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Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

psyche.co

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Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#51

Post by sonotmyname »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #34
lr4444lr wrote: post #6

This just doesn't strike me as true at all. Most of my children's books have very non-descript settings that begin in non-connected single family houses. But regardless of that framing, so many of my kids' books dive into the realm of the protagonist's imagination. This honestly just sounds like another indirect shot taken at suburban life. I get it, internet content writers disproportionately live in the big cities,…

I feel the same way. As a city kid, I always felt left out because almost everything in US culture is based on the big suburban 'American Dream' home or, less often, rural life. I remember only being able to relate with Sesame Street because, gasp, people lived in apartments and hung out on city blocks with other kids just like I did! Kids books were a mixed bag, but definitely had more city representation than TV or…

> Its more realistic if a kid goes on an adventure in a city than in the suburbs were the only practical way around is being driven around.

As a kids who grew up in a few different suburbs in 2 different countries, I'd challenge that assertion. We had tons of adventures, visited a lot of cool places, and did a lot of exploring (on our own), all within a few miles of our homes. We'd ride out bikes to the liquor store / arcade / cemetery / 7-11 / park / community center / museum etc. When younger, we'd have to get off and push out bikes back up the hill the last few blocks sometimes (I lived on a very steep hillside).

Nothing about living in the 'burbs precludes adventure...

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#52

Post by notahacker »

watwut wrote: post #26
notahacker wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. I'm not convinced settings for kids books really tell us more about urban planning than they tell us about the the problem with not enough political situations being solved by encounters with handsome princes these days. And I'm pretty sure that well established story tropes predate suburbanism and republicanism is more of a factor in the popularity of certain types of fantastical settings than magic kingdoms f…

The children's books actually show hansome princes very rarely. Those are featured in traditional stories, m but most children's books in bookstore are decisively not that. What you call well established story tropes is not actual content of actual children's books.

I understand JK Rowling's bestselling Ickabog has progressed to a character spurning the affections of the king in favour of a handsome Prime Minister ;) But I don't think there's much room for disagreement that princes and princesses are overrepresented in children's literature (and entertainment in general) relative to other forms of government, and that this tells us precisely nothing about these systems' respective merits. Similarly, I don't think characters in various types of children's books being likely to live in a wood, on the moon or against an unexplained primary coloured background tells us much about merits such environments might have over suburbs.

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#53

Post by evilduck »

dhosek wrote: post #33
drchopchop wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, if you change that to "children's shows" instead of "children's books", most of them are set in something resembling a suburb: Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, etc. Sesame Street is a notable exception.

It's always bothered me that the local government of Adventure Bay chose to outsource pretty much all municipal services to a ten year old boy and his back of trained dogs.

Bubble Guppies routinely has weird consequences of choosing their cast and setting to be mer-people but that premise being incredibly restrictive to a long running show.

They float and swim around like fish yet somehow they have scenes that will involve something like gathering around the ol' underwater campfire or they'll be "at the beach" and you see their air bubbles floating up, yet you also see waves lapping up on the sand or them build a sandcastle. Or the episode featuring the town fire department and they teach fire safety. They also had an episode where they adopted a puppy. Not a mer-puppy, just a regular dog that would drown shown next to the clearly-just-a-fish teacher Mr. Grouper. Or the episode about _air_planes. Nevermind that the show is clearly tries for an ocean theme most of the time and guppies are a freshwater fish.

I'm glad my kids are aging out of this nonsense. At least Mr. Rogers spoke to kids like real people with emotions and intelligence instead of just assuming they're too stupid to recognize massive internal-inconsistencies.

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#54

Post by iso1210 »

namenotrequired wrote: post #8
pmiller2 wrote: post #5

Hmm... is it because the suburbs are boring? reads article Yep, except instead of "boring," they say "walkable." I can't say I disagree.

I think you mean un walkable

I think that's a function of american suburbs. It's rural round here which isn't really walkable (narrow country lanes with poor visibility).

Suburbs where I live are very walkable, with footpath on both sides of the road, and typically plenty of traffic calming. Rare to be more than a mile to a school for under 11s, maybe 2-4 miles to high school, half a mile at most to a bus stop.

