Modern children’s books are tackling ever more complex topics such as terrorism, gender identity and suicide, but who determines what our children should or should not read?
Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman is no stranger to tackling taboo issues. Watch the Bold Thinking event from15 August and hear why he’s written children’s books on the Holocaust and Australia's asylum policy.
Also hear from La Trobe’s Professor Jo Lampert who’s written about the 9/11 attacks for young readers, and trains teachers at the coalface of delivering the content.
They are joined by Dr Juliet O’Conor, children’s research librarian at the State Library Victoria, revealing how ‘difficult’ topics in children’s books have been dealt with over the centuries.
They ask if the literary world is keeping pace with social change – should some topics remain off-limit? Are books a good tool to introduce taboos to children? Who gets to decide?