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Literary Criticism

Book Buzz: Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

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Katherine Rundell, photo credit the author“I think we have been embarrassed by the idea of children’s fiction since children’s fiction began. Martin Amis famously said, ‘People ask me if I ever write a children’s book, and I say, ‘if I had a serious brain injury, then I might write a children’s book.’ But my argument would be not only the children deserve a very finest work, because every time you write for a child, you might be writing someone for whom you are the first book they have ever read in its entirety, but also the greatest children’s books can speak to us about huge themes like power, endurance, fear, faith, care, love, doubt, passion.”

  ― Katherine Rundell, Interview, WBUR

Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

What booksellers are saying about Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise

  • Katherine Rundell explains in a non-judgemental tone how important it is for us all to read children’s literature. This long essay in book form can be read in one sitting, and is well worth your time.
      ― Daniel, Pearl’s Books, Fayetteville, Arkansas | BUY

  • After you read this tiny tome, you may find yourself wandering to your keeper shelf from childhood or the children’s department of your favorite indie bookstore.
      ― Rae Ann, Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tennessee | BUY

  • A wonderful little essay/ novella that reassures those of us who still love Children’s Lit that we’re not off base.
    ― Liz, Columbus Bound Bookshop, Columbus, Georgia | BUY

  • What a wonderful and succinct reminder that reading is an essential joy! And it all began with those children’s books we loved when we were young.
    ― Christina, The Snail on the Wall, Huntsville, Alabama | BUY

About Katherine Rundell

Katherine Rundell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Impossible Creatures series. Her other books for children include Rooftoppers, Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer, and The Good Thieves. For adult readers, Rundell has written Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures and Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. She was the recipient of the British Book Award for Book of the Year and Author of the Year. She grew up in Zimbabwe, Brussels, and London, and is currently a Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.

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Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

A wonderful little essay/novella that reassures those of us who still love children’s lit that we’re not off base.

Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell, (List Price: $17.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9798217230747, 2026-09-01)

Reviewed by liz, Columbus Bound Bookshop in Columbus, GA

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Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

This book is short and small and oh-so-sweet. It’s great for gifting to a friend or loved one who shares your nostalgia for children’s books or who perhaps needs a gentle reminder that children’s books can ignite the imagination, reinforce a sense of justice, and expand our perspectives on the world – all in a playful, emotionally unapologetic, and visually appealing manner.

Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell, (List Price: $17.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9798217230747, September 2026)

Reviewed by Burch, Righton Books in St Simons Island, GA

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Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

Katherine Rundell explains in a non-judgemental tone how important it is for us all to read children’s literature. This long essay in book form can be read in one sitting, and is well worth your time.

Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell, (List Price: $17.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9798217230747, September 2026)

Reviewed by Daniel, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, AR

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Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

What a wonderful and succinct reminder that reading is an essential joy! And it all began with those children’s books we loved when we were young. Books are different things to different people certainly, but they are at their heart the gateway to imagination and new perspectives. This wonderful little book is a beautiful reminder of what a gift reading is and should be.

Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell, (List Price: $17.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9798217230747, September 2026)

Reviewed by Christina, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, AL

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Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell

Katherine Rundell celebrates books written specifically FOR children, literature that “allows itself the unsophisticated stance of awe” as a benefit to all of us, no matter our age. We follow the path from the earliest stories written for children to the work of today’s great authors. After you read this tiny tome, you may find yourself wandering to your keeper shelf from childhood or the children’s department of your favorite indie bookstore.

Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell, (List Price: $17.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9798217230747, September 2026)

Reviewed by Rae Ann, Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

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Gilgamesh by Simon Armitage

British poet laureate Armitage took years to research and perfect his retelling of this millennia-old ur-poem, and it was worth the wait. Told in a driving tetrameter rhythm, his free-flowing translation may not please purists, but we are treated to both an introduction AND a translator’s note, which are as accessible and interesting as the text itself, explaining his choices and setting the work in historic context. Hypnotic heroic feats mingle with proto-bromance, featuring the earliest known account of the Great Flood, in this classic myth which is as mesmerizing today as it must have been thousands of years ago.

Gilgamesh by Simon Armitage, (List Price: $25, Liveright, 9781631496684, April 2026)

Reviewed by Doron, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA

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Every Day I Read by Hwang Bo-reum

This book is an absolute love letter to reading. It’s a perfect collection for anyone who has ever found comfort in a story, whether you’re a lifelong bibliophile or just looking to reconnect with the joy of reading. The author beautifully reminds us why the written word is so essential and opens your eyes to the universal power of books. I can’t wait to share this one with all my book-loving friends.

