Taking Back Childhood/Nancy Carlsson-Paige

Nancy Carlsson-Paige has written an informative and instructive book called Taking Back Childhood: Helping Your Kids Thrive in a Fast-Paced, Media-Saturated, Violence-Filled World. It is very readable and filled with anecdotes and even better specific suggestions for handling the many situations that arise as children are raised in an increasingly consumer-driven and media-saturated society. An early chapter, "Through Their Eyes" gives a concise summary of child development from birth to ten. With my concentration on making books with children, I was pleased to see that she suggested making books in several chapters. One was in regard to limiting a seven year old's TV time:

I suggested they encourage Nina to make a books of shows she wants to watch and use the book to talk together about the content of the shows she sees. In addition I suggested that if they asked Nina open-ended questions about her favorite shows (Why do you like that show? What do you think about how the characters act on this show?) it could help her, over time, to become more critical about television and more media literate.

Nancy Carlsson-Paige suggested stapling pages together but of course I'd suggest something else: a Stick and Elastic Book or a Hot Dog Booklet.