My 7 year old has recently been reading the Peter Rabbit books. One thing that struck me was the language.
These books were aimed at children. The language is sophisticated. Ask my 7 year old what “soporific” means, he can tell you.
Comparing this to the language in more recent children’s book s where the language is incredibly basic.
In the first Jimmy James story I wrote, I was asking friends for an alternative word, and the comment was made that we needed an easy word. I replied that I didn’t want an easy word, I wanted one that worked.
Even in another story I was writing, a friend who was editing it told me the words I was using were too long for a kids book! I then asked someone else to edit it as I disagreed with their assessment of the language.
So, are we dumbing down the language in kids books? Or is it just me?
