do you ever think about aziraphale’s books, why he chose to surround himself with, of all that earth had to offer, books.
books are collections of knowledge and imagination; they are literally humanity distilled into stories. there is nothing, in my opinion, more profoundly, fundamentally human than a book. and aziraphale’s home is filled with them, filled with human stories that he doesn’t want anyone to buy take from him. he lives his entire life surrounded by books; he is an angel and can create the most lovely, safe space imaginable, and he chooses to stuff it floor-to-ceiling with books.
The worst excuse I’ve ever heard for gendering books is that, “What if it confuses my kid? What if they grow up gay or trans because I let them read about too many girl/boy things?”
Your son’s first crush might be the rowdiest boy in a story about boys doing “boy things”. Your daughter might want to be with the gentle seamstress who makes the magic cloak, not be her. Your tomboy might be a boy, and he might identify with the protagonist’s science-loving crush, not her.
Your kid is your kid, and they will be who they are meant to be. Give them all the boy/girl books you want, but you can’t control how they’ll feel about them, or what they’ll take away from the story.
As a parent, you can’t iron the world flat to keep your kid from stumbling, but you can absolutely prepare them for the bumps. If they walk an unexpected path, having read more widely will only ease their way, and get them where they need to be.
“As a parent, you can’t iron the world flat to keep your kid from stumbling, but you can absolutely prepare them for the bumps.“
Well then, let me show you, because that’s what I do for a living.
Right now, it’s this time of the year, and the little ones have just freshly hatched:
You’ll notice they’re still blind and naked when they hatch. So I make them little coats to keep them warm during their first winter:
See how they happily line up to put them on:
See? Better. Now they’re ready to go and explore the world.
And if they make it through the winter and we take good care of them, they will grow up to be strong and wise like their older fellows:
So, in case you were ever wondering, now you know.
As a Publishing Professional I can say that this is 10000% accurate, and I am a little concerned you’re just giving away all of our industry secrets on Tumblr.
I am a famousy awards-winning author of BOOKS and I endorse this post.
I am literally crying from how cute this is
IMPORTANT BOOK KNOWLEDGE!
i cannot believe this post reached neil fucking gaiman
