The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children Book

Katherine Paterson often has been accused of creating unlikable characters. Parent groups have protested her novels' supposed anti-Christian bias, their profanity, and their references to magic. And, yet, Paterson has won both the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal--twice each. More importantly, her books, with their outcast protagonists, have reached even the most unreachable children, the "invisible" children. The Invisible Child collects 25 years of Paterson's speeches and essays about writing, reading, and life. These pieces are wise, reflective, and lovely. They disparage the preponderance of "empty-caloried" books for kids; more so, they celebrate the many enduring books that change children's lives. Paterson writes about the need for wonder in children's books: "the wonder of nature and human nature ... the wonder in the telling ... the wonder behind and beyond the story." She writes not about "creating a character," but about "getting to know a person." And where other writers blame the demands of children, spouses, and other commitments for their inability to produce, Paterson celebrates external limitations. "The very persons who took away my time and space," she says, "are the ones who have given me something to say." --Jane SteinbergRead More