Day 1: Read-Aloud Handbook, J. Trelease
Day 2: Your Money or Your Life, J. Dominguez & V. Robin
Day 3: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Defecit Disorder, R. Louv
Day 4: Parenting with Love & Logic, F. Cline & J. Fay
Day 5: This Is Your Brain on Music, by D. Levitin
Day 6: Consuming Kids, by S. Linn
I'm okay with the fact that marketers craft messages targeted at adults.
Marketing and advertising is part of the world we live in.
However, we need to keep in mind that adults (for the most part) have maturity and discernment which allow them to filter and analyze the marketing messages they receive.
Children don't have that type of discernment yet---it will come later.
For that reason, I personally believe that children shouldn't be specifically targeted with marketing messages.
This book, Consuming Kids, provided a lot more for me to think about when it comes to raising children in a very advertising-saturated culture. If you happen to get your hands on this book, be sure to read Chapter 1, in which the author describes her undercover experience at a "Advertising and Promoting to Kids" conference along with leaders in the industry.
If this book resonates with you, be sure to check out the non-profit organization Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC). Susan Linn, the author of Consuming Kids, is the director of this organization. Several years ago I signed up to receive the email newsletters of CCFC, and I've really enjoyed staying informed by reading what CCFC is up to.