Every Day I Read by Hwang Bo-reum, (List Price: $27.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639737796, December 2025)

Reviewed by Kimberly Todd, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

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Dead and Alive: Essays by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith’s latest book, Deand and Alive: Essays, is illuminating, engrossing, and thought-provoking. Smith engages in a conversation with the reader — because that is what each essay is, a conversation between author and reader — by sharing her thoughts on art, politics, identity (with an emphasis on racial and gender), the algorithm, socioeconomic status, what it means to be an American versus an immigrant, and the relationship between writer and reader. The unifying theme throughout the entire collection is the author’s viewpoints on the individual and the collective, about who I am versus the Other. Many readers are aware of Ms. Smith’s fiction, but, in my humble opinion, not enough are familiar with her essays. I suspect that I am an atypical fan. The first books I read were Changing My Mind and Feel Free, two previous collections of non-fiction. The majesty of her essays, the radiance of her prose — she conveys so much in a single sentence, handpicking each word — was so intoxicating that I rushed to the nearest library to pick up whatever was available of her fiction. “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction,” “Shibboleth,” “The Realm of the Unspoken,” and “Conscience and Consciousness: A Craft Talk for the People and the Person” — each of which is included in Deand and Alive: Essays — should be required reading. In “Conscience and Consciousness,” Smith writes, “Art is one of the ways we reveal the peculiarities of consciousness.” In this latest collection, it is the author’s consciousness that is on display. Because of this aspect, I feel I understand her a little better, and I suspect many readers will appreciate this all too rare quality of the book. I learned a great deal while reading, and I found myself re-considering my own notions about a great many topics simply due to having access to the author’s vantage point. This collection requires careful reading and deliberation. Please, savor each individual work.

Deand and Alive: Essays by Zadie Smith, (List Price: $30, Penguin Press, 9780593834688, October 2025)

Reviewed by Michael Yetter, Joseph-Beth Booksellers Lexington in Lexington, Kentucky

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Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford

A great anthology for readers of the horror genre who are curious about the authors they love and why they write within the genre – and who want to reflect on why they love reading horror. The introductions to each author from Becky were especially great for authors I’ve yet to read from because they provided a good starting point to reading their works. Also, still can’t stop thinking about Grady Hendrix’s essay in particular.

Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford, (List Price: $18, S&S/Saga Press, 9781668205099, September 2025)

Reviewed by Natalie Nichols, Court Street Books in Florence, Alabama

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Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Books that feel like “I should go to grad school” are so dear to me, and so far this is my favorite of the genre (tied with bell hooks The Will To Change) as a Kenyan American, this was a particularly enjoyable read with plenty of touchstones in Kenyan history, tied into the global perspective wa Thiong’o brings from Norway to Ireland to Australia and more. As a person with not much of a history or language background this was a super educational read, and I imagine any added knowledge of any of those topics would only enhance the journey of this book, as well as decrease the shock value of the troubling practices of colonial schools. I’d give anything to hear him speak in the context of current events–by which I mean whatever 48-hr time period has just happened.

Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas by Thiong’o Ngugi wa, (List Price: $25.99, The New Press, 9781620979327, May 2025)

Reviewed by Nyawira Nyota, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

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The Wilderness by Aysegül Savas

In this slim volume, Savas beautifully explores the “wilderness” of postpartum and the mythologies that surround the first forty days after birth. Each short entry dives deep into the chaos of new motherhood—the newborn days full of paradox and pain, the deep wells of care and emotion that emerge, the mystery and lore of the mother-child bond. Savas argues that we mothers emerge from that beginning inexorably changed; we enter the wilderness and cannot help but emerge a bit wild ourselves. A perfect companion for reading in snippets during nursing sessions or wakeful nights—this is a book for anyone who enjoyed Jazmina Barrera’s Linea Nigra or Rivka Galchen’s Little Labors.

The Wilderness by Aysegül Savas, (List Price: $17.95, Transit Books, 9798893389098, October 2024)

Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Monsters by Claire Dederer

What do we do with the work of monstrous artists? Can we separate it from their reprehensible actions and the suffering they cause? Claire Dederer doesn’t have an exact answer, but boy, was it thrilling to see her try to work it out on the page, using figures like Roman Polanski, JK Rowling, Woody Allen, Pablo Picasso, and others as her sparring partners. My favorite kind of nonfiction: thoughtful writing about tough stuff through the lens of the personal. More, please!

Monsters by Claire Dederer, (List Price: $17, Vintage, 9780525564188, April 2024)

Reviewed by Rachel Knox, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida

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How to Think Like a Woman by Regan Penaluna

As a woman in philosophy, not only did How to Think Like a Woman challenge me, but it gave me an overwhelming sense of being known. Regan Penaluna reclaims the conversation surrounding "the problem of women" with an honesty and self-awareness that is unmatched.

How to Think Like a Woman by Regan Penaluna, (List Price: $28, Grove Press, 9780802158802, March 2023)

Reviewed by Union Ave Books in Knoxville, Tennessee

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Middlemarch and the Imperfect Life: Bookmarked by Pamela Erens

A modern-day writer’s engaging appreciation of George Eliot’s Middlemarch and what she’s gained both as a writer and a woman from reading the iconic 19th-century novel over the years. Pamela Erens argues that Eliot’s sophisticated insights into human nature, her boundless compassion for her characters’ frailties, and her acceptance of their inevitable contradictions make her an especially wise guide to the struggles we face today. Erens is most thoughtful in discussing Eliot’s belief in the central role of community in society and of the responsibilities required of its members, and persuades us of its practicality today.

Middlemarch and the Imperfect Life: Bookmarked by Pamela Erens, (List Price: $14.95, Ig Publishing, 9781632461315, April 2022)

Reviewed by Clara Boza, Malaprop’s in Asheville, North Carolina

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