colour, difference, they preach about (being) gay and lesbian … there is one about how not to be a racist baby.”

Newtown bookseller Kate Cooley, who says childrens’ books have become quite preachy. Picture: Richard Dobson

Ms Cooley, whose Newtown store now supplies books primarily to schools, said there was nothing wrong with talking about these issues with children in an age-appropriate way but said fun stories which captivate young readers should be the primary focus of picture books.

“It shouldn’t have to be done in a book. It should just be done as a family thing when you’re out walking with your children,” she said.

One litmus test for the state of children’s publishing is the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist — where more climate-change-themed books have joined the official list this year to sit alongside global warming bibles such as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and the Down-to-Earth guide to global warming.

New additions include Fight for Planet A — a spin off of the ABC’s Craig Reucassel’s War on Waste series and young adult fiction book When Rain Turns to Snow, which includes themes about global warming.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the challenge was very popular and the number of participants increased by five per cent last year compared to 2019.

“With 13,000 books, there is something for everyone which accounts for the challenge’s growing popularity, including a 5 per cent increase last year,” she said.

Environmental activist and former US vice president Al Gore. Picture: Annette Dew

UTS children’s literacy expert Professor Rosemary Johnston said the tendency for children’s literature to focus on a topical issue with a particular agenda is often at the expense of a storyline and characters.

“Some books do it brilliantly and some are superficial and trite and usually fade very quickly,’’ Prof Johnston said.

“The essence of a book is its story. That’s its magic. But some of the so-called ‘issues’ books are not so well written and are indeed mundane.

“So depth has been lost.’’

Originally published as Sydney bookseller says books about diversity becoming too alike