Children’s Books Without Adult Themes

Ratings For Children's Books. Why It's Important to Know What You're Buying?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:39:00 GMT

Research has indicated a link between violent entertainment content and aggressive behaviour in children.
Studies have shown that children exposed to violent entertainment may become desensitised to other peoples pain, and are more likely to be aggressive and fearful.

Children are influenced by role models both real and fictional. I believe that books and the role models in them, like their television, film, and game counterparts, also have the potential to influence the behaviour of children in both healthy and unhealthy ways.

The challenge for me and other parents has been to figure out if a book is suitable for a particular child without having to read the book.

As parents, we often take advantage of the excellent film classification ratings guide available on the internet http://www.classification.gov.au/resource.html?resource=866&filename=866.pdf . This guide allows parents to decide if a movie is likely to be suitable for viewing by individual children taking into account their age and maturity. The guide is much more convenient to parents than watching the movie first.

Why not simply use the film ratings for BOOKS. Publishers could simply print the appropriate symbol on the book at the time of printing.

This ratings guide would allow parents and other interested people to be confident when giving books that the reading material is age and maturity appropriate.

It is in all our interests to help our children deal appropriately with our complex world. One of the keys to this process is to help ensure children deal with violence and adult appropriate issues when they have the maturity to do so.

The movie rating guide is already well understood by most people so would not require education of the public prior to launch.

Get involved today and make this goal a reality by encouraging members of parliament and the publishing industry to take up the cause.You'll find example templates of letters on our site.

Book Ratings Campaign Update

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:50:00 GMT

At the launch of the Patchwork Possum we handed a letter to State member for Hinchinbrook, Andrew Cripps, and State member for Mulgrave, Curtis Pitt encouraging the mandatory recording of a movie rating codes on all children's books when published. We also posted letters to State member for Dalrymple, Shane Knuth and Federal member for Leichardt, Jim Turnour.

We have a reply from Mr Curtis Pitt, who has taken the bull by the horns and has written a great letter to the Qld Premier encouraging her to take the issue up with the Federal Government.
As Curtis said, this suggestion to use movie rating codes on the covers of children's books is so obvious, simple and inexpensive, why is it not happening allready?

Thank you Curtis Pitt.

We will keep you informed about further developments. In the meantime, I encourage readers to take up the challenge and write to publishers and Politicians encouraging them to also support this change. You will find suggested letters in the campaign page of this website.

Successful launch

Tue, 19 May 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Thank you to all who attended the successful launch of The Patchwork Possum on Sat 9th May at East Palmerston School.

Celebrities attending were:
Curtis Pitt, member for Mulgrave, who gave the book launch speech with his wife Kerry; Scott Forbes, reporter for Channel Seven Cairns, who read the book to guests; Andrew Cripps, member for Hinchinbrook, John Harding from Education Qld District office and his wife Jocelyn, and Cheryl Cooke principal of South Johnstone state school.

The East Palmerston State School P & C conducted a successful sausage sizzle, and Jim Nash and Karyn Couper-Smith were on hand to sign books.

Mr Curtis Pitt talked about the importance of respecting those different to ourselves in schools and in society and congratulated the author and illustrator for this message.

Access to comment on Blogs temporarily removed

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:35:00 GMT

As readers of this site will have noticed, we have suffered a spam attack and unfortunately have been forced to withdraw access to comment. This access will be restored when an anti-spam feature has been added.

Lessons from Australia's Roadsides in the 1960s

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:02:00 GMT

Australia has historically had a reputation as a racist nation.

This reputation has been reinforced by: The old White Australia Policy and publicised through movies such as:

‘The Rabbit Proof Fence’, and Baz Luhrman’s film: ‘Australia’

These films and the whole situation are a call to action on two fronts from all Australians.

· Firstly, to address the wrongs of the past. The Australian government has been working on this for years with mixed efficacy. Most recently the Rudd government issued an apology to the Aboriginal people, which helped the reconciliation movement gain momentum. The Australian public is gradually becoming aware of what occurred in the past and the reconciliation movement is gaining traction in the wider community.

· Secondly, to foster a more tolerant society and address the underlying causes of racial intolerance. The widespread publicity around the reconciliation movement, together with better understanding of others is helping Australia move towards this goal

Addressing these issues involves many avenues and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the size of the task and the difference the small things can make.

The Patchwork Possum is aimed at task two, ‘fostering a more tolerant society’.

To explain our logic, an analogy will help:

Please cast your mind back to driving Australian roads in the sixties; specifically looking at the sides of the roads. Can you recall the terrible litter problem that saw most main roads as one long rubbish dump? The culture was for travellers to toss unwanted junk out of the window when travelling. Whilst foodstuffs broke down quickly, everything else just sat there and much of it found its way into our waterways.

Included in the government response was education of children. We recall talking in class about how disgusting this was and about the impact this junk was having on our environment including disease, and harm to native birds and animals etc.

Looking back now, it’s clear that society has changed. While our roads still aren’t perfect, the problem is vastly less today, and we believe, a direct result of the multi-pronged strategy used by governments of the day, especially through education.

It is our proposal to use integrated education to help foster tolerance of difference in Australian society today. Integration is critical, as further pressure on the education system can result from including additional curriculum which acts to dilute core teaching. What does this mean? We will explain.

