Common Sense Media....please use common sense!

Common Sense Media is a website where you can get an idea of what others think of books, movies and tv shows. If you are concerned about a book your child has been asked to read you could get some information here.

I would caution you though, the best way to screen a book is to read it yourself. I did a search on The One and Only Ivan, a book I have found to be heart warming and wonderful. It was part of a Global Read Aloud where hundreds of classrooms participated in reading it at the same time. Really? Would hundreds upon hundreds of teachers agreed to read this book to their class if violence was a serious concern? I know, not all teachers make good choices - but this one is a pretty easy one! It's a great book.

 I would think there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. It's a story about a gorilla, an elephant and a stray dog. However, on Common Sense Media it give it 3 points (dots?) for violence - which means it has a fair bit of violence.

If you took what this review says at face value you'd probably dismiss this book - and then you'd seriously miss out on an amazing story. It's not violent.

I ran into a similar problem with a book last year. In our Grade 3 book club we read Skellig. I had a parent come to me quite upset that we were reading this book. She hadn't read it, but had looked on Common Sense Media. It said the book was targeted to 11 year olds and she felt it was totally inappropriate for her child to be reading it. Funny thing was that at the time her child was reading the Harry Potter series. It was something everyone was proud of as this child was becoming such a great reader. On Common Sense Media it has ratings for the various Harry Potter books anywhere from age 8 to age 13. Harry Potter was okay but Skellig wasn't. Mom hadn't read either.

My point: Take the reviews with a grain of salt and do your own work. Read the book! Don't limit your child's experiences just because you're not willing to take the time to read the book.

Here's a great video I saw recently that touches on the value of children reading difficult things (oh, and did I mention The One and Only Ivan ISN'T full of difficult things at all??? Just wanted to be clear!)