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#55

Post by drchopchop »

evilduck wrote: post #53
dhosek wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's always bothered me that the local government of Adventure Bay chose to outsource pretty much all municipal services to a ten year old boy and his back of trained dogs.

Bubble Guppies routinely has weird consequences of choosing their cast and setting to be mer-people but that premise being incredibly restrictive to a long running show. They float and swim around like fish yet somehow they have scenes that will involve something like gathering around the ol' underwater campfire or they'll be "at the beach" and you see their air bubbles floating up, yet you also see waves lapping up…

Kids don't care about internal inconsistencies. Frankly, neither do many adults (see: practically all Marvel movies)

The show is pretty educational - kids learn about sharing, professions, sing songs about the universe, go on crazy adventures, etc. Mr. Rogers was great in a time when the word was much slower, but now a kids show in 2020 needs lots of pizazz to keep a child's attention.

(I can't believe I'm debating Bubble Guppies on HN)

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#56

Post by yellowstuff »

dhosek wrote: post #30

The author undercuts his claims when he writes: t’s true that some popular picture books do seem to have a suburban setting: Victoria Kann’s Pinkalicious series (2006-), the Berenstain Bears series (1962-) by the Berenstain family, and Norman Bridwell’s Clifford the Big Red Dog (1963-) come to mind. But these books also come to mind when I consider books I’d rather burn than read – not because they take place in the…

He also counts the Curious George books as being not suburban, which might be true of the original series, but there's a reboot by different authors that has a suburban feel. George drives around in a car, and goes to places like a pancake breakfast and a chocolate factory that don't seem to be in Brooklyn. These books aren't great, but my son likes them, as well as most of the other books that this article has committed to the flames.

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#57

Post by iso1210 »

lr4444lr wrote: post #6

This just doesn't strike me as true at all. Most of my children's books have very non-descript settings that begin in non-connected single family houses. But regardless of that framing, so many of my kids' books dive into the realm of the protagonist's imagination. This honestly just sounds like another indirect shot taken at suburban life. I get it, internet content writers disproportionately live in the big cities,…

Looking at the bookshelf at preschool books, and only including ones with children, I see two :Pirates next door" books, both starting in "Dull-on-sea, a gloomy seaside town", and some Alfie books (where Mum takes him to various locations where he has magical adventures - diving into a swimming pool and being abducted by pirates, been driven to school but it's actually and alien school, etc)

I don't get this hate at suburbs either, unless it's by 30-somethings that love their city lives but now want kids and are trying to convince everyone that the city is the best place. If you think that, that's fine, plenty want space and open air.

There does seem to be an issue with American suburbs though. Every suburb in the UK I can think of has pavements down the side of every road, has a primary school within walking distance, a secondary school in biking distance, a bus stop within half a mile. Indeed there are specific limits like "distance to supermarket", "distance to postbox", etc which come into the planning process.

We also have a National Planning Policy Framework, which states things like

give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements, and have access to high quality public transport facilities

and

create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, avoiding street clutter and where appropriate establishing home zones

New developments have to provide appropriate public open space in them, the larger the development, the more space, but as a rule of thumb a development of 400 houses will have a large multi use game area (basket ball, 5-a-side soccer, etc), playground, and an acre of two of informal green space, far more than in a city or town centre.

There's nothing wrong with suburbs, just how they are implemented.

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#59

Post by pmiller2 »

hhggfdss wrote: post #9
giantg2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I was trying to think of what a suburban story would look like. The cities have things like museums or the zoo. The country has natural things to explore. The suburbs are basically a bunch of houses with yards - not a lot of opportunity for childhood adventure stories.

Really? I grew up in a rural area and the suburbs always seemed like fun, you know why? There were other kids! Is this just an illusion? All I ever wanted as a kid was a neighborhood. We had to convince our parents to drive us all over hill and dale if we wanted to see anyone our age.

Have you met kids? They suck, especially to other kids.

Re: Why are there so few children’s books set in the suburbs?

#60

Post by jdxcode »

djsumdog wrote: post #49
jdxcode wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, I grew up on a farm which is where loads of children books take place. We had to take a car literally everywhere, including our mailbox.

No bicycle?

You’d need a serious mountain bike to get to the road and once you’d get there it would be incredibly dangerous to ride.

I did still have one but we rarely used it. There wasn’t anyone to see for miles.

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