Why Family Friendly Books

Just wanted to drop a quick note about why we chose to be a 'family friendly' publishing company. There are far too many books out there which feed our children garbage. Books written for young adolescents that touch on suicide, intimacy, and violence are not proper for that age group (in our eyes anyway). Sadly, many parents do not check over books before they buy them, especially now that e-books are so widely available and popular.

Let me give an example. We were in a bookstore looking over children's books. Sandwiched in between some classic "Golden Books" was a story about seals. It had a very attractive cover picture with a beautiful harp seal. My kids loves stories about animals so I picked it off the shelf and gave it a quick scan. I was astonished at the content. Full of violent language and graphic pictures about hunting these seals. Both the written and graphic material would surely give little 4 - 5 year-olds nightmares. The book was actually written for this young audience and was not placed by accident in the children's section of the bookstore. I brought it to the attention of one of the clerks who quickly ushered it off the shelves, with apologies galore.

There are other stories I could share where my wife and I have come across other books written for children and discovered less graphic, but more subtle attempts by the authors to undermine the innocence of our children. Stories where the parents are made to look like idiots and the children behave disrespectfully or often times, violently against them. It all looks funny and harmless, but the subtle messages are being sent.

So with that, we decided to publish books on Amazon, like The Adventures of Bob and Joe, Volume 1 . There is nothing subversive or violent in these delightful stories. Emma Ward does a great job of putting together stories which teach the importance of friendship and fair play. Obviously we'd love for you to buy this book as we are invested in it and the author, but we think you will get a treasury of wonderful, safe, family friendly entertainment for your children. Please enjoy this story and many others that we have listed on this blog.

Mo Willems -- Knuffle Bunny

In keeping with the theme of books you read to your younger children, our #2 book in our top 10 list is a cute story of a little girl and her stuffed animal. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems, has lots of charm wrapped up in a relatively simplistic book.

One thing that strikes you immediately is how Mo Willems combines real life photography with illustrated, cartoonish characters. This was the first story we saw using this concept, but we envision this to become a standard technique for storytellers in the future. It does bring an element of realism and identity, not typically found in most children's stories. It really works in helping to tell us the story of early (mis)communication between daughter and daddy.

Trixie is a typical toddler who is in that stage of life where communication between kid and parent can be somewhat challenging. She speaks just enough words to please the parents, but not enough words to be clearly understood, especially by Dad who probably isn't around her 24/7, like Mom. In the end, it's the Mommy who serves as translator for the Daddy, as an exasperated Trixie looks on.

Knuffle Bunny will be enjoyed by your children, even beyond their toddler years. Parents around the world will give each other the "knowing nod" as they read through this story. Each page represents life with toddlers in such an insightful way. Mo Willems just nails this stage in parenting.

Only one book left to go. I'm sure you all have your ideas, as well as your own top 10 list. Feel free to comment about which books would be in your top ten. Also, see if you can guess what our #1 book will be. There are lots to choose from, so try out your luck, give it a shot. Or if you think we missed out on some classics, then let us know that too. We'd love to hear from you.