I started this blog in frustration. Week after week, my 8-year-old son, an advanced reader who enjoys the good books – or at least used to – comes home from school on library day with books that are either:

1. blatant merchandising for Star Wars, Marvel, or some other movie franchise
2. lurid-looking fantasy novels that are obviously age-inappropriate, or
3. formulaic and ghost-written series books with titles like “I Survived: Mt. Everest!” or “Tales of the Rainbow Fairies: Rihanna the Whale Fairy.”

He goes to a good Catholic school, so at least the books don’t (usually) have objectionable moral content, but neither do they offer anything of value. With a world of amazing children’s literature out there, kids shouldn’t be wasting their time on books that are poorly written, books that pander to the lowest common denominator, books that rely on the latest shallow trend for their appeal.

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