Hi Nathan,

Thanks for raising this topic for discussion.

Getting children to read is so important and getting
them through books they love is a way to do it. I remember
after one Storytime session a few years ago - a little
girl came up to me and thanked me for my choice of a
"Middle-Eastern" Story with which she could identify.

Her grandmother told me much later that the little girl
had not been interested in reading until after that
Storytime session. She then started to take an interest
in books. A lesson learned all round I'd say.

Serious; Authors have been opposed and oppressed, and had their books destroyed by the extreme church and state ever since Johannes Gutenberg printed the first mass produced book around the year 1440. It was no accident that book of Gutenberg's was the Holy Bible, the only approved literature by the powers of the time for the masses, it was deemed to contain all the required knowledge that the ordinary person needed to know.

Books contain knowledge, and start people questioning the established "laws" of society, questioning everything from scientific "facts" to the social order. No wonder learning through books has been opposed by everyone from the Pope to Adolf Hitler, to them they are the most dangerous weapon ever invented.

Great work Foxy, there is nothing greater than teaching children.

Dear Paul,

The destruction of books has continued over millennia.
But so has their preservation. We've always had those
who continued the fight and managed to sneak the books
through. Book smugglers continued the fight and will do so
no matter what.

Dear Paul,

There's a great children's book published in 2022.
"Pages and Co: The Book Smugglers," by British
author - Anna James. That not only the kids would love
(ages 8 onwards). But adults as well. It's a great read.

And talking about books smugglers - there's also:

"The Book Smugglers" by David E. Fishman.
It's the story of Vilnius Ghetto residents who
rescued thousands of rare books and manuscripts
first from the Nazis and then from the Soviets.

And-

"The Last Book Smugglers," by Birute Putrius.
This one is set in 1902 Lithuania when a group of
rebels armed with books triumphs against the mighty
Russian Empire.

So many good reads are available for us.

Piers Morgan rightly describes the censoring of Roald Dahl's books as 'vandalism, and more appropriate to Mao's China, when actually, it's already quite appropriate in the UK, obviously.

Hi Nathan,

Here's an appropriate reply to "Why all the fuss over books?"
it's by Roald Dahl himself:

http://poemhunter.com/poem/mike-teavee/