Tim Kreider of the Baltimore City Paper has a fascinating look at the importance of children's books in shaping people:
... the reading we do as children may be more serious than any reading we'll ever do again. Books for children and young people are unashamedly prescriptive: They're written, at least in part, to teach us what the world is like, how people are, and how we should behave--as my colleague Megan Kelso (The Squirrel Mother) puts it, "How to be a human being."
Perhaps I'm biased, as an unabashed book-lover, but like Kreider, some of my strongest childhood memories are centered around reading the very books the article focuses on. I'm certain they've shaped who I've become. What I'm curious to know is: is this true of most people, or only of people who grow up to revere the literary world?