The children’s picture book, ‘The Patchwork Possum’ is aimed at lower primary students. As well as being cute and enjoyable, the book has a message of tolerance and says we are all the same because we are all different in some way. The book includes the impact on those who are not accepted and the importance of accepting others. The idea is embedded in a story where the children feel the misery of the Patchwork Possum’s rejection, and the children also share the delight when he is accepted.

The book can be integrated into normal classroom reading and therefore not dilute the curriculum. In addition to being a reading book however, the book is a great talking point and conversation starter, allowing those teachers that wish to take up the opportunity to discuss the issue of tolerance with their young students.

Reading of the book will help encourage younger Australians to respect those different to themselves. This gentle strategy can be an extremely cost effective way to encourage positive societal change.

If even 1 child per school develops a tolerance for others as a result of reading this book, the purchase will have been justified, but more likely many children will be influenced and in conjunction with other teaching, much greater results could be expected.

The Patchwork Possum Book Launch

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:10:00 GMT

The big day is fast approaching!

Followers of Children's Books Without Adult Themes.com will know 'The Patchwork Possum' has been available on this website for the past month. The official book launch however will occur at 1.30 pm on 9th May at East Palmerston State School, Palmerston Hwy Innisfail.

Readers of this blog are all invited to attend. The Patchwork Possum book launch speech will be by the new Member for Mulgrave, Curtis Pitt. A book Reading will be done by Cairns Channel Seven reporter, Scott Forbes.

To top off the day, the School students will run a sausage sizzle as a school fund raiser.

Both the author, Karyn Couper-Smith and the illustrator, Jim Nash, will be there to talk about and sign copies of The Patchwork Possum.

We would love to see you there.

Blog debate Stuart Little and Teens

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:09:00 GMT

I found this thoughtful blog debate from July 08 ( http://beth-kephart.blogspot.com/2008/07/sustainability-stuart-little-and-teen.html ) that presents some interesting points of view. One writer, Sarah Beth, wrote something that struck a chord with me: She said:
"I think there's definitely a question of suitability, but it's not something that can be pinned down. For instance, there are some 12 year olds who are very capable of handling mature issues in their reading as long as they are presented in a tasteful manner, but that doesn't mean every 12 year old would deal well with the same book! It's a never ending question and I think the best answer is that it's on an individual basis."

Sarah explains so well, the reason we are encouraging the application of movie ratings to children's books. Such ratings allow the parent or the purchaser to choose the book based on the maturity of the child.

Cherish Diversity and Shared Values

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:34:00 GMT

I found a 1999 article by Kofi Annan today:
http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/articleFull.asp?TID=37&Type=Article

Kofi Annan writes that instead of moving together the world seems to be falling apart and he explains the importance of cherishing our diversity while recognising our shared values.

9 years on, the world is no more settled. How much more do we need Kofi's message. I wonder if the Palestinians and Israelis would get on better if they focused on their shared values rather than their differences.

The Patchwork Possum has Arrived

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:49:00 GMT

After all the fanfare, the Patchwork Possum was delivered from the printers today, and is available for purchase right now.

Delight your young child with this stunning picture book while the Patchwork Possum sends his gentle message to accept those different to ourselves.

Don't forget, we are offering free postage to anywhere for orders placed before March 31 2009.

Happy Reading

Tourism Promotion

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:08:00 GMT

I heard today ( http://www.tourism.australia.com/ ) that Tourism Australia had secured the rights to use some of the artwork associated with the movie 'Australia' to promote Australia as a tourist destination.

This is good news for Australia, in that the movie showcased our magnificent scenery and rugged landscape, but...
I was thinking that the movie also reinforced the message in the 'Rabbit Proof Fence' movie that showcased Australia's tarnished history of treatment of our indigenous citizens.

Whilst as a country, Australia is now making big strides towards reconciliation between white and indigenous Australia, I think it would be terrific to accelerate the teaching of children to accept and value those different to themselves. If we could do this while showcasing our country's natural features, and fauna, so much the better.

This is just what we have tried to do in the children's picture book, 'The Patchwork Possum'.

As a country, the only way to ensure we never return to the dark old days is to teach our kids to cherish each others differences.

A Parent's Guide to Children's Books

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:38:00 GMT

The Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1101971/Childrens-books-violent-need-health-warning.html) quotes Dr Rona Tutts warning about a need for guidance for parents to help ensure the books read by their children are 'age appropriate'.

Dr Tutts is spot on, but her solution is shelf labelling. Whilst any more information for the parent is more than we have now, shelf labelling does not address those many books not bought in mainstream bookshops.

Our proposal is to print the rating on the book and use the well known and understood, movie rating codes.

This rating system is not about censorship, it is about giving the parent the knowledge to choose which books are appropriate for the parent's child..

The Patchwork Possum Sends a Message.

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:40:00 GMT

The Patchwork Possum was always meant to be much more than just a delightful children’s picture book. As well as leaving you smiling on the inside, the little Possum brings a message that we are all different and in that difference is strength and better perspectives. We should cherish one another for our differences just as we cherish one another for our similarities. This second message is for children and adults. Instilling an acceptance by children of those different to themselves may help to build a better world tomorrow. This is the task of the Patchwork Possum. Children are our future. This charming children’s book is being printed now and should be available late January 2009.