The Sacred and Exhausting Rotation of "Again"

What Children Actually Want From Picture Books:

It is much easier, I think, to make a picture book adults respect than it is to make one children actually adore. Adults can be won over by concept and good intentions. Children demand craft. They demand timing. They demand momentum. They demand that a book earn its place in the sacred and exhausting rotation of “Again.”

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In children’s literature, delight is not separate from value. Delight is part of the value.

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A child who is laughing is engaged. A child who is predicting is reading structure. A child who is chanting along is absorbing language. A child who is watching for the page turn is learning how story works. A child who feels clever, included, and entertained is not being distracted from literary merit. They are experiencing it.

I’m going to repeat this part:

Delight is part of the value.

Which reminds me of what I often I hear as the false dichotomy between making things functional vs making things beautiful in software development. For me, the visual/interaction design is part of the function: it’s not something you tack on after-the-fact.