The breakdown of children’s literature…that phrase sounds pretty dramatic! Nevertheless, it is a trend I have noticed the past 10 years or so.

Back In 2016, I left the public school classroom for good. I left some well-loved kindergarten books in my public school classroom behind, became a mom, and exchanged them for board book classics like Guess How Much I Love You, and Corduroy. Our second, a daughter, came along in 2018, and our library trips became more frequent. Then 2020 hit, and as my son turned four and became more and more interested in books, we weathered the beginning months of the pandemic. In the years following, I began noticing subtle changes in the books at the library.

The changes in children’s literature the past decade or so could be attributed to so many factors: childhood brain development, screen usage, a pandemic, attention levels, interest, a market moving away from physical products and into purely digital ones; the list is endless. In today’s post, I reflect on the past, and break down some possible solutions for the future.

A Love of Literature

For my whole life, I have loved to read and write. I was a “word nerd,” furiously scribbling out little preschool notes to my parents, then “practice worksheets” for my little sister to complete, then simple stories, as my skill, vocabulary, and little writer hands, developed.

I devoured ideas, savored words, and tried to emulate the creativity and ingenuity I read in stories, into my own writing. I remember sitting completely transfixed in my elementary school library, each week, when our librarian Mrs. Milland would do “Book Talks.” Beautiful new hardcover titles would be displayed on her teacher table, their plastic coverings gleaming at me in the library light, and my class would sit criss-cross-applesauce, imagining the potential of new worlds. I was naturally shy, but a new bravery would emerge when her talk ended, and we were allowed to peruse the new titles on our own. I remember the itch of getting to the front first, and the thrill of grabbing one of the titles that most interested me that week. I didn’t always beat my classmates to the punch, but when I did, it was invigorating.

My love for words continued into high school, as I thrived in English classes and expanded my love of words into a new language: Spanish. My friend Clara and I were so invested, we ordered these Spanish Verb dictionaries at our teacher’s prompting, and learned new Spanish verbs in our spare time. We wanted to be able to communicate in a more advanced way.

As I look back on my childhood passions, my studies, my career, and now my role as a homeschool mom who loves to include as much literature as humanly possible into my homeschool, everything makes sense!

Bringing Beautiful Literature To My Homeschool

It is always meaningful when you witness certain elements of your life coming full circle. This year, 2026, as I have started this blog, created a few products in my TPT store, and worked on side projects, everything has been within the context, and under the umbrella, of creating a whimsical, meaningful, learning-filled environment for my kids. When I work each Saturday morning, writing blogposts, I am simultaneously thinking of them. When I brainstorm ideas for a new writing project, plan ways to make a math lesson more engaging, or reflect on pros and cons of our previous week, my cup is refilled.

When I have my “mama work time” each Saturday morning, I usually have several lists going. A list for the blog, a list for my TPT store, a list for our homeschool, a list for our home management. Regardless of what I’m working on, my brain will wander, and be prompted in new ways. I’ll think of several ideas every hour, of things I want to do with my kids! Cooking projects, artwork, field trips, a family endeavor–a little bit of everything.

Spreading my longtime passion for reading, to my kids, has always been hugely important to me. I have been fortunate to have found a number of meaningful ways to incorporate high-quality literature in my homeschool, through read-alouds, chapter book lists for independent reading, writing projects, and a plethora of other great resources, both online and in print. (You can read more about my favorite ELA curriculum choices, here). My favorite read-aloud curriculum for young children is Five In A Row, and my favorite resource for upper elementary are the Treehouse Schoolhouse Book Club Kits. We do these with three families from our co-op, and its probably one of my kids’ favorite activities we do, all year! (I am a proud affiliate of THSH-you can get 10% off your cart shopping with this link, or the code at the end of this post!)

I also love bringing my kids to various local libraries-a practice common amongst most homeschooling families!

The Breakdown of Children’s Literature

As I have reflected of my love for reading, writing, and learning, I have realized that a huge part of this cultivation over time, has been through libraries!

I have always been a huge fan of our public library system, and remember going weekly, even as a kid! Now, as a mom of four, our family probably frequents the library 2-3 times a week, between weekly trips, grabbing copies or printouts, and picking up our holds!

I have noticed libraries shifting to more of a kid-friendly, play-based model in the past 10-15 years, and this is so awesome! They often have sensory-driven, dramatic-play themed toys and activities for kids to do within the children’s section. This, along with a great variety of board-books, engaging fiction stories, non-fiction titles and even Wonderbooks, ensure my childrens’ enjoyment for long periods of time.

Another change I’ve noticed at libraries, however, has not been a welcomed one. I am finding myself needing to skim through more and more titles, to check for quality and substance. Gone are the days my kids can just pick books spontaneously, and guarantee good quality stories. Often times, when I would let my kids just pick randomly, we would get home, start reading the books they selected, and I would find myself sorely disappointed. The standard for children’s literature seems to have fallen.

A Strange Change In Children’s Literature

This subtle breakdown in the quality of children’s literature was something I first noticed a few years ago, when my oldest was little, but I’m sure it began before that. We are living in a post-pandemic world, and we know that the presence of screens, social media, and forced-tech-usage-during-said-pandemic has changed the educational world in many ways! This, along with other factors, may be one of the main contributors to the decline in children’s literature.

At first, I thought maybe it was just me. But a quick Google search revealed that I am not alone in this sentiment!

I have high standards, especially for books. And, just by nature, I have a lot of books logged into my permanent memory! When you read high-quality literature, you come to expect a certain level of artistry, vocabulary, intriguing plot, surprising twists, and moral or value communicated at the end of a story. You want to leave a story refreshed, curious, satisfied, enlightened, or any combination of those!

After talking with friends though, and reading various articles the past few years, I have realized, it’s not just me! Many parents have been noticing the same things:

• Many stories are lacking basic plot. They seem “dumbed down” in a way, and you reach the end of the book going, “What was this book about?”
• Many stories are lacking strong characters. Similar to the plot problem, you end the story thinking, “What was this characters’ strengths? Weaknesses? How did he change or grow?”
• Along those same lines, the general gist is that stories are missing basic story elements. These include concepts like : setting, character, plot, problem, climax, resolution, moral, theme, etc.
• Many stories are missing a strong message. On the other hand, other stories seemed to focused only on one message, sometimes activism-based. It is completely fine, and beneficial, to have your story based on activism of some sort-but it still has to have substance. It seems like many of these stories shirk general requirements of a good story arc.
• Many stories lack artistic illustrations. Some of this is attributed to AI-generated art, which is a whole other disaster for another post! But, even in non-AI art, I have seen a decline in general respect and appreciation for exquisite illustrations.

Lack of High-Level Literary Elements

To be perfectly transparent: I do not have a degree in literature. My degrees are in Elementary Education, and Spanish. I love to read and write, and do both as hobbies prolifically- but I am not a professional. You can take my opinions with a grain of salt- as you should with everything on the internet. 🙂 My opinion, as a layperson and humble homeschool mom, is that we have slowly declined and (in some cases) become complacent with lower-quality children’s book production in general.

Along with noticing the general lack of basic story elements in newer children’s books, I also notice the absence of higher-level literary devices. I’m thinking of things like: similes, metaphors, idioms, foreshadowing, repetition, symbolism, allegory, motif, alliteration, personification, or point of view.

Alright, time for my strongest opinion! Anyone who says, “early elementary kids can’t understand those types of literary devices” is WRONG! They absolutely can. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. One of my pet peeves as an educator is when people underestimate kids!

Now of course, it is important to teach within a child’s zone of proximal development, to be sure you don’t overwhelm or discourage them. But generally speaking, if you plan a lesson thoughtfully, you can absolutely introduce deeper concepts to kids. Advanced literary devices are no exception. And reading aloud is one of the gentlest, most in-context ways to learn these things! Reading aloud is such an intimate, involved, brain-engaging way to learn, because it involves so much conversation. No surprise that it is one of my favorite ways to teach!

Seeing the decline of children’s books the past 10 years, and noticing how things as valuable and rich as literary devices being taken from books, has been discouraging. What do you think? Have you noticed this decline as well?

Decline in Children’s Literature: What Can We Do?

Alright, so on to the planning, the action, the ideas! What can we do about this?

My first go-to is always the same: educate yourself! I love to read, to research, and to reflect. If you feel like you don’t have the margin right now, you can always browse parent forums online, or discuss the idea with a friend or fellow homeschooling mom at the park! Go to your local library and peruse the children’s section. Maybe your libraries aren’t as affected as mine–I live near a big city, so this is definitely a factor!

The second thing I plan to continue is to just pursue my favorite reading resources. Sites like Read Aloud Revival, and Treehouse Schoolhouse are my bread and butter for book recommendations. I also have a spreadsheet of my own that I have added to over the years, tracking all of our favorites. I love using Five In A Row, and gleaning every possible nugget I can from the picture books we read!

Finding The Library Gems

Here is one more thing we can absolutely do: we can savor the gems!!

When you hear the word “gem,” what do you think of?

Do you think of a person? “She is such a gem!”

Do you think of precious stones, like the ones pictured above?

Do you think of a special location, secret to most, “a hidden gem?”

Do you, perhaps, also think of something that’s high-quality, valuable, and a bit elusive? Something exceptional, outstanding, that you are eager to discover?

Next month, my friend Amy and I are launching something beautiful. We are creating a collection of Homeschool Book Studies for the absolute best of the best books. We cannot wait for you to see the first volume!

The Library Gems Collection

The Library Gems Collection will be a set of homeschool book studies, available for purchase on Etsy. Amy is a longtime friend of mine and a brilliant artist. She is the designer behind the product, and artwork, while I have chosen the books, themes, and written all the content. The first set of books released in the Library Gems Collection will be on the theme, “Heartfelt Home.” We will release the book studies one at a time, and when they are all available, they will be able to be purchased as a bundle.

The books I choose are selected with the utmost care. They are all favorites in my household. They are books I consider, true gems, and I cannot wait to share them with you.

Be sure to join the email list, to get first dibs on yours. I cannot wait for you to see it!

With love,

Cait

Note: My Treehouse Schoolhouse links are affiliate links. I will never recommend anything I have not personally used and loved with my own kids. Use this link to shop, or use code: EDELWEISSHOMESCHOOLRESOURCES at checkout, to receive 10% off your order.