Activism in KidLit: How Not To Dull Down the Information

by Lily Williams

When we get to a certain age, I think most of us forget that when we were kids we totally knew what was going on. Sure, maybe we didn’t really understand that raunchy song that played on the radio… and sure, maybe we didn’t totally get why we cried when mean words were thrown at us. But we felt the joy in the music and we felt the pain in the words. So why is it that so many adults think that kids media needs the information to be dulled down for kids to understand it? Why do adults think kids aren’t paying attention to the world around them?

Dulling (or dumbing) down information is when we take ideas and words and make them simple and easy.

Distilling information is when we take ideas and words and make them more precise and effective.

This is the difference that children’s book authors and illustrators must keep in mind when making books for kids.

I write and illustrate a series of nonfiction picture books called the If Animals Disappeared books. These books take a look at the trophic cascade in various ecosystems and the cause and effects that the elimination of a keystone species can have on our planet. This series takes a lot of research and distilling the information can often leave me with a headache. When writing them, I keep this idea of “dulling versus distilling” ever-present in my mind. If I dull the information, it will make the science less effective and the story has little impact. However, if I distill the information, it will make the point hit home harder and inspire change in the hearts and heads of readers. While both dulling and distilling are forms of shortening complicated information and topics when you distill the information you keep the impact.

Example from If Elephants Disappeared (written and illustrated by Lily Williams, published by Roaring Brook Press September 17th, 2019)

Dulling: “African Elephants are important to their environment in a lot of ways because they are a keystone specifies. Because of this, it is necessary to keep them alive.”

Distilling: “Elephants are a keystone species, which means that their actions — from walking to eating, to pooping to sleeping — shape their environment. Without keystone species, the ecosystems they live in, such as African tropical forests, would change dramatically.”

I have read my books aloud at a lot of bookstores and I have not encountered one single kid to not understand the concept and the impact that we have on our planet, because my words are distilled (not dulled). Once we finish reading my books, most kids want to write to their representatives and help save the animals and their ecosystems. Young readers understand the importance of the animals and the cause and effect eliminating them has on our planet as a whole through carefully distilled word choices and effective illustrations. They understand that these animals are endangered and I am able to help them process what it means to be endangered and how that could eventually affect them at home. Giving kids the information and tools to make positive impacts on our planet, helps empower them as young people.

It is important to know that contrary to the way kids react to my books, many adults find my books to be any variety of “too upsetting” and “too advanced” for children. To them I say, you must not be talking to kids like they are people too. Kids hear the news, listen to their parents, overhear conversations in public, and know that topics like climate change are real (the topic of If Polar Bears Disappeared); however, if we do not give kids the tools to understand the long term impacts of their actions and honor them enough to give them the space to process the information… What are we doing and why are we doing it?

This is why it is important to distill the information rather than dull it down. The kids are listening and reading, they are growing and finding their identities every single day. We owe it to them to empower them with effective information to make better, more educated, choices as they continue to grow up and find their place in this world.

Be the change,

Lily Williams