Children’s author Mac Barnett issued a formal apology after sparking intense backlash for claiming that 94.7% of children’s literature is “crud”.
Critics noted that this belief is often used as a dog whistle against books by BIPOC, queer, and trans authors who are sharing necessary lived experiences. A letter signed by hundreds of authors demanded that the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader address the harm caused by his official.
I don’t know what will finally teach people to stop apologizing to the mobs of ego-driven fools but this guy is right. Most children’s books published today are garbage. And that’s not surprising, given that they are often written by people who use expressions like “necessary lived experiences” and say that somebody’s opinion “causes harm” to them. These are illiterate, stupid people who sell their bouts of pouting because they have nothing else to offer.
Clarissa's Blog 
His percentage is oddly specific, revealing its use as a rhetorical rather than factual statement. He’s also not wrong.
We used the library grab bag system for children’s books during the shutdown and of the 10-15 books in the bag, almost none of them could I in good conscience hand over to the kids. Not all of them were bad, although there was always the obligatory “be who you feel like being today! especially if you are a girl/boy who wants to be a girl!” included, but they were almost all just stupidly written and badly illustrated. Of course, the kids don’t necessarily know better yet. All they see is BRIGHT COLORS! It confirmed my desire to own as many as possible of the books that I wanted them to read. As a result, we have a collection that spans the last 150 years, now that the trash from earlier eras has been somewhat sorted out.
Looking at the list of his published works, I would be inclined to include his work in that crud category, with possibly one exception. Is there a chance that he has the humility to acknowledge that?
Once again, if you hear the dog whistle, what does that make you, especially since the rest of us don’t hear it? Causes harm, my…foot.
-K
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Most of every new thing that comes out, whether it’s books, movies, music, plays, dance moves, clothing fashion ideas, restaurants, home dec innovations, novel car features, software, business startups, architectural innovations or what… is crud.
Always has been.
Only time sorts out the handful of good things.
I have no idea why this would be racist.
ethyl
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I automatically reject any product where the identity of the creator is part of the marketing. I don’t go to restaurants that are marketed as “black-owned.” I don’t buy books marketed as LGBT. If you can’t sell your product without offering up your identity as a lure, I have no interest in it.
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That’s also true.
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