Like all of you, I'm sure, my heart aches over the disastrous oil gushing into the Gulf. But you know what? We are all responsible. We can't get away with putting all the blame on BP, even though the company ignored important safety precautions. We can't blame Obama. Yes, the feds have eviscerated regulatory agencies over the last ten years--and I believe the Bush administration played a big part in this--but it's not all about regulation.
The fault, dear Brutus, is in ourselves; in our insatiable demand for oil. If we can't elect or find the leadership necessary to make us all change our wasteful ways, we need to do it ourselves. Each and every one of us. Drive less, fly less, use less, buy less.
How does this relate to children's books? In many ways. But we can't deposit the entire weight of the world to come onto the thin shoulders of children through the books we write. What we can do is somehow create books that have deep and lasting meaning, that include characters who care passionately about something in their world, and that change lives. Easy? Not exactly. But we can try.
The fault, dear Brutus, is in ourselves; in our insatiable demand for oil. If we can't elect or find the leadership necessary to make us all change our wasteful ways, we need to do it ourselves. Each and every one of us. Drive less, fly less, use less, buy less.
How does this relate to children's books? In many ways. But we can't deposit the entire weight of the world to come onto the thin shoulders of children through the books we write. What we can do is somehow create books that have deep and lasting meaning, that include characters who care passionately about something in their world, and that change lives. Easy? Not exactly. But we can try.