The National Post has a story by Peter Shawn Taylor about how political and social attitudes change the way we view children’s books over time. Out, for example, is 1963’s The Story of Bubbles the Whale, about a whale who’s lonely after being cooped up in an aquarium. The book’s outdated solution? Go catch a friend for Bubbles. In, on the other hand, is Ken Setterington’s upcoming Mom and Mum Are Getting Married. “Setterington readily admits it is an issue-driven book; in fact, he says, the publisher supplied the title before he started writing,” writes Taylor. But not everyone is convinced. “Issue books will never last,” says University of Waterloo literature professor John North.

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National Post story