Ooh - this won't be pretty, or eloquent, or poetic, or philosophical...I'm just pissed. You would think there might be at least ONE place your kids go to that they aren't subjected to a hard sell/soft sell/anykindofsell.
At my kids' school, they had a writer and illustrator team come in and give a little seminar on how they made their dream (their book) happen. It was quite a good little presentation (as I listened to it a few times over as they brought in a few classes at a time). The women talked about finding something you are good at, practicing it, being patient, working hard, sticking to it, etc., and even a piece about not being jealous because someone is better at something than you are. They read from their book, and explained the background behind it - both the narrative and the artwork...and the kids even responded with a lively question and answer period thereafter.
And the ladies were done. They did say that a flyer was to go home with everyone that explained how they could have their very own book if they wished, and that they should talk it over with Mom and Dad. Okay, I'll give them that.
But then, one of the school staff really let the kids have it. "You could have your very own copy, with your very own name inside, written to you by the author and the illustrator. It would be very special and unique. You can only get that here if you buy the book through us. Wouldn't that be nice to have? Your very own special copy?"
That's not fair. That's just not fair. Of course every kid wants something special. Of course they'll want something personalized from the pretty ladies who talked to them about their dreams coming true. And now, for just under $20 every parent has to make a decision to either avoid the conversation and just send in the money without knowing the actual content of the book (okay, you should be able to trust your school on content - but even that's not a perfect process), or be beleagured by a child or children who now think you don't believe in them or their dreams because you won't buy the book.
Kids are vulnerable. Kids are susceptible to marketing. And as educators, the people we entrust our kids to every day, they should simply know better.
