What is the influence of good books on children?

Readers of Judy Blume books, is it just me or is she obsessed with weight and looks?

• I think she is a great author and her children's books have a possitive influence on children. The only think I have to criticise about both her children books and the few adult books she has writen, is she seems a little superficial about weight and looks. I mean her Shiela the great books mention a fat girl, blubber, summer sisters kind of gets into how Vicks is not as thin as the one whose Dad owns the Marthas Vinyard Home, who could eat a lot and never get fat (not saying she shouldn't mention that, as we all know people like that, but just an example of how she tends to incorporate weight). Are you Here God its me Margert, all her books and they seem to imply that being fat or less attractive is a terrible thing, like Wifey, those poor girls get a nose job and they seem to get too into how the poor girls are fat and don't seem to sympathize with the opposite side at all, seems to impy its the girls fault. Even the book Smart Woman gets too into how the main charactor is heavier and less attractive then her apponent, meanwhile I think a woman that looks the way she is decribed could be considered attractive.

• Answer:

  I see what you mean. You left out Just As Long As We're Together, by the way, where the main girl gets upset at her parents' divorce and ends up getting really fat. Part of the answer is just that she's writing for teen and preteen girls, mostly, and weight and appearance are really two of the main concerns for them. It takes time to learn that those things aren't so important, no matter how many times we're told that "true beauty is on the inside." We also live in a time where the majority of Americans really are obese, and I don't think Blume is wrong for exploring the issue. I do think her portrayals of fat people could be more sympathetic, but on the other hand, I dislike it when books and movies sugarcoat it. It is a bad thing to be overweight, at least in terms of health. I'd be lying if I said I thought most fat people were attractive. That's a superficial way to think, sure, but it's the way the world works. And in the teenage world, being overweight or ugly is like a crime.