What books from the past gave kids real-world problems?
“The Secret Garden” and “Treasure Island.” Those are kids in an adult setting who have terrible odds, but they figure things out. They’re normal kids. Do you mean that like the kids in your books, they don’t have any special powers? To me, they’re normal kids. I’ve listened to so much kids’ thinking over the years, as a teacher and a mom. There’s no question in my mind that kids love to be given big ideas to tackle. Especially ideas that kids don’t have all the answers to. It’s not only a smart thing to do, to give kids big ideas, but it feels good to kids.